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  • Public Safety

    MONSTROUS: School Workers Hit with 1,188 Abuse Charges in Shocking Special Ed Scandal

    Rehab

    🚨 Rehab Ruckus: Former Client Fights Staff Over Suboxone in Scioto County Facility Dispute 

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    Busted! 07/04/25 New Arrests in Portsmouth, Ohio – Scioto County Mugshots

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    🔥 Chaos at the Camp: Tent Torched, Chickens Loose, and Trash Everywhere at Doyle’s Landing 

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    🚨 Sidewalks, Snipers, and Sleeping Bags: Homeless Crisis Takes Over Portsmouth in a Single Day 

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    🐾 Porch Prisoners: Loose Dog Bites Woman After Trapping Man Inside His Home  

    Jailhouse Jackpot: Scioto County Keeps $1.5 Million for Major Jail Upgrades

    Accidental Shooting: Man is Airlifted 

    Busted Arrests Portsmouth Scioto County Mugshots

    Busted! 07/03/25 New Arrests in Portsmouth, Ohio – Scioto County Mugshots

    Troubled Bad Youth Kids

    8-Year-Old Tries to Stab Mother in Mental Health Emergency 

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    🚗 Birthday Bash Turns into Backwoods Nightmare: Car Crash, Threats, and Birthday Drama! 🎉💥 

    🚨 Gunfire & Getaways: Center Street Turns Into Crime Scene After Wild Evening Shooting 

    🚨 “Pulled Out of the Ceiling!” — Deputies Snag Fugitive Eric Carr After Bizarre Hideout at Lucasville Apartment 

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    🚔 Buzzed and Busted: Don’t Let the Fourth of July End in Handcuffs or Heartbreak 

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    🚓 Kindness on Call: Deputy Steps In to Help Troubled Man at West Portsmouth Super Quick 💙 

    “I’m the One Who Stays” — Man Arrested for Toddler’s Death Posted Haunting Fatherhood Tribute Just One Day After Changing His Name 

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    Busted! 07/02/25 New Arrests in Portsmouth, Ohio – Scioto County Mugshots

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    🥎 Softball Showdown! Grown-Up Drama Explodes Into Week-Long Police Saga 💥 

    First Responders Use Axe to Break Through and Save Disoriented Man

    🩸Stabbing Scare at Wheelersburg Kroger 

  • Lawrence County
  • Politics
    Cathy Coleman

    Remembering Scioto County Commissioner Cathy Coleman

    somc 2

    🏥 Scioto County Approves Hospital Tax to Keep Medicaid Dollars Local 

    No Kings

    Scioto Dems Snort at “Well-Funded” No Kings Protest Claim

    Cathy Coleman

    Cathy Coleman Still Fighting: Family Shuts Down Hospice Rumors, Says Recovery Still Underway

    County May Tap Opioid Settlement Funds to Finish MARCS Tower Project 

    Cathy Coleman

    ‘Small Steps, Big Faith’: Commissioner Cathy Coleman Edges Closer to Recovery 

    Cathy Coleman

    ‘Praise God!’: Commissioner Cathy Coleman Shows Remarkable Progress After Harrowing Weeks

    Cathy Coleman

    Cautious Hope and Harsh Realities: New Details Emerge on Commissioner Cathy Coleman’s Condition 

    Scioto County Commissioners Cancel This Week’s Meeting 

    Robert Horton

    Sudden Twist: Horton Court Dates Scrapped Ahead of Trial 

    Cathy Coleman

    ‘A Sign of Hope’: Commissioner Cathy Coleman Shows Small Improvements Amid Ongoing Critical Condition 

    Recorder Gary Jenkins

    Scioto County Recorder Gary Jenkins Unveils New Office Website 

    Staggering 236 Recovery Houses in Area — and the Fight for Reform Faces Pushback 

    Cathy Coleman

    Community Urged to Pray For Cathy Coleman as Family Faces Devastating Update 

    Scottie Powell

    Commissioner Scottie Powell on Trans Sanctuary Resolution: “Symbolic, Not Substantive” 

    Cathy Coleman

    Update from the Scioto County Commissioners on Commissioner Cathy Coleman 

    What Did Portsmouth’s LGBTQ+ Sanctuary Resolution Really Say? 

