Spectrum is helping make sure that families in rural northwest Ohio are connected to the world through increased broadband access. The company and elected officials talked about the projects at Cory-Rawson schools this morning. Spectrum is looking at a 9 billion dollar multi-year initiative to bring internet, phone, and TV access to areas across the United States that couldn't get it before. Some of the funding for their build-out is coming from the federal government and Ohio to help companies like Spectrum increase reliable internet access.

August 21, 2024, Press Release from the Office of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine: (COLUMBUS, Ohio)— Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik today announced a state investment of $94.5 million that will provide affordable, high-speed internet access to more than 35,000 households across the state. As part of the second round of the Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant (ORBEG) program, the Broadband Expansion Authority authorized BroadbandOhio to provide funding to two internet service providers, Time Warner Cable Midwest and Brightspeed, for six projects serving 23 counties. The program is designed to provide internet service with speeds of at least 100/100 Mbps to households upon project completion. 

August 12, 2024, Press Release from the FBI Cleveland Division: [Cleveland, OH.]  Today, FBI Cleveland announced the disruption of “Radar/Dispossessor,” the criminal ransomware group led by the online moniker ‘Brain,’ and the dismantling of three US servers, three UK servers, 18 German servers, eight US-based criminal domains, and one German-based criminal domain. Since its inception in August 2023, Radar/Dispossessor has quickly developed into an internationally impactful ransomware group, targeting, and attacking small to mid-sized businesses and organizations from the production, development, education, healthcare, financial services, and transportation sectors. Originally focused on entities in the USA, the investigation discovered 43 companies as victims of the attacks, from countries including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Honduras, India, Canada, Croatia, Peru, Poland, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Germany. During its investigation, the FBI identified a multitude of websites associated with Brain and his team.

July 22, 2024, Press Release from the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission: BEREA, Ohio (July 22, 2024) – The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission is reminding toll customers everywhere to be aware of a resurgence in fraudulent texts from scammers requesting payment for unpaid tolls through fraudulent websites. The Ohio Turnpike does NOT request its E-ZPass customers to make payments by text. Collections of unpaid tolls and/or toll violations do NOT occur by text either.

May 22, 2024, Press Release from the Ohio Department of Development: (COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik today announced the next cohort of an impactful program designed to help communities create localized broadband expansion plans. Five teams are participating in the third cohort of the BroadbandOhio Community Accelerator Program, which is a collaboration between the Department of Development’s BroadbandOhio office and Ohio State University Extension. Participants will receive support to help their communities prepare for funding opportunities at the state and federal levels by identifying broadband goals, understanding available funding options, targeting capital dollars to support implementation, and expanding workforce development.

May 17, 2024, Press Release from the Ohio Department of Development: (COLUMBUS, Ohio) – The Ohio Department of Development's office of BroadbandOhio today announced another milestone in its continuing mission of providing high-speed internet access to all Ohioans. Ohio received nearly $800 million from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program last summer to expand internet access to Ohioans currently caught in the digital divide. As part of the process, BroadbandOhio is asking key stakeholders to help ensure Ohioans who lack connectivity are represented. From May 28, 2024, through June 17, 2024, internet service providers, local governments, and nonprofit organizations can submit challenges to the federal broadband map by identifying all eligible addresses in their communities. After the 21-day challenge window closes, a 21-day rebuttal phase to provide counter evidence to challenges will open July 1, 2024, and run until July 22, 2024. A final, 30-day determination phase will then run from July 23, 2024, to Aug. 21, 2024. 

May 14, 2024, Press Release from the Wapakoneta Area Chamber of Commerce: Wapakoneta, OH – May 14, 2024 – The Wapakoneta Area Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the City of Wapakoneta, is excited to announce the return of the beloved Party in the Park Summer Concert Series. This annual event will kick off on May 17th and promises a lively lineup of free concerts every Friday evening from 7:00 PM to 10:30 PM in the picturesque Heritage Park along the historic Auglaize River.

"Relay for Life" brought the Bath community together while delivering an important message. Bath schools hosted its annual "Relay for Life" walk Tuesday afternoon, an event brought to life thanks to the help of students and staff. The organization's mission is to remember those who lost their lives to cancer and collect donations toward cancer research—a cause that hits close to the Bath community. 

May 14, 2024, Press Release from the Department of Public Safety: COLUMBUS — Free hands-on training is available this summer for teen drivers in Ohio to practice crash avoidance techniques and gain the experience necessary to become safer drivers. The Ohio Traffic Safety Office (OTSO) is partnering with three Advanced Driver Training programs to increase access to these specially designed classes that address the leading causes of teen crashes.