Credit: Chris Pizzello
Credit: Chris Pizzello
Betty White, one of America’s most beloved celebrities, died on Dec. 31, 2021 at the age of 99, just short of her 100th birthday.
Few people, however, know she lived briefly in Ohio for a few months in Logan County, and she hated the experience.
White married World War II pilot Dick “Bud” Barker in 1945, and she planned to live with him in California.
However, she recounted Barker instead drove her to Belle Center, a village in Logan County. She called Belle Center a chicken farm.
Auditor: Overcharging at local Dollar General, Family Dollar stores unprecedented
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
A review of listed prices at area discount stores found customers overcharged at a rate Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith says he has never seen.
Comparisons in the fall found the price at the register didn’t match the list price for items at 26 of the 32 Dollar General stores and 15 of the 23 Family Dollar stores in Montgomery County, according to auditor’s office data obtained by the Dayton Daily News.
At each store, the auditor’s office scanned 50 random items and compared them to the sticker price. Dollar General stores at 2228 Gettysburg Ave. and 2312 N. Main St. in Dayton had the highest rates in that chain, with prices not matching in at least half the items. Prices were off at 36% of items tested at the Family Dollar Store at 745 Troy St., the worst of that chain.
Verdict announced in court-martial of ex-AFRL commander
A military judge found Air Force Maj. Gen. William Cooley guilty of one charge of abusive sexual contact on the sixth day of an historic court-martial at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Air Force Judge Col. Christina Jimenez deliberated for some five hours on April 22 before recessing for the day. The verdict was pronounced as soon as court opened on April 23.
The charge had three specifications involving how the two-star general was reported to have touched the complainant in the case — forcing his tongue in her mouth, forcing her hand to his genitals and pushing his hand between her legs and cupping her breast, according to an Air Force charge sheet.
Former Kmart being demolished; mayor excited Kroger will break ground Friday
The start of a new $23 million Kroger project started with the demolition of a former Riverside Kmart in March.
Building the 100,349-square-foot business will follow demolition of the former Kmart site at 601 Woodman Drive, which has been vacant since 2017, officials said.
Crews tore down the structure that occupied about 118,500 square feet on nearly 11 acres. The new Kroger — among a number of Dayton-area projects by the company in recent years — is targeted for completion in early 2023, a company official said.
Security guard, inmate die after shooting at Miami Valley Hospital
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
A private security guard died after he was shot by a Montgomery County Jail inmate at Miami Valley Hospital on June 1.
The inmate was being treated in the hospital’s emergency department when he took an armed security guard’s gun and shot the guard before fatally shooting himself in the parking lot behind the emergency room.
Judge hits Miami Twp. wedding venue operator with $50K penalty
A Montgomery County judge found a Miami Twp. wedding venue operator in contempt of court, ordering him to pay $50,000 plus attorneys’ fees to the township for continuing to hold celebrations on his property after an injunction was ordered.
Common Pleas Judge Richard Skelton’s Aug. 30 decision in the case of Miami Twp. Board of Trustees vs. Darren Powlette says “the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the defendants have operated the barn located at 7757 Upper Miamisburg Road, Miami Township, for celebratory events in defiance of this court’s injunction.”
“In fact, this court specifically finds Mr. Powlette disobeyed the court’s December 29, 2021, order and that the evidence demonstrates intentional disregard of the court’s order,” Skelton said in his ruling.
These celebrities worked at Kings Island before becoming famous
There are a handful of celebrities who once were employed at Kings Island amusement park before they were ever famous. A few ... well, as the “Cheers” theme song (sort of) says: Everyone knows their names.
Woody Harrelson, who acted on the “Cheers” TV series, is one of those people. The actor and two-time academy award nominee was a wood carver at Kings Island during his high school years. Harrelson is a 1979 graduate of Lebanon High School and worked at the park around that time.
Another celeb many recognize these days from being all over our television sets, in everything from “Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica” to a recent appearance on “The Masked Singer,” Nick Lachey, of the band 98 Degrees, grew up in Cincinnati and spent multiple summers singing in a barbershop quartet at Kings Island.
Lachey’s 98 Degrees band co-member, Justin Jeffre, was also a quartet singer at Kings Island. The two met while attending the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati.
New area vintage record store opens: ‘A passion that got out of hand’
While many people access their music via computer, satellite radio, tablet or smartphone, there’s a new store in Franklin that features vintage vinyl records.
DoublePlay Records & Retro opened its doors in mid-January at 351 S. Main St. and features vintage vinyl albums, CDs and 45s in nearly every music genre, said co-owner Traci Huff.
She and her husband David have been in the business for more than 20 years and previously leased space at the Flea Market on Conover Drive in Franklin and at the Peddlers Mall in Lebanon.
Trump rallies in Dayton for Vance and other GOP candidates
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Former President Donald Trump rallied in Dayton on Nov. 7 for Ohio U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance and other Republican candidates.
Trump repeated his thoughts about alleged election fraud, saying it cost him the 2020 election. He outlined a long list of grievances about multiple criminal, civil and congressional investigations of him and his business.
Archdeacon: UD coach Grant and family lose a child for the second time
For the second time, University of Dayton basketball coach Anthony Grant and his wife, Chris, lost a child.
This time the news is especially stunning and sad.
On Memorial Day, their beloved 20-year-old daughter, Jayda, died. A 2019 Chaminade-Julienne graduate, she had been a UD student and a sprinter on the Flyers track and field team.
Dayton native’s ‘remarkable run’ on ‘Jeopardy!’
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Dayton native Amy Schneider’s impressive, history-making, 40-game “Jeopardy!” winning streak came to an end Jan. 26.
Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, Illinois, defeated the Chaminade-Julienne graduate, who fell short during Final Jeopardy!
“Our returning champion Amy Schneider has now been with us 40 days and 40 nights,” said host Ken Jennings in his introductory remarks. “She has amassed over $1.3 million and answered over 1,300 clues correctly. It’s been a remarkable run – one for the books.”
In November Schneider, a resident of Oakland, California, returned to the quiz show to compete in its Tournament of Champions, which assembled the top 21 players of 2022.
How a small town won Ohio’s biggest foreign investment
The story of how the small Shelby County city of Sidney landed the biggest foreign commercial investment in Ohio history began with a request for information.
Codenamed “Project Greenleaf,” the effort started with an email from JobsOhio to James Hill, executive director of the Sidney-Shelby Economic Partnership on April 23, 2021. It concerned a site selection consultant representing an anonymous company that needed information on available locations — enough information to fill more than 700 fields in an Excel spreadsheet.
It was the “most in-depth” information request Hill had ever seen.
Semcorp, a Shanghai, China-based producer of electric vehicle battery components, announced plans in May to invest $916 million in a Sidney manufacturing complex.
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