Dean Narciso

Columbus Dispatch This story is part of The Columbus Chronicles, a series highlighting some of the wildest, saddest, funniest and just most memorable events of the last 25 years in central Ohio.

Covering a ranging palate of stories this week, from hate speech around Lego! to a new White Castle and, of course, data center news.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the the region added 20,607 jobs in 2025, a 1.9% increase from December, 2024.

The CEO of Japanese SoftBank Group said he hopes to make their Ohio operations "the center of our super-intelligence."

Even state officials don't know or aren't saying if the half-trillion planned investment in Pike County for data centers is real or aspirational.

Columbus Dispatch It can be a challenge to find a sizable piece of land to develop in Worthington that isn't already spoken for or tied up

Dean Narciso has written thousands of news stories in more than 30 years at The Dispatch.

Columbus Dispatch A motorist was killed on Interstate 70 in Columbus after being hit by a wheel that detached from a semitrailer.

Columbus police say Timothy Powells, 47, died June 19, four days after the shooting. They arrested a 17-year-old suspect on June 20.

Though the Partnership says Hall resigned for family reasons, former employees say the CEO was pressured to leave after cultivating an “untenable” culture.