It was a busy year for news in 2025.
At WYSO, we seek to inform and inspire our audience, focusing on under covered topics like the environment, agriculture, food security, energy, Indigenous affairs, and more.
We focus on solutions, community building, and new angles on big topics. This year, across the Ohio Newsroom, we also worked to translate what the changes under the new Trump administration meant for our community.
Below are our top 10 most read stories of the year.
This list excludes weather reports and election result lists.
- Trump Administration cancels funds for Ohio community gardens and farmers as hunger grows
Several farms in Ohio will miss out on thousands of dollars in federal funds after President Donald Trump's U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled a set of grants that allows food banks to buy food directly from local farms, ranchers and producers. - Starting this weekend, state ID required for online access to Ohio Medicaid, other benefits
As of this Spring, Ohioans who manage their food stamps, Medicaid, or childcare benefits online need a new credential to access their account. The state said $12.6 million was lost to EBT card scams from late 2022 to last year. - Ohio's K-12 students would spend more time in school under new bill
Ohio’s K-12 students would have to spend a little over two weeks more in school under a proposal by two Republican lawmakers. The bill had multiple hearings but never made it out of committee. - Trump administration closes Cleveland's US Department of Education office
The U.S. Department of Education has moved to abolish half of all Office for Civil Rights locations across the U.S., including Cleveland. The offices served as local hubs for investigations of violations of the multiple sections of law around gender, race and disability-based discrimination. - Report: Cleveland-Cliffs cancels $500M Middletown steel mill project
Cleveland-Cliffs, a steel manufacturer, reportedly abandoned its $500 million hydrogen-based "green steel" project in Middletown in June. The CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs had said a lack of hydrogen infrastructure was the primary reason for abandoning the project and that rising tariffs on steel imports forced his company to prioritize short-term profitability. - DeWine says veto of ban on SNAP for sugary drinks isn’t because he opposes the idea
Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a provision in the state budget that would have prevented people the aid program - known as food stamps - from using those funds to purchase sugary drinks. But he said he didn’t do that because he disagreed with the principle of the provision, but rather because it seemed like it might be tough logistically to implement. - Why a 36-acre farm near Yellow Springs is now preserved from development
A farm near Yellow Springs is now protected from development, formalizing a longstanding handshake agreement to keep a green space buffer around the village.
The Tecumseh Land Trust is now in partnership with Cammy and Jim Grote to protect the Dell Farm in Miami Township. - Over 2,000 artifacts recovered in West Dayton archaeological investigation
The city of Dayton concluded an archaeological investigation on the historic Lichliter Village – a former Native American settlement – to assess if the surrounding area is suitable for future development. This yielded artifacts that will now be in the care the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. - Meet the retired Ohio couple running a free, gourmet soup kitchen
A retired chef and his husband have started a volunteer-led soup kitchen in Yellow Springs, Ohio. They're calling it "Who's Hungry," and want it to be a space where people can find community and enjoy gourmet food, regardless of income level. - A Beavercreek old-growth forest defied the odds and thrived. Now, it's being recognized.
For hundreds of years, a Beavercreek old-growth forest has defied suburbanization. One tree has even lived for 447 years.
The Ferguson Land Lab is a 44-acre forest in Beavercreek full of mature oak, walnut, hickory and maple trees. To solidify protections of the centuries-old forest, it was added into the national Old-Growth Forest Network.
