Jordan Laird
@lairdwrites.bsky.social
(She/her) dog and cat mom, The Columbus Dispatch reporter covering city and county government
Columbus police may not work with ICE, but the Franklin County jails do. The county jails are proactively calling ICE about every immigrant, including naturalized citizens. Read my investigation. www.dispatch.com/story/news/l...
How Franklin County jails cooperate with immigration enforcement
Columbus police may not work with ICE, but when they drop an immigrant off at the jail, the Franklin County Sheriff's alerts ICE, even about citizens.
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Dept Public Safety told council the officers in this case were disciplined so I asked police about it this morning. The discipline was verbal counseling. www.dispatch.com/story/news/l...
Columbus settles after probe finds bias in police stop of Black man
City of Columbus to pay $30K after officers stopped a Black driver and turned off body cams while debating charges in a biased traffic stop.
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Did you know @dispatchnewsguild.bsky.social has two photojournalists on staff who are also awesome drone photographers? Linked below are 2 stories where @adamcairns.bsky.social and Doral Chenoweth’s drone photos added depth my words couldn’t. Support professional journalism! #dispatchnewsguild
Help our cause and ask our leadership to voluntarily recognize our union ✊ actionnetwork.org/petitions/te...
Tell USA TODAY Co. to Recognize the Dispatch News Guild!
We are the reporters, photographers and digital producers of The Columbus Dispatch and Newark Advocate, two of the oldest news organizations in Central Ohio. We are fighting for our own futures and th...
actionnetwork.org
Where are the affordable apartments past Columbus levies supported? I mapped it. It’s important because voters just OK’d $500M more in housing bonds. www.dispatch.com/story/news/l...
Columbus OK'd $500M for affordable housing. How was that money used before?
Columbus voters just OK'd way more affordable housing bonds. Where have past levies built, preserved apartments? How will the city use this new money?
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A lot of news out of Columbus City Council tonight, including moderating city code around diversity efforts.
Columbus joins cities scaling back diversity efforts in face of Trump attacks on DEI
Columbus joins a growing list of cities scaling back diversity initiatives as President Donald Trump wages a battle against DEI programs.
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The federal government is looking to open new law enforcement offices in 20 U.S. cities, including Columbus. www.dispatch.com/story/news/p...
Federal law enforcement looking to open new offices in Columbus and 19 other U.S. cities
Federal law enforcement is looking to open new offices in 20 U.S. cities, including Columbus, as the president takes aim at Democrat-led communities.
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Two Columbus leaders besides Mayor Andrew Ginther appear to be setting themselves up for a 2027 mayoral run with aggressive fundraising. Plus, they didn’t exactly deny it when I asked. www.dispatch.com/story/news/p...
Who's running for Columbus mayor in 2027? Fundraising reports hint who might
Besides Mayor Andrew Ginther, two Columbus leaders are also aggressively fundraising. See who might run for mayor in 2027.
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Fact check: while hosting the OSU championship team, Trump said he won Columbus by a lot. He actually lost Columbus by a lot while winning Ohio. www.dispatch.com/story/news/p...
Fact check: Did JD Vance graduate from Ohio State in 2 years? Did Trump win Columbus?
Fact Check: While welcoming OSU's champions at the White House, President Trump made claims about Ohio and graduate J.D. Vance. Were they true?
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In a citywide effort with South Side Thrive, our team helped make Parsons Ave cleaner and safer. @lairdwrites.bsky.social highlights the initiative👇
Columbus sends city 'strike force' to help clean up Parsons Avenue, more areas planned
Columbus leaders have launched a project that gives extra TLC to certain corridors in need, starting with Parsons Avenue on the South Side.
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The Dispatch's @lairdwrites.bsky.social on the current protest movement against President Trump in Central Ohio with responses from lawmakers some accuse of avoiding the public. www.dispatch.com/story/news/p...
Frustrated by Trump and Musk, central Ohio protesters push for senators' attention
A "town hall" using ChatGPT and missing posters show some central Ohioans are frustrated with their Republican Congress members and they're getting creative.
dispatch.com
An exclusive report from @lairdwrites.bsky.social www.dispatch.com/story/news/p...
Ohio city sues Trump, Musk over DOGE freeze on already spent forestry grant
Columbus is joining other cities and nonprofits to sue Trump, Musk and DOGE for cutting their grants — in Columbus' case, a grant for tree planting.
dispatch.com
First in the Dispatch: DOGE claims cost savings for a Columbus office move planned years ago. Just another example of what’s happening nationally: DOGE claiming credit for something that had nothing to do with it while not being transparent. www.dispatch.com/story/news/l...
DOGE claims cost savings for Columbus bankruptcy court move planned years ago
DOGE says that they're saving $1.5 million a year on terminating a lease in downtown Columbus. But that office was already planning to move.
dispatch.com
ICYMI: No diversity or equity talk at an MLK event? Pointing to Trump’s DEI orders, the Columbus VA told their scheduled keynote speaker at their MLK lunch, Commissioner Kevin Boyce, not to talk about DEI so Boyce withdrew, according to Boyce. www.dispatch.com/story/news/l...
Diversity discussion banned at Columbus VA MLK lunch, Ohio official says
Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce says Donald Trump's orders around DEI had a chilling effect on free speech at a Central Ohio VA event.
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From Italian art museums to Moroccan gardens to a South African safari, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, president of the US Conference of Mayors, spent more than one-fifth of 2024 (78 days) traveling for work. Here’s where he went and who paid. www.dispatch.com/story/news/l...
Mayor Ginther spent 78 days away from Columbus in 2024. Here's where he went and who paid
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther spent more than one-fifth of last year traveling, including to Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Morocco and South Africa.
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Last night, Columbus City Council voted to settle three claims against the city, including with two women who alleged sex discrimination within city departments. Settling sex discrimination claims in the Division of Fire and Public Health cost $125k t.co/ApdXSzso9o
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/2025/01/06/columbus-settles-claims-including-sex-discrimination-claims-garbage-truck-injury/77439433007/
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Columbus City Council passed three new ‘Housing for All’ ordinances last night around providing attorneys in eviction court and regulating landlords and predatory wholesalers. www.dispatch.com/story/news/l...
Columbus Council takes aim at region's housing crunch with multiple new laws
Columbus City Council passes a slew of housing-related legislation aimed at decreasing evictions and regulating landlords and wholesalers.
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Pandemic federal funds are going away. Leaders of Columbus' homeless shelters are calling for more local funding, or they warn more people, including families with children, will end up living outside. They also want increased funding to prevent homelessness. t.co/mLEtHMuOVx
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/2024/12/12/columbus-homeless-shelters-asking-millions-more-funds-as-problem-grows/76893106007/
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The city of Columbus posted notices Monday that it planned to evict six homeless camps on city property in one week, impacting at least 40 people living in the camps. The deadline has been delayed after a heated council meeting but the sweeps are still happening. www.dispatch.com/story/news/l...
Activists upset as Columbus plans to evict 6 homeless camps, one ejected from City Council
Columbus plans to evict 6 homeless camps. The Dec. 2 deadline to leave was moved back after outcry, but activists say the sweeps need to stop.
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My first post on here! Some data analysis my colleague Anna Lynn Winfrey and I did: Trumpiest, bluest cities in Franklin County? Here's how your neighborhood voted in 2024
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