June's most-read stories: Investigation involving motorcycle club, school voucher investigation, Wawa breaks ground and more
Jul. 1—Here is a look at the most-read Dayton Daily News stories for the month of April on our website and news app:
Multi-state investigation involving motorcycle club leads investigators to Xenia, Huber Heights
Police presences in Xenia and Huber Heights were connected to a multi-state investigation involving a motorcycle club.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents, Ohio State Highway Patrol and Xenia police were seen outside a house in the 1000 block of Colorado Drive.
ATF Special Agent John Nokes said the response was part of a multi-state investigation involving several law enforcement agencies. Search warrants were served in multiple states Thursday, but he was unable to confirm how many states were involved.
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Ohio leaders react to Dayton Daily News voucher investigation
Several Ohio legislative leaders responded to a recent Dayton Daily News report that most of the state's new private school voucher money was awarded to families who were already sending their children to private school.
Under the state's expanded program, all Ohio families can access school vouchers. Full vouchers are $8,408 for high school students and $6,166 for K-8 students and are available to any student from a family making up to 450% of the federal poverty line. After that, the wealthier the family, the smaller the stipend.
A Dayton Daily News analysis shows that enrollment at private schools in six area counties grew only 3.7% last year, despite over three times as many private school vouchers being handed out by the state. This comes at the end of the first school year following the state's drastic expansion of its school choice program.
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Downtown Dayton restaurant plans to relocate to Uptown Centerville in 2025
Mudlick Tap House is relocating from downtown Dayton to Uptown Centerville.
"The restaurant is very much alive and well," said Jennifer Dean, who owns Mudlick Tap House with her husband, Forrest Williams. "After 10 years in business, nearly eight of them in downtown Dayton, we have decided to relocate to Uptown Centerville."
With the move, they are downsizing the restaurant's footprint. The restaurant will be located in a 6,000-square-foot, single story building with a patio at 110 W. Franklin St., across from The Brunch Pub. Their current location at 135 E. Second St. is 14,800 square feet with three stories.
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Ohio villages face threat to dissolve under bill passed by House
A bill that passed the Ohio House would create a process to review and potentially ask voters whether to dissolve villages that aren't serving their residents.
The measure was borne from an attempt last year to dissolve the Warren County village of Harveysburg that failed by 28 votes, which was related to a failed attempt by the Ohio Renaissance Festival to secede from the village to avoid a ticket tax increase.
House Bill 331, passed by an 88-3 vote in the House, would automatically put a question on any Ohio village's ballot if a once-a-decade audit found that:
—A village failed to provide five out of nine essential services to its residents; and
—Failed to produce at least a singular candidate for each position of the village's elected position of government.
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Dayton area Chick-fil-A to shut down for dining room expansion, drive-thru revamp
CENTERVILLE -A Dayton area Chick-fil-A will temporarily close to enlarge its dining room and update its drive-thru.
The renovation of the 4,700-square-foot Cornerstone of Centerville restaurant, which opened at 5301 Cornerstone N. Blvd in late 2015, is set to include "an interior cosmetic renovation of existing drive-thru workspace," according to plans submitted to the city of Centerville.
That includes adding updating its drive thru with a new team member service door and a drive-thru delivery door, according to plans, something Chick-fil-A said would help "serve guests more efficiently."
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'Silicon Heartland' construction on schedule at Intel semiconductor plants that will employ 3,000
Construction is progressing on schedule for two new Intel Corp. semiconductor fabrication plants being built in New Albany, said Elly Akopyan, Intel communications and local media manager.
Intel began construction in late 2022 and is building the two plants simultaneously, said Linda Qian, communications director for the California-based company's Ohio community relations team. Currently 1,000 construction workers are on site, a number the company expects will grow to 7,000.
Construction workers and suppliers are being drawn from across the state, including the Dayton-Springfield-Butler County region, according to Ohio Department of Development data. Intel expects the local region also will supply technicians, engineers, administrative and other support workers. Ten local colleges and universities are part of an Intel-funded statewide effort to get workers trained for the jobs.
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Massive, vacant Trotwood shopping center sold for $1.2M; renovation planned
The former Salem Consumer Square shopping center in Trotwood now has new owners who hope to redevelop the existing strip center for new businesses.
Located on Salem Avenue, south of Olive Road and west of Salem Bend Drive, the 30-acre site was put up for auction late last year and was subsequently purchased by National Eagle LLC for a total cost just under $1.2 million.
The starting bid for the damaged 275,000-square-foot retail strip was $800,000.
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EdChoice vouchers: Students living in suburban districts part of largest use increase in Ohio
Ohio school districts located in suburbs saw some of the largest increases in students using EdChoice vouchers in the past year to attend private schools.
In the Dayton area, Centerville City Schools had the second-highest number of students living in the district and attending private schools on vouchers this past school year, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce data.
Although the number of students in suburban public school districts using vouchers increased, it didn't mean enrollment went down in those districts.
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Wawa breaks ground on Ohio's first location with many more to come
The first Wawa in Ohio is planned to open in April 2025 as ground was broken at a site in Warren County.
The chain of more than 1,000 convenience retail/fuel stores operating in eight states has plans for a huge expansion in Ohio, as well as surrounding states, in the coming years. As many as 60 Wawa stores are expected to be open across the Buckeye State, which includes four others within the first half of 2025.
In addition to what's expected to be Ohio's first Wawa in Deerfield Twp. on Fields Ertel, Greater Cincinnati stores also will include ones in Liberty Twp., Fairfield, Mason and Springdale, and all are expected to be open by summertime next year. Statewide, there will be 11 stores opening by mid-2025.
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