IJR News

Columbus YouTubers Sentenced in Deer Poaching Case

Two Columbus YouTubers known as Creek Kings Outdoors, William Bethel and Justin Booth, pleaded guilty to 40 counts of poaching related to illegal deer hunts in Ohio, receiving about $29,000 in restitution, near $7,800 in fines, nine days in jail, five years of probation, and bans from Metro Parks and hunting privileges for five years. The case, built on a year-long cross-agency investigation and use of social-media video evidence, highlights enforcement efforts to protect deer-management programs and park safety in Ohio.

Jul 27, 2026

AI

Nvidia nears $250B OpenAI data center guarantee

NVIDIA is in talks to provide roughly $250 billion in guarantees to back OpenAI’s lease for capacity at a massive 10-gigawatt data center project in southern Ohio, a venture that could cost up to $500 billion and reshape AI infrastructure financing. The arrangement would position NVIDIA as a central financial architect of the AI ecosystem while ensuring a stable demand for its chips as OpenAI’s compute needs grow.

OpenAI NVIDIA

Jul 27, 2026

Powell Five Die in Scioto River Rescue

Five people died in Powell, Ohio after a group attempted to rescue a struggling swimmer in the Scioto River, with a frightened child alerting authorities and two women then three men found dead; two children under 10 were placed in the care of family services. The incident unfolded Sunday with others jumping in to help as the group faced rising dangers, and authorities confirmed the sequence of recoveries over the following days.

Jul 25, 2026

Columbus-Area Cooldown, Ohio Flood Warnings

A broad cooldown has moved into the region with fall-like conditions across the Midwest and Great Lakes, as daytime highs dip into the 50s to upper 70s and overnight temperatures fall into the 50s in places like Cleveland and Dayton, followed by a warming trend back into the 80s by the end of the week. While some areas see ongoing rainfall and thunderstorms, notably in parts of West Virginia and nearby counties, overall conditions will become drier for outdoor activities before rain chances return Saturday night into Sunday.

Jul 25, 2026

Markets

Hynix Denies Intel Ohio Fab Buy

SK Hynix denied pursuing Intel’s Ohio campus, but said it is continuously reviewing investment opportunities and remains open to expanding overseas fabs if conditions are right, including potential U.S. locations to meet AI memory demand. Intel’s delayed Ohio timeline to 2030–2031 keeps the story framed as a strategic risk for investors, with continued emphasis on U.S. capacity expansion and credibility of commercial justifications.

Chey Tae-won

Jul 22, 2026

States reveal updated richest billionaires by state

Stacker compiled state-by-state lists of the richest billionaires in Nevada, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, and Texas using Forbes data, with net worth as of June 18, 2026. The articles note that there are about 3,000 billionaires worldwide and that the concept dates back to early 20th-century figures like Rockefeller and Ford.

Jul 21, 2026