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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- More than 1,000 Columbus Education Association members voted to approve a new three-year contract Thursday at the Columbus Convention Center.

CEA spokesperson Regina Fuentes said teachers and staff voted overwhelmingly in favor of the agreement between the union and the Columbus City Schools Board of Education.

It’s a very different story from three years ago when the union decided to strike just as the school year was starting. Both sides are happy to avoid a strike this time around.

“It feels good to know that we can continue to negotiate and, you know, and to move forward and do what's best for our members,” Fuentes said.

The negotiation process this year lasted for months.

“We know that our board is very dysfunctional right now, and we have to continue moving forward and kind of move them on so that we can actually continue to grow,” Fuentes said.

A new contract is in place, but Fuentes said the CEA’s work is ongoing, especially following the approval of the most recent state budget.

In a special board meeting Wednesday night, the district’s treasurer revealed that Columbus City Schools needs to make $50 million in cuts. District leaders said this is partially due to cuts to public education funding in the Ohio budget.

“Any cuts to public education are devastating, and we definitely don't want that, so we are going to continue to fight moving forward to make sure that those cuts don't negatively affect our students,” Fuentes said.

The new contract between the school board and the teachers’ union includes a pay raise for the first year, and then wage talks will open back up for the second and third years of the agreement so members can negotiate for more salary increases.

“We know that this is not ideal. We know that not everybody is going to be happy with this. But we are trying to work with what we have,” Fuentes said.

CCS staff return to school on Monday, and students will be welcomed back the following week on Aug. 25, so the new contract comes just in time.

The agreement must now be ratified by the Columbus City School Board, which will meet on Tuesday.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — With two and a half weeks to go, the Buckeyes aren't too far away from making decisions that will decide who will start on the offensive line against Texas, and where those players will start.

"We've got to start honing in on where guys can help us and play at an elite level," Ohio State offensive line coach Tyler Bowen said. "We've got to figure out that combination of the best pretty quick."

The challenge comes in finding which five players in which five spots work best. There's an added layer that makes this a little more complex because every player has a primary and a secondary position.

When Bowen talks about finding the best combination, he has seen a ton of them through the first two weeks of training camp. Despite the complexity, there's a lot to like; the line has a lot of depth and there's experience too.

Carson Hinzman will be starting games for a third year, Luke Montgomery did great in his two starts last year against Texas and Notre Dame, Austin Siereveld has done nothing but deliver since first starting games early last season, and Tegra Tshabola is a senior who should be better as long as he stays healthy.

That leaves a battle to start at tackle, one that appears to be between Phil Daniels and Ethan Onianwa.

Daniels, who transferred in from Minnesota and played high school football in Cincinnati, lost his black stripe Wednesday. It's another sign of the impressive run he has been on in training camp, showing a ton of progress since the spring.

"I'm just playing faster," Daniels said. "I know the plays now, so everything's just clicking and once I know the plays, I feel like I can kill anybody."

Montgomery played nearly 200 snaps alone last year during the CFP run. Taking it game-by-game, he played in more snaps from the Rose Bowl to the Cotton Bowl to the championship game. It was a big ask; the Buckeyes needed help solidifying the guard spot and Montgomery stepped into the challenging situation. 

"You know, if I'm being honest with you, I was just pretty pissed off that I didn't get a chance before, so I just, it was kind of like, here's what I'm going to do," Montgomery said. 

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A local business made sure that every local student has the resources they need to start the school year on a positive note.

On Thursday, dozens of backpacks were given out to girls who are part of the Justice for Black Girls organization.

Columbus McDonald’s owners Andre and Gale Hill, along with the organization Community for Direction, helped provide the back-to-school supplies.

They said Black girls are among the students who are the most underserved when it comes to having proper school supplies and proper guidance.

The organizers noted that every product that the girls received contained a message of positivity and affirmation.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Sticker shock is hitting Ohioans hard when they open their property tax bills. 

NBC4 has shown you where property taxes have doubled and even tripled, and how many are desperate for some relief. 

State legislators have disagreed on the best way to get Ohioans that relief without compromising schools and others who rely on these dollars. 

