🔎 Allegations: Officials with the Montgomery County Clerk of Courts allege death threats were made against Clerk of Courts Mike Foley by a main witness in the state’s ongoing criminal case against Foley and by a community activist and blogger.
🗳️ Election 2025: Three of the five seats on the Dayton City Commission are on the ballot in the November election, meaning the outcome will determine who holds the majority.
If you have thoughts or feedback on this newsletter or other news tips, please let me know at Kyle.Nagel@coxinc.com.
Want to read the digital version of the newspaper? Click here for our daily ePaper.
The newsletter should take about 3 minutes, 12 seconds to read.
***
Resurgence of independent bookstores: Comeback fueled by community, nostalgia and ‘BookTok’
In the past five-plus years, more than 1,000 independent bookstores have opened, reversing a trend of just a few years ago.
• Not just indies: Barnes & Noble, the country’s largest bookstore chain, opened nearly 60 new stores in 2024 and surpassed that total for 2025.
• Book deserts: The growth of the independent bookstores is most evident in greater Cincinnati and Dayton, but there are what’s called book deserts — communities that don’t have an independent or used store.
• Social media: The social media trend BookTok, a movement that started on TikTok and spread to other social media platforms, most notably Instagram with Bookstagram, has helped.
• What they’re saying: “People are craving that. They are willing to pay a couple dollars more for a book to have somebody thank them for coming in ... or explain a book they’re not familiar with.” — Terry Unthank, who owns the Christian bookstore Bountiful Blessings in Fairfield.
What to know today
• One big takeaway: Kettering school leaders shared the plan to consolidate and build new schools in partnership with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission.
• Person to know today: Bomani Jones. The popular sports journalist is the choice for this year’s Roger Brown Residency in Social Justice, Writing and Sports at UD.
• Quote of the day: “You know, it starts at the top, it’s the rhetoric at the top. Both sides get irritated and get at it, it’s unfortunate. We’ve just got to get back to being normal and being civil with each other.” — State Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Butler Twp., on an uptick in threats against politicians.
• Dayton basketball: The Flyers looked to be in midseason form in a78-62 victory against Penn State in an exhibition game on Sunday.