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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- ADAMH, a mental health service in Franklin County, said post-pandemic, alcohol use disorder affects about 1 in 9 adults in the county.

Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health also shows a troubling trend: more adults and young adults are binge drinking in Franklin County than compared with the national average.

However, ADAMH said alcohol use disorder goes beyond statistics. It’s also about spreading awareness and creating a space where people feel comfortable asking for help.

It’s a message one Columbus man is emphasizing as he nears the end of his time at an addiction treatment center.

In January 2023, Ronald Lockhart woke up in a hospital bed.

"There was a doctor next to my bed, flipping through this clipboard and he told me I wasn't going to make it. 'You're going to die.'" Lockhart, currently a Maryhave client, said.

This wasn’t the first time.

"That was the 10th time that had happened to me and I had pretty much just given up," he said. "But this time, I don't know, I could change. I had changed, I didn't want to die."

Lockhart admits he struggles with addiction.

"If I take a drink of liquor, I can't stop drinking," he said. "And I know there's people that can understand that."

Now he’s sharing his story in the hope it can inspire others to get the help they need.

"I made up my mind that I was going to stay clean and sober no matter what, and my sobriety date is actually today of last year," Lockhart said. 

He credits Maryhaven with his progress. Maryhaven, an ADAMH partner, offers addiction counseling, in-patient stays, and much more to help those with substance use disorders live better lives.

"The other problem with alcohol and other substances is that once you start to use them, your body develops that tolerance to it," ADAMH System Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Delaney Smith said. "You get psychological dependence on it as well. So it can be very, very hard to stop."

ADAMH and its partner organizations are working to make sure people feel comfortable asking for help, no matter if they just realized they are struggling or are at rock bottom.

"What we're really wanting to do is open up conversations so people feel comfortable getting help, reaching out to loved ones, maybe starting a conversation with someone that they're concerned about the pattern of their alcohol use," Smith said. 

Data sent by ADAMH shows binge drinking in adults and young adults in cental Ohio is higher than both the national and state average by about three percent. They said not only is the area seeing the increasing problematic use of alcohol but also the negative health consequences that come along with it. These can include liver impairment, withdrawal symptoms and even death.

"I hope if anybody sees this, you can learn from my mistakes because you don't need to go through all that. It's not necessary. You can get the help you need," Lockhart said. "Alcohol is a lot more silent to get addicted to because you don't realize it until it's too late."

If you or a loved one is struggling with alcohol use, ADAMH encourages you to reach out. More information can be found here. 

LOGAN, Ohio (WCMH) -- Facing disbarment and a sexual harassment lawsuit, Hocking County's former prosecutor said alcohol use and mental health disorders contributed to his conduct.

In response to a filing with the Ohio Supreme Court Board of Professional Conduct, former Hocking County Prosecutor Ryan R. Black denied all allegations levied against him by the state disciplinary board.

One of those allegations includes coercing a woman who worked in the office into a sexual relationship, which is the subject of a civil lawsuit filed in February.

The response also denies that Black engaged in a sexual relationship with then-Hocking County Commissioner Jessica Dicken in August 2023, when Dicken, as a commissioner, was a client of Black, who served as the commission's legal counsel.

In addition to denying all the accusations against him, the response, filed Tuesday, also claims alcohol and a mental health issue led to Black's alleged behaviors.

"... at times relevant to the allegations in the Complaint, Respondent [Black] suffered from a mental health disorder and an alcohol use disorder (for which Respondent is seeking ongoing treatment), which contributed to cause any conduct for which Respondent is responsible," the response states.

In addition, Black is accused of trying to intimidate the county's IT director Mark Stout into putting his office's computer system issues above the director's other county responsibilities, threatening to have Stout arrested.

The complaint also accuses Black of "erratic" behavior often consisting of "screaming outbursts" and "refus[ing] to speak to staff members for several days," and of making sexually charged comments to women working in his office.

Black is facing three counts in the misconduct complaint: inappropriate sexual conduct with employees, inappropriate sexual conduct with client, and inappropriate use of public office.

Two judges and a mediator -- none of whom live in Black's district -- were appointed to the panel that will hear his case. A date for that hearing hasn't been scheduled as of Tuesday.

Should the panel find against Black, he faces sanctions up to and including disbarment.