Now the Governor’s Property Tax Reform Work Group is trying to find a solution. The work group is considering how to give Ohioans property tax relief without hurting the entities, such as school districts, that rely on this money. The group has until September to issue a report with concrete proposals to address property taxes. 

On Aug. 14, the group discussed five concepts, mostly focused on what should or should not be allowed when it comes to school levies. 

Those concepts were school district property tax reductions and cash balance carryover limits, school district property tax levy restrictions, adding substitute and emergency levies in 20-mill floor calculation, county budget commission authority and procedures, and limiting property tax increases via inflation cap.

“I'm not trying to supplant the legislature,” Governor’s Property Tax Task Force co-chair Bill Seitz said. “We are trying to refine what they have done while preserving the essence of the concepts they put forward and at the same time come up with additional ideas that have yet to be enacted by the general assembly that might that might provide further real property tax relief or greater transparency and clarity to the problem.”

The group, made up of leaders from counties and school districts, discussed options, shared opinions, and talked about how the concepts should be adjusted or issues they had with them.  

“The governor has not laid out any expectations of what he wants the end result to be," Seitz said. "He has assembled a group of folks who are experts in their respective fields of administering or benefiting from property taxation, with a good smattering of former legislators and business people, and said, 'Get to work and put your minds together and see what you can come up with.'"

In the meantime, a grassroots group is gathering signatures across the state to put a constitutional amendment to abolish property taxes on the ballot. 

This has been criticized by some lawmakers as a harsh approach.

NBC4 spoke with the petitioner, who said they are aiming to be on the May ballot and will announce when they have collected half of the 413,000 signatures meeded

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Through its mosquito surveillance program, Franklin County Public Health is seeing its highest level of West Nile virus in years.

"This has been a very, very active virus year,” Franklin County Public Health Environmental Section Division Manager Charlie Borschart said. “West Nile virus is very prevalent in the mosquito population right now. We’re probably on track to exceed the number of positive mosquitoes we got in 2018, which was a pretty banner year.”

The Ohio Department of Health has a map that shows how many pools of mosquitoes have tested positive for the virus. There have been 528 pools that have tested positive in Franklin County, according to the latest data. The next closest county had 88.

“We’re very good at catching mosquitoes, we’re very good at testing for virus," Broschart said.

Ohio Department of Health press secretary Ken Gordon said Franklin County and Columbus health departments have "very robust surveillance programs," so they submit more mosquitoes than other jurisdictions, leading to more samples testing positive for West Nile.

“We’ve identified this as an important part of Franklin County Public Health’s program and the environmental program but then all the jurisdictions we serve also see this is very important that we maintain it at a high level,” Gordon said.

ODH also said that the percentage of samples testing positive in Franklin County is not higher than some other jurisdictions and many areas have seen significant increases in virus activity. The infection rate in mosquitoes in Franklin County is five times higher than the 10-year average, according to FCPH.

“When the virus is this prevalent and we’re seeing it in the mosquitoes, it's pretty important that people are aware, you don't want people to kind of blow this off because it's just important," Broschart said.

He said this doesn't mean people shouldn't go outside, but stressed the importance of using bug spray, wearing light and loose-fitting clothing, and avoiding certain areas during certain times.

There have been two cases of West Nile virus in humans in Ohio so far this year, according to state data.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, while most people don’t experience symptoms from West Nile virus, those who do may suffer headaches, fevers, body aches, and a rash. Those who suffer from more severe cases could experience a high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, confusion, muscle weakness, tremors, seizures, paralysis, or coma.

NEW ALBANY, Ohio (WCMH) -- Intel stock is up 7% after Bloomberg reported President Donald Trump's administration is considering having the federal government take a stake in the company.

According to the Bloomberg report, which cited people familiar with the plan, the deal would help protect Intel's Ohio facility. The report said plans are still in the works and stem from a meeting between Trump and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan on Monday. The White House did not confirm the plans.

“Discussion about hypothetical deals should be regarded as speculation unless officially announced by the administration,” White House Spokesman Kush Desai told NBC4.

