GEORGETOWN, Ohio — Several law enforcement agencies were involved in busting a marijuana grow operation in the 9800 block of West Fork Road in Georgetown, Ohio on Thursday.

Authorities recovered approximately $6,500 worth of marijuana and three firearms.

Jacob and Elliot Smith, both of whom have criminal histories of violent criminal offenses, along with several juveniles were found on the property.

Both men are currently incarcerated in the Brown County Jail and were charged with having weapons under disability and endangering children.

Charges for growing and trafficking of marijuana including firearm and child specifications are still pending.

Anyone who has any information on the case is asked to contact Brown County Drug and Major Crimes Task Force at (937) 378-2573.

BROWN COUNTY, Ohio — The driver of a pickup truck was airlifted to the hospital Friday morning after a head-on collision involving a school bus.

Brown County Dispatch confirmed air care responded to a collision between a truck and school bus before 9 a.m. along Purdy Road in Sardinia. The bus belonged to Eastern Local Schools, and Superintendent Dr. Michele Filon said the district is fully cooperating with the investigation.

None of the 20 children on the bus were seriously injured, but the family of the 39-year-old pickup truck driver said he has broken bones and may need surgery. Troopers said the driver was on his way to work when the crash happened.

Britton Denny, a man who lived near the crash, said he helped pull the students out of the back of the bus after the vehicle had extensive damage to the front.

"They were terrified," Denny said. "[I] really just tried to talk them down, calm them down and get the adrenaline to stop flowing, but I don't think there was a kid who came off that bus that wasn't crying."

Ohio State Highway Patrol said it is still unclear how the crash happened.

The crash comes one day after several students were taken to the hospital when a pickup truck hit the back of a Middletown City Schools bus. All of the students had "minor injuries" per the city's communications manager.

BROWN COUNTY, Ohio —

A Brown County man wanted the COVID-19 shot in February, but he wasn't eligible.

By the time he was, his wife said supplies were short.

Then by March, she said he had contracted COVID-19 and died.

Seven months later, his wife spoke with WLWT again about how the virus has changed her family and how she finds peace now.

It's been a tough time as Susan Rickett has dealt with her own loss and seen others sharing the same pain.

Out of it all, she has found support.

"Even though he's gone, he's still with me," Rickett said.

She finds many little reminders of her husband, Bob.

"I just look at the calendar and watch the day. I look for the fourth of the month, every month," Rickett said.

He was by her side for 46 years, until he died from COVID-19 on March 4.

Rickett said he wasn't able to get the COVID-19 vaccine when she could because he was a year younger.

When he was eligible, there weren't enough shots, according to Rickett.

"He's missed birthdays, anniversaries, everything that he would have looked forward to, which he did, he has missed and I am so sad about that," she said.

Seven months later, and the vaccine is still a tough conversation in her family just like many others.

"I have two grandchildren that have opted not to get the vaccine. That is a great concern of mine, even though they know what I went through, what their papaw went through. They've chosen, and that's a personal choice, I understand that, but I don't understand why people won't get the vaccine," Rickett said.

With more than 700,000 people dead in the U.S., she knows this is a shared pain.

But through the darkest days, she still finds peace on her porch knowing Bob isn't so far away.

"I asked him to give me a sign that he was listening to me and it was a very cloudy morning, that particular morning and the next thing I knew, the sun just opened up and shone down on me," Rickett said.

She said her family has stepped up for her and she hopes other families dealing with this loss are able to find support.

Rickett said she is around if they would like to talk.

She also said she was grateful to get the COVID-19 booster shot on Wednesday.

Rickett said she has a sore arm, but otherwise feels fine.

BROWN COUNTY, Ohio — The Highland County Sheriff's Office said 41-year-old murder suspect Jason Metcalfe was arrested Friday night near State Route 134 and Patch Road in Clinton County after a pursuit through multiple counties.

That's about 14 miles from 243 Schlitz Drive in Lake Lorelei near Fayetteville, where deputies first received reports of a fight involving guns and knives. Timothy Vogel, 32, was found shot and killed inside the home when they arrived.

According to sheriff deputies in Brown County, Metcalf shot Vogel in the chest, then stole a 2016 white Chevy pick-up truck with Ohio license plate HWF-2481. He was seen leaving Lake Lorelei and traveling west on State Route 131.

GEORGETOWN, Ohio — The Brown County couple who stand accused of starving and abusing an 11-year-old girl in their care will face a jury this winter.

Margaret and Charles Breeze sat opposite each other in Brown County Common Pleas Judge Scott Gusweiler's courtroom Wednesday afternoon. They didn't say a word, although they did lock eyes briefly a few times.

Their attorneys told the judge they will go ahead with a jury trial later in the year.

