WILMINGTON, Ohio — Wilmington High School named Ryan Evans Sr. its next head football coach Wednesday afternoon, pending board of education approval later this month.

"We are excited for Coach Evans to be the leader of our football program," Wilmington athletic director Troy Diels said. "Ryan's vision for the program as well as his passion are very clear and we feel he will make an immediate positive impact on our young men."

Evans would succeed Scott Killen as the Wilmington head coach. He has coached in a variety of roles around Southwest Ohio, including working as the co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Monroe High School this past season.

"Wilmington has a rich history of football and I wanted to be the person to change the narrative," Evans said. "The administration, the community, parents and players all have the same vision and mission that me and my family have. My family and I are so excited to roll up our sleeves and get started."

Prior to that, Evans was an assistant head football coach, special teams coordinator and defensive line coach at Middletown. He was an assistant head coach and defensive line coach at Princeton from July 2014 to December 2018, and the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Middletown from July 2010 to November 2013.

Evans had several roles in the Winton Woods football program from 2004 to 2010. The Warriors were the Division II state champions in 2009. He also coached at Central State University as a student assistant defensive line coach from June 2006 to December 2007.

RELATED: Hughes High School football coach Chris Mobley is stepping down after six seasons

ORLANDO, Fla. —

A Middletown family's Disney vacation turns into heartbreak as their 12-year-old son ends up in the ICU on a ventilator with the flu.

They've been there since earlier this month and don't think they'll be able to come home until at least Thanksgiving.

"I never imagined us being here this long or even being in the ICU," mother, Vanessa Baker, said.

Baker and her family left Middletown and drove to Florida on Oct. 3 to make magical memories at Disney World.

But after a day at the park and another in the Fun Zone, she said her son, Kameron Miller, 12, had a sore throat and a cough.

"He was so excited to come. He talked about it for weeks. We all kind of needed a break with the whole last year. How it's been, like, stressful," Baker said.

She said he has autism and asthma.

Baker took her son to the emergency room and she said things got worse.

"After the breathing treatment is really whenever he was like, I can't breathe. He was, like, wanting shots. He wanted them to give him something," she said.

Baker said eventually her son was intubated and taken to Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando where they've been since.

She said doctors are considering he may have MIS-C, multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which is a condition linked to COVID-19.

Baker said her son has COVID-19 antibodies, but tests negative now.

She believes he may have had an asymptomatic case at some point in the past year.

Baker told WLWT her son also has the flu and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

"There's no definite time limit on how long we're going to be here and there's, no, like idea of how he'll go home," she said.

For now, she stays by her son's side as he remains on a ventilator.

She said she misses hearing him talk and seeing his smile.

It's been three weeks since he has been able to talk, according to Baker.

"He's fun and energetic. He tries to make friends," she said.

She hopes they soon make those Disney World memories together.

"There's hard times and then there's good times. I just know that he's in the best place that he can be," Baker said.

Kameron's mother said he had only turned 12 just before their trip, so he wasn't vaccinated.

She said he has been through a lot so far and had a collapsed lung last week.

They're hoping to wean him off of so much medication and the ventilator in the coming days.

She said Kameron's siblings are staying with his grandmother.

His grandmother told us both children miss their parents and are thinking of their brother.

Baker said they hope to be home by Thanksgiving and neither parent is working as they stay at the hospital.

The family has started a GoFundMe page to help with expenses: https://www.gofundme.com/f/xh7jv-medical-and-expenses

