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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Police are searching for the suspect who shot two people in east Columbus on Thursday.

Authorities responded to the 3000 block of East Livingston Avenue at 10:04 p.m. on Thursday on report of a shooting, according to the Columbus Division of Police. Officers found two adults suffering from gunshot wounds to the upper body.

The pair was transported to a local hospital in stable conditions and are expected to survive their injuries. The suspect remains known and police are asking anyone with information to call 614-645-4141.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The most expensive Franklin County home sold in March went for $5.5 million, while the top Delaware County home was sold for $2.4 million.

NBC4 analyzed daily property sale records from the Franklin and Delaware county auditor’s offices and filtered for "one-family dwellings" to not include apartments, duplexes, or unrelated land purchases.

Excluding transfers for $0, 1,227 single-family home purchases were made in Franklin County in December. The average price was $661,945 and the median price was $275,000. In Delaware County, 185 single-family home purchases were made. The average price was $532,011 and the median price was $500,000.

How buying a central Ohio home could change this summer The 10 most expensive homes sold in Franklin County in March

10. This home at 702 Sixth St. in Columbus sold for $1,590,000 on March 1.

(Franklin County Auditor's Office)

9. This home at 1373 Fountaine Dr. in Upper Arlington sold for $1,600,000 on March 1.

(Franklin County Auditor's Office)

8. This home at 1242 Lincoln Road in Grandview Heights sold for $1,680,000 on March 18.

(Franklin County Auditor's Office)

7. This home at 43 S. Preston Road in Columbus sold for $1,795,000 on March 18.

(Franklin County Auditor's Office)

6. This home at 10913 Johnstown Road in New Albany sold for $1,800,000 on March 22.

(Franklin County Auditor's Office)

5. This home at 65 Columbia Ave. in Bexley sold for $1,890,000 on March 12.

(Franklin County Auditor's Office)

4. This home at 4193 Fairfax Drive in Upper Arlington sold for $2,126,400 on March 19.

(Franklin County Auditor's Office)

3. This home at 2531 Sherwin Road in Upper Arlington sold for $2,130,000 on March 20.

(Franklin Country Auditor's Office)

2. This home at 2396 Lane Ave. in Upper Arlington sold for $2,280,000 on March 27. The estate dating to World War II, featured in NBC4's "Look inside" series, sits on about three quarters of an acre overlooking Scioto Country Club.

(Courtesy Photo/Sotheby's International Realty)

1. This home at 5713 Cosgray Road in Dublin sold for $5,500,000 on March 12.

(Franklin County Auditor's Office) Look inside: Stained-glass artist’s $2.2 million Victorian home in German Village The 10 most expensive homes sold in Delaware County in March

10. This home at 310 Roloson Road in Delaware sold for $820,000 on March 4.

(Delaware County Auditor's Office)

9. This home at 5107 Canterbury Drive in Powell sold for $840,000 on March 18.

(Delaware County Auditor's Office)

8. This home at 2338 Lackey Old State Road in Delaware sold for $850,000 on March 5.

(Delaware County Auditor's Office)

7. This home at 7743 Dickens Court in Delaware sold for $850,000 on March 15.

(Delaware County Auditor's Office)

6. This home at 5568 Plumb Road in Galena sold for $952,709 on March 6.

(Delaware County Auditor's Office)

5. This home at 4380 Village Club Drive in Powell sold for $950,000 on March 5.

(Delaware County Auditor's Office)

4. This home at 1953 Abbotsford Green Drive in Powell sold for $1,050,000 on March 6.

(Delaware County Auditor's Office)

3. This home at 5294 Sheffield Ave. in Powell sold for $1,051,000 on March 19.

(Delaware County Auditor's Office)

2. This home at 1461 Kearney Way in Delaware sold for $1,125,000 on March 18.

(Delaware County Auditor's Office)

1. This home at 6787 Lake Trail Drive in Westerville sold for $2,450,000 on March 8.

(Delaware County Auditor's Office)

LANCASTER, Ohio (WCMH) -- A central Ohio brewery that was on the market for more than $6 million and then for sale in a foreclosure auction has been acquired by a husband and wife who held their wedding at the brewery.

Austin and Taylor Caulk cast the winning bid on March 25 of $2,400,600 to purchase Rockmill Brewery at 5705 Lithopolis Road NW in Lancaster, according to the 12-acre property's listing on Auction Ohio's site. The bid came just above the minimum asking price of $2.4 million, but far from the Fairfield County Common Pleas Court's appraisal of $3.6 million.

