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Bobcats Are Back in Ohio, and One Just Took a Casual Stroll Through Prairie Oaks.

Central Ohio got a surprise celebrity sighting last month, and for once it wasn’t a Buckeye football player or the guy who plays the accordion on High Street.
It was a bobcat, our state’s most elusive, shy, “I’d rather not be perceived” native predator, captured trotting across a trail at Prairie Oaks Metro Park in the early morning hours of Nov. 21.

Metro Parks posted the video on Instagram this week, quietly confirming that yes, you really did just see a wild bobcat west of Columbus. And no, it was not someone’s Maine Coon.

Why This Is a Big Deal

Bobcats used to be everywhere in Ohio, until we eliminated them from the entire state by 1850 because settlers were bad roommates for nature.
But starting in the mid-1900s, bobcats made a slow comeback, mostly in the eastern and southern counties, think Appalachia, not Hilliard.

A sighting in Franklin County?
Still rare.
Still cool.

ODNR says the first modern bobcat sighting in Franklin County wasn’t until 2012, and statewide sightings jumped from 6 confirmed in 2001 to 561 in 2021. The population is expanding, cautiously, like someone turning the corner at Easton during December.

What You Need to Know About Bobcats

Ohio’s bobcats (Lynx rufus) are:

• About twice the size of a housecat
  

• Built for stealth, not drama
  

• Marked with distinct patterns, black-tipped ears, and a “bobbed” tail
  

• Solitary ambush predators who do not want to fight you or your kids
  

They will, however, go after small pets or livestock if given the opportunity, so maybe don’t let your off-leash chihuahua wander into the underbrush like it owns the place.

ODNR stresses that bobcats avoid humans and generally pose no threat unless cornered. In other words:
Stay calm. Stay back. And please, for the love of nature, do not try to get a selfie.

Why This Matters

Bobcats returning to central Ohio is a sign that local ecosystems are strengthening, and that our green spaces, yes, even the ones 25 minutes from downtown, are wild enough to support native carnivores again.

Metro Parks is asking visitors to:

• Enjoy from a distance

• Report sightings to Ohio’s wildlife observation system

• Let the bobcats do their bobcat things

Because every confirmed sighting helps wildlife biologists track how far the species has recovered and where it may settle next.

Ohio’s wildcats aren’t just back, they’re creeping into new territory, including the outskirts of Columbus. And while they’re still rare in central and northern counties, the trend is pointing upward.

Scarlet Letter Trivia

Question: The Scioto madtom, a tiny catfish found only in Big Darby Creek, was last seen in 1957 and officially declared extinct in 2023 by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

A) 2023
B) 1973
C) 2016
D) 1992

FRANKLINTON IS HOSTING A HOLIDAY BOURBON CRAWL, AND YES, IT’S FOR A GOOD CAUSE.

Franklinton Friday is already one of the city’s best monthly traditions, studios open, music drifting out of old warehouses, makers selling things they made by hand instead of ordered online at 2 a.m.

Now add a bourbon crawl to the mix, and Franklinton just won December.

This Friday, the Franklinton Arts District is hosting its first-ever Holiday Bourbon Crawl, a four-stop cocktail walk featuring custom-batched bourbon drinks from Watershed Distillery and some of the neighborhood’s most beloved watering holes.

Your $50 ticket gets you bourbon cocktails at:

• Land-Grant Brewing Co.

• Sweeney’s Walnut Street Tavern

• Rehab Tavern

• BrewDog Franklinton

In between drinks, you’ll wander through Franklinton Friday, the district-wide art crawl that turns the neighborhood into a mashup of galleries, pop-up markets, live music, and “Wait, how long has that building been here?” discovery moments.

And unlike most holiday bar crawls, this one actually supports something real.

Where Your Money Goes

Every cent of ticket revenue benefits the Franklinton Arts District, the small but mighty organization that:

• Advocates for artists

• Supports studios, galleries, and makers

• Runs youth arts programs

• Funds creators through the Bellow Grant

• And keeps Franklinton Friday alive and accessible

FAD is the connective tissue of the neighborhood — the reason Franklinton is more than a collection of warehouses with lights on. They create the opportunities, the programming, and the platforms that make the district one of Columbus’s most vibrant artistic communities.