A proposed $1.3 billion so-called "super development" would transform downtown Middletown, bringing in an indoor amusement park, concert venue, multiple hotels and a movie studio. Dubbed Hollywoodland, the mixed-use development would be the first of its kind in the nation and span more than 50 acres along the Great Miami River. The city of Middletown City Council will vote to approve an ordinance authorizing a purchase, sale and development agreement with Main Street Community Capital LLC. That vote is slated for Oct. 21, following a Tuesday presentation on the entertainment district from Main Street Community Capital LLC and their development partners.The new development is expected to include: A first-class destination hotel and attached, publicly-owned convention center with rooftop bar, themed restaurant(s) and assorted amenities.A second family-oriented hotel and water park.A third boutique hotel located within the adaptively redeveloped First National Bank building.A major indoor entertainment and concert venue for large, nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and touring Broadway productions.An indoor amusement park containing multiple themed entertainment-based rides, virtual reality experiences, immersive entertainment opportunities and integrated retail, food and beverage.Structured and integrated underground deck-based parking (publicly-owned) of no fewer than 3,000 spaces.On-site mid-rise luxury apartment units and/or condominiums.A permanent pre-and post-production motion picture studio sound stages and support offices and infrastructure.Multiple restaurants, bars, brew-pubs and cafes, and a likely comedy club.Integrated fashion, electronic, lifestyle, convenience and recreational retail.City officials say the development would create thousands of new jobs, and over $1 billion in private investment, drawing an estimated 3.5 million yearly visitors to Middletown. “This will be a transformational redevelopment opportunity for Middletown that came out of a redevelopment study for our riverfront property. It will encompass over 50 acres of our historic Downtown,” city Manager Jim Palenick said. “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take full advantage of a myriad of local, city, state and federal incentives we have found a way to access, and in turn, and change the future of our city.”If approved, the city will utilize $7.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds toward pre-construction design, engineering, financial structuring and other pre-closing, due-diligence efforts.

MIDDLETOWN — Rodney Muterspaw, then a first-year police academy cadet, kept a daily journal as mental therapy.

“I had to write or drink, and sometimes it was a little of both,” he said.

Muterspaw, 52, a Middletown native, spent 30 years in law enforcement and retired in 2019 after five years as chief of the Middletown Division of Police. He never intended his “very personal journal” to become a book.

“It’s surreal to see it on paper,” he said.

After being encouraged to write a book by John Wager, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Middletown, he sent a copy to 1989 Pulitzer Prize winner Clarence Page, a Middletown native, and J.D. Vance, another Middletown native and author of the New York Times Best Seller that became a Netflix movie, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.”

Page and Vance were impressed by his journal, so he contacted a few publishers to gauge their interest.

But they wanted to turn his notes into a novel. That’s when Muterspaw decided to publish the book, “The Blue View: The uncut journal of an Ohio police chief.”

The book is available on Amazon and the audio version is expected to be released this week, he said. Muterspaw said “Blue View” is the No. 1 seller for police-related books on Amazon.

He said a test group of 15 people, including two police officers, read the draft of the book. One said: “This needs to be out there,” while another said: “Are you really going to release that?”

Muterspaw said it was important to include all aspects of his career, from the dark moments and the success stories. He left nothing out, he said.

“It had to be real,” he said.

He’s proud of the book because it “humanizes” police work and gives readers an insight into the profession.

“We need to do a better job with the community,” he said. “It’s time to open up the curtain. These are all the experiences of my life.”

There were times when, as police chief, his supervisors told him to lie to the media, he said. That bothered him, he said.

“That’s not me,” Muterspaw said. “There are some dark places in there.”

Because of the negative sentiment toward cops after police-involved shootings, especially of unarmed Black men, Muterspaw said it’s the “perfect time” to release the book.

“Some people hate the police, and that’s OK,” he said. “But there is a method behind the madness. Hopefully this gives readers a better idea of what we are about. We have a lot of failures. Nothing is as easy as you see on TV.”

After he retired, Muterspaw was offered police chief and city manager positions. But Julie, his wife of 29 years, discouraged those career moves and Muterspaw said he’s never been happier. He sells real estate for Berkshire Hathaway Realty and has time to care for his twin 5-year-old granddaughters, Lilly and Lainey.

HOW TO ORDER

TITLE: “The Blue View: The uncut journal of an Ohio police chief”

ORDER: Website: amazon.com

AUTHOR: Rodney Muterspaw, former Middletown police chief

MUTERSPAW FAMILY: wife Julie; children Matt, Lauren and Maddie; grandchildren Lilly and Lainey.

A Brookville man was arrested after leading law enforcement on a chase through three counties early Thursday morning, the Journal-News reports.

