Hello and happy holidays,
The lame duck days of late December (and commensurate news slowdown) give us a quiet break to reflect on a long year ending and a fresh one just about to open.
Before we move on to 2026, we wanted to look back on some of our memorable work from 2025. Here’s the best stuff we did in the last 525,600 minutes (And you’re welcome for putting that earworm in your head).
What you liked
Before I show you our picks, let’s talk about yours.
Signal Ohio’s most-read story: Andrew Tobias on language in the current state budget that could kick 700,000 Ohioans off Medicaid if the federal government reduces its share of the costs for the health insurance program for people who are sick or poor in America.
In fact, we spent a lot of time on articles readers seemed to appreciate about Medicaid. That includes focus on work reporting requirements that could soon take effect here for Medicaid clients and the federal “big beautiful bill” legislation that will cost the state $33 billion over a decade.
You clicked this Jake Zuckerman story on new marijuana legislation that Gov. Mike DeWine signed last week and the legal risks it spells for adults who use cannabis. And many of you read Amy Morona on legislation mandating that schools and colleges across the state require people to use bathrooms that match the gender they were assigned at birth.
You all also followed Amy’s coverage of a seismic legal shift in higher ed in Ohio – we’ll get to that in a minute.
Other hits include Jake on the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling that the nitrogen gas that asphyxiated a security guard was “non-toxic,” and Andrew’s interview with gubernatorial hopeful Dr. Amy Acton, who told him she wanted a 9/11-style investigation into the COVID-19 response she oversaw.
Now, onto the house favorites.
Jake liked his stories about medical debt and pharmaceutical lobbying
The best story I (Jake) wrote this year, co-bylined and investigated with Andrew, was about Mary Rutan Hospital’s aggressive practices of suing 2,700 patients in two years in Bellefontaine for unpaid debts. Strangers trusted us with their personal medical information and the crushing, and often stigmatized, financial pain it caused. We’re proud to shine a light on the controversial practice squeezing a small town. And we’re glad some local TV stations followed our reporting.
I’m also proud of my piece on Harm Reduction Ohio’s ongoing legal battle with its founder.
Dennis Cauchon accused his then-employee of moonlighting as a drug company lobbyist and seemingly steering federal grant dollars running through the nonprofit toward that second employer to purchase its pricey opioid overdose reversal drugs. Cauchon was ousted from the nonprofit. The employee and the organization have denied wrongdoing in a messy and ongoing whistleblower lawsuit.
After that story was published, the state changed its policy around distributing the brand name drug we highlighted. And I still have my eyes on the docket.
Otherwise, I liked my writing on fracking waste in Southeast Ohio; a forgotten Trump pardon of a man convicted of helping an Ohio CEO violate securities laws; Cadiz’ month without water; gun violence at county fairs; and a small town’s war on solar.
Amy spent the year watching a battle over higher education in Ohio
Despite its modest 42 pages, Senate Bill 1 eroded Ohio universities’ independence and gave lawmakers newfound control over hiring, curricula, scholarship awards and more.
Here’s what Amy had to say about it.
“I spent most of 2025 keeping close tabs on Senate Bill 1, the now-law that overhauls how public colleges and universities work in Ohio. Though I covered the legislation’s many hearings (including one marathon eight-hour session of opponent testimony!), the meatiest stories I produced dug into how Ohioans grappled with the legislation in a myriad of ways.
Those pieces include a look at why university presidents stayed silent during the legislative process, the myriad of changes the law requires administrators to make and how the legislation stopped one alum from making a six-figure donation to his alma mater.
Andrew dug into dodgy recovery homes and private planes
Lastly, Andrew, in his own words:
“I spent months working on this story about the proliferation of recovery homes in Portsmouth and why local officials there had made it a top priority to try to crack down on them. Plus, there were the follow-ups detailing a proposal from a local state legislator to respond to the issue and the state officials who accused one provider of wrongdoing.
It’s an important subject and an example of the way that I’d hoped working for Signal would allow me to highlight state policy issues that affect people outside of Ohio’s largest cities.
This one took less work, but one of my favorite stories of the year was this feature I wrote in August about Vivek Ramaswamy’s town hall meeting in Cincinnati. It touched on how Ramaswamy uses the internet to fuel his campaign and how being the center of a viral, partisan controversy struck people in the Queen City. I give myself bonus points for referencing a notable Ohio journalist: Phil Donahue. Another Ramaswamy-related story I enjoyed described his campaign’s unusual use of a private jet, which was disclosed in a campaign finance report.
Finally, this could be recency bias, but I just polished off this article about the growing local backlash against data centers. I liked this story because it ties a hot policy issue – including building off some of Jake’s great work on the subject – together with a big picture example of how local, state and national politics sometimes can fuse together.”
Suggested Reading
In the news
Data center resistance: Ohio’s data center boom is running into political resistance.
The projects were long favored by state leaders. But lately, they’ve increasingly led to packed public meetings, referendum threats and community moratoriums as concerns rise over electricity prices. Read more from Andrew Tobias.
Beatty files lawsuit: Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts cannot legally add President Donald Trump’s name to the center. Read more from our partners at NOTUS.
Overhauling property taxes: Gov. Mike DeWine has approved a legislative package that will save taxpayers an estimated billions of dollars over the next three years by limiting how much future increases in property values can trigger automatic tax hikes. The change will result in a corresponding loss in future revenue to schools and other local governments. Read more from Andrew Tobias.
Regulating intoxicating hemp: DeWine signed sweeping drug policy changes into law Friday that will for the first time regulate and tax Ohio’s “intoxicating hemp” industry while establishing new criminal penalties around the possession of legally purchased marijuana. Read more.
Grace period ended: Mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day will no longer count in Ohio, under a bill signed into law on Friday by DeWine. Read more.