Any agreement would help Intel, which is laying off 15% of its workforce and reorienting to fight ongoing financial difficulties, and likely Tan himself. Tan's meeting with Trump came after calls from senators and the president to investigate Tan's alleged ties to the Chinese military or to have Tan resign.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a Trump ally, was the first to call for a review of Tan's ties to China and has not publicly commented on rumors of a deal as of publication. A deal between Tan and the U.S. government indicates Tan may be under decreased political scrutiny from the White House. After the meeting, Intel said Tan's conversation with Trump was "candid and constructive."

"We appreciate the President’s strong leadership to advance these critical priorities and look forward to working closely with him and his administration as we restore this great American company," Intel said in a statement after Monday's meeting.

According to Bloomberg's report, the federal investment would specifically help Ohio's plant. Once the face of domestic semiconductor manufacturing, Intel's $28 billion Ohio One plant is far from its original opening goal of 2025, now aiming for 2032. In late July, Intel announced it was further slowing construction on Ohio's facility as its manufacturing division continues to be unprofitable. The company confirmed that slowed efforts do not mean construction will stop entirely.

Intel was already promised federal support through the bipartisan CHIPS Act, which pledged $7.8 billion to the chipmaker last November. As of July, Intel reported it had not received new CHIPS Act funding since January.

Trump has pushed for more domestic semiconductor manufacturing, threatening 100% tariffs on foreign semiconductors. Most semiconductors -- small, complex chips that power complex technology like computers -- are manufactured in Taiwan, with the U.S. International Trade Commission estimating 44.2% of all American semiconductors originate there. The commission said 92% of the world's most advanced chipmaking capacity is located in Taiwan.

Federal support for Intel, especially Ohio's plant, could help the U.S. become more competitive in the semiconductor industry. Intel Ohio One plans to encompass two "leading-edge" semiconductor fabs to help the U.S. build advanced chips.

Ohioan Vice President J.D. Vance and Intel did not immediately respond to NBC4's request for comment. Senator John Husted declined to comment at this time.

CLEVELAND (WCMH) -- Former Ohio State running back and Cleveland Browns draft pick Quinshon Judkins will not face formal charges after being arrested in July for an alleged domestic violence incident.

A memorandum obtained by NBC4 from the Broward State attorney's office in Florida said that prosecutors will not seek a misdemeanor battery charge. Judkins was charged with a count of “touch or strike/battery/domestic violence," according to Broward County records.

Among the reasons prosecutors said Judkins would not be charged include no video surveillance of the alleged incident, no independent witnesses, a delayed report of the incident, and more. The full memorandum can be seen by clicking here.

A police report obtained by NBC4 sister station WJW in Cleveland said that Judkins and his off-and-on girlfriend had arrived at the Fort Lauderdale airport on the evening of July 7. The two got into a rental car and Judkins was alleged to have punched the woman in the face, left arm, and thigh.

She reported the incident to police on July 12 at 5 p.m. According to the report, police said she had visible bruising on her body as well as in pictures she provided to investigators.

"The delay is problematic as the victim was alone on numerous occasions without the Defendant, had the ability and resources to make the report without his knowledge, but chose not to do so," wrote assistant state attorney Barbara Driscoll.

As of Thursday, Judkins is the only NFL rookie without a contract. If he signs with the Browns soon, he will be part of their roster for the Sept. 7 regular season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.

He transferred from Ole Miss in 2024 to join Ohio State and was instrumental in its national championship campaign last year. He led the team in rushing with 1,060 yards and tied for the team lead with 16 touchdowns. Judkins scored three times in the Buckeyes' national championship victory over Notre Dame on Jan. 20.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A man has been hospitalized in critical condition after a shooting Thursday afternoon in a west Columbus neighborhood.

A police dispatcher said officers were called to the intersection of West Broad Street and Wisconsin Avenue in Franklinton just before 1:45 p.m. on reports of a shooting.

Officers found a man suffering from a gunshot wound. Medics arrived and took the victim to a hospital in critical condition.

Columbus police has yet to identify a suspect as it continues to investigate.