Robert Lee Bergman III, 28, was transported to Atrium Medical Center for minor injuries. It was determined that Bergman was impaired and in possession of illegal drugs, said Lt. Clint Arnold, Hamilton Post commander for the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Bergman is charged with failure to comply with an order or signal of police, possession of a controlled substance, felonious assault and a holder for Montgomery County, according to the Butler County Jail log.

Numerous Ohio Highway Patrol cruisers were damaged, according to Lt. Clint Arnold, Hamilton Post commander.

At about 1 a.m., troopers received a report of a 1997 Cadillac that fled from a Miami Twp. Police department traffic stop near Miamisburg.

A male passenger moved into the driver’s seat of the vehicle during a traffic stop while officers were attending to the female driver who was believed to have overdosed, Arnold said.

A short time later, troopers from the Hamilton Post spotted the vehicle traveling south on Interstate 75 between a rest stop and the exit to Ohio 129 and initiated a traffic stop. The vehicle did not pull over and attempted to flee from the trooper. The Cadillac quickly accelerated and exited onto west 129.

Once on 129, the vehicle abruptly stopped in the roadway and did a U-turn in the middle of westbound lanes. Prior to getting completely turned around and going the wrong way in traffic, the trooper used his patrol car to block and push the fleeing suspect into the ditch. The Cadillac was pushed off the roadway but was still able to get out of the ditch going through the median and getting back onto the eastbound side of 129 heading east towards Interstate 75, according to Arnold.

The driver entered back onto Interstate 75 northbound continuing to flee from the troopers. The vehicle was able to avoid stop sticks at the Ohio 3 Monroe exit and continued north.

At the Ohio 122 Middletown exit, the suspect attempted to avoid troopers again by doing another U-turn on 75. In efforts to keep the suspect from driving the wrong direction on 75, troopers used their cruisers to block and push the Cadillac into the concrete wall. The Cadillac was spun to the proper direction on the highway, however it withstood the impact and continued north on 75 until exiting at the Ohio 123 Franklin exit.

Once on Route 123, the suspect fled west entering into Franklin while being pursued by troopers. The suspect continued to drive erratically and dangerously, attempting to drive his car into the cruisers.

Arnold said troopers boxed in the Cadillac, but the driver was able to back out while driving in reverse through town. Once at the intersection of First and Main street the troopers were able to completely stop the Cadillac. The suspect attempted to run on foot but was quickly apprehended without further incident.

“We have no intentions of damaging our cars and other people’s cars but this individual was a danger to himself, the officers and other motorists,” Arnold said.

One trooper was transported to a hospital for minor injuries and was released. Franklin, Monroe and Middletown police departments assisted with the incident.

The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO 9 News.

Listen to this episode of the Hear Cincinnati podcast in the player above.

This week on the Hear Cincinnati podcast, host Brian Niesz is joined by community reporter Lucy May and senior manager of enterprise/investigative Meghan Goth to discuss a new nonprofit that’s working to fight hunger, a Black-owned burger spot prospering from West End’s gentrification, a 3-year-old attacked with a knife, and more.

Next, Brian is joined by WCPO reporters Courtney Francisco and Kristen Swilley to explain what happened to James Hutchinson, the 6-year-old whose mother confessed to killing him as she tried to abandon him.

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SHARONVILLE, Ohio — The undefeated Mount Notre Dame basketball team is a regional champion for the third consecutive season after the Cougars won their 70th consecutive game Saturday afternoon.

MND defeated Huber Heights Wayne 49-33 in a Division I regional final at Princeton.

MND junior guard KK Bransford scored a game-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Bransford was 12 of 17 from the free-throw line.

Senior guard Laila Phelia added 15 points. Senior forward Autumn Crockett had 10 rebounds.

MND outscored Wayne 12-1 in the second quarter after the Cougars trailed 13-8 at the end of the first quarter.

The Cougars (26-0) advance to a Division I state semifinal against Toledo Notre Dame Academy (16-1) at 8 p.m. March 12 at University of Dayton Arena.

The state final is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. March 13 at UD Arena.

MND is just the second Greater Cincinnati high school basketball program (boys or girls) in Ohio High School Athletic Association history to win at least 70 consecutive games.