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"If you've ever sat at the bar and grabbed a beer, chances are you've heard about the long process of owning Rockmill," said the couple, who married at the brewery in 2023, when announcing the acquisition on social media. "We owe a massive thank you to each one of you for your unwavering support throughout this journey."

Austin and Taylor Caulk cast the winning bid to purchase Rockmill Brewery, where they married in 2023. (Courtesy Photo/Rockmill Brewery)

The Caulks' multi-million dollar purchase includes the brewery's main operations, with five buildings totaling more than 9,000 square feet home to a taproom, an event space, a chapel, a pond and picnic grounds.

A neighboring site home to a 5,080-square-foot, two-story house built in 1900 and remodeled in 1981 is also owned by the couple and has been their residence even before they cast the winning bid. The home includes three bedrooms, four full bathrooms, three half bathrooms, three fireplaces and a three-car detached garage.

How Christopher Columbus statue could return through million-dollar art project

Rockmill's foreclosure auction had come after founder Matthew Barbee attempted to sell the brewery for $6.75 million in 2022, though a deal was never reached. Barbee, who now lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico, bestowed the brewery's day-to-day operations to the Caulks last year.

Barbee launched the brewery in 2010 on his mother's more than 23-acre farm and expanded in 2016 with the opening of Rockmill Tavern in Columbus' Brewery District. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic fizzled Barbee's momentum, the tavern closed in 2022 and the Lancaster brewery's patrons dwindled.

The Caulks were hiking last year in Lancaster when the couple stopped at Rockmill for a beer. Columbus Monthly reported the pair took a walk to the property's chapel where Austin proposed to Taylor, leading them to inquire with Barbee about getting married at the site.

The couple soon became interested in also purchasing Rockmill from Barbee, though a sale wasn't able to go through at the time. Now, the brewery is open 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, 2 to 9 p.m. Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

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Rockmill is one of several central Ohio breweries facing turmoil since the pandemic, including 1487 Brewery that permanently closed in February after its former chief operating officer pleaded guilty to stealing more than $200,000 from the company. Smokehouse Brewing Company in Grandview Heights closed in January after 25 years of business.

Cohere has unveiled its latest large language model (LLM), Command R+, which is engineered to enhance enterprise workflows and applications. 

The company said the new model is its most advanced and scalable LLM yet. Building on the foundations of the earlier Command R model, Command R+ boosts performance for various enterprise tasks, including data categorization and workflow automation, the company said.

Although Cohere said in March that it would train and deploy its models on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) under its partnership with Oracle, it has chosen to make Command R+ available first on Microsoft Azure. The software is set to launch on OCI shortly, with plans to expand to more cloud platforms in the upcoming weeks, said Cohere spokesman Kyle Lastovica. It’s already available through Cohere’s own hosted API.

To read this article in full, please click here

HILLIARD, Ohio (WCMH) -- One person has died after a car overturned into a pond near a west Columbus apartment complex on Thursday night.

Authorities responded to Renner Road and Alton Darby Creek Road near the Retreat at Sugar Farms complex in Hilliard at about 11:27 p.m. on Thursday after report of a crash, according to the Columbus Division of Police. Two deputies who arrived on scene jumped into the pond to attempt to rescue the victim, but ultimately were not successful.

(NBC4 Photo/Ronald Clark)

Damage on scene shows that the driver veered off the road before overturning into the water. Columbus and Hilliard police both responded to the incident, along with the Franklin County Sheriff's office.

Police remained on scene throughout the night and had temporarily closed Renner Road. The Franklin County sheriff's office will be investigating to identify the cause of the crash.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- There is a behind-the-scenes effort at the Ohio Statehouse right now to put a new marijuana law on the books.

“Some of these old convictions for marijuana, you know, let it go,” Representative Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) said.

No bill has been formally introduced. However, Seitz revealed he and Representatives Ismail Mohamed (D-Columbus) and Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) are working behind the scenes on legislation to expunge minor misdemeanor marijuana-related offenses.

“This legislation will be a historic one,” Mohamed said.

Mohamed said in Columbus alone, more than 3% of all residents have been charged with a misdemeanor for marijuana possession, and one in seven adult black men in the city have been charged with a misdemeanor marijuana offense.

“That impacts their employment opportunities,” he said. “It impacts housing and obviously higher education as well.”

Back in December, state senators passed an extensive marijuana bill that also included a provision for record expungement.

That bill has not moved forward and likely will not. Their expungement provision would create a “marijuana expungement fund,” creating a process for applicants of expungement to be reimbursed for the costs of the application and legal aid. Now, the state’s new recreational marijuana law legalizes and decriminalizes it, up to a certain possession amount. So, representatives said they are working on an in-depth bill to automatically expunge mostly fourth-degree misdemeanors and minor misdemeanor offenses that deal with possession, cultivation and trafficking of the drug, so long as it is currently legal.

