| My father served 25 years in the U.S. Air Force, taking our family traveling around the globe. He taught me the value of hard work. How to ride a bike. How to maintain your sense of humor under pressure. And to not limit your dreams. I hope to pass some of this along to my two sons. And today, on Father’s Day, I want to recognize the important contributions of fathers around our region. With that, welcome to the Weekly Roundup, where we bring you the top stories from today’s Dayton Daily News and major stories from the past week you may have missed. This week, that includes the launch of our annual analysis of local government employee pay, and programs that support fathers and help them play a vital role in their children’s lives. Our mission is to help you understand what’s really going on in the Dayton region. This includes comprehensive coverage of local governments and agencies, hard-hitting investigations, and in-depth analyses of important issues. Do you have a news tip or an issue you think our reporters should look into? Contact me at [email protected], or you can use our anonymous tipline. *** Dayton Daily News Payroll Project Every year, the Dayton Daily News uses Ohio public record law to obtain public employee payroll from governments across the region and make them available to readers through the Payroll Project. • Why we do this: The employer for government agencies is the voting and taxpaying public. As with any other employer, the public has not just a right but a responsibility to know how much its employees are paid in the interest of good stewardship. • For example: Previous Payroll Project investigations have raised ethics questions about county coroners’ pay. We have investigated benefits given to public employees, contracts for city managers and school superintendents and more. • This year we found: Our analysis of Montgomery County payroll data revealed a former county courts employee was paid last year to settle a lawsuit alleging, among other things, that a local judge required him to mow the lawn and do yard work at the judge’s home. • We also found: Our analysis of Dayton payroll found that a police sergeant who recently pleaded guilty to criminal charges was paid $105,439 in 2023 and received a positive performance review for the year despite being suspended most of the year during a criminal investigation. • Top 10: Our payroll project stories also list the highest paid employees in each government. See who topped the list in Dayton and Montgomery County. • Search the data: We also make searchable public employee salaries for those paid over $50,000. Search the data here. • More to come: Look for stories in coming days analyzing state of Ohio employee pay, as well as other local counties, cities, townships and other public agencies. Fathers leading the way Credit: Jim Noelker For Father’s Day, reporter Samantha Wildow has details on local programs designed to support fathers in the community. • The story: Go here for Sam’s full story, including details on the programs and testimony from families that have used it. • Sobering stat: The infant mortality rate in Montgomery County is about 8 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to data from the Ohio Department of Health. For portions of West Dayton and the west side of Montgomery County, the rate is 15 deaths per 1,000 lives births. For specifically Black women in Montgomery County, the rate is 16 deaths per 1,000 live births. • Key quote: “A child needs their village. They need their community. And so we’re trying to be very intentional and mindful of the effective role that a father can have in a child’s life by being present,” said Michelle Beebe, manager of perinatal outreach and childbirth education at Kettering Health. *** | 