The Middletown boys basketball team, led by Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry Lucas, won 76 consecutive games from 1955-58. Lucas led Middletown to two state titles in 1956 and '57.

MND, ranked No. 3 nationally by MaxPreps, is third all-time in OHSAA girls basketball history for most overall consecutive wins (including the postseason tournament).

Only Pickerington High School (74 wins, 1991-94) and Millersburg West Holmes (108 wins, 1983-87) have more consecutive wins than MND in state girls basketball history.

The Cougars advance to the state tournament for the third consecutive season (2021, 2020, 2019). The 2020 state tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak. MND was not able to make to the trip to St. John Arena in Columbus to participate.

MND completed its 2019-20 season with a 28-0 record and was a Division I state semifinalist. The Cougars were ranked No. 1 nationally by the Blue Star Media Elite 25 rankings.

Prior to that, MND was the 2019 Division I state champion, the program's seventh state basketball title.

MND started its current win streak Jan. 17, 2019 when it defeated host Mercy McAuley 60-58. MND's most recent loss was to Centerville (70-56) Jan. 14, 2019.

MND coach Dr. Scott Rogers has led the Cougars to four state titles under his head coaching direction including 2004, 2006, 2017 and 2019.

The Cougars also won state titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009 under then-coach Dante Harlan.

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio —

A 14-year-old girl has died after being pulled from the water at Land of Illusion Adventure Park in Middletown, Ohio, according to the Butler County Sheriff's Office.

It happened around 5 p.m. Tuesday at the lake and self-proclaimed "adventure park," located in the 8700 block of Thomas Road.

The sheriff's office said the teenager, later identified as Mykiara Jones, 14, was not wearing a life vest and she fell into the water after being on some kind of jumping apparatus.

Miami Township fire officials administered CPR for about a half hour. Jones was then taken by Careflight to a nearby hospital where she later died.

"This is a tragedy no parent should have to endure," said Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones. "These are the calls first responders dread and have difficulty dealing with. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family."

Mykiara Jones was a student within Middletown City Schools.

This was described as a heart-wrenching situation by fire officials and witnesses.

Madison Township Fire, Middletown Fire and the Butler County Sheriff's Office were all at the scene Tuesday.

Originally, the haunted scream park only opened in the fall, but Land of Illusion has expanded in recent years, adding a summertime Aqua Park which features large water inflatables and trampolines.

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio —

The Middletown community is mourning the loss of an incoming freshman who died Monday at a local water park.

Mykiara Jones, 14, was about to enter her freshman year at Middletown High School. Teachers from the middle school described her as a "rare gem."

"She radiated joy every single day of her life," said Lori Barker, a science teacher at Middletown Middle School. "She kind of lived by the motto to always be your best self, and I think she inspired others around her to do the same."

Teachers said Mykiara was a leader and a role model inside the classroom and out.

"Her bubbly personality was infectious. She wanted to encourage everyone to be the best person they can be," said Mykiara's math teacher Jennifer King.

King said Mykiara excelled in math.

"We do MAP testing, and she actually had the highest score in the winter that I have ever had of a student, and when we took it in the spring, she just wanted to do better. She just pushed herself so hard and did an amazing job," King said.

Staff members at Middletown schools are wrapping their arms around Mykiara's family members, especially her mother, as she works in the district.

On Monday, Mykiara was at Land of Illusion Adventure Park in Madison Township. The Butler County Sheriff's Office said Mykiara was not wearing a life vest when she fell into the water. She was pulled out about 30 minutes later and was flown to Dayton Children's Hospital where she died.

While authorities suspect Mykiara drowned, the Montgomery County coroner has not yet ruled on a cause of death.

The park was closed Tuesday.

Land of Illusion said in a statement posted to its Facebook page that it's fully supporting state and local officials as they investigate the incident.

In the meantime, those who taught Mykiara wanted everyone to know how special she was.

"She didn't know a stranger. She was just very special," King said.

"She was the definition of Middie pride," Barker said.