“If it’s now legal to smoke it anywhere," Seitz asked. "Then why are we holding it against people who smoked it 20 years ago?"

“Laws have changed over time and I think our sense of morality and what’s standard practice and expected does change over time,” Mohamed said.

Mohamed added that automatic expungement is important, because he said a lot of times Ohioans do not know they can, or do not know how to navigate the process.

“There are a lot of Ohioans, hundreds of thousands who are impacted by this, who don’t understand that they can apply to have it expunged,” he said.

Several parts of the bill are still being negotiated. For example, Seitz said they are negotiating how many years back the state should look for automatic expungement.

“In order to minimize the burden of that, we are looking at a loopback period starting in the year 2000,” Seitz said.

Mohamed said they are talking with stakeholders to ensure the legislation is both feasible and makes it across the finish line. As of Friday -- similar to uncertainty over when the state will get its first legal vendor of recreational marijuana -- there is no timeline for when the bill will be introduced, or whether it will be amended into another piece of legislation.

The latest data from the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Infrastructure Tracker paints a compelling picture of growth in cloud infrastructure sales on demand. The fourth quarter of 2023 saw an 18.5% year-over-year increase in spending on compute and storage infrastructure for cloud deployments. It is a significant shift in the technological landscape, where AI is now front and center in the push to find cloud infrastructure to run it.

The spending surge indicates shifting budgets; a contrasting trend is the decline in the total number of units shipped. IDC says this shows a strategic move towards high-capacity, GPU-heavy servers with higher average price tags favored by hyperscalers. The idea is that these servers can do more than those driven by traditional CPU-based servers, thus, you need fewer.

To read this article in full, please click here

With the release of .NET 8, Microsoft introduced a plethora of new features and enhancements in the .NET Core and ASP.NET Core frameworks. One such feature is the SearchValues class, which marks a significant step forward in efficiently fetching data from data sets.

SearchValues is a new type introduced in .NET 8 designed to improve application performance. By using optimization techniques like vectorization and hardware acceleration, SearchValues delivers speed enhancements while seamlessly blending with .NET Core and ASP.NET Core.

In this article, we’ll explain how you can use SearchValues to improve the speed of searches in .NET Core applications.

To read this article in full, please click here

Columbus and Central Ohio Weather QUICK WEATHER FORECAST:

• Today: Isolated showers, high 45
• Tonight: Partly cloudy, freeze alerts, low 32
• Saturday: Partly cloudy, iso. shower, high 51
• Sunday: More sunshine, rain late, high 58
• Monday: Early AM shower, partly cloudy, high 69
• Tuesday: Isolated showers, high 70

FORECAST DISCUSSION:

Happy Friday!

After a wet few days in Central Ohio, we are making gradual improvements today and into the weekend. We're still cold today, with highs in the middle 40s and a breeze, but we're just looking at a few light and isolated showers.

We've then got a Freeze Watch in effect for the overnight hours, as temperatures drop close to freezing across much of the region.

Then for Saturday, we'll see slow clearing of the clouds, with only an isolated sprinkle chance. Highs warm to the lower 50s.

Sunday is our nicer and warmer weekend day, with more sunshine, and highs warming into the upper 50s. We've got a quick system that rolls through Sunday night, bringing a few quick showers into early Monday morning.

For eclipse day on Monday, we are looking at mainly dry conditions during the daytime hours, with highs warming to the upper 60s, near 70. As far as temps go, it will be really nice. As far as cloud coverage... we are looking at partly cloudy skies. It looks like the farther northwest you get, the greater the chance for clearer skies. It's something we're keeping a close eye on as the day approaches!

Temps hold near 70 through the middle of the week, as rain chances gradually build.

-McKenna

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - Residents along Wolford Road in Licking County's Hanover Township are "trapped" after a temporary access bridge collapsed Tuesday. 

Licking County Engineer Jared Knerr told NBC4 there are about 10 to 15 homes that do not have road access right now.

Woman calls on Ticketmaster to make changes after concert rescheduled multiple times

The temporary bridge was put in place while the county replaced the previous truss bridge that spanned Rocky Fork Creek on Wolford Road. The previous bridge had a five-ton weight limit and was decades old.

The temporary bridge collapsed after heavy rain caused the water level on Rocky Fork Creek to rise above the level of the bridge, slamming it with debris carried from upstream. The ground around the temporary bridge as well as underneath the asphalt on the temporary road gave way as water flooded the area.

