Emma G. Wozniak

Columbus-based journalist with a firm belief we all have a story to tell — and a passion for being the mouthpiece through which those stories can be shared with the world.

My Photos

The Columbus Dispatch •

Over 1,000 new Algerian immigrants expected in Columbus in 2026, and one woman may be why

Hamida Ouali stood among the aisles of her go-to Kroger, having walked to the store to buy milk for her morning cup of coffee.

It was a day like any other for Ouali, a 45-year-old Algerian immigrant working for a local nonprofit that serves other immigrants in Columbus' Riverview Drive community.

A woman suddenly approached Ouali, waving her phone and asking for help. It wasn't long before Ouali found herself scheduling a Medicaid appointment for a woman she barely knew in the dairy section of...
The Columbus Dispatch •

Hilliard Tolles' students use emergency training to help rescue crash victim

It had been a perfectly ordinary weekday for high schooler Dylan Shields and his friends.

After a morning of classes at Hilliard Bradley High School on Sept. 30, Shields, Seth French and Luke Self were enjoying some McDonald's before spending the second half of their day at Tolles Career & Technical Center, a Plain City high school that specializes in career-technical education.

The 17-year-old trio hit the road after lunch, followed closely by friend and fellow classmate Logan Faulkner, 16, w...
The Columbus Dispatch •

Clintonville Area Commission election spirals into controversy, effort to overturn result

In Columbus' Clintonville neighborhood, a normally uncontested election for an unpaid volunteer position on the area commission has devolved into online sniping, allegations of election violations and a plea to overturn the results.

The election for one of the Clintonville Area Commission's nine commissioner seats involved a four-person race that drew 124 voters and quickly turned controversial. Though uncertified election results were released by the CAC's three-person Election Committee on Au...
The Columbus Dispatch •

Construction to begin soon on Downtown YMCA's conversion to affordable apartments

What was once Columbus' Downtown YMCA building will soon become the latest effort to combat the city's housing crisis.

Affordable housing developer Woda Cooper will soon begin construction on Lofts at 40 Long, the seven-story, 235,000-square-foot building located at 40 W. Long St. that was formerly the home of the nearly century-old Downtown YMCA facility. Community leaders convened in the soon-to-be apartment complex Sept. 29 to mark the kick-off of the construction process.The space will offer...