Here’s a look back at some of the top news from the Springfield News-Sun in 2025.
Gun violence
Right from the start, violence kicked off the new year in 2025 when an attempted robbery stemming from an alleged drug deal turned into a double homicide in the 2100 block of Larch Street in Springfield where two people were shot and killed Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025.
More homicides followed through the year, prompting residents, city leaders and law enforcement to seek solutions to the growing violence.
Some of the potential solutions were defunded. A coalition studied the gun violence issue in Springfield and planned to launch a street outreach program, but lost $1.24 million when the federal government abruptly canceled all but almost $400,000 that had already been used.
Homelessness
City of Springfield first responders and multiple social service providers went to a homeless encampment in early May in Snyder Park to begin the process of emptying the site where numerous people had been living.
The city said there were no incidents during the encampment closure, and a couple months of clean up followed. The original reason cited for emptying the camp was “health and safety” concerns, including sanitary problems given the lack of restroom facilities, according to the city. The city gave camp residents notice of the plan April 4.
The encampment became part of the ongoing conversation of homelessness in the community, a topic that has continued into the colder months of the year after Sheltered Inc. avoided closing its homeless shelter for men when the Springfield City Commission authorized additional funding to keep it open.
‘No Kings’ in Springfield
Protesters gathered in downtown Springfield twice this year to join in a national series of “No Kings” protests, first in June and then again in October.
In June, a large crowd of protesters of all ages gathered in front of Springfield City Hall to denounce President Donald Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C.
Protesters returned to Springfield City Hall on Oct. 18 for the second round of “No Kings” demonstrations this year. It was one of thousands of events held in the country on the same day to protest the Trump administration, particularly in regard to the crackdown on immigration and actions from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to event organizers, the demonstration held over the weekend was bigger than the first. In scenes similar to those playing out in San Diego, Portland, New York City, and elsewhere, people gathered in downtown Springfield with placards, inflatables, and protest chants.
Bracing for end of TPS
Springfield and Clark County have become home to thousands of Haitian immigrants who are now facing the end of the legal status that prevented the government from deporting many people from Haiti back to that country, which has been dealing with rampant gang violence and unrest.
Initially, the federal government attempted to end the temporary protected status for Haitians early when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced an official termination would happen Sept. 2, 2025, saying that conditions in Haiti had improved and its immigrants no longer meet the conditions for temporary protected status.
A federal judge ruled that ending TPS early was unlawful, blocking the program from ending this year. Temporary protected status is now set to expire Feb. 3, 2026.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Many Haitians who came into the country under the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan humanitarian parole program and did not obtain another status, such as temporary protected status, lost their jobs when the Department of Homeland Security began terminating their statuses in June.
The terminations were appealed, but a district court decision determined those here under humanitarian parole can have their statuses revoked while a lawsuit on the effort plays out.
Now, residents and immigrants alike are concerned about what next year will look like, including fears of immigration raids and what impact a workforce shortage could have on the local economy.
Hunger
Another problem impacting the community is food insecurity.
New data from Clark County health officials show food insecurity in the area is rising above state and national levels. This includes an increase in the number of people who rely on emergency food assistance or on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
About 15.6% of Clark County residents are food insecure, according to the Clark County Combined Health District’s 2025 Community Health Assessment. For comparison, the statewide percentage is 14.1% and the national percent is 13.5%, according to data from Feeding America and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Clark County residents also rely on emergency food assistance more than state and national averages. About 18.4% of people in Clark County use SNAP benefits, compared to 12.4% in Ohio and 11.8% nationwide, according to the health assessment.
About 11.3% of families in Clark County are living below the federal poverty line, compared to 9.2% statewide, according to the county health assessment.
The health assessment showed an increase in the number of Clark County residents seeking emergency food assistance at the Second Harvest Food Bank. Last year, 56,518 people were recorded going to the food bank, an increase from the COVID-19 pandemic years when there were 42,842 people recorded going to the food bank in 2021.
To compound matters, Second Harvest is one of a number of food banks to suffer from state and federal funding cuts. Financial losses the food bank sustained from cuts or cancellations to the Local Food Purchase Assistance program and Commodity Credit Corporation amounted to $453,867 in food, according to Second Harvest.
Debate over solar energy
With the first, large-scale commercial solar field headed for Clark County, residents have questioned whether they want to allow future solar fields or if they want to keep farmland as farmland.
In September, Clark County commissioners voted 2-1 to ban large wind and solar farms from being built in the unincorporated areas of all of Clark County’s 10 townships for at least two years, expiring on Dec. 31, 2027.
Commission President Sasha Rittenhouse and Commissioner Charles Patterson voted in favor of the ban, while Commissioner Melanie Flax Wilt voted against it.
This follows renewable energy developer Invenergy’s partially grandfathered-in Sloopy Solar project, 180-megawatt energy center proposed in Harmony Twp. between South Charleston and South Vienna. The proposed project boundary includes 1,600 acres for solar panels.
The solar installation would be able to power an estimated 33,000 homes annually if fully built out, according to project developer Gaby Rubio.
County voters reject taxes
The November election hit hard for county government and the parks district as voters rejected multiple levies.
Clark County voters overwhelmingly rejected a sales tax increase to help build a new jail and public safety building by a vote of 78% against it.
The 20-year, 0.5% sales tax increase was meant to to build and operate a new jail. The current jail that’s housed in the public safety building downtown along with offices of the Springfield Police Division and Clark County Sheriff’s Office is too small and noncompliant with multiple state standards, law enforcement officials say.
County Commissioner Rittenhouse said they’re still going to have to build a new jail because the current one has reached “the end of its useful life,” but the question is how. Since the levy failed, the county will not be meeting jail standards. They may have to cut services and may try to bring it back to the ballot in the spring.
If the levy would have passed, the 0.5% sales tax increase would have given the county $10 million a year.
The new building will potentially be constructed in the south of Springfield close to Interstate 70.
A purchase agreement was authorized in August for four parcels of land from Allen C. Armstrong for an almost 30-acre farm field in the 2600 block of South Limestone Street in the amount of $1 million, plus closing costs not to exceed $100,000.
Costs for a new facility are estimated at $100 million, according to the county. Project costs include $77 million in construction costs, $16.5 million for professional services (architects, project management, etc.), a $4.1 million contingency fund and $2.3 million for site acquisition and preparation.
In addition to the failed sales tax increase, the Clark County Parks and Recreation District’s operating replacement levy failed with 52.94% of voters opposing it in November.
Voters also rejected school levies. Voters in the Clark-Shawnee Local School District voted against a 1% earned income tax by 73%, and those in the Northwestern Local School District voted against a 5.35-mill substitute levy by 68%.
Coming next year: Increased property values, taxes
Property owners will see an impact when they pay their 2025 taxes next year, with average Clark County property values up 32%, Clark County Auditor Hillary Hamilton said. This does not mean every property value will increase that much, with “hot pockets” in the county increasing the average.
Property taxes can be estimated with the auditor’s office’s online tax estimator tool, Hamilton said.
Ismael David Mujahid, Jessica Orozco and Brooke Spurlock contributed to this story.
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