Anthony J. Gottschlich
JAMES M. COX PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD
Springfield News-Sun

Anthony Gottschlich had heard enough from disgruntled former members of the Arms of Love Inc., to suspect something was amiss at the avowed AIDS charity and bingo hall.

A call to the Ohio attorney general's office revealed that Arms of Love had not filed federal tax returns for four years. Meanwhile, its last four bingo license applications had reported $2.75 million in proceeds. After bingo payout and expenses, $700,000 was leftover for charity.

"The Arms of Love president said the group spent its money on education and prevention efforts," Gottschlich recalled.

"But I found little to no evidence that the group was doing anything for people with HIV and AIDS. I also learned that the state's $2 billion-a-year, tax-exempt bingo industry was loosely regulated, with rules and laws that could easily be sidestepped."

After Gottschlich's expose was published in the Springfield News-Sun, a local state senator was alarmed that bingo halls as large as the Arms of Love could stay open while having failed to file tax returns and account for their charitable efforts. Her bill sailed through both chambers of the Ohio legislature and was signed into law in January 2001.

"I was there when the bill passed. It's a great feeling," Gottschlich said.

A Dayton native, he earned a Master's degree in journalism from Ohio State University; interned at the Akron Beacon-Journal's statehouse bureau; and joined the News-Sun as a city hall reporter in June 1999.

He began at Ohio State as a pre-med student, but wasn't accepted into medical school. "After four years of 'wandering,' I chose journalism," he said. "I love to learn. I also like to teach, and in this business, you start each day as a student and often end it as a teacher."

In his spare time, he enjoys playing jazz piano and also fills in occasionally as a bartender at his brother's bar and grill in Dayton.