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 investigations into what’s behind a recent spate of pedestrian fatalities involving trains, Dayton’s state senator not showing up to vote in the Statehouse, and the latest in our Behind the Badge series featuring how cops are taught crisis intervention.

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 Josh.Sweigart@coxinc.com, or you can use our anonymous tipline.

Local deaths part of increasing annual toll from fatal pedestrian-train collisions nationwide

Five people in our region were killed by trains in a five-week period earlier this year. Our reporters looked into what’s going on.

• The families: In this story, our reporters spoke to the family of a woman who was tragically killed by a train and left five children behind. We also summarize what we know about all five cases.

• Going in-depth: Reporter Lynn Hulsey in another story looked at state and national trends involving train fatalities, and found such incidents are up. She also looked into why.

• A grim job: In addition to the person hit by the train, the person driving the train is a victim of these tragedies. They often see the person but have no way of stopping the train in time to save them. Lynn talked to train engineers about how this affects them.

• Stay safe: Our reporting includes tips and efforts to keep people safe around train tracks.

Dayton state senator not showing up to vote

After state Sen. Niraj Antani didn’t show up to the Statehouse for three Senate sessions in a row, our Statehouse reporter, Avery Kreemer, looked into Antani’s attendance record this General Assembly.

• What he found: The state senator who represents Dayton and its southwest suburbs in the Ohio General Assembly hasn’t come to work in the Statehouse in months and has one of the worst attendance records in the Senate, our investigation found.

• The impact: This means the Dayton region has lacked representation not only in committee hearings and floor votes, but also in efforts to tap into hundreds of millions of dollars set aside for local projects.

• Antani’s response: The Republican lawmaker blames the bulk of his nine Senate floor absences and many more committee absences on a frayed relationship with the Senate president, a general ineffectiveness of the Senate and an unsuccessful Congressional campaign.

• The full story: There is much more to this story, including details on Antani’s record and comment from other area lawmakers and Senate leadership. Read the full story here.

Behind the Badge: How police train in crisis intervention

Our Behind the Badge series continues this week with reporter London Bishop experiencing how police are trained to deal with situations like a person threatening suicide or someone in the throes of a mental health crisis.

• Tales from the academy: “The first time you walk up on someone with the barrel of a gun in their mouth (even if the gun is blue and obviously fake), any intellectual understanding of the classroom work goes straight out the window,” London writes. Read the full story on London’s experience here.

• Coming Monday: A follow-up to this article will go online and in print Monday, looking at how law enforcement is increasingly burdened with addressing community mental health challenges.

• Behind the Badge: Previous reporting from this project looked at police use of force, how to reduce line-of-duty deaths, and London’s experience being pepper sprayed as part of cadet training.

• Why we are doing this: Our community needs professional, well-trained, accountable law enforcement. That’s why we sent London to attend the Sinclair Police Academy, where for six months she is learning alongside recruits what it takes to wear the badge, telling their stories, and helping the public understand how police are trained to do their job. Visit the Behind the Badge page on our website for more from this project.

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