Our mission is to help you understand what’s really going on in the Dayton region. This includes comprehensive coverage of local governments and agencies, hard-hitting investigations, and in-depth analyses of important issues.
Do you have a news tip or an issue you think our reporters should look into? Contact me at Josh.Sweigart@coxinc.com, or you can use our anonymous tipline.
Nurse accused of drug theft at 4 nursing homes in 3 counties, raising oversight questions
Credit: NYT
Credit: NYT
How can a nurse allegedly steal drugs from four different nursing homes in three different counties — three of them over a five month period? That’s what we set out to answer.
• Our findings: Read our investigation here, including the finding that the first alleged incident was a year before the others but led to no criminal charges or action by the Ohio Nursing Board. And a look at oversight concerns with nurse staffing agencies.
• More where that came from: If healthcare issues and oversight are important to you, follow the work of our healthcare reporter Samantha Wildow. Her other recent stories include:
- A Xenia nursing home is facing an investigation from the Ohio Department of Health after a video posted online showed bugs in a resident’s room.
- How the state ranks nursing homes and long-term care facilities in resident satisfaction, and who got the highest rankings.
- Ohio’s Hospice has reduced its staff by an unnamed number of employees, the CEO confirmed to the Dayton Daily News.
Nearly 1/3 of Ohio, local governments don’t comply with public records laws, public records show
In honor of Sunshine Week last week, we investigated local governments’ compliance with Ohio public records law.
• Our findings: Read our investigation here. We found nearly 30% of government agencies across our nine-county region were found out of compliance with Ohio public records and open meetings act laws in state audits in recent years.
• Zooming in: Some local governments have been found out of compliance with these laws year after year with no real consequences for public officials failing to comply with the law.
• Zooming out: Statewide, of 7,677 audits released since 2022, there were 2,374 found non-compliant with Sunshine Law requirements. That means nearly one-third of Ohio governments fail to meet state standards for complying with those laws.
• Sunshine Week: The week of March 11 was Sunshine Week, when this news organizations and others across the nation raise awareness of Sunshine Laws. Sunshine Laws are protections for citizens to ensure government agencies are transparent about what is going on inside their offices. Journalists use the laws to request documents, track agency decisions and report stories.
• Why it matters: In December I listed 11 Dayton Daily News investigations that had an impact on 2023 – every single one of those reporting projects relied on Ohio public records laws. We rely on it for our Payroll Project database of public employee pay, to track COVID relief spending, and nearly every major investigation we do.
• For your records: You can learn more about Ohio Sunshine Laws with the Sunshine Manual released by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The state put out an updated manual last week.
Election 2024
Yes, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump (who visited Dayton Saturday) have cinched their parties’ nominations for president. But whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, there are still very important reasons to vote in Tuesday’s primary.
• Senate: If you’re a Republican, your vote in the race for U.S. Senate matters. It’s a close race between candidates with differing views and potentially different chances of beating Democrat incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown in November.
• Statehouse: There are several consequential Ohio House and Senate races, including some that will be decided in the primary.
• Taxes: Partisan politics aside, local tax rates in several area communities will be decided by levies on the ballot.
• And more: There are other consequential county and judicial races. Check out today’s ePaper for a roundup, or see all of our election coverage on our Elections 2024 page.