Here is a look at some of the top Springfield News-Sun stories from 2024:
1. Sheila Henry makes Black history
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Sheila Henry, formerly Sheila Rice, took office after overwhelmingly winning the race to be the Clark County Municipal Court clerk.
The November 2023 election made Henry — who married Alan Henry at her swearing-in ceremony in December 2023 — the first Black elected county official in Clark County’s history. She was initially appointed to the role in October 2021 for a two-year period when former clerk Guy Ferguson died.
Henry announced she will resign at the end of 2024, citing family issues and thanking Clark Countians and her team for making her dream “a history-making reality.”
2. Incumbent sheriff defeated
Chris Clark, who will be Clark County’s sheriff next year, won 62 of 76 precincts over incumbent Sheriff Deb Burchett in the Republican primary in March.
According to final, unofficial results, Clark received 59.67% of the vote, while Burchett had 40.33%, a difference of just more than 3,000 votes.
Clark won big in some precincts. In one part of his hometown area of Madison Twp., he won a total of 212 votes to Burchett’s 43. In another South Charleston and Madison Twp. area 199 votes to Burchett’s 23.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
3. Guilty verdicts in deadly bus crash
A jury in May reached guilty verdicts in the trial of a minivan driver who hit a school bus, killing one student and injuring dozens of others.
Hermanio Joseph, an immigrant from Haiti, had been indicted on first-degree felony involuntary manslaughter and fourth-degree felony vehicular homicide charges. Jurors found him guilty on both counts.
The charges came after an Aug. 22, 2023 crash involving Joseph’s 2010 Honda Odyssey that went left of center on state Route 41, striking a Northwestern school bus. One student, Aiden Clark, 11, died after he was ejected from the bus, which overturned.
4. Fallout from Haitian rumors
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
In September, Springfield became fodder for the broader immigration debate as misinformation about Haitian immigrants garnered national attention. Shortly after social media posts and baseless rumors gained traction, Springfield city and Clark County officials sought to set the record straight.
At a Sept. 10 press conference, Mayor Rob Rue said that rumors of pets or wildlife being eaten by Haitian immigrants were absolutely false, with zero verified reports of specific claims.
Clark County Commission President Melanie Flax Wilt, a lifelong county resident, said that once Springfield is no longer being used as a “talking point for immigration reform,” the community will have to deal with the real challenges and find solutions.
Rumors were shared nationally, with now President-elect Donald Trump claiming Haitian immigrants were eating people’s dogs at the September presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump’s running mate JD Vance and other prominent Republican figures like billionaire Elon Musk and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also shared baseless claims about Springfield, all while local leaders asked them to stop.
What followed were weeks of bomb threats to schools, local businesses, government offices and other threats to people, as well as uncertainty and fear in the community.
5. Bomb threats
Credit: NYT
Credit: NYT
The Springfield region was hit by threats of violence in September affecting schools, city officials and others.
Bomb threat emails targeted city commissioners, a city employee, several schools, businesses, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Ohio License Bureau Southside. All affected buildings were evacuated and some closed.
Springfield officials and police worked with the Dayton FBI office to find out where the email threats came from. Security was heightened at many facilities. No arrests were made.
Mayor Rob Rue said the threats and negative attention the city received were distracting officials from doing their jobs effectively, resulting in increased personnel, overtime and safety concerns.
6. State support for Haitian population
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and his office worked to support Springfield and Clark County officials through the substantial growth in the Haitian population locally.
Over the last five years, Haitian immigrants relocated to Springfield, where estimates were 10,000 to 15,000 new residents in July, a number officials said grows each month.
The number of immigrants strained local governments, workforce programs, social services agencies, schools, housing, healthcare and nonprofits trying to provide assistance. Driver training was also cited as a need.
DeWine’s team met with Springfield and Clark County officials, including Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, Clark County Commissioner Melanie Flax Wilt, Health Commissioner Chris Cook, Springfield City School District Superintendent Bob Hill and others.
They talked about feedback on what might be needed and potential resources through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Department of Job and Family Services and Department of Education and Workforce, as well as healthcare and language barriers.
7. New health center
A new school-based health center opened in August at Springfield High School as a place to provide students, school staff and the community primary care, vaccinations, health screenings and mental health care.
At the center’s ribbon cutting ceremony, DeWine said the center is emblematic of the community’s desire to work together, and will serve as a model for communities across the state.
The district partnered with Rocking Horse Community Health Center, the Community Health Foundation, the city of Springfield and other organizations for the project.
8. Hate groups visit Springfield
Credit: Jessica Orozco
Credit: Jessica Orozco
Hate groups visited Springfield multiple times in 2024, both before and after the false claims about Haitian immigrants and pets made national news.
Springfield city government officials had mixed reactions after 12 people carrying swastika flags and rifles while wearing ski masks walked around the downtown area in August during the Springfield Jazz & Blues Fest.
Mayor Rob Rue said the hate group was not from the area and that the city was “watching the whole time.”
The same group and others marched through parts of the city or distributed racist flyers after the Haitian rumors made national news as well.
9. New facility at Clark State
Global Impact STEM Academy held a tour in October of their nearly $17 million facility that’s under construction on Clark State College’s campus.
GISA is building a 30,000-square-foot, single-story facility on the southeast corner of Clark State’s Leffel Lane campus to create an “Upper Academy” for students in grades 10-12, who will be preparing to enter the workforce or choosing a career path to continue their education.
The goal of the new facility is to provide “much-needed space” to help serve more students by expanding overall programming down to sixth grade starting in fall of 2025 and by expanding the number of students in grades 7-8, which will help alleviate capacity restrictions at GISA’s current location inside the Springfield Center of Innovation at The Dome.
The total budget for the project, including all preconstruction services and soft costs, is $16.9 million. GISA will contribute nearly $5.3 million out of its general fund, with the remaining $11.7 million being financed through New Carlisle Federal Savings Bank, and nearly $1.8 million supported by unnamed philanthropic partners.
10. Driver training added
Gov. DeWine visited Springfield earlier this month to announce a driver training simulator initiative in Clark County to help improve safety.
The Maria Tiberi Foundation and Virtual Drivers Interactive each donated five driving simulators for use in Springfield and Clark County. This makes a total of 12 simulators, as two were donated last year. The simulators have custom software that teaches safe driving skills and addresses topics such as dangerous speeding, distracted driving, following too closely and overcorrecting.
The simulators are free to all residents, and will help people gain virtual driving training experience, while familiarizing themselves with road signs, lane markings and other concepts in a safe environment.
They will be placed at six locations, and each site will have a translator and instructor who was trained to guide those in the program.