Black, who was on the primary election ballot in March and finished last, resigned in March, with the resignation taking effect on April 19.

Black received his license to practice law in Ohio in November 2018 and was elected Hocking County prosecutor in November 2020.

The complaint as well as Black's response can be read below.

WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE IN THE DOCUMENTS BELOW. DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

• What do you call "Stuxnet on steroids"??
• Voyager 1 update
• Android 15 to quarantine apps
• Thunderbird & Microsoft Exchange
• China bans Western encrypted messaging apps
• Gentoo says "no" to AI
• Cars collecting diving data
• Freezing your credit
• Investopedia
• Computer Science Abstractions
• Lazy People vs. Secure Systems
• Actalis issues free S/MIME certificates
• PIN Encryption
• DRAM and GhostRace
• AT&T Phishing Scam
• Race Conditions and Multi-core processors
• An Alternative to the Current Credit System
• SpinRite Updates
• Chat (out of) Control

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-971-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – More than a year after it was declared over, Columbus and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continue to learn from the central Ohio measles outbreak which spanned from late 2022 to early 2023.

“It certainly was concerning, worrisome, brought with fear for families and patients," Dr. Akua Amponsah, a primary care physician with Nationwide Children's Hospital (NCH), said. 

Thirty-six of the 85 cases led to hospitalizations, according to numbers from Columbus Public Health (CPH); 94% of the cases hadn't received any dose of the MMR vaccine. Amponsah is one of many healthcare professionals hoping to increase vaccine coverage and confidence.

“It really did sort of highlight how important vaccinations are for children's health and how much of a responsibility it is for all of us, particularly in the medical profession, in our settings, to make sure that we are educating our families," she said.

A team from the CDC visited CPH last week to follow up on the outbreak and discuss ways to increase vaccine confidence.

“We’d been working with them remotely for several months now and they really wanted to come to our community to meet us face to face and meet with some of our community partners to see how we’re working collectively together to improve vaccine confidence and reduce vaccine hesitancy," CPH Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts said.

She said CPH works closely with schools, NCH, and other community partners. Roberts said part of the goal is using what was learned last week and over the past year to help other communities. Amponsah, who also met with the CDC, shared a similar message.

“It’s more than just our city," Amponsah said. "Yes we’ve had this recent outbreak and so we certainly want to focus on some of the lessons learned here and hopefully those can be extrapolated to other communities around the country."

DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) -- A member of the Ohio National Guard is facing rape charges in Delaware County.

According to online court records, Steven Vicario, 39, of Delaware, was arrested by Delaware police on Friday. He is charged with three counts of rape and one count each of gross sexual imposition and tampering with evidence. Court records show the charges stem from two separate incidents in October and November of 2023.

A grand jury indicted Vicario on April 18.

Vicario is a lieutenant colonel currently serving as the Mobilization, Plans and Readiness Division Chief with the Ohio National Guard, according to his social media account.

Vicario is being held in Delaware County Jail. He is scheduled to appear in Delaware County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – It is lining up to be a busy day at the Statehouse on Wednesday, with both the House and Senate in session, and some high-profile bills will get sent to the governor’s desk. 

House Bill 161 would make spousal rape, sexual battery, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, gross sexual imposition, and sexual imposition all punishable by law, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the offense. 

“If it had passed in 1970 it would’ve been overdue,” citizen lobbyist Chris Graham said. “This is perhaps the most overdue thing in the Statehouse.” 

As it stands, if force or threat of force was used, then someone can act against their spouse for sexual assault. But if there was any type of intoxication, like alcohol or drugs, that spousal rape case is thrown out. House Bill 161 passed the House back in November. 

If it does pass the Senate on Wednesday, it will then head to the governor’s desk. If he does sign it, it will become 90 days later.   

“There are coming of age moments, and in Ohio, this is one of them,” Graham said. “Removing the spousal exemption and recognizing that men and women are equal and women are not the property of men is a really big deal.” 

The senate is also going to vote on House Bill 250, a bill originally about state diploma seals for military enlistment, that was amended to require the Department of Education and Workforce to also create policies for cellphone use in K-12 schools. 

House Bill 8, known as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” is legislation to allow parents to opt their students out of certain lessons in school, passed the House on party-lines back in June. 