The Details

Franklinton Holiday Bourbon Crawl
 🍹 Four Watershed cocktails
🎨 Art, music, and markets between every stop
🎄 Holiday attire optional but aggressively encouraged
🎟️ Only 100 tickets available
📍 Franklinton Arts District
📅 This Friday during Franklinton Friday

This is the kind of event that lets you support local artists and enjoy bourbon without having to justify either decision.

If you want in, grab your ticket early. The crawl is capped at 100 people, and Franklinton Friday regulars move fast

NATIONWIDE ARENA IS GETTING A $400 MILLION MAKEOVER

Nationwide Arena is turning 25, and in building years that’s roughly equivalent to discovering your first gray hair and pretending it’s “just the lighting.” The Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority has decided the glow-up can’t wait, rolling out a $400 million modernization plan to drag the arena into the decade where people expect bathrooms to have doors that close and concessions that don’t require a pilgrimage.

Here’s what Columbus is signing up for.

THE MONEY (THE PART EVERYONE CARES ABOUT)

The FCCFA’s funding strategy is… comprehensive:

• Up to $100 million from a new state sports-facilities improvement fund
  

• More than $100 million in public bonds
  

• $25 million each from the City of Columbus and Franklin County
  

• The rest from private financing
  

• And somewhere in the background:
  

  • A lawsuit challenging whether unclaimed-fund dollars can be used for stadium projects

  • AG Dave Yost side-eyeing the plan

  • Every Columbus resident wondering if they have an unpaid insurance check from 1998 now renovating a hockey arena

THE RENOVATION HIGHLIGHTS

You will eventually walk into Nationwide Arena and notice the city spent real money:

A brand-new main entrance

Bigger, faster, and covered from the weather!

An outdoor terrace and plaza bar

A new spot for watch parties, community events, and people who show up early.

Expanded concourses + more escalators and elevators

Translation: fewer human traffic jams, more ADA access, and less of the “sorry, is this line for beer or the restroom?” conversations.

A larger team store

The Jackets may miss the playoffs, but merch never will.

Better seating, upgraded tech, faster concessions

Everything you’d expect from an arena competing for concerts, major events.

A new pedestrian bridge to the McConnell Garage

Finally.

WHY THIS IS HAPPENING NOW

Arena officials say it plainly:
If you didn’t renovate your house for 25 years, people would notice.

The same is true for a venue that hosts over a million visitors a year and pumps $120 million into the local economy. Columbus wants to remain competitive for big tours and national events, and you can’t do that with 1990s architecture and early-2000s HVAC.

Most construction will happen in the summer to avoid disrupting Jackets games, concerts, and that one guy who buys single-game tickets solely to scream at the power play.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Columbus City Council and the Franklin County Commissioners still need to approve the early funding steps, including an arena-only increase in admissions tax and a higher share of casino-tax revenue dedicated to Nationwide Arena.

No new taxes. Minimal impact to existing budgets. Maximum impact to the building that basically created the Arena District in the first place.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Nationwide Arena helped transform a former rail yard into one of Columbus’s busiest districts.

Now the district has outgrown the arena, and the arena has to catch up.

Whether you go for the Jackets, for concerts, for the basketball games, or for the air conditioning downtown in July, the next version of Nationwide Arena is aiming to feel less like a time capsule and more like a venue worthy of the city that built up around it.

SANTA HAS ARRIVED AT POLARIS!

If you’re looking for peak holiday energy, the kind that smells like cinnamon, sounds like children screaming with joy, and comes with at least three free things, Polaris Fashion Place is now officially in Santa mode.

Santa is posted up in Center Court, ready for photos, wish lists, and the annual ritual of parents desperately trying to get one normal picture.

This Year’s Theme: The Polaris Express

Yes, they leaned all the way into The Polar Express.
There’s a train display, themed décor, and enough nostalgic Christmas atmosphere to make you tear up before your shopping migraine sets in.

Every kid gets:

• A Santa coloring book

• A pair of Santa glasses

• A Polaris Express Golden Ticket

• A “BELIEVE” sleigh bell (which doubles as a surprisingly classy ornament)
  

All while supplies last, which is newsletter-speak for “go early or don’t complain to us later.”

Golden Ticket Bonus

Kids 12 and under can take that golden ticket to Pure Imagination Chocolatier for a free hot cocoa through December 31.

Reserve your spot!

Consider it a sugar boost for both their holiday spirit and your stamina.

So if you’re planning your seasonal mall migration, buying gifts, returning gifts, stress-eating pretzels, you might as well stop by Center Court and make a memory.

Trivia Answer:

A: 2023 but none have been seen since 1957