All information is current as of The Scoop’s production on Tuesday morning. Click the links for the most up-to-date information. The Athens County Independent believes the cited sources of information are reliable; however, these sources are responsible for the accuracy of their own reporting.
Submit news and information to info@athensindependent.com by noon on Mondays for inclusion in Tuesday’s issue of The Scoop.
Local
WOUB Public Media made staff cuts as a result of a July 2025 decision by the U.S. Congress to rescind over a billion dollars of funding for Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which afforded WOUB 30% of its annual budget. WOUB laid off three employees and will not replace three employees that left the organization for other reasons. More layoffs are possible. The outlet will remain a PBS/NPR affiliate. (WOUB)
OhioHealth has started a new addiction medicine program in Athens aimed to eliminate care gaps in the area. (Business Daily News)
In connection with the shooting deaths of an Athens dentist and his wife, Spencer and Monique Tepe, an Illinois man was arrested over the weekend. Michael McKee, 39, was previously married to Monique Tepe. (NBCi4)
Regional
Two Wayne National Forest projects are currently up for public comment. In the Marietta Unit, the Bureau of Land Management is accepting public input until Jan. 15 on 41 parcels that will be leased for oil and gas drilling in September. Meanwhile, in the Ironton Unit, a court-ordered supplemental environmental analysis for a logging project is up for public comment until Jan. 20. (Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service)
- Indy context: The oil and gas leasing process in the Marietta Unit comes after a years-long legal fight over fracking in the forest; fracking will be allowed on the parcels. The supplemental environmental analysis for logging in the Ironton Unit also follows a legal battle over the project’s environmental impact.
In a move to further its goals to develop data centers in Southeast Ohio, Meta will make a multi-billion dollar investment in a company developing nuclear power resources in Pike County. (WOUB)
State
More Ohioans have the flu this year than last. Ohio Department of Health officials cite a new strain of what some are calling a “superflu” as leading cause. (Statehouse News Bureau)
Environmental advocacy groups are suing the state in an attempt to restore enforcement of clean air regulations after changes in the state budget. (WYSO)
An Ohio appeals court has sent a lawsuit over parts of the state’s abortion ban back to trial court. The decision leaves untouched a lower court ruling that struck down the six-week ban after voters enshrined reproductive rights in the state constitution in 2023. (Ohio Capital Journal)
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