PATRICK AFTOORA-ORSAGOS.

This photo taken from video shows Judge David Hejmanowski, back left, officiating the wedding of Andrea Bates, center, and Jessica Scales at the Historic Jail and Sheriff's Residence on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, in Delaware, Ohio. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)

Former jail building draws couples for Halloween weddings in Ohio

Nine couples got married on Halloween inside a former county jail in central Ohio that was decorated for the holiday. The Delaware County Historical Society has opened the former jail and sheriff’s residence to people getting hitched on Friday. Court employees wore costumes and decorated the space with pumpkins and a spider web. Couples were provided with a way to take mugshot-style photos. They capped the number of weddings at 10 but only nine showed up. There’s no word on whether the tenth bride or groom got spooked.

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Once named opponents in the Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage, now they’re friends

The case behind the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide a decade ago is known as Obergefell v. Hodges. But the two Ohio men whose names became that title weren’t so at odds as it would seem. Now they’re friends. Lead plaintiff Jim Obergefell and then-state health director Rick Hodges met one year after the June 26, 2015, decision, when someone associated with an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization connected them. They met for coffee and hit it off. Though Hodges had represented the state in the professional capacity of his job, it turned out he was personally supportive of same-sex couples seeking the right to marry.

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