investigative reporter jody barr is live in lawrenceburg tonight--and jody--how did these loans get in the shape they're in tonight? it's simple-- the city of lawrenceburg chose not to foreclose on some of these loans--and let 16 million dollars go uncollected. why? that's what we set out to answer. linkmeyer: "steve linkmeyer." barr: "hey, how are you?" this is a man with a 3 million dollar tax payer-backed loan. he's steve linkmeyer. he was supposed to turn this hill into a large development--but--s ix years later--this is it. city records show--linkmeyer's made 13 payments in the last six years. "i want to tell my story." linkmeyer rolled up on us last week--and told us interview. but--the next day--linkmeyer and his attorney called--to decline. our investigation found--linkmeyer owes on another tax payer loan--a loan he got in 2008. that 250-thousand dollar loan went to build these storage buildings near his home. loan records show--he hasn't made a payment on this loan since june 2012. 'we're here to see mark bransbach--i'm jody barr with fox19." the owner of top quality building

investigative reporter jody barr is nside this meeting--he'll have an update on our investigation, tonight at 10. time to check in with the tri-state's weather expert.. chief meteorologist steve horstmeyer.. tracking your forecast as the president tours cuba... we've learned about a very special connection the cincinnati reds have to that country. we'll go back in time tonight at 10. if you're one of the 250 million people who shops at amazonyou need to know about the mistake that could get your account canceled! and the easter bunny gets into a brawl with people at the mall! the shocking video.. and the story behind it.. at 10. a night of crime and drama on fox 19 now.. at eight... gotham is all new.. followed by lucifer at nine.. and then fox19 now at ten. after another heartbreaking loss - cincinnati sports fans are wondering if their city is cursed. joe d is just back from covering xavier in st. louis. joe cam 4 after the bengals - uc - and now xavier wonder about curses. i took that xavier's seniors. here his answer next. news concerning last night's deadly crash on the combs-hehl bri

invesitgative reporter jody barr is in goshen tonight--with why prosecutors closed this case today. the reason is--they don't know what exactly happened--how this evidence went missing--or who's responsible. that's why--just today--the prosecutor sent this statement out--saying there isn't enough evidence to charge anyone. it's turned out to be one of the biggest mysteries in goshen's government center. how did $18,000 in drugs, cash and money orders--slip out of the most secure room in this department? couldn't figure it out-- and the hamilton county sheriff's office re- investigated--and couldn't solve the mystery, either. when we interviewed clermont county prosecutor vincent faris last fall--he knew there was a real chance this case might never be solved. barr: "if the second investigation comes back...no one's ever charged in this case...was it simply because finding whoever's responsible for this, just could not be found?" faris: "i don't know...maybe nobody's responsible for anything...it could be recordkeeping. we'll see what the second investigation says." faris wrote in a

investigative reporter jody barr joins us--and jody--the major problems here have to do with spending? yes-- department handing out millions of dollars in construction contracts--contra cts that were never put out for bid. what that means--the city spent 120 million of your tax dollars here--and can't say tonight whether your tax dollars were protected. "it's a place where you're going to celebrate family pictures, family memories and it's going to be something truly special..." that's cincinnati parks director, willie carden, introducting the public to the new smale riverfront park last year. this year--the city's introduced the public to a problem with the park--the park board's handling of the construction. late today, city manager harry black sent council a notice--telling them the contractors hired to build the park--were never competitively bid. the parks board--black wrote--used exisiting maintenance contractors to build the using a construction contract. the problem for the city now: there's no way to know which contractor worked on which part of the project--so the city knows

investigative reporter jody barr is live in lawrenceburg tonight--and jody--the city's now going after these tax dollars? they are-- just days after our investigation exposed this problem--the city sent the first round of default notices to two borrowers--who together--owe the city more than 5 million dollars. just three days ago--the city foreclosure on the rest. "what about the credit rating? i got a default letter here--are you guys going to send this immediately to the credit agency?" weldon: "to answer your question, specifically, no. we will not report you to a credit reporting agency." even though lawrenceburg dentist, dr. peter zaharakos' $100,000 was supposed to be paid off three years ago--the city hasn't told the credit bureaus. but--last friday--the city did send him a default notice--giving him 60 days to pay his loan off. he's never missed a payment. zaharakos is one of about 10 borrowers the city's now trying to collect overdue loans from. the city lent $16 million in the past decade--only two loans have been paid off. "i don't think this is going to come to a surprise t

--accused of of dollars from now--that man is highest positions of power in the county. reporter jody barr with the story. yes--charges of: in office and county highway department superintendent, chris clerkin, walking into court monday. clerkin is accused of stealing nearly 7 thousand dollars from the county. investigators say clerkin's department was responsible for recycling scrap steel--selling it to this recycler in osgood. but--once employees made it back with the receipt and the money--state police investigators say clerkin rarely turned that money in to the county. between 2012 and 2013--state investigators say clerkin turned in three of the 15 scrap steel sales deposits to the county--the rest--investigators say clerkin kept. barr: "you're running for office, do you believe you can be trusted at this point with the vote of the public?" clerkin: "absolutely." in 2014, state police arrested and charged clerkin with three felonies--all connected to the theft of the scrap metal sales. clerkin--who is free on bond--is awaiting trial two years later after multiple trial delays. he's als

investigative reporter jody barr broke this investigation and joins us now--jody--what's the city going to do? the city's one week away from announcing a plan to get this money back. this announcement comes two weeks after we exposed the city's failures to hold itself--and these borrowers--accou ntable. "you can come in." barr: "okay." weldon: "actually, you can't...it's an executive session." one week after we exposed the city of lawrenceburg's $16 million loan portfolio...city leaders called a closed door meeting. we watched last thursday--as every member of mayor--and two the meeting was public--but they figure out what to our investigation found--some loans have been in default for years. "what i would like to say is, we don't work for people in cincinnati, we citizens." that was lawrenceburg mollaun's response investigaiton. it came one day after our reports aired--a comment made during an open council meeting. mollaun--through the town's attorney--admitted- -the town did not have a plan in place to hold the defaulted borrowers to account for the tax dollars they owed the city. wel