On Tuesday, the bill was scheduled to get a Senate committee vote, but that did not ultimately happen. The chair of the committee said they are still working on the legislation. The bill will not be on the senate floor on Wednesday.  If the senate does end up passing HB8, the House would have to agree with changes the Senate made before it goes to the governor’s desk.  

“The purpose of the Parents’ Bill of Rights is for parents to know what's going on in schools. That's really the heart of that bill,” Speaker of the Ohio House Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) said. “I have to see what the changes actually come out from the Senate and then we'll discuss it as a caucus from there.”

“The title sounds nice and innocuous, but the reality is this bill has provisions in it that force the outing of students,” Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said. “And I think put students at risk of potential safety of students.” 

A few weeks ago, Stephens said he wants 10 to 12 bills to be voted on every session. Six will be voted on in the House session Wednesday.  

“We have an appointment for a new member, we also will be appointing a new minority whip, plus the recognizing the former Speaker of the House,” Stephens said. “So, we will have several other things beside bills.” 

House Republicans will be filling former Rep. Bob Young’s seat on Wednesday. That seat has been vacant since October. 

Among the bills is also one to add state regulations to where drones can be flown, legislation to increase penalties for drug trafficking, and a bill to create a penalty for the grooming of minors. If those bills do pass the House floor, they will head to the Senate for consideration.

Other high-profile bills like Senate Bill 83, known as the “Higher Education Enhancement Act,” will not be getting a House floor vote. Stephens said it does not have support. 

House Bill 51, or the “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” and House Bill 183, known as the “Bathroom Bill,” will also not be getting house floor votes. 

“We're still talking about that along with several other bills,” Stephens said. 

The Senate session is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and the House session at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – What a journey it's been for Eric and Brenda Nickolas.

Better Call 4 first spoke with the Pataskala couple months after they noticed some unusual activity in their bank account -- nearly $24,000 was withdrawn from their home equity line of credit.

The couple insisted they had nothing to do with that transaction. So, they took the issue to investigators and their bank.

"They're very sympathetic when you're talking to them, but, pretty much the bottom line is they said once money is wired out, they can't do anything about it," Nickolas said.

Meaning the couple was on the hook for that cash.

Seeking a solution, the couple submitted a fraud claim twice and was denied twice because, according to the bank's investigation, the withdrawals were approved from Brenda's personal device.

"We'll both take a polygraph exam if that's what it takes to say, 'We didn't do this,'" Nickolas said.

That's when they called Better Call 4. I called the bank, the FDIC, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Then, connected the Nickolases with the OCC's Customer Assistance Group. Not long after, Eric sent me a message, which said, in part:

"Thanks to you for providing the information about the FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller, which we contacted. As a result, we have received restitution from them."

Meaning the couple was no longer responsible for repaying the nearly $24,000.

At that time, though, Eric said they were still responsible for the interest, which he estimated to be around $750.

The couple had been working to sort that out. And their perseverance paid off, as Eric sent another message in mid-April, that said the bank agreed to "refund the overpaid interest" on the money.

He added, "We won thanks to you. A check for over $1,400 is in the mail on the way."

After the story aired, several viewers reached out with similar experiences. Every situation is different, but you can reach out to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to find out if the Customer Assistance Group can help: Call 1-800-613-6743 or visit https://www.helpwithmybank.gov/

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Monday marked the official end of the semester at Ohio State University, 15 campus students spent it studying in a prison through the Ohio Prison Education Exchange project.

The students met with 15 inmates for a class called, "Corrections," which is focused on understanding the judicial system and preparing all 30 students for the future.

What has the look and feel of a traditional classroom sits inside a prison — the London Correctional Institution.

"So really what we're doing is we're looking at there are corrections system, but we're looking at together," said Dr. Terrance Hinton, who teaches "Corrections" at Ohio State University.

For two years now, Hinton's classroom has been inside correctional facilities. Campus students spend a semester alongside, who Hinton calls "incarcerated students." The incarcerated students are serving time for various offenses. The focus is restorative justice.

"The question I always ask myself is, 'What does that look like for individuals when they are coming out?' and that kind of led me down a different path of looking at public safety from the other end of the spectrum and really assisting individuals when they come out of prison," said Hinton.