Superintendent Marlon Styles sent a letter to parents Tuesday and informed them of Mykiara's death. Styles said the district's Student Services Department is working with Access Counseling to make grief counselors available to support students, staff and parents.

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio —

An early childhood learning center in Middletown closed following two COVID-19 cases.

Health officials said this is just a glimpse into their concerns for the upcoming school year.

The ECLC at Abilities First closed at 10:30 a.m. Monday after they were alerted to two positive COVID-19 cases.

They wouldn't specify whether the cases were among children or staff, but said they continue to take every precaution to prevent spread within their walls.

"We contacted everybody that needed to be contacted. Let them know about the status," said Abilities First Executive Director Jan Sutcliffe-Brown.

Sutcliffe-Brown said though mandates have been lifted, the center still follows very strict protocols.

"We decided the only thing we stop doing was taking temperatures at the door. Masks are still required. Not having people in waiting areas. Not having visitors in the building," she said.

Sutcliffe-Brown said closing is the last thing they want to do.

But they serve 150 families each week of differing abilities.

"With the littles they can't be vaccinated. When they're really small they can't wear masks," she said.

This classroom closure is what worries health officials ahead of a new school year.

"We are concerned about the school year because not only are people coming back to school, a lot of people are getting out of the house," said Middletown Health Commissioner Jackie Phillips Carter.

Phillips Carter said this shows the virus is here even though overall case numbers are down.

"I have to remind people this coming school year that being ill disrupts school instruction too," she said.

Sutcliffe-Brown said because their center is small, one or two cases forced them to close for a bit.

Families of the 60 kids in childcare must find another short-term option.

"We're not unique. We happen to be here and we're unique in the things we do, but most other places are battling the same things," Sutcliffe-Brown said.

Abilities First would not disclose the percentage of staff vaccinated, but has recommended all eligible staff and family members get the vaccine.

The Early Childhood Learning Center will reopen Wednesday, July 21.

The Pediatric Therapies Program and Autism Center at Abilities First are not affected and are still operating as normal.

When WCPO news anchor Tanya O’Rourke interviewed author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance in 2017, he was fresh off the decision not to run for Senate the year before. People had wanted him to, he said. He didn't. His family, investment firm and nonprofit kept him too busy.

He'd found room in his schedule by Thursday night, when Vance returned to his birthplace of Middletown to announce a bid for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Rob Portman. It'll be a competitive race — other Republicans hoping to score the same job include longtime Ohio GOP chair Jane Timken and former Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel, one of Twitter's most vocal Trump fans.

O’Rourke sat down with Vance again to find out what changed his mind. Why now?

WCPO Staff

“I recognize that if you actually want to get anything done, you got to go in there and blow some things up,” he said. “I also think I have a desire to actually get things done. You know, I’m a political outsider. I’ve never run for political office before.”

He was initially critical of former President Donald Trump in 2016 but has since changed his mind about that, too.

“I think he delivered on his promises to make the country a better place,” Vance said. “So, I think I saw this guy, he was an outsider. I didn’t really believe he was serious. And then I saw the guy in action. And I thought he was a successful president. That’s why I supported him enthusiastically in 2020. I didn't hide from that fact, either that I was critical of them in 2016, or that I was a big supporter in 2020. So I changed because he did a good job.”

The two met a few months ago to discuss the race.

“He’s not gonna endorse anybody in this race early on,” Vance said of his meeting with Trump. “I think he wants to let the candidates fight it out.”

Vance is running on a platform of bringing jobs to Ohio and taking on big tech, even though he’s received $10 million from a super PAC formed by billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel.

Pieper, Robert

Vance also said he supports a universal voter ID.

“First of all, we do want, I think, universal voter ID because it's just common sense election integrity," he said. "A majority of people, Democratic, Republican, all racial groups support common sense voter ID, so I think we should have it."

"And absolutely, if people can't afford to get an ID, you don't want that to prevent them from being able to vote. You want to make it easier for people to vote, but you want to make it easier for them to vote in a fair and safe way. You want basically legal votes to count, illegal votes not to count, and making voter ID the law, that way it actually I think facilitates and supports that goal."