"We had about six or eight inches of water flowing over it. And I came back down and checked on it again. And then we had, you know, trees up against it. And I knew we were done for. We've been stuck here since Monday, finally got out today to get some groceries, you know," said Wolford Road resident Vito Rosato. "We've been stuck here, ran out of supplies, everything. I mean, what do you do? We're on a dead-end road.”

Hanover Township Volunteer Fire Department and EMS along with township Commissioners created a temporary path through private property so that Emergency services would have a way to gain access to Wolford Road while the bridge is out. 

"This isn't our first rodeo and having to figure out ways to get around and get through places and even staff different stations," said Steven Gregory the Fire Captain and EMS Coordinator for Hanover Township. "We worked with the county commissioners, and they dropped a lot of stone back air for us to be able to get our apparatus back in through there. So there's a separate path.”

Gregory estimates the Hanover Volunteer Fire and EMS respond to around 20 calls per year to Wolford Road. Gregory hopes the bridge will be back up soon. 

"Hopefully not too awfully long. I project, maybe at least a week? Depends on how long the rain keeps up. So, if it stops, then Lord willing it shouldn't be too, too much more than maybe a few days," he said.

Rosato lives with his mother who has health issues. He's pleased the EMS have a way to access their road, if necessary, but he'd like the people who live there to have access to the service road too. 

"They got a little service road there that the fire department set up, so they could at least come in and out. They won't let us use it to get in and out," he said.

Many residents who have vehicles on the other side of the bridge are parking along Wolford Road and walking across the collapsed bridge. Starting Friday morning, Licking County is asking for those vehicles to be moved so contractors can have access to the bridge for repairs.

More than a dozen residents spoke with NBC4 Thursday afternoon and evening. Many, like Rosato,  expressed their frustration with the situation, wanting more swift action to repair the bridge. 

"It's easy to forget about us back here because we're on a dead end road. Honestly, you know, who can we contact? Who can we get a hold of?" he said.

Microsoft has unveiled Visual Studio Code 1.88, also known as the March 2024 release of the company’s popular code editor. The update brings capabilities such as a test coverage API, custom editor labels, and locked scrolling.

Introduced on April 4, Visual Studio Code 1.88 can be downloaded for Windows, Linux, or Mac from the project website.

In this release, Microsoft has finalized its Test Coverage API, bringing native coverage support to VS Code. If a developer’s testing system supports it, coverage can be accessed using the new Run With Coverage button. Using test coverage requires that your VS Code extension implements the new API.

To read this article in full, please click here

LOGAN COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) – With the solar eclipse just days away, the Indian Lake area is getting ready to welcome visitors while also still recovering from the tornado in March.

The Depot, a souvenir and gift shop in downtown Lakeview, has been ready for the eclipse for a while. Eclipse cookies, glasses, and T-shirts are available to purchase.

Columbus leaders propose changes to city’s zoning code

"We have tons of eclipse stuff," said Brenda Moots, owner of the store. "We’ve been talking eclipse for the last year and a half, but certainly the last nine months solid and selling gear for several months.”

After the tornado hit, the focus changed for Moots and others in the area.

“There's a lot of aspects that are hard, none of us have ever done this before, we've never been through it, there’s no manual," Moots said. 

Moots also lives in the community. The shop had been closed since the storm hit about three weeks ago. It just got power back earlier this week and on Thursday reopened.

“Oh my gosh, to be open is like everything I strived for the last 21 days with my husband," Moots said. "It’s hope, it shows people we are going to rebuild, we’re in this community together."

Along with the eclipse gear there is all kinds of merchandise with the message, "Indian Lake, Stronger than the Storm." Proceeds go to tornado relief, according to Moots.

"It's just so important to recognize you have this inner strength in you regardless if you know it or not and you have to let that shine and we are all going to come through this storm together because we’re strong people, we’re a strong community," Moots said.

Sheriff Randall Dodds with the Logan County Sheriff's Office said the area is expecting several thousand visitors for the eclipse. He encouraged those people to still come, support local businesses, and be mindful of devastation many in the area are still dealing with.

"Just be respectful of property and persons up there, but come, have a good time," he said. "I know there will be people coming here not only to see the eclipse but also they’ll want to go to Indian Lake to see the tornado damage. Be respectful of other peoples' property, understand there’s been a lot of pain up here."

He also reminded visitors to only park where parking is allowed. The Depot is usually closed on Sundays and Mondays. It will open April 7 and 8 because of the eclipse.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Musical acts and artists from all over the world have announced show stops in Columbus recently.

One of them in 2023 was rapper and hip-hop artist Drake. When tickets went on sale for his show, Jenn Dilver and five of her friends made the purchase to make sure they'd be in the crowd.