Once a week, the students work on the same assignments, engage in conversation and learn about life from another person's perspective.

"From that understanding, comes empathy, comes humanizing," said Hinton. "And that's what I like about this classroom. It's really humanization — these individuals are talking. We find out we have a lot in common and once we have that bond, we can learn about the corrections system together."

"One of our major goals as a department is to bring hope back to the correctional facilities and drive that into not only our population but the community as well," said Warden Michael DeMartino.

"Roughly 90% of the individuals that are incarcerated are coming back to our communities and we want them to come back better when they came here. We want them to have more resources, more tools and better cognitive behavior. So, we really try to drive that here at this facility.

"You paid for your crime. And when you get out, there's stuff that's available to you. You have a purpose. That's a huge part of rehabilitation is making sure someone has hope and purpose to be successful when they reach the community."

NEWARK, Ohio (WCMH) -- A Licking County man was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of killing his mother and then burying her body in the backyard of their home.

David A. Perrine, 41, was found guilty last week of aggravated murder, murder, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, and two counts of theft.

In addition to the mandatory life in prison without parole sentence for the aggravated murder charge, Perrine was also given six additional years in prison for the other charges; those sentences will be served concurrently with the life sentence.

On Dec. 23, 2022, Licking County Sheriff's deputies performed a wellness check for 67-year-old Debra Perrine at her home on Darlene Drive in Newark after family members said they hadn't heard from her in over a week.

When deputies entered the house, they found Debra's son David inside with another man. Deputies found no sign of the woman but did see evidence of foul play and an attempt to remove evidence. Perrine was then arrested for a pretrial bond violation, based on charges of grand theft of a vehicle, robbery, and felony theft.

Less than a week later, on Dec. 29, sheriff's detectives and investigators with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation found Debra Perrine's body buried in the backyard of the home; the sheriff's office said the body had "obvious signs of trauma."

Perrine was indicted in his mother's death by a grand jury in May 2023.

Oracle has released JDK Mission Control (JMC) 9, an update to the tool kit for monitoring, managing, profiling, and troubleshooting Java applications that adds a dark theme and makes the frequency of JVM checks configurable.

The most significant change is that JMC now must use JDK 17 or later to run.

JMC 9 was unveiled on April 21. Binaries can be downloaded from oracle.com. While JMC 9 requires JDK 17 or later, it still can read Java Flight Recorder (JFR) recordings from JDK 7u40 or later. JMC and the JFR profiling and event collection framework together offer a tool chain to collect runtime information for after-the-fact analysis.

To read this article in full, please click here

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Express has announced it may close down its Ohio corporate offices and lay off over 600 employees. 

Express, whose portfolio includes Bonobos and UpWest, filed for bankruptcy Monday and plans to close 95 Express stores and all 10 of its UpWest stores. The company did not specify which Express locations will be shut down.

In a news release, Express claimed the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection was to “facilitate the sale” of most of its operations to an investor group, which includes WHP Global, Simon Property Group and Brookfield Properties. Subject to court approval, Express said it received a letter of intent from the investors to buy the assets.

In connection to the company’s bankruptcy filing, Express stated it expects closing offices at 1 Express Drive, near Easton Town Center, and at 235 N. Fourth St. Downtown.

In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, notice filed Tuesday with the state, the company said if restructuring efforts fail or the buyer fails to provide a sufficient number of job offers to current employees, all 614 Ohio office employees would be permanently laid off. Layoffs are expected to occur in late June.

Express has 11 stores in Ohio, including at Easton and Polaris Fashion Place. The state is home to one Bonobos store in Columbus' Victorian Village neighborhood. The company did not share the fate of these locations as of Tuesday. None of the company’s 10 UpWest stores is located in Ohio. 

A previous report can be seen in the player above.

BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio (WCMH) -- A Lakeview woman is facing up to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to charges related to the death of a teenager.

Charges were filed against Briana Mohler, 32, in February for the death of 17-year-old Chloe Hodge in a Jan. 25 head-on crash in Logan County. On Tuesday, Mohler pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, operating a vehicle under the influence and driving under suspension. She faces at least three years in prison, but prosecutors are recommending a sentence that could last as long as 16 years, the Logan County prosecutor's office said.