In addition to Timken and Mandel, Vance will face two Cleveland businessmen, Mike Gibbons and Bernie Moreno, in next year's GOP primary.

County, local and federal law enforcement conducted seven drug raids earlier this month, which led to the seizure of 800 grams of fentanyl, 51 pounds of marijuana and $8,000 in cash.

The Butler County Regional Narcotics task force along with the FBI and local police departments conducted the raids during the early morning hours of June 15. They had search warrants for four locations in Hamilton, one in Oxford, one in Fairfield and one in Middletown, according to a release issued Friday from the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.

Eddie Collins, 31, aka “Big Unk,” was booked into the Butler County Jail on June 15 on suspicion of possession of controlled substances. He also is being held on federal charges, records show.

Anyone who has information on criminal activity involving Collins is urged to call the FBI Cincinnati office at 513-421-4310.

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Volunteers in Middletown recovered 33 domesticated rabbits dumped in Smith Park in Middletown as of Saturday evening, according to city spokesperson Shelby Quinlivan.

The colony of rabbits was found safe and sound, but Quinlivan did not say how many of the animals were initially dumped. No rabbits were found deceased.

A Middletown woman will be charged with abandonment, but the amount of charges is yet to be determined, she said. Officials have not identified the woman being charged.

Several rescue organizations and individuals took to social media Saturday afternoon as people gathered to search for the abandoned group of rabbits. Organizers said they searched the park until it closed at sundown Saturday evening and plan to return Sunday morning to continue searching, in case more are still out there.

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — One of the 11 members of the Middletown Platoon of Marines has died, the Journal-News reports.

Denzil Howard, who enlisted in 1942 and was sworn in at the Middletown YMCA the day before the 11 Marines left for Parris Island, died April 6 at Bickford of Middletown. The World War II veteran was 96.

After the war, Howard was called back to serve as part of a Special Guard for President Franklin Roosevelt whenever he stayed at what was called the “Little White House” in Warm Springs, Georgia. Howard served that role until the president suffered a stroke on April 12, 1945, and died.

MORE: He joined the Marines with the Middletown Platoon. Nearly 75 years later, ‘I’d do it again for my country.’

On returning home, Howard worked for Armco Steel for 39 years as a pickler leader, retiring in 1986.

Last year, Howard was honored at a Veterans Appreciation Luncheon at Crosspointe Church of Christ. Before the luncheon, Howard, accompanied by his wife and two adopted sons, talked about the war, and the day a fellow Marine was shot and killed in a foxhole they shared.

Tears streamed down his weathered cheeks.

“Sometimes,” Howard said, “I get emotional when I talk about it.”

Greg Howard said his father wouldn’t talk about the war when they were growing up, but he shared stories later in life.

“It was pretty tough on him,” his son said.

Nothing tougher than the day on Bougainville Island when his fellow Marine was shot and killed. A few seconds later, a bullet ricocheted off Howard’s helmet. The Howard family history could have been rewritten that day.

“Things I saw you can’t print, I don’t think,” Denzil Howard said last year. “The things they did to our men. I saw a lot of my brothers killed.”

When Denzil Howard entered the Marines, he was given a Bible from his brother, the Rev. Henry Howard, a former pastor at Towne Boulevard Church of God. Denzil Howard was told by his brother that if he carried the Bible, he’d survive the war.

“I had some mighty close calls I don’t like to talk about,” he said.

Denzil Howard was asked about being a World War II veteran. This time there were no tears in his eyes.

He sat up in his chair, looked forward and said, “I’d do it again for my country.”

Denzil Howard is survived by his wife of 72 years, Dolores Howard; sons, Gregory (Jean Ann) Howard of Heath, Ohio, and Geoffrey (Rebecca) Howard of Middletown; grandsons, David (Bhuvvi) and Nicholas (Lisa) Howard; great-grandchildren, Oliva, Henry and Ellora; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his eight brothers and three sisters.

A memorial service will be held later due to the coronavirus. Entombment will take place at Woodside Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Towne Boulevard Church of God, 3722 Towne Blvd., Middletown, Ohio 45005.

The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO 9 News.