ASHLAND — Gordon Ramsay, the irreverent celebrity chef, once denounced the act of looking back, of reminiscing.
“I don’t like looking back. I’m always, constantly looking forward. I’m not the one to sort of sit and cry over spilt milk. I’m too busy looking for the next cow,” he said during a 2008 interview.
The imagery is witty, but it’s the sentiment that resonates with me. I peer into and plan for the future quite a bit. Living with regret, or crying over spilled milk, is no way to live a fulfilling life.
Though Mariah Thomas and I will be looking back at 2023 over the next couple days, you can rest assured we won’t shed tears over spilled milk.
There are no regrets with the way we handled heavy and important stories in this community.
The last year was filled with quality reporting on things high, and things low. Good, bad and ugly.
But we hope our reporting informed, fulfilled and created a deeper trust with you, the readers, to handle all stories with poise and professionalism.
If our collective output over the last year gives any indication about what’s ahead, I’m excited for this publication’s horizon.
We haven’t “arrived,” but I can see a big green pasture full of symbolic Ramsay cows ahead.
So, let’s get to it. The year of 2023 was chock-full of important, moving stories about Ashland County. Here are 10 (or 11) which stuck with me.
The road to gold
Chronicling the Ashland University women’s basketball team’s road to gold was not only fun, it was fulfilling.
The 2022-23 AU women’s basketball team was perfect. The squad never lost a game. Documenting this moment in history, in my mind, was mandatory. We had to give these women their due credit.
I didn’t imagine we’d actually be able to do that in the way we did.
Thanks to a generous sponsorship from Spherion, Curt Conrad, Nathan Hart and myself traveled with the team to Missouri to cover the semifinal championship.
When the Eagles won in Missouri, Spherion sent Nathan and me to Dallas for the title game.
We were honored to profile the players, cover games, soak it all in with the die-hard fans, snap oodles of pictures and celebrate with the team upon its victorious arrival in Ashland.
An investigation into the county’s flagpole
The Ashland County Board of Commissioners created a rule in August that limited the flying of U.S., state and county flags only on poles owned by Ashland County.
This meant the black POW/MIA flag could no longer fly. I was curious, so did some digging. Turns out, veterans weren’t too thrilled with the change.
It also turned out that the county commissioners had dealt with a very similar issue no too long ago, in 2016.
So, what’s the future of the “You Are Not Forgotten” flag? After some digging, I found out the answer.
A painstakingly detailed series
Mariah Thomas hit the ground running upon her hire date in July.
She’s done some great work so far, and I’ve heard from many of you, the readers, that you’ve appreciated her thorough, thoughtful reporting.
Battlefield Breakthrough is a good example of her thorough and thoughtful reporting.
The four-part series delves into mental health among veterans and how a local group is helping combat the dark realities of PTSD.
Academic freedom and ‘censorship’ at Ashland University
I realize that “C” word carries heavy connotations. I don’t use it lightly.
Mariah didn’t either. Her reporting on this predicament (broken into two parts) was both tenacious and graceful. I don’t think there was a person who walked away after reading those stories who felt “good” about what happened. It was a complicated story, with nuance.
She handled it with poise and with an understanding that not many unseasoned reporters have.
It covered all sides and offered readers the chance to make up their own minds on what happened.
Uncovering the Cindy Benner case
Nathan Hart, Mariah’s predecessor, dug out this story after a routine records request for deputy disciplinary records at the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office.
He spent a lot of time gathering facts about the allegations, talking to experts and waiting on responses from those involved.
Hart’s effort resulted in an impactful story that lawyers referenced in court hearings. In fact, Benner’s attorney used his reporting to uncover additional discovery.
Ultimately, Benner was convicted on one count of dereliction of duty. She still has a job at the sheriff’s office, working at the jail.
A profile of a soccer team
Let’s take a break from the heavy stuff.
We hired Doug Haidet as a sports correspondent ahead of the start of the fall high school sports season.
I’m so glad we did.
His profile of the Mapleton girls’ soccer team was wonderful. Read the first four lines of Haidet’s story and tell me you weren’t hooked to read more.
This is quality stuff.
The fact he brings this level of sophistication to a profile of a girls high school soccer team in rural Ashland County makes me … proud.
Solar panels? In Ashland County?
It was in March when this first became a possibility. We learned CEP Renewables had the abandoned landfill site in its crosshairs.
Why this hasn’t happened yet is a bit complicated.
The landfill, owned and maintained by Ashland County, is surrounded by Byers Woods — a park that is owned and maintained by the Ashland County Parks District.
Nature enthusiasts and birders are against the prospect of gazing upon an array of bright solar panels during their walks out there.
But county commissioners are considering it. There’s too much of a boon to coffers not to.
Thus, it’s complicated. I hope my reporting offered valuable context to the issue — I certainly learned a lot.
The future of a beloved, short-lived amphitheater
I wrote two stories about the former Johnny Appleseed amphitheater this year.
The first was actually thanks to a person who took advantage of our Open Source platform. It’s a tool that allows readers to submit tips and questions about the area.
Someone expressed curiosity with what’s happening out at the site in Mifflin by Charles Mill Lake. I found out the owners, Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, tried to get the structures out there demolished.
When that effort failed due to costs, they turned to a feasibility study into the prospect of turning it into a glamping resort.
The study, it turns out, was found to be feasible. But only if MWCD is willing to cough up millions of dollars.
The jury’s out on whether that, or a version of that, will happen. (Probably not though.)
Tragic losses
The title of this column is “top 10…” But rules, sometimes, are meant to be broken.
The Ashland community mourned the loss of two young people in October. Breanne McKean, 17, collapsed on the football field during a pregame homecoming ceremony on Sept. 30.
By halftime, school officials announced her death.
In addition, an Ashland High School student — Andre Harrison, 19 — died just three days later from what his father described as an apparent drug overdose.
We thank the families, friends, coaches and mentors of these beloved youths for entrusting us with telling the tragic stories.
We hope our reporting of both deaths helped the community grieve in a way that created space for empathy and understanding.
And we thank, you, Ashland Source reader for sticking with us through another year.
None of our reporting could happen without your support.
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