    Portsmouth Rehab

    Portsmouth Rejects LGBTQ+ Sanctuary City Status in Heated Council Vote 

    Cathy Coleman

    It’s a Miracle! – Scioto County Rallies Around Commissioner Cathy Coleman After Medical Crisis Turnaround 

    Cathy Coleman

    Scioto County Rallies in Prayer for Commissioner Cathy Coleman After Tragic Crash 

  • Feel Good

    BREAKING: Commissioners Make Shocking Decision—Halloween to Remain on Halloween 

    Escape to the Hills: A Summer Reading List Set in Appalachia 

    Scioto County Champs: Lady Trojans and Word Wizards Bring Home the Gold 

    “I Held Those Keys Tight” — One Man’s Harrowing Journey from Addiction to Hope 

    Three girls in quinceañera dresses stand beside one another. The one in middle has a gold dress while the other two wear pink.

    Tips for Selecting the Color of a Quinceañera Dress

    The Day the Streak Ended: Lakers’ 1987 Record Broken

    An angler standing at the edge of a lake just after sunset with three fishing rods resting on the ground next to him.

    Night Fishing: Who Is It for and How Do You Start?

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    Cops Rescue Lost Man 

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    Kid Misses Bus, Deputy to the Rescue 

    A group of people stands outside with their arms in the air. They hold their hands together, making a pyramid shape.

    Hidden Gems: Community Strategies for Mental Wellness

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    Man Says He’s Trapped in Armory 

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    Good Neighbor and Officer to the Rescue 

    Portsmouth Flood Wall Stars

    Meet the New Flood Wall Stars! 

    A bearded man is sitting on the floor and comforting his dog in a wheelchair. The dog has his ears pinned back.

    Training Tips To Help Your Dog Get Used to Their Wheelchair

    U.S. housing market

    Tips for Making Your New House Feel Like a Home

    The Best Freshwater Fish To Catch This Summer

    The Best Freshwater Fish To Catch This Summer

    A man approaching the bowling lane with a red bowling ball as his three friends in the background cheer him on.

    How Bowling Can Improve Your Mental Health

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    Lost Kid Calls Cops for Help 

    Backyard camping

    Backyard Adventure: Unforgettable Family Camping

    Sunshine or Snowflakes: Which Season Wins America’s Heart?

  • Obituaries
    Everett William Cook

    Everett William Cook, age 62 of Portsmouth

    Kim Gutierrez

    Kim Isabella Guttierrez 74 of Portsmouth

    Jeanne Szura

    Jeanne Szura 95 of Cary NC

    Barbara Williams

    Nancy Anne Sheets 92 of Portsmouth

    James Vernon Hicks Jr

    James Vernon Hicks Jr. 71 of Portsmouth

    Sonya Stapleton

    Sonya Lee Stapleton 66 of Portsmouth

    Roy Cunningham

    Roy Cunningham, 82 of Portsmouth

    Patricia Ann Thurman

    Patricia Ann Thurman, 65 of West Portsmouth

    Ann Bartlett Truitt

     Ann Bartlett Truitt, 92 of Waverly

     Cornel Cave

     Cornel Cave, 69 of Portsmouth

    Mahala Dawn Pelfrey

    Mahala Dawn Pelfrey, 49 of Lucasville

    Nancy Ackerman-Nash, 71 of Granbury

    Nancy Ackerman-Nash, 71 of Granbury

    Denver Eugene Raike

    Denver Eugene Raike, 87 of Wheelersburg

    Robin Gail Ramsey, 63 of West Portsmouth

    Geneva Mullins 78 of New Boston

    Willard Fenton

    Willard Fenton, 86, of South Webster

    Richard Lewis

    Richard Lewis, 75 of McDermott

    Judy Gayle (Wells) Scifres

    Judy Gayle Scifres, 74 of South Shore,

    Braxton Spears Jr., 76, of South Shore,

    Braxton Spears Jr., 76 of South Shore

    Walter Ronald Kidd

    Walter Ronald Kidd, 89 of Xenia

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ANOTHER MAJOR SCANDAL- SHERIFF HIDES BEHIND BLACK BOXES AND LOCKED CABINETS TO DUCK TRANSPARENCY

