This is what local news does: It brings us together, and it holds the leaders in our communities accountable. We need it. And if you want to support our work, you can become a member here: www.ashlandsource.com/members/.

Also, a thank you goes out to Ashland City Schools Supt. Steve Paramore and treasurer Kyle Klingler, Ashland Mayor Matt Miller and Savannah village administrator Bruce Richards for sitting on a panel and letting a live audience pepper them with more questions about how they spent their funds.

This reporting wouldn’t have been possible without grant funding from @poynterinstitute.bsky.social.

Then, we presented our findings to the community — both through writing stories about it, and through a free community event. It was accountability journalism through and through, ensuring county residents understood how millions in federal aid impacted them.

We tracked down how every. single. dollar. of American Rescue Plan Act money was spent in Ashland County, Ohio — $46.6 million in total.

That included money that went to Ashland University, the county, the city of Ashland, villages, townships and six public school districts.

“They would have learned that the hospital had financial incentives to look away.”

“If the residents of Helena had seen those files, they would know how Weiner built a high-volume business that billed as much as possible to public and private insurance, all the while sending numerous patients through a carousel of unnecessary and life-threatening treatments.

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