🏗 Sears redevelopment project: The Trotwood Community Improvement Corporation secured $3.55 million in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits to help fund a $25 million project transforming the former Sears store into a multi-use hub for commercial, government, and institutional tenants.
🎄 Christmas forecast: Don’t expect a snow-filled Christmas this year — Santa is gifting the southwest Ohio region warmer than normal temperatures with a few rain showers.
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15 Dayton Daily News investigations that had an impact in 2025
Dayton Daily News reporters delivered hard-hitting investigations in 2025, holding powerful people and institutions accountable, watching your tax dollars and helping you understand what’s really going on in the community. Here is a list of some of our investigations that had an impact in 2025.
• Nonprofit CEO compensation: An investigation found the Dayton Art Institute gave large pay increases to its leaders while facing financial challenges that led to staff reductions.
• 7-year-old boy found dead: In July, Dayton police found the remains of Hershall Creachbaum Jr., a 7-year-old autistic boy from Dayton who had been reported missing earlier that day.
• Dayton crime: Our reporters set out to investigate what neighborhoods in Dayton saw the most gun violence in recent years and what the Dayton Police Department is doing about it.
• Immigration enforcement: Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in Ohio skyrocketed in the first six months of this year as President Donald Trump made good on his pledge to dramatically ramp up immigration enforcement.
Trotwood Sears redevelopment project awarded millions in historic tax credits
The Trotwood Community Improvement Corporation has been awarded a total of $3.55 million in tax credits to renovate the old Sears department store.
• The building: Designed in the 1960s in the New Formalism architectural style by architect Fred F. Wennlund, the former Sears building served as an anchor store for the Salem Mall — the first fully enclosed shopping mall in the Dayton region.
• The cost: The CIC proposes to spend more than $25 million converting the vacant Sears, Roebuck & Co. store, located at 5200 Salem Ave., into a “hub” for commercial, government, office and institutional tenants.
• Additional funding: The Sears project was initially awarded $2.55 million in tax credits during this year’s spring round, and received an additional $1 million credit award this week.
• What officials are saying: “This additional $1 million is a significant milestone for the Sears redevelopment and for the city of Trotwood,” Chad Downing, executive director for the Trotwood CIC, said. “Our initial application (in the spring) was intentionally conservative and received the highest score in the state.”
What to know today
• One big takeaway: The Air Force’s F-16 aerobatics team recently presented CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show representatives with its 2025 ”best civilian show site of the year" award.
• Person to know today: Acclaimed singer-songwriter and Dayton native Troy Campbell — co-founder of alt-country band Loose Diamonds (briefly known early on as The Highwaymen) — is reissuing his landmark second solo record, “American Breakdown,” on vinyl this January.
• Dayton Food & Dining: Urban Cheesesteak Co. is opening Jan. 2 at W. Social Tap & Table, a food hall in Dayton’s Wright Dunbar District.
• Vintage Dayton: Dayton’s notorious ‘Christmas Killings’ of 1992: Here is how it all happened.
• Cincinnati Bengals: Running back Chase Brown said the offense took it personally getting shut out in the Week 15 loss against Baltimore.