The search came last Friday at the Eastland Mega Flea Market on Refugee Road. Other confiscated items include unlicensed NFL jerseys, clothing, shoes, sunglasses, jewelry, CDs, and DVDs.

Fifty-two-year-old Zachary Scott has served 26 years in the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department. His promotion will mark the first change in administration in nearly two decades. Scott’s mentor, the late Sheriff Jim Karnes, died after battling pancreatic cancer.

“This was a big shock for a lot of our deputies and civilians. First of all, 95 percent of this office has not been through an administration change. So that within itself is very traumatic for a lot of people. It puts them on edge. They’re anxious. Sheriff Karnes had been our sheriff for 18 1/2 years. And so, like I said, maybe five percent of the people here have ever went through two or three administration changes.”

The Franklin County Democratic Party leadership selected Scott from a field of three candidates. Karnes promoted Scott to sergeant this spring and moved him to the community relations division. He’ll complete the current four year term. But will have to face Franklin County voters in November of 2012 if he wants to remain sheriff. Scott says he’s already preparing for a campaign.

“I’d been preparing to position myself to run for sheriff in 2012. And so, the sheriff and I have been working on this for probably 2  1/2 years.”

During his years at the county sheriff’s office, Scott has worked undercover. He was lead investigator in the I-270 serial shooting case. But he says he’ll quickly turn his attention to budget issues when he assumes office. He will be in charge of 880 employees and a yearly operating budget north of $90,000,000.

“We have to look at some of the money issues. Maybe we’re leaking some money that we shouldn’t be and so we need to tighten up those areas.

Scott says “overtime issues” will be among the first area to get his attention. Scott has a daughter who works at the county jail and a son on the Columbus police force. He is expected to be sworn-in before July 1st.

Photo and Video by: Ally Marotti

The head of the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging, Cindy Farson estimates the elder population in Franklin and surrounding counties will balloon during the next 20 years.

“By 2030 we’re going to see about a 90 percent increase in people over the age of 65.”

Right now the federal census estimates 115,000 Franklin County residents are aged 65 or older. So, if Farson’s estimates are right, in 20 years, the 65-plus population will top 218,000. Farson says one of the primary objectives of her agency is to keep as many elderly as possible out of nursing homes.

“58% of people get their care in nursing homes, 42 in home care. If we would just switch that to a 50-50 mix over the next two years we would be able to save 500-million dollars. So I think there will be a lot more interest in moving people to home care alternatives. “

But, to keep aging residents in their homes often requires some design changes. Linda and Robert Wallace of southern Delaware County are slightly ahead of the demographic curve. At age 68, the couple modified and added space to their home on Hoover Reservoir so they could stay put as they get older.

“The only bedrooms we have is on the second floor, the only bathroom we have is on the second floor. So we thought as we’re aging this is not going to work for us.”

So, the Wallaces contacted, Collamore builders and said they wanted to make some changes specifically, Linda Wallace wanted three changes.

“One, that we would have a bathroom that would be accessible to us if we were in a wheelchair or walker. We wanted to be able to sleep on this floor and actually live on one floor of our house. We needed better access to our driveway.” Custom builder Justin Collamore came up with a plan to add 1,200 square feet to the two-story 1860 structure that originally served as a school house. Collamore added a great room with windows and high ceilings that later can serve as a bedroom. It also gives a view of the reservoir to the west. Collamore made the first floor bathroom and laundry room more accessible and he added basement space too.

“The basement was designed to be used almost as a stand-alone apartment sort of. It could be used for a live-in caretaker.”

In the end, Collamore says the Wallaces home modification took six months at a cost of $175,000 dollars. Collamore says he does most of his work in higher income zip codes in Clintonville, Upper Arlingtron, and old Dublin.

“There are more and more people, I’d say at least half of the people we talk to lately at least want to start planning for the future and aging in their existing home.” But, the need for home modifications crosses income levels. Back at the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging, Cindy Farson says her agency spends between 12 thousand and 14-thousand dollars annually on so-called care plans for a person on Medicaid. And in some cases, some of that money is used for basic changes to help keep the elderly in their own home.

“Often with the Medicaid population it can be temporary access to your front doors. It can be installation of grab bars. “

Both Farson and Collamore see a trend toward home modifications for the elderly. And, building permits for Franklin County’s unincorporated areas in 2010 show four times as many permits for re-modeling work than for new residential construction. But, Jim Hilz at the Building Industry Association is less certain about a possible trend. He says new home building has slumped for five years in Central Ohio and some re-modeling may be the result of builders trying to stay in business. Hilz adds its difficult to tell from building permits alone how many are issued for older residents who want to stay in their homes, since permits are required for almost any change made to an existing house.

