The Reporting Project

A vision for the future of Licking County is being formed, and residents can have a say in how it takes shape. An initiative by Licking County leaders will incorporate the ideas and suggestions of residents into the first countywide growth plan in 25 years – one they say will be designed to ensure responsible growth. That begins with a series of public meetings to hear the priorities and goals of county residents.

The classrooms in Par Excellence Academy are filled with energy. Chatter bounces off the walls while teachers direct students through hands-on activities. You’d be hard pressed to find a classroom in this school at the corner of Granville Street and Country Club Drive in Newark where students aren’t continuously moving around, working on something. Students are quick to greet visitors. “They practically tackle you to say hello,” said Alison Shardell, director of student services and STEM.

DeFelice Bros Pizza has served its last slice in Newark. On June 14, the pizza shop at 1976 Granville Road in Newark, closed its doors after serving its unique, thick-crust pizza in the Licking County area for the last five years. The franchise location, which opened in 2021, was the ninth DeFelice Bros pizza spot, and the first outside of the Steubenville, Ohio, and Wheeling, West Virginia areas.

A king among marbles, the onionskin sat perched atop my collection. Clay and machine-made marbles were at the bottom of the small jar. Surrounding the orange onionskin were smaller cool-colored onionskins and core swirls. But the great onionskin glows like a lantern when you put a flashlight to it, like the sun trapped inside a glass ball, straining at its blue and green edges. From the moment I saw it, I knew it would be one of my favorites. When was the last time you thought about marbles?

Granville Pride will be hosting its annual Pride festivities on the lawn in front of the Michael D. Eisner Center for the Performing Arts at Denison University on June 27 from 1-4 p.m. The event will have nonstop entertainment, performances and over 35 vendors from all over Ohio. The event, which organizers described as a big, family-friendly party, has been held annually since 2021, when the organization was founded.

Mayor Melissa Hartfield with her mother, Sue Hartfield. Everyone in town knows the lanky woman with dark hair and dark-rimmed glasses, and that means her path of about 75 feet between Granville Village Hall and Village Coffee shop can easily take a half hour.

Legend Hills Orchard is ready to welcome visitors back to the apple orchards and peach groves after a September 2025 fire destroyed their facilities. The farm, located just west of Utica, has existed since 1904, and has been farmed by three generations of the Hoar family. The property is filled with hundreds of peach and apple trees, sunflowers and a pumpkin patch.

More than a dozen booths lined the outdoor pavilion at the Canal Market District in downtown Newark, each one displaying a wide array of colorful fibers, yarns and tools on Saturday, June 13. From Alpaca yarn to wool yarn and everything in between, the Mid-Ohio Fiber Fair was described as a “fiber-holic’s paradise.” The festival took place in the Canal Market District in Newark this year.

A story and photos about girls who play on tackle football teams in Licking County published by The Reporting Project won first place awards in the 2026 “Ohio’s Best Journalism” contest held by the Society of Professional Journalists’ chapters in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus. Maddie Luebkert of The Reporting Project staff won first place for Best Sports Coverage. Judges said it was an “excellent piece with great narratives and pacing throughout the piece.

They knew it was likely that the Heath City Council would postpone a vote on the proposed 550-home Heath Hills development, and yet more than 100 people packed into the council meeting room and spilled into the lobby Monday evening. And even after the council voted early in the June 15 meeting to postpone the vote until Aug.