Journalism that matters: Chillicothe Gazette stories that had an impact in 2023

The journalists of the Chillicothe Gazette have written hundreds of stories in 2023, and many of those have impacted the lives of the residents of Ross County.

From informing the community on the path to the World Heritage designation to how your taxpayers' dollars are being spent to local business openings and closings, the stories we write are targeted to be the news that means the most to you.

World Heritage

Ross County has been looking forward to the World Heritage designation for the earthworks for years, but in 2023 it became a reality.

The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, which brings protection and publicity to eight sites in southern and central Ohio that showcase and tell the story of the Hopewell Culture that previously inhabited the area. The sites are spread across three counties:

Ross County

• Mound City Group (Chillicothe)

• Hopewell Mound Group (Chillicothe)

• Hopeton Earthworks (Chillicothe)

• Seip Mound (Bainbridge)

• High Bank Works (Chillicothe)

Licking County

• Great Circle Earthworks (Heath)

• Octagon Earthworks (Newark)

Warren County

• Fort Ancient (Lebanon)

Ross County has already been getting prepared for the designation with the ordering of new wayfinding signs and the general betterment of the area.

But what is next?

The Chillicothe Gazette will be asking just that to local officials. What is already in the works? When can we expect the tourism bump to start? What does this all mean?

Business news

There have been big news stories coming from area businesses in 2023, such as Cohen Orthopedic announcing plans to build a new medical facility and community center in Ross County off of U.S. 23, which will feature a new stadium for the Chillicothe Paints. Not only did we report on it, but we also followed up with concerns some have over an earthworks near the site.

Then there was Adena Health pausing its cardiac surgical program. The decision was made after an internal review and following an initial assessment by HealthLinx, a healthcare operations consultancy firm.

Every month, we have also been bringing you highlights of the building permits and at the end of the year we added a map for those stories so people can see the locations that have requested one.

Not to mention the multiple stories we have on local business openings that have occurred. We informed you of when they were opening, their hours, who the owners were, and what products or food they sold.

Local elections

Covering local elections isn't always about informing people of who is running or what a particular issue is about, it's also about looking into any issues that arise.

Following the August special election, at several locations, poll worker notes indicated that polling machines were not working correctly. Instead of automatically syncing up to the precinct each location had to manually enter the precinct ID or search for the location every time someone voted. This caused an issue at the Pickaway Ross Adult Center location when a worker picked the wrong precinct and a voter had to use a different machine.

While the issue did not result in any voter's vote not being valid, we still were the ones asking the questions about it.

In the November election, the Ross County Sheriff's Office received a call on Nov. 10 from a person wanting to report an incident with the Ross County Board of Elections. The caller said there was an employee of the board who may have "inappropriately interacted with provisional ballots."

Ross County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey Marks wrote a letter to the Board of Elections and the directors regarding this issue. He said he had reviewed all the relevant materials, including security footage, and it appears no criminal conduct took place and that there is no evidence of the individual opening any provisional ballots.

County-city jail issue

Reporter Shelby Reeves has been keeping people updated on the ongoing issue between the city and county concerning the county jail. The city pays no money to the county for city prisoners in the Ross County Jail. The city formerly had an agreement to pay a per diem for each prisoner but stopped paying in 2010. After that, the county continued to bill the city for two years but nothing was ever paid. County Auditor Jeff Lehner and Ross County Sheriff George Lavender have been asking for some support from the city when it comes to the jail.

Currently, the proposed city budget does not allocate any payments to the jail from the city. Mayor Luke Feeney said his opinion has not changed in that the city does not legally have to pay the county for the use of the jail.

Looking ahead

In 2024, we will continue to bring you the news that matters. And we will continue to evolve to ensure that.

Already this year, we have brought back an old feature -- Ross County restaurant inspections which is always popular with our readers.

Maybe you have a story idea, or maybe you have seen something around town that you might have a question about -- well let us see if we can find the answers for you. Feel free to contact us with your ideas or questions at cgoedit@nncogannett.com

And if you want to reach out to me directly, you can contact me at tshipley@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: How Chillicothe Gazette journalism impacted your lives in 2023