Recent Breakthroughs in 2020 Election Probes Undercut Narrative That Legal Avenues Are Exhausted

Mail in voting envelopes with masks on top

More than a year after the disputed 2020 presidential election, a series of legal breakthroughs in the investigation of the electoral process in decisive swing states — including official inquiries, court rulings, audits and finial disclosures — has unfolded in rapid succession recently, even as election integrity opponents continue to insist that all legal avenues for questioning the outcome have long since been exhausted.

Interviewing former Trump senior economic advisor Peter Navarro about the election earlier this month, MSNBC TV host Ari Melber argued that the “outcome was established by independent secretaries of state, by the voters of those states, and legal remedies had been exhausted with the Supreme Court never even taking, let alone siding with, any of the claims that you just referred to.”

Melber’s assertion echoed a mainstream political and media narrative firmly in place since Donald Trump’s large Election Day leads over Joe Biden in key swing states evaporated over the course of the ensuing week, when The New York Times reported, “Election officials in dozens of states representing both political parties said that there was no evidence that fraud or other irregularities played a role in the outcome of the presidential race.”

Read the full story

National Energy Company, FirstEnergy, is Attempting to Stick Ohioans with Billion Dollar Cleanup Bill

Ohio Taxpayers could be stuck with a $1 billion nuclear cleanup bill if one national energy company has its way. The U.S Department of Justice, along with the “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Office of the Ohio Attorney General, acting on behalf of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,” are all jointly fighting to make sure that doesn’t happen. FirstEnergy, one of the nation’s largest investor-owned utilities, maintains the subsidiary; FirstEnergy Solutions (FES). That subsidiary actively managed three nuclear power plants, three coal plants, two natural gas plants, and three wind plants. A majority of these plants are based on Ohio with nuclear plants in Oak Harbor and Perry, a gas plant on Lorain, and a wind plant in Blue Creek. While only one of the coal plants is located in Ohio, in Stratton, the other two rest just outside Ohio’s borders in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. As a result, they too employ many Ohioans. In March, FES announced that all three nuclear power plants would be shuttered within the next five years, laying off 2,300 workers. After attempting, and failing,…

Read the full story

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine States He Will ‘Absolutely’ Sign ‘Heartbeat Bill’

Newly elected Governor Mike DeWine said Wednesday that he will “absolutely” sign the “Heartbeat Abortion” bill, should it come before his desk. The bill would ban all abortions following the first detection of a heartbeat in an unborn child. His predecessor, former Republican Governor John Kasich had twice vetoed the bill. The issue came up during an interview on the Hugh Hewitt Show, a nationally syndicated radio show hosted by Hugh Hewitt. While he praised Kasich for his many conservative accomplishments he said that he was “genuinely disappointed” that the governor refused to sign House Bill 258 which would have banned all abortions once a heartbeat is detected. Kasich did not agree with the substance of the bill but he felt that the ensuing legal battle would, not only fail but cost the state millions of dollars in legal fees. The issue with such a ban is that the detection of a heartbeat is deeply dependent on available technology. With a general stethoscope, a doctor can confirm a heartbeat at nine weeks. With a transvaginal ultrasound, heartbeats can be detected within the first month. The generally agreed upon time, however, is six weeks. In spite of this, the proposed bill has found national…

Read the full story

Ohio Federal Judge Clears Way for Massive Opioid Lawsuit

A massive lawsuit by 1,500 counties, cities, townships, and other communities nationwide, against the opioid industry has been permitted to move forward by a federal judge in Ohio. Over the past two years, local and state governments in Mississippi, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Nevada, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, Illinois, New York, Washington, and California have all filed separate suits against the various manufacturers, distributors, and sellers comprising the opioid industry. These local governments allege that the “defendants have contributed to the addiction of millