At CityBeat, national and local headlines seemed to be one and the same this year. Between Damar Hamlin’s astonishing moment at Paycor Stadium and a historic victory for abortion rights, the spotlight seemed to shine on Ohio and Cincinnati frequently in 2023. For better or worse, there are other stories you may have missed this year that stand out as important, inspiring or downright shocking.

First Responders Save Damar Hamlin’s Life at Paycor Stadium The new year started with a terrifying moment in sports history, but it soon turned into an inspiring legacy for Buffalo Bills safety, Damar Hamlin. On Jan. 2, about halfway through the first quarter of the Bengals vs. Bills game at Paycor Stadium, wide receiver Tee Higgins hit Hamlin in the chest during a routine play. Hamlin stood up right after — but a few seconds later, collapsed. Medical personnel attended to Hamlin for 19 minutes on the field, performing nine minutes of CPR. Commentators oscillated between commercial breaks and shots of the packed-yet-hushed stadium. Players from both teams could be seen openly weeping and praying while emergency crews worked to restart Hamlin’s heart. Hamlin was placed on a stretcher, given oxygen and transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where he was intubated. The remainder of the Bills-Bengals game was postponed. News stations from across the country camped outside of UC Medical in the days following as Hamlin showed steady signs of improvement. His first message to medical staff when he awoke became a catchphrase emblazoned across t-shirts in a fundraiser campaign for first responders and the UC Medical Center: “Did we win?” Hamlin’s Chasing M’s Foundation raised more than $9 million for youth sports programs and partnered with the American Heart Association to educate teens and adults about CPR and automated external defibrillators, both of which saved his life in Cincinnati. Photo: Madeline Fening
A man takes photos as a black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern train, Feb. 6, 2023. After toxic chemicals were released into the air from a wrecked train in Ohio, evacuated residents remain in the dark about what toxic substances are lingering in their vacated neighborhoods while they await approval to return home. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Northern Kentucky Air Hub Workers Push Forward Union Efforts From Hollywood writers to Midwestern auto workers, union organizing was one of 2023’s most defining movements. Research from Cornell University shows the United States saw eight times the number of workers involved in labor strikes in 2023 compared to the same period in 2021, and nearly four times that number compared to 2022. Northern Kentucky’s air cargo workers – those who load, unload and process packages delivered by aircraft – pushed forward with their own labor organizing in 2023. Employees at Amazon’s KCVG air hub in Hebron, Kentucky, launched their union drive in November 2022, but efforts ramped up in March of this year when organizers joined forces with the broader Amazon Labor Union (ALU). Chris Smalls, president of the ALU, famously led the effort to organize the Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York. During a March 18 rally outside KCVG, Smalls urged the crowd of air hub workers and supporters to keep pushing ahead. Organizing employees at KCVG are asking for a pay bump, expanded paid time off and more. Most recently, employees have railed against a second holiday peak season without peak pay, the extra $2 per hour incentive which was offered in 2021. An Amazon spokesperson told CityBeat that pay is up across the board for Amazon employees at $20.50 per hour on average. The holiday rush of packages is no different at DHL-CVG, where employees voted to join the Teamsters union in April. Organizers told CityBeat that ramp associates make $20 per hour working life-threatening jobs using dangerous and outdated equipment. Kenton County Airport Board records show there were at least 22 workplace injuries at DHL-CVG in 2022, including broken, crushed and dislocated limbs. The labor strike at DHL Express ended with an agreement between the company and the Teamsters union, a Teamsters spokesperson confirmed to CityBeat on Dec. 19. Photo: Aidan Mahoney
Jerry Springer, King of Cincinnati and Our Hearts, Dies at 79 Jerry Springer, the provocative, daytime talk show legend and former mayor of Cincinnati, died after a battle with pancreatic cancer at his Chicago home on April 27. He was 79. Before Springer was “Jerry! Jerry!” he spent a decade in Cincinnati politics, serving on city council and as the city’s 56th mayor in 1977. He then spent another ten years as WLWT’s nightly news anchor where Springer earned several Emmys. Starting in 1991, The Jerry Springer Show debuted to a limited audience as a political talk show. Springer’s namesake show quickly evolved into a shocking daytime display of conflict between everyday people. Springer would facilitate paternity test reveals, marriage confessions and in-studio brawls that blurred the lines between reality and scripted television. Chants of “Jerry! Jerry!” from audience members soon became an iconic battlecry for messy drama in America. The Jerry Springer Show ran for 27 seasons with nearly 5,000 episodes and countless censorship bleeps. Before the show officially wrapped in 2018, Springer returned to his roots as a political and cultural commentator with The Jerry Springer Podcast (subtitled Tales, Tunes & Tomfoolery) which was recorded at the Folk School Coffee Parlor in Ludlow, Kentucky. Cincinnati remembered Springer in a celebration at Memorial Hall that was broadcast to pedestrians at Fountain Square. Attended by local leaders, family and fans, guests were given t-shirts featuring his signature catchphrase: “Take care of yourself and each other.” Photo: Justin Hoch, Wikimedia Commons
CPD Says Goodbye to District 5 The boundaries that define the Cincinnati Police Department’s districts began to change shape in 2023. On May 9, CPD Chief Teresa Theetge announced plans to eliminate the District 5 headquarters in College Hill, reducing the number of police districts from five to four, along with the Central Business District. City Manager Sheryl Long said the move was part of a long-term strategy based on crime data analysis and feedback from District 5 officers. Theetge assured the city that the restructuring would not impact police services or response times, but Fraternal Order of Police president Dan Hils said the change makes officers less safe on the job. Hils said in a July 25 press release that nearly 100 FOP members voted to demand CPD keep District 5, citing concerns after a CPD officer was attacked with his own baton and struck with his own taser. “It’s painfully obvious that we need more officers and more patrols in Cincinnati neighborhoods, not fewer,” Hils said. By the end of the year, College Hill, Mt. Airy, Northside and Camp Washington will be reassigned to District 3. Winton Hills, Spring Grove Village and Clifton will be reassigned to District 4. CUF will move to District 1. Other adjustments will include moving Mt. Auburn from District 4 to District 1, Walnut Hills will be reassigned from District 4 to District 2 and Mt. Adams will be reassigned from District 1 to the Central Business District. Photo: Madeline Fening
City Apologizes for Racist 1948 “Master Plan” Cincinnati city leaders called a press conference on June 13 to make a rare proclamation condemning the actions of past politicians who systematically displaced tens of thousands of Black Cincinnatians. Standing alongside council members and other city leaders, Mayor Aftab Pureval issued a public apology for the destructive consequences of the 1948 “Master Plan” that saw the dismantling of the historically Black lower West End neighborhood to make way for the expansion of I-75 and the Queensgate industrial area. The apology acknowledged the racist actions and long-term damage inflicted on the predominantly Black community, where over 2,800 homes, businesses, churches and other buildings were leveled. Approximately 25,000 residents, mostly Black, were forcibly displaced, with promises of relocation assistance unfulfilled. During the press conference, Oscar Wright, now 87, recalled his experience as a 13 year old in the West End. He said the 30-day deadline his family faced felt like an “evacuation.” “That was traumatic,” Wright said. “It always stayed in my head, ‘Mother, where are we going? Daddy, where are we going?’ ‘We don’t know yet.’” The apology emphasized ongoing efforts to reinvest in the West End, including pedestrian safety measures, a $20 million federal grant for road improvements, a $7 million investment to address pollution in the Mill Creek corridor and support for local businesses. The city also plans to pursue a $50 million choice grant with the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority to revitalize housing on Linn Street and transform the historic Regal Theater into an African-American multicultural center. Photo: Madeline Fening
