Canton Repository reporting makes positive impact in Stark County community

Every so often, my father and I will have a conversation about journalism.

Why the industry has changed. Where it's headed. What stories are important.

And my father, a retired school superintendent, will sometimes grumble about some national issue going on in Washington, D.C. Maybe you should be writing about that, he will say with emphasis.

Then I remind him that my career has been about local journalism, producing stories that can't be found everywhere else. The Canton Repository, Massillon Independent and Alliance Review are focused on producing important stories occurring in and around Stark County.

The community relies on us — whether it's to dig deeper on issues or expose wrongdoing or celebrate our successes. We do this both in the print newspapers and on our websites, which grew in digital readership and subscribers last year.

That growth occurred because we continue to make an impact in Stark County with our reporting, sharing stories that are significant and sometimes exclusive to our community. Here are some of the strongest examples:

Massillon's Indian River riot kicks off statewide project

When teens being held at the Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility in Massillon rioted in the fall of 2022, the USA TODAY Ohio network — which includes the Canton Repository and Massillon Independent — launched an eight-month investigation into the state's youth prisons and local detention facilities.

We discovered those facilities are overwhelmed by violence and trauma, and don't have enough workers to provide adequate security, education and mental health treatment for incarcerated children. Kids in custody were injured and in some cases died because of violence inside the facilities. Guards were attacked and injured, too. The investigation also uncovered neglect.

The "Chaos in Ohio's Youth Lockups" project, supported by Independent staff writer Amy Knapp and Repository staff writer Ben Duer, was published Nov. 12. The next day, Gov. Mike DeWine announced the formation of a juvenile justice working group empaneled to come up with solutions. The panel includes Melissa Day, juvenile division chief in the Stark County Prosecutor's Office.

The bipartisan Ohio Correctional Institution Inspection Committee also is looking into the issue.

Why was raped baby sent home to abuser after Canton hospital visit?

In July, staff writer Tim Botos chronicled the upsetting story of baby V.J.

The 5-month-old had been raped by her 22-year-old father in September 2022. The baby was taken to Aultman Hospital by her mother.

Aultman staff contacted Stark County Children Services four times about V.J., but the agency did not send a case worker to the hospital. The doctor, Aaron Clark, declined to have the staff contact law enforcement. The child was sent home to her abuser.

Children Services waited a few days to follow up. And no one notified Canton police of the suspected abuse until four days after the rape.

Botos' reporting exposed a loophole in state law. By law, mandatory reporters, such as Aultman physicians, must report suspected child abuse to Children Services or law enforcement. Not both.

"Unbelievable ... that should never have happened," said state Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Dayton, when he was provided details of the case. "This is mind-blowing."

In emails obtained by Botos, the hospital pediatric director called its handling of the case "a HUGE miss." The father was sentenced to life in prison. The mother received four years' probation on endangering children and obstructing justice charges. And V.J. is living with a different family.

Canton police also filed a complaint with the State Medical Board of Ohio against the emergency room physician.

Exposing poor living conditions at Victory Square Apartments

Baseboard heaters that never worked. Black mold. Broken stairs. Doors that won't lock. And pipes leaking raw sewage.

“It was the worst of the worst of the worst," said Alison Koher, owner of Awesome A's Cleaning Service in Massillon who visited the complex. "I could not believe what I was seeing.”

Staff writer Kelli Weir found terrible living conditions when she visited Victory Square Apartments in Canton. In October, she shared the complaints of tenants with the story attracting the attention of the city of Canton and the U.S. Department of Housing Development.

She also found that the federal agency had given the complex a passing inspection score just weeks before the city found 124 code violations in its first inspection in August.

Amid her investigation, HUD ordered that owner Green Victory Square fix the deficiencies at the complex or it could lose the housing assistance HUD provides. The city also started fining the company.

Republic Steel shuts down operations

Everyone seemed caught off guard in August when Grupo Simec, the Mexican-based parent company of Republic Steel, announced it was idling its steel-making operations in Canton and Lackawanna, New York.

Hundreds of workers in Stark County were losing their jobs.

Staff writers Kelly Byer and Kelli Weir followed the story, including how employees were being affected, especially because Republic Steel initially reported the closure as just a temproary idling before later confirming the plant was closed for good.

Weir reported on how the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and others quickly assembled a job fair for workers. And Byer examined how workers are worried about their long-term health issues from handling leaded steel.

Many other examples of strong local journalism

The Repository produced many other impactful stories in the past year. Here are a just few:

• Canton police officers shot and killed two suspects in 2023. Tim Botos reported on the shooting of Jeffrey Neff following a foot chase in June. He pieced together a narrative based on body camera footage of the officers. Meanwhile, staff writers Robert Wang and Nancy Molnar looked at the shooting death of Zachary Fornash in December.
• In an effort to honor veterans, staff writers Tim Botos, Kelli Weir and Charita Goshay teamed up and published a list of more than 1,200 Stark County military veterans who died while serving our country. The list, which remains active, was posted at CantonRep.com on Memorial Day.
• The Repository once again teamed up with the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and yStark! to celebrate Stark County's brightest young professionals — those people who are making a difference and deserve recognition. We helped produce the 16th annual Twenty under 40! list. We will participate in the project again this year.
• Staff writer Charita Goshay continued to explore how urban renewal devastated southeast Canton in the 1960s and 1970s, wiping out an entire neighborhood. More than 300 homes, businesses and churches were demolished to make way for U.S. Route 30, the Cherry Avenue SE overpass and industrial space. She covered a reunion by Lafayette Street SE neighbors in August and shared their stories of what once was. And she reported on an effort by Malone University students to record and save those stories.
• After a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine in February, Repository staff members helped cover the aftermath. Staff writer Kelli Weir delved into Norfolk Southern's safety record, finding that the railroad company had among the highest train accident rates nationally and the highest number of derailments in Ohio. Meanwhile, staff writer Ben Duer began tracking all the lawsuits filed over the derailment and he reported on how it impacted the housing market.

These are just some of the powerful stories that we told in 2023. We plan to continue to share more this year. Because if we aren't reporting these local stories, who is?

Rick Armon is the managing editor at the Canton Repository and Massillon Independent. He welcomes feedback and constructive criticism at 330-580-8310 and rarmon@cantonrep.com.