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But in the weeks leading up to the concert, which was initially scheduled for early July, Dilver said she received notification that the date had moved slightly, still within July. Dilver said that wasn't a problem for the group, until a few weeks later.

"We found out that the date had moved a second time, this time to October, on a Monday," Dilver said. "So, at that time, a couple of us had reached out to understand what our options were, in terms of getting a refund or someone reselling their ticket. We were told that it was up to the event holder. In this case, that would be Drake and his company, to cancel the concert. Then, we would receive our refund. Because the concert had not been canceled, it had been rescheduled."

At the time, rumors started swirling that the concert would be rescheduled again. So, Dilver and her friends waited.

"Our money was still in limbo," said Dilver.

That's when Dilver called Better Call 4.

"The ultimate accountability, I do think, goes to Ticketmaster," Dilver said. "They're a big company. They should make their experience more clear when a concert is inevitably going to change, be delayed. This is not the last time something like this happens with a big concert."

Better Call 4 reached out to Ticketmaster. A representative told NBC4, "Consumer support will reach out to [Dilver]."

Then, NBC4 did some digging for information about refunds. On its website, the company stated that "all sales are final and refunds are only allowed in limited circumstances," adding that, "policies set forth by event organizers generally prohibit us from issuing exchanges or refunds after a ticket has been purchased."

However, Dilver said that not long after she spoke with NBC4, she did get her money back. Unfortunately, she did not get to see Drake when he did finally come to Columbus in February.

Now, she has a message for other ticket buyers as we head into a busy concert season.

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"Really, understand what you're signing up for which is the concert itself, and for hopefully a fun time, but also for the possibility that, just like flights... it feels like that's what's happening now, there will be changes and those changes will likely be out of your control."

Before you buy, make sure you're aware of every possibility and how that could affect you financially. Ticket insurance is always an option, but make sure it's the right option for you. The Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio has more information about that here.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Columbus is one of the fastest growing cities in the Midwest. In order to keep up with that growth, city leaders are proposing changes to the city’s zoning code.

This will be the first time changes are made to the code in 70 years. City leaders said these changes will help address the current housing crisis – specifically affordability and demand.

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Mayor Andrew Ginther said this proposal will change the trajectory of the city. He said if we keep on the track we are now, the city will only create 6,000 new homes in the next 10 years. This new plan will bring that number to 88,000.

“Growth is coming. We have to embrace it,” Ginther said.

The proposed changes would create six districts. It is starting 12,300 thousand parcels of land.

It gives developers clearer building guidelines for each district.

“These standards will make buildings more attractive, create more room for housing and businesses, and make neighborhoods more walkable and transit more accessible,” Ginther said.

Ginther said another priority is height. There will be housing incentives. For example, builders will be allowed to build two to four stories taller than the base code allows if 20 to 30 percent of their units are for low income qualified housing.

“We need more workforce housing. We need more market rate housing. This supply crisis is affecting everybody, but it's affecting seniors, folks on fixed incomes and lower wage earners more. Now, it will continue to affect all of us in the future unless we act. And that's why this is so important,” Ginther said.

City leaders said cities like Charlotte and Atlanta have been successful with this initiative.

They say not only does this help the developer but it is also giving equal opportunities to people who otherwise would not live in that area.

“We want our kids to be able to live in the communities that we've raised them in, and we want our elders to be able to retire in the communities that they helped build,” said Carly Boos, the Director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio.

There will also be less of a focus on parking. This is to promote more walkable neighborhoods as well as rid the cost of parking for residents.

“So we know that a big change is going to be eliminating parking minimums, you know, allowing a more market driven approach to parking. We think we need to prioritize people over parking in this situation to make more housing happen. As we know, parking is one of the biggest drivers of housing costs in central Ohio," said Rob Dorans, the Columbus City Council President Pro Tempore.

Before this proposal moves any further, city leaders want to hear from residents. There will be options to do that in person or at the new “zone-in gallery” that is located at 141 N. Front Street in Downtown Columbus.

“The whole idea here is to make sure that this allows folks to have this conversation on the front end,” Dorans said. “We're going have public hearings. You know, we're going to have different events across town. This gallery here, you know, downtown is going to have the ability for sit down with the city planner and really understand the potential changes for their specific parcel that they own or that they live by.”

Monday city council is expected to adopt a resolution putting this into at least a 60 day discussion period.

The “zone in gallery” will open on Tuesday. It will be open six days a week. Residents can make an appointment to come in and talk with the city planner. They will also host events at the gallery. Once they’ve gathered all the knowledge they need, the council is hoping to vote on this plan in the summertime.

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