Mark Craycraft by Mark Craycraft
4 months ago
in Public Safety
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For years, the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) has provided, by request of the local media, a daily “chief’s report,” a PDF document detailing the previous day’s calls and deputy responses. But what should have been a window into the office’s operations was often obscured by heavy redactions—black boxes covering key details. Local media tolerated the practice for a time, but a landmark 2022 Ohio Supreme Court ruling in Myers v. Meyers shifted the landscape, forcing law enforcement agencies statewide to open their records to public scrutiny. Now, faced with demands for transparency, the SCSO has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep the public in the dark, raising questions about accountability and legal exposure at taxpayers’ expense.

The Myers v. Meyers case, in which Ohio media publisher Derek Myers successfully sued the Chillicothe Police Department for access to incident reports, set a precedent that law enforcement could no longer withhold broad swaths of records under vague exemptions. The ruling clarified that witness statements and narratives—barring specific investigative exceptions—must be disclosed, shining a light on how public funds are spent. When local media invoked the decision to challenge SCSO’s redaction-heavy reports, the Sheriff’s Office initially scrambled to comply.

Sheriff David Thoroughman turned to Scioto County Prosecutor Shane Tieman for guidance. After reviewing the Myers ruling, Tieman’s office confirmed that the office’s blanket redactions violated Ohio public records law. But rather than embrace transparency, SCSO doubled down on secrecy. Captain Ron Davis, acting on Thoroughman’s behalf, contacted Sundance, the company managing the county’s Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, which logs all calls and generates the chief’s report.

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In emails obtained through public records requests, Davis pressed Sundance to remove the report feature entirely.

“I definitely need it removed as we do not use it but the media is demanding copies of it daily and it has too much on it,” Davis wrote. “Our prosecutor is saying that if it’s in our system they can request it, so removing it as it is not pertaining to us would be the only way to solve that.”

Sundance balked, explaining that the report was a core component of the system used by dozens of law enforcement agencies. The best they could offer was to “hide” the button that generates it. SCSO seized on this workaround, claiming they could no longer produce the report—even though it still exists in the database.

Legal experts liken the tactic to locking a filing cabinet and tossing the key, then shrugging and claiming the contents are inaccessible.

“It’s a deliberate attempt to sidestep the law,” said Emmett Robinson, the Cleveland-based public records attorney who represented Myers in the Supreme Court case. “The records don’t vanish just because you disable a button.”

Robinson, a Harvard Law graduate and Jeopardy! champion, called SCSO’s actions “dishonest” and a “disservice” to both the media and the public.

“Intentionally altering a computer system to hide information doesn’t exempt the sheriff from his duty to disclose,” he said. “If anything, it heightens their legal risk.”

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Under Ohio law, public officials who flout records requests can face statutory damages and attorneys’ fees—costs borne by taxpayers, not the officials themselves.

The SCSO’s maneuvers reveal a troubling mindset: a willingness to prioritize secrecy over accountability, even for mundane calls like trespassing complaints or cats stuck in trees.

By clinging to opacity, Thoroughman’s office isn’t just defying a court ruling—it’s inviting litigation that could drain public coffers.

“A court is more likely to penalize this kind of gamesmanship,” Robinson warned, noting that the intentional nature of SCSO’s actions could lead to steeper consequences.

As Scioto County residents foot the bill for this stonewalling, the Sheriff’s Office stands on shaky ground. The chief’s log remains in the system, a digital skeleton in the closet that no amount of button-hiding can erase.

What began as a routine public records dispute has morphed into a saga of evasion, exposing a sheriff’s office more interested in shielding its daily deeds than serving the taxpayers who fund it. In their zeal to conceal, Thoroughman and his team have opened the door to lawsuits that could cost far more than the transparency they so desperately seek to avoid.

Tags: David ThoroughmanFeaturedLawNewsletterOhioPoliceScioto CountyShane TiemanSheriff
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