The Doerman Children Murders Editor’s note: The details in this story may be disturbing to some readers. Shock, outrage and grief gripped the Clermont County community this summer in a murder case that captured national attention. On June 15, deputies with the Clermont County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to a Monroe Township home, about 30 minutes east of downtown Cincinnati, for reports of a man “killing everyone.” Deputies arrived to find 32-year-old Chad Doerman sitting outside the home, his three sons, ages 3, 4 and 7, shot dead in the yard. Prosecutors said Doerman lined up the boys at their home and executed them with a rifle, a plan he allegedly had for months. Court documents show Doerman “hunted” the oldest boy down after he tried to flee in an open field behind the home, but Doerman “dragged” him back to the house and killed him. Rachel Brown, the aunt of the Doerman boys and their mother’s sister, told CityBeat she wants the world to know how “amazing these babies were.” “They are not only this tragedy,” Brown told CityBeat. “They were happy and funny, so very funny, goofy, kind, loving boys.” Brown raised more than $280,000 for her sister and niece, the boys’ sister, to pay for funeral costs, trauma therapy and other expenses. Doerman is being held at the Clermont County Jail on a $20 million bond, his trial scheduled to begin July 8. He faces 21 charges, including nine counts of aggravated murder. Doerman could face the death penalty if convicted. Photo: Rachel Brown via Facebook
Dismembered Woman Found in North Fairmount A gruesome mystery out of North Fairmount remains unsolved at the year’s end. Investigators are still trying to identify the dismembered remains of a woman found in the woods off Baltimore Avenue near Beekman Street on Nov. 5. The Cincinnati Police Department responded to the scene after a passerby called to report the remains, with the coroner listing her death as a homicide. No tattoos, no birthmarks, no scars – the remains don’t even give investigators the options to run fingerprints or dental records. “There are no teeth to investigate,” said Hamilton County coroner Dr. Lakshmi Kode Sammarco. She described the victim as a Black woman, likely in her late 20s to early 30s, about 5 feet tall and weighing around 120 pounds. It’s estimated she sustained at least one pregnancy in her lifetime. The investigation is still ongoing, with Cincinnati Police and the coroner working to identify the mystery Jane Doe. Photo: Scott Rodgerson, Unsplash
Ohioans Vote YES on Abortion Care and Recreational Marijuana In perhaps the most significant off-year election Ohio has ever seen, voters passed Issues 1 and 2, protecting abortion access and legalizing recreational marijuana. Both issues passed with more than 56% of the vote, a crushing defeat for Republicans who railed against the measures with the full support of the state’s top election official. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose reportedly allowed several anti-abortion groups to assist in writing the ballot language for Issue 1, inserting misleading language such as “unborn child.” Once it became clear that Issue 1 would pass, Republicans vowed to undo the will of voters one way or another, with Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens saying the legislature has “multiple paths to […] protect innocent life.” Still, abortion access in the state remains untouched after a Hamilton County judge temporarily blocked the state’s six-week abortion ban. Abortion is currently legal in Ohio up until the point of viability, or about 22 weeks. On the other hand, the future for recreational marijuana is still hazy. Despite strong support from voters, lawmakers in the Ohio Senate are pushing to make sweeping changes to the new law, including cutting home growth, lowering THC levels, increasing the tax rate, changing who sees those tax dollars and more. Nevertheless, the results of Issues 1 and 2 shine a purple light on the question of if Ohio can still be considered a swing state. Photo: Aidan Mahoney
UC Medical Student Murdered on Western Hills Viaduct The Cincinnati Police Department is still searching for the person responsible for the death of a 26-year-old University of Cincinnati doctoral student who was shot while driving on the Western Hills Viaduct. CPD said officers were dispatched to the Western Hills Viaduct around 6:20 a.m. on Nov. 9 for reports of an “auto accident and a person shot.” The responding officers found Aaditya Adlakha, 26, suffering from a gunshot wound inside his car. He was transported to UC Medical Center where he died from his injuries on Nov. 11. His death is being investigated as a homicide. According to UC, Adlakha was an award-winning fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in UC’s Molecular and Development Biology graduate program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Adlakha’s research on the immunomodulatory role of nociceptive neurons in ulcerative colitis earned him an award and stipend from the medical college in 2022. “He was much-loved, exceedingly kind and humorous, intelligent and sharp, whose research was described as novel and transformative,” reads a Nov. 13 news release from UC Medical College. Police have yet to confirm if the shooting on the Western Hills Viaduct was random or targeted at Adlakha. The investigation is ongoing. Photo: Via Aaditya Adlakha on Facebook