Ohio is home to an estimated 500 earthworks, created by Native American groups like the Hopewell over 2,000 years ago. Often large in scale, the architectural structures are made of mounded dirt, clay and other raw materials.
This article was originally published in Louisville Public Media.
Lorie Blankenship has lived in Trenton since the 1970s. The elementary school she walked to every morning as a kid is still around the corner from her house. Down the road, her neighbor farms the same land that's been in the family for more than a century.
Blankenship says the city of about 15,000 has changed in some ways over the years.
Earlier this year, Adams County resident Joseph Foreman – better known to rap fans as Afroman – prevailed in a defamation lawsuit that local law enforcement filed against him.
Now, the rapper is turning the tables.
When the opioid epidemic swept across southeast Ohio in the late '90s and early 2000s, Kevin Dennis said it seemed like everyone had a loved one caught up in addiction.
For him, it was his daughter. She started taking pain pills after a basketball injury when she was 13 years old. It turned into a habit that continued through high school and worsened after graduation.
For the last decade, the Adult Recovery Court in Bellefontaine has met every Monday to aid people with addiction who are coming out of the criminal justice system. The court helps participants find jobs, housing and transportation.
Logan County Common Pleas Court Judge Keith Braig heads the Monday meetings. He said it's not exactly cinematic.
When residents in Cadiz turn on their tap, the water that comes out isn't always clear.
"We've been under several boil orders," Cadiz resident Andrea Tomer-Lewis said. "We've been told to boil our water and a lot of us have a hesitancy to drink the water because of the discoloration in it."
Roller derby has been picking up speed in Ohio, growing diverse teams and fan bases rapidly since the pandemic.
The Women's Flat Track Derby Association is the international governing body of women's flat track roller derby with more than 400 member leagues on six continents.
In many parts of Ohio, legal help is hard to come by.
Seventy-eight out of Ohio's 88 counties do not have enough attorneys to meet their residents' needs, according to the Ohio State Bar Association. In northwest Ohio, the situation could get even more severe as many practicing attorneys near retirement.
As communities across Ohio experience high water and local flooding this summer, one tourist center is working on a project to enhance river safety.