Hodge, a junior at Indian Lake High School, was driving a Honda southbound on County Road 130 when she was hit head-on by a Ford driven by Mohler that traveled left of center from the northbound lane.

“Chloe was a bright light who always wanted to help people,” the school district said in a statement. “She was smart, funny, and always quick to lend a hand. Chloe continues to help others as an organ and tissue donor.”

Mohler's sentencing is scheduled for May 28.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Gov. Mike DeWine has ordered U.S. and Ohio flags to be flown at half-staff.

Flags have been lowered on Ohio’s public buildings and grounds throughout the state of Ohio at all Ohio Department of Transportation facilities in honor of former Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jerry Wray, who died recently.

The flags will also be flown at half-staff upon all public buildings and grounds throughout Licking County, at the Ohio Statehouse, the Vern Riffe Center, and Rhodes State Office Tower, from Tuesday until sunset on the day of his funeral.

Wray, the only two-time director of the department, served under Governor Voinovich from 1991 to 1999 and Governor Kasich from 2011 to 2019. He is one of the longest serving state DOT directors in the nation’s history at 16 years.

According to ODOT's website, under Wray's leadership the department recruited a record number of women, minorities, and veterans. The department additionally put greater emphasis on making sure public contract opportunities were available to minority and disadvantaged companies. Wray also established a second-chance apprentice program to help transition ex-offenders from the Ohio Reformatory for Women into employment opportunities to prevent recidivism.

"Jerry was passionate about transforming ODOT into an organization that displayed what he called ‘excellence in government,' DeWine said. "The changes he ushered in will benefit our state for decades to come."

ODOT’s Central Office facility on West Broad Street was officially renamed the Jerry Wray Building as a dedication to Wray in December 2021.

"Jerry was a dedicated public servant and it is fitting that the (ODOT) building bears his name as he was beloved and respected by ODOT employees, contractors, and everybody who came into contact with him at work and in life," DeWine said.

Microsoft has introduced a new family of small language models (SLMs) as part of its plan to make lightweight yet high-performing generative artificial intelligence technology available across more platforms, including mobile devices.

The company unveiled the Phi-3 platform in three models: the 3.8-billion-parameter Phi-3 Mini, the 7-billion-parameter Phi-3 Small, and the 14-billion-parameter Phi-3 Medium. The models comprise the next iteration of Microsoft’s SLM product line that began with the release of Phi-1 and then Phi-2 in rapid succession last December.

To read this article in full, please click here

Microsoft has introduced a new family of small language models (SLMs) as part of its plan to make lightweight yet high-performing generative artificial intelligence technology available across more platforms, including mobile devices.

The company unveiled the Phi-3 platform in three models: the 3.8-billion-parameter Phi-3 Mini, the 7-billion-parameter Phi-3 Small, and the 14-billion-parameter Phi-3 Medium. The models comprise the next iteration of Microsoft’s SLM product line that began with the release of Phi-1 and then Phi-2 in rapid succession last December.

To read this article in full, please click here

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Franklin County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center is thanking the community for its support after the shelter announced the facility was at capacity last week.

In a post on social media, the organization announced a record-breaking week with 186 dogs being adopted or taken into foster-to-adopt homes. Additionally, more than two dozen lost pups were reunited with their families.

The shelter specifically noted some of the furry friends who found new homes by name and photo, with shoutouts to Alvin, Agnes, Houston, Pixie, Eleanor, Chris, Liam, Poppy and Emmett.

• Adopted dog (Franklin County Dog Shelter)
• Adopted dog (Franklin County Dog Shelter)
• Adopted dog (Franklin County Dog Shelter)
• Adopted dog (Franklin County Dog Shelter)
• Adopted dog (Franklin County Dog Shelter)
• Adopted dog (Franklin County Dog Shelter)
• Adopted dog (Franklin County Dog Shelter)
• Adopted dog (Franklin County Dog Shelter)

"To all of our proud new pet parents, thank you for choosing adoption and for opening up your heart and home to a shelter dog!" the post read.

The agency also invited anyone considering adopting a dog to visit the shelter. There are nearly 200 dogs still waiting for homes. "No appointments are needed. No application is required! Walk-ins are always welcome!" the shelter wrote.

Those interested can visit the shelter's website for real-time updates, adoption prices and personality information.