COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Department of Commerce abruptly suspended millions in funding intended to support Ohio's manufactures, citing a federal review of the program that could take years to resolve. The Department of Commerce said the funding is paused due to an ongoing Office of Inspector General review of Ohio's Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The [...]

WHITEHALL, Ohio (WCMH) -- Whitehall City Council is scheduled to meet Tuesday night to consider the removal of a councilmember accused of underage sexual misconduct. Councilmember Gerald Dixon was arrested the evening of Dec. 8 on allegations of decades of grooming underage boys. The next morning, he appeared in Franklin County Municipal Court and was [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- For many central Ohio districts, Monday kicks off the last week before winter break. NBC4 compiled a list of public schools' winter break dates. Dates are listed as the first school day students do not have to attend, then what day classes will resume. Find your district below. Athens County Coshocton [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ross Larue lives within a mile of the future Anduril site, and he's hoping the area's history will make Madison Township trustees reconsider a zoning change. On Thursday night, Madison Township is set to determine if defense weapons manufacturer Anduril can build on four additional parcels of land. Larue, research assistant [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A report linked Amazon data centers to miscarriages and rare cancers, drawing concerns about data centers' presence in central Ohio. According to a report from Rolling Stone, officials in Morrow County, Oregon, linked dangerous levels of nitrates in the county's water supply to the presence of an Amazon data center. The [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Columbus residents approved to become U.S. citizens are now seeing their final step toward citizenship canceled. On Dec. 2, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a pause on asylum and benefit applications for immigrants from 19 "high-risk" countries, including many represented in central Ohio. This week, it became clear the pause [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Gov. Mike DeWine said Amy Acton, the former state health director who's now running for governor as a Democrat, cannot be blamed for actions the state took during COVID-19. "The decisions that were made during COVID, they were my decisions, so no one should blame someone else if they don't like [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Gov. Mike DeWine said on Thursday that he plans to sign the new cannabis bill that would make adjustments to Ohio’s recreational cannabis use laws, including new legal charges for things like improper transportation. Voters legalized the adult use of marijuana in 2023, and that will not change under the new law— [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Funded largely by voter-approved levies, public school districts often have to answer questions about fiscal responsibility. Property taxes continue to be a pressing issue for Ohioans, but the Ohio Federation of Teachers said the state is underfunding public schools by $2 billion. As districts look to cut costs, they often face [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A new Emerson College Polling survey of Ohio voters found increasing success for Democratic candidates ahead of 2026's elections. New polling released on Thursday found the statewide elections for governor and U.S. Senate have tightened since Emerson's last poll in August. The poll found Ohioans' shift in favorability toward Democratic candidates [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Anduril, the defense weapons manufacturer behind the largest single-site job creation investment in Ohio history, is responding to reports of drone failures in testing and abroad. A report from Reuters drew attention to Anduril after highlighting sudden drone failures and setbacks in Ukraine, where Anduril weaponry is being used during the [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The CROWN Act. The RURAL Act. The Big, Beautiful Bill. Politicians create specific names, often with complex acronyms, when writing legislation. It's no coincidence; politicians said it's worth taking a minute to title bills in a way that conveys their intent and is memorable for constituents. "There's hundreds of bills that [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- As central Ohio hospitals continue dialogue about workplace violence, OhioHealth announced safety precautions to protect employees. OhioHealth announced it will now require all hospital visitors 18 and older to show government ID before accessing care facilities. The healthcare network said the change is already being implemented at five OhioHealth sites, and [...]

WHITEHALL, Ohio (WCMH) -- Police say they have evidence that a Whitehall city councilman spent years and perhaps decades grooming underage victims, leading to his arrest Monday night on felony charges. Allegations that Gerald Dixon was grooming boys were brought to police's attention in late 2020, with an investigation beginning in mid 2023, Chief Mike [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- State senators passed changes to Ohio's marijuana laws on Tuesday. Senate Bill 56 passed the Ohio Senate 22-7 and will now head to Gov. Mike DeWine. The bill offers significant adjustments to Ohio's recreational cannabis use laws, including new legal charges for things like improper transportation. See previous coverage of S.B. [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Columbus City Schools is looking into allegations that a first-grade teacher made students rub his feet in class. "Straight up, it's inappropriate," parent Jacob Jackson said. "It's not a normal thing for a 6-year-old to rub a 50-year-old man's feet during school, where they're supposed to be learning.” Jackson pulled his [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Thousands of central Ohio families will be left without care after Columbus Speech and Hearing shuttered its speech department with just two weeks' notice. “Your decisions have real life consequences for families like mine," Columbus Speech and Hearing mom Haylee McFarland said. "Every child deserves a voice. And you're taking away [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Car crashes that kill or seriously injure pedestrians and bicyclists are increasing, with Columbus reporting 115 incidents in 2024. “If a street's designed like a highway, folks and vehicles are going to treat it like a highway," Trevin Flickinger, vice chair of Transit Columbus, said. "Street design is one of the [...]

DUBLIN, Ohio (WCMH) -- Dublin Police said they have arrested a suspect on aggravated arson charges in connection with two fires this week, including a blaze that ravaged a Dublin Ace Hardware store. Police said the Washington Township Fire Department responded to a call at a Marathon Gas Station on West Bridge Street shortly before [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Officials in northern Pickaway County have an idea to protect municipalities from data center encroachment: a government alliance. “What if we tried to bring in everybody, more people, to try to share information, communicate, coordinate and get all these local townships and villages across all of northern Pickaway County and eventually, [...]