Jess Mador

The Montgomery County Department of Job and Family Services Wednesday opened an internal investigation into the county's Children’s Services agency's handling of the Takoda Collins case.

The 10-year-old died in December amid reports of abuse and neglect, allegedly at the hands of Collins’s father Al-Mutahan McLean.

McLean and two other adults are charged with multiple counts of abuse, including assault and child endangerment. McLean is also charged with rape of a child under the age of 13.

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley is criticizing a recent Federal Communications Commission decision approving the more than $3 billion acquisition of Cox Media by a private equity firm.

In an editorial in USA Today Thursday, Whaley and Michael Copps, a former FCC commissioner, say the deal paves the way for Dayton to lose its daily newspaper, a move proposed by the company Apollo Global Management last fall.

State Attorney General Dave Yost is calling for the release of the Oregon District mass shooter’s Bellbrook-Sugarcreek student records. 

Yost filed a so-called “friend-of-the-court” brief in the Ohio Supreme Court asking it to overturn an earlier lower-court decision to keep the records private.

Yost’s brief supports a coalition of news outlets that includes Cox Media Group, Scripps, WDTN, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Associated Press, The New York Times, CNN and ABC News that is suing to make the records public. 

The redevelopment of Northwest Dayton’s Good Samaritan Hospital took another step forward this week. Premier Health and Dayton officials have announced a new nonprofit organization and board to oversee the project. The city and Premier are also contributing a combined $30 million towards redevelopment at the 13-acre hospital campus and in the surrounding area.

More than four dozen people affected by the Dayton mass shooting have received a monetary gift from the Oregon District Tragedy Fund. The Dayton Foundation and members of a special committee overseeing the fund Monday announced the distributions, that took place last week.

The Tragedy Fund was established just hours after the mass shooting on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019 outside Ned Peppers bar in the Oregon District. It included a total of 5,061 individual charitable gifts. As of November 13, 2019, committee members say, the fund totaled $3,822,463.01.

A 24-year-old man accused of helping the Dayton mass shooter has pleaded guilty to illegally possessing firearms and lying on a federal firearms form.

Ethan Kollie from Kettering appeared Wednesday in Dayton Federal court.

As part of his guilty plea Kollie acknowledged lying on a United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Form 4473 when purchasing a micro Draco pistol. He denied using illegal drugs when authorities say Kollie used marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms, an admission that would have prevented the sale from going through.

Nearly six months after the Memorial Day tornadoes, hundreds of people who sought federal disaster assistance continue to wait for final word on their applications. 

According to the latest Federal Emergency Management Agency data, 336 people across the 11-county disaster zone who applied for assistance are still working their way through the appeals process.

FEMA has already paid out more than $4.6 million in Individual Assistance grants. 

Crowds are likely at the upcoming memorial service for slain Dayton Police Detective Jorge Del Rio Tuesday. The 55-year-old law enforcement veteran died in the line of duty last week from shooting-related injuries he sustained during a DEA Task Force operation.

The service is set for Tuesday, November 12, 2019, from 12:00-2:00 p.m. at the University of Dayton Arena. Parking will be available beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the Gate D parking lot. Doors open at 10 a.m. for the service.