Here are 13 investigations from 2024 that had an impact:
1. Behind the Badge: We sent reporter London Bishop through the Sinclair Police Academy for a monthslong reporting project on how Ohio law enforcement officers are trained, including discussion about whether current training standards are adequate. Go here for our full Behind the Badge series.
2. Clerk indictment: Montgomery County Clerk of Courts Mike Foley and county Municipal Judge James Piergies were indicted on criminal charges in July. Our reporting went beyond the court filings, obtaining documents showing the extent of the allegations, and interviewing the judge’s son about his role in the charges. Foley and Piergies maintain their innocence, and their case continues.
3. Disabled people working: Our investigation found that in Ohio, thousands of people with disabilities are employed under programs that legally pay them below the federal minimum wage — most being paid less than $3.50 an hour. Ohio lawmakers are considering ending the program, but some disability advocates say it should be kept. Read that story here.
4. Health outcomes by ZIP code: How long you live may be linked to where you live, our investigation found. Reporter Samantha Wildow looked at the data about life expectancy by ZIP code — and the factors behind that disparity — then visited the Dayton community with the lowest life expectancy to tell their story.
5. Fuyao raid: After hundreds of federal agents raided Fuyao Glass America in Moraine and dozens of homes across the region this year as part of an investigation involving potential human smuggling and labor and financial crimes, we investigated who owned the raided properties. Read our full investigation here, including interviews with neighbors and what property records show.
6. LifeWise Academy: A Columbus-based nonprofit that facilitates religious instruction for public school students during school hours in lieu of electives or during lunch is rapidly growing in the region, a Dayton Daily News analysis found. Supporters of LifeWise Academy say it’s an opportunity to provide Bible-based lessons for families who want it. Critics express concern it’s religious indoctrination facilitated by public schools.
7. Voucher usage: Another controversial education topic this year is expanded access to vouchers Ohioans can use to send their kids to private schools. Our investigation found Ohio spent nearly $1 billion on such vouchers, most going to people already sending their kids to private schools.
8. Local lawmaker absent: The state senator who represents Dayton and its southwest suburbs in the Ohio General Assembly wasn’t coming to work in the Statehouse for months and had one of the worst attendance records in the Senate, a Dayton Daily News investigation found. After our investigation ran, Sen. Niraj Antani, R-Miami Twp., said his absence was in protest, but resumed attending legislative sessions and voting.
9. Property tax hikes: Property taxes in parts of Montgomery and Greene counties skyrocketed this year after a reappraisal. We analyzed the impact of those tax increases, and followed legislative proposals to bring tax relief to Ohio households.
10. Nurse oversight: A Dayton Daily News investigation found local nurse accused of stealing drugs while working at four nursing homes in three counties, raising questions about how someone could repeatedly be hired at different facilities after being fired for suspected drug theft. Read that story here.
11. Pink slips: Efforts by local police to “pink slip” someone in a mental health crisis because an officer believes the person is a danger to themselves or others rarely result in the person being involuntarily committed, a Dayton Daily News investigation found. Many walk right out the door, sometimes coming back in contact with police hours later.
12. Kids and guns: A Dayton Daily News investigation found this has been an unusually dangerous year for area children. Juvenile homicides in Dayton have quadrupled, one story revealed, and there’s been a 56% increase in felonious assaults with juvenile victims. Another story looked at accidental shootings of children and found 11 times in recent years a young child got ahold of a gun and injured or killed themselves, and how often (or rarely) adults face consequences for it.
13. Kids in Crisis: Our monthslong special reporting project, Mental Health Matters: Kids in Crisis, looked at mental health challenges facing area youth, and what can be done to address it.
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