Investigators in 2019 charged Margaret and Charles Breeze with two counts each of kidnapping, two counts each of endangering children, and one count each of felonious assault, according to the Brown County News Democrat. An additional tampering with evidence charge was added in January 2020.

Charles Breeze has spent the last 15 months in custody at a medical facility due to a health condition, while Margaret has stayed in the Brown County Jail in Georgetown since her November 2019 arrest. Charles was arrested a few weeks later.

A bill of particulars filed in late February 2020 gave a glimpse into potential evidence and witnesses in the state's case against them, including 20 staffers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center who could be called to testify. Court documents allege that the girl was hospitalized for 10 days after the Breezes withheld food from her as punishment and locked her in a separate trailer behind their home.

Documents also indicated that a home school teacher in 2019 heard the girl say she was hungry and alerted authorities. Investigators would later say the Breezes watched her with a camera, beat her, made her wear a diaper, and fed her one plate of rice per day.

She weighed 47 pounds and was in liver failure when investigators rescued her, doctors said.

Shortly before prosecutors filed the bill of particulars, Margaret's attorney, Nick Ring, told WCPO the case against his clients was "cherry-picked information...to splash headlines, splash social media, and there’s a lot of information people simply don’t know."

The Breezes' attorneys argue the couple were following recommendations by the Brown County Department of Job and Family Services.

A WCPO investigation shortly after the Breezes' arrests showed that Margaret filed for guardianship of the girl in Bracken County, Kentucky, six years prior to the accusations. She claimed in a petition that she was a foster parent certified in Ohio and the girl's third cousin. She also claimed that a pediatrician had recommended she have guardianship because the girl had "severe behavioral problems." The girl had been living with her mother in Augusta, Kentucky.

A woman who told WCPO in 2019 that she was Charles' sister, Joie Jodrey, said she reported that her brother was abusing a little girl in Brown County in 2017 – two years before officials rescued the girl.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ohio — Miami Township (Clermont County) police have charged four people in connection with the discovery of a woman's body in Fayetteville earlier this week.

James J. Thompson, 36, of Milford; Jeffrey C. Payne, 45, of Goshen; Charles Andre Lykins, 43, of Goshen; and Michael A. Young, 46, of Goshen all face tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse charges in Clermont County court, Miami Township police announced Thursday. Thompson also faces charges of permitting drug abuse.

The four men are accused of participating in disposing the body of a deceased person. It is also alleged that Philpot's cell phone was destroyed in an attempt to conceal her whereabouts.

In a Facebook post, authorities said officers found 26-year-old Amanda Philpot of Goshen, Ohio, in a wooded area. Investigators determined Philpot had died 11 days earlier at a residence on Woodspoint Drive.

The agency went on to detail the charges against the four individuals.

All but one of the suspects were being held in the Clermont County jail Thursday afternoon. Police were still searching for Jeffrey C. Payne.

Officials were still investigating the cause of Philpot's death.

BROWN COUNTY, Ohio —

More than 31% of Ohioans have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

A new interactive feature through the CDC's COVID Data Tracker breaks down how each county's vaccine distribution is going.

Locally, Hamilton County is vaccinating its residents the fastest with 19.4% of residents vaccinated, according to the CDC. Hamilton County is outpacing Montgomery, Cuyahoga and Franklin counties.

• Warren County has vaccinated 18.9% of its residents, according to the CDC.
• Clermont County has vaccinated 17.7% of its residents, according to the CDC.
• Butler County has vaccinated 15.1% of its residents, according to the CDC.
• Brown County has vaccinated 13.7% of its residents, according to the CDC.

"I think our biggest challenge is getting it submitted to the state how much vaccine that we have gotten out," said Margery Paeltz, the Emergency Response Coordinator for the Brown County Health Department. "They want to get it out sooner, but we know it's more important to get it in people's arms."

She said their limited staffing has delayed their ability to report vaccination data to the state. The health department currently has eight full-time employees, according to Paeltz.

A spokesperson for the Health Collaborative said since Brown County does not have a major hospital, it is not receiving the same vaccine allocations as other counties.

One tool that is working well for the department is their drive-thru vaccine clinics at the county fairgrounds. It has become their primary way of vaccinating residents.

"Some bring their coffee and their newspaper and their books and watch their movies in their cars," she said.

Cars line up in the early morning hours, usually beginning at 5 or 6 a.m. for a 10 a.m. start. Paeltz said one person started the line at 3:30 a.m.

Distribution has been a challenge, but the department said it is doing its best.

"We were able to get a lot of it out right away. Now it seems like we are getting a little more vaccine so therefore it may have to be on the shelf a little bit longer," she said. "We don't like to have it sitting there. We feel guilty, and we want it out because we know it's not doing us any good on the shelves."