“You know remodeling a particular room whether it’s your kitchen, whether it’s a bathroom, decks, porches, windows, sidings, roofs, water heaters.”

Hilz says his industry is offering more training for so-called aging in place projects. But, an economic rebound and job growth in the region would allow builders to return to more home construction.

Tom Borgerding WOSU News.

Officials estimate privatizing the jail’s nursing service will save the county about a million dollars a year. But it’s not sitting well with the county jail nurses.

Three of them showed up to the commissioners’ meeting to plead for their jobs – one literally pleading.

All three commissioners voted “yes” to the outsourcing, but not without saying how difficult the decision was. One nurse gasped, placed her hands over her face and began to cry when the resolution was passed.

That nurse was Renee Hammers, an LPN who has worked at the jail for about six years.

“Money is more important than people’s livelihoods, and it kind of saddens you,” she said.

Thirty-two nurses’ jobs hang in the balance. They’ve been told they’re guaranteed an interview with the nursing contractor – Maxim Healthcare Services. But that does not mean they’ll get a job.

If hired, they say their salary will be cut from about $23 an hour to as little as $16. Marie Dreizen is an LPN at the main jail.

“It’s going to be difficult until actually the whole transition is completed. But as far as I’m concerned, I can’t afford to work for between $16 and $18 an hour. I earned that much 15 years ago,” Dreizen said.

The nurses warned the quality of care could go down with outsourced care. And they say they know how the system – and the inmates – operates. They fear those who are hired will not.

Commissioner John O’Grady said it will be the sheriff’s responsibility to maintain the contract and ensure proper care of inmates.

“Certainly it is a concern we’ll voice on-going and hold the sheriff to like we do all contracts,” O’Grady said.

The transition from county to contracted nurses takes effect in February.

Julius McIntyre will be 36 years old tomorrow. Just yesterday he thought he might spend his birthday in the Franklin County Jail. McIntyre’s behind on his child support very behind more than $20,000 behind in payments for one of his four children.

McIntyre faced a 15-day jail sentence when appeared before Franklin County Judge Dana Preisse. The attorney for the child support enforcement agency adamantly pushed for him to serve at least some of that time. But McIntyre walked away the case closed.

In Preisse’s words “[he] is doing more than most” so she saw no need to impose jail time.

“He is currently working a full-time job. It’s the third shift, and he has even two other young children that he has full custody of. And he’s going to school. So this is an individual who’s not thumbing his nose at the court,” Preisse said.

McIntyre has been working in a Wal-Mart distribution center for about two weeks now. It’s the first full-time job he’s had in more than a year. The economy is partly to blame. But compound that with having to check the little box on a job application that says “yes, I have a felony,” getting work is nearly impossible.

“I’ve got stacks and stacks of denials from places like even Auto Zone, just the smallest [places], gas stations. I can’t even work for a cleaning service to clean a toilet. How skilled do you have to be to do that? They just shun be off. And basically I just have to keep looking, keep looking and keep looking,” McIntyre said.

McIntyre has made some payments over the past three years. He had a seasonal job last year. But part-time and temporary work is not enough to put a dent in his back child support. Government assistance, McIntyre said, can pay more than a low-wage job.

“So if I make $8 an hour, if I work 40 hours a week, that’s $340. Child support say, hey, I need $250 of that. So they’ll take their $250 and leave me the scraps. Typically in a situation like this, and I’ll admit I’ve done it, because it start being un-beneficial, so I quit,” he said.

So McIntyre has leaned on a welfare check, food stamps, day care assistance and Medicaid.

Judge Preisse said McIntyre’s story has become increasingly common over the past few years.

“It used to be say, 12, 14 years ago, when I started, when unemployment was say four percent, and maybe two percent in southern Delaware County, that you could look at a person and say look, you can get a job somewhere.’ And now that the unemployment rate is much higher I think it’s more reasonable that they truly can’t find a job,” Preisse said.

Franklin County collected $2.8 million in child support from unemployment checks in 2008. A year later, that number skyrocketed to $7.4 million. And at the rate it’s going, 2010′s collections will surpass last year’s total.

“People are being laid off. We’re getting notices all the time,” Franklin County Child Support Enforcement Manager Bill Peltcs said.

Peltcs said requests to reduce payments have increased over the past few years.

The agency reports about half of Franklin County parents making support payments are behind. Peltcs said the worst thing someone can do is to avoid the agency altogether when they fall behind.

“You’re unemployed, you’ve got a lot of things on your mind, and we do understand that. But contact us. Let us know what’s going on so we can work with you,” he said.

But if nothing is done the county can suspend driver’s licenses, tack on fines and interest or even impose jail time.

Back at the Franklin County Court House, Julius McIntyre said he’s thankful he’ll be able to take his upcoming finals at Columbus State Community College rather than spend time in jail. He’s taking mechanics courses and he hopes with a degree he’ll be able to better meet his child support obligations. When his children ask for a pair of sneakers he can’t afford, he asks them for patience.

“I believe I’m headed in the right direction, as long as I stay focused, as long as I don’t stop going to school. I believe my kids will definitely prosper out of what I’m doing,” McIntyre said.

While McIntyre’s case is closed at this time, he faces more serious jail time if payments slip again.

In the days following the disappearance of two adult women and two children, investigators concentrated their search in Knox County. In the end, that’s where all the victims were found. 13-year-old Sarah Maynard was rescued last Sunday from a basement in Mount Vernon. But late Thursday afternoon, Knox County Sheriff David Barber had disturbing news about the other three people.

“We have discovered and recovered the remains of Kody Maynard, Stephanie Sprang and Tina Herrmann,” Barber said. “The discovery of these bodies was as the result of information provided by Matthew Hoffman.”

Hoffman is being held in the Knox County jail in lieu of a $1 million bond. He’s charged with kidnapping Sarah Maynard from her home. During a press conference, Barber revealed that the bodies of Sarah’s mother, brother and the family friend were found in trash bags stuffed in a hollow tree near the community of Fredericktown. Barber said the tree had to be cut open to remove the bodies.

“Part of the reason we took them out the way we did, we cut part of the tree away, is our priority to not only to recover them but to recover them with sensitivity and with dignity for the victims and the victims’ families,” Barber said.

Barber’s comments Thursday afternoon were carefully worded and he often declined to give specific details. But he did say that the killings took place in Tina Herrmann’s home and that her daughter Sarah Maynard was in the house at the time of the murders.

“This is a homicide investigation now, and it’s the homicide of three individuals,” Barber said.

Barber said that there’s no evidence to suggest that anyone other than Matthew Hoffman is a suspect in the case.

Barber said he’s saddened by the circumstances but encouraged by Sarah Maynard’s bravery. He said that recovery of the bodies might help begin the process of healing.

“At the very least these three families, this whole county, now knows that they’ve been found. They’re not missing anymore. And hopefully the process of closure, if you call it that, the process of resolution, can now start for them,” Barber said.

Matthew Hoffman is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing next Tuesday. The Knox County prosecutor expects more charges to be filed in the next few weeks.

The county commission is poised to give the shelter board more than half-million dollars in addtional funds. Board Director Michelle Heritage-Ward says the money is needed to help an increasing number of families who are seeking emergency shelter.

“We really don’t know how long this will last. Part of that will depend on what happens in our economy. As our economy recovers and people are starting to be able to be more fully employed and be able to get back to work so they can afford rent. That’s when we’ll start to see some alleviation of this.” Says Heritage-Ward

Heritage Ward says the funds from the county will be used for prevention and re-housing programs. The commission will take up the request at its meeting later this morning.

It’s a cloudy Tuesday afternoon and Columbus State Community College students mill about the school’s courtyard. It’s around lunch time and the smell of hot dogs grilling hangs in the air.

The hot dogs are free, and hungry college students are drawn to them as if the Pied Piper were playing. Korie Jenkins is with Kids Voting, a non-partisan group that gets youth involved with the electoral process. Jenkins is working with the Franklin County Board of Elections to recruit college students to work the polls in November.

“It’s kind of a win-win situation. Free food and make some money,” Jemkins said.

As Jenkins hoped, the hot dogs lured in Dominique Crosby who’s a junior. Crosby says the extra $150 in his pocket sounded pretty good.

“But, um, I guess because it’s a good cause. I’ve really never done it before, and I always wanted to get into something like that. So, just to be some type of help to the community, Crosby said.

Raven Dodson is a freshman and a two-time poll worker through Youth at the Booth.

“Since I’m not in school anymore, well high school, I guess I’ll try this,” Dodson.

Organizers say the event was successful. Jenkins had at least 20 students sign up to work. He said in addition to some extra money, students can earn extra credit in courses like political science. It also gives them an opportunity to give back.

“Everyone should kind of get involved with their community in a sense, and I think it’s very important to, you know, vote,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins, Crosby and Dodson could be the new face of poll workers.

“There’s no rule that says you have to be retired to work the polls on Election Day,” Piscitelli said.

Franklin County Board of Elections spokesman Ben Piscitelli said the average age of poll worker is 62. And about one-third of poll workers have to be replaced every year.

“People who come into the process when they are young, when they are in high school, when they are in college, tend to keep working the polls during elections because if they have a good experience early on, they’re excited about that, they’re comfortable with it. It just becomes part of their makeup. They can’t imagine an election day without working the polls,” he said.

While Piscitelli said people of all ages are encouraged to work the polls, there’s an additional push for young people.

“It’s become more technological over the past several years. When you go in now for example someone’s going to look up your voter registration on a computer laptop. Time was they would have only done that on an index card,” Piscitelli said.

Piscitelli said the board of elections hopes to hire about 200 college students to work the election – they’re about halfway there.

The upcoming gubernatorial and mid-term legislative elections are expected to draw higher than usual voter participation. The Franklin County Board of Elections says its doors will be open until nine tonight to register voters.

Many of those registering are first time voters. But board of elections spokesperson, Ben Piscitelli, said there’s another group of voters who will need to register again.

“If you are someone who voted in the past but you’ve moved since you voted in the last election you will need to re-register with us, give us your new address in order to vote a regular ballot on Election Day,” Piscitelli said.

Otherwise, Piscitelli said, a voter will have to cast a provisional ballot. A voter who has recently changed their name also will need to re-register. Piscitelli said about 813,000 people, so far, are registered to vote this, and as many as 60 percent of them are expected to cast ballots.

“We had a 50 percent turnout in 2006 when Ted Strickland defeated Ken Blackwell. The interest in this race is a little higher,” he said.

Generally, about half of registered voters go to the polls in a governor’s race.

“I could just list off a lot of roads that really need some tender care for them.”

John Lawrence has lived in Coshocton county for 20 years. He says some of the two-lane county and township roads that criss-cross the rolling hills and reclaimed coal strip mines are getting worse. Worse to the point that he avoids them.

“I just don’t really want to put my truck in the road, or drive down the road and literally take the chance of losing my axle because my tire goes into that pothole and just bust my whole axle up. I just refuse to drive on some roads.”

Lawrence’s complaints, and others like them are familiar to Coshocton county engineer, Fred Wachtel.

“We have a lot of people who like to suggest where we spend our money.”

Since 1993, Wachtel has been in charge of maintaining 350 miles of county roads. He has a $5,000,000 annual budget. About $1.200,000 is spent each year on re-surfacing projects. Last year, the economic downturn reached his office.

“In 2009, that was the first year since I’ve been in office that our revenue has actually declined from previous years. Every other year we’d ramped up a little bit. We saw the dollars, our revenue drop. We budgeted this year’s revenue based upon our 2007 revenues.”

To get a first-hand look at the consequences of shrinking revenue. We drove to a section of county road 4. It bisects a reclaimed strip coal mine.

Borgerding Q: ” We’ve just passed a section of the road that has reverted, I guess, is as good a word as any to gravel. Tell me, Mr. Wachtel what happened here?

Wachtel: “This road was paved in the mid 90s. We have areas that just have a lot of shade issues, base issues and that. And just over time the asphalt has a tendency to deteriorate because of those conditions and we’re not in a position to expend a lot of resources to come in and make a good permanent fix so we end up bridging it over in gravel to keep it passable for the folks who use the road.”

A couple of miles to the southwest, we arrive at a section of county road 436. Its in even worse shape.

“We are maintaining it and keeping it drivable, passable, but its going back more into the gravel state than the hard surface state.

Wachtel says 90 percent of his $5,000,000 annual budget comes from gasoline taxes and vehicle registrations. Since the autumn of 2008, he says, gas sales have declined and county residents, he’s noticed, are taking some vehicles out of service. Purdue University’s John Habermann says Coshocton county’s response to lower revenues is part of trend in the Midwest and Plains states.

“When the funds decrease your maintenance of the road starts getting stretched. And pretty soon you don’t ever get out or get to a road to maintain and it starts to deteriorate. And then sometimes in the industry we call it a point of no return.” Says Habermann.

Wachtel says none of the roads in Coshocton county have reached that point of no return. Still, longtime Coshocton resident Deanna Frazer says the condition of some of the roads leaves her muttering to herself when she’s behind the wheel.

“You know, I drive down the roads and go ooh I wish somebody would do something to this thing.”

Tom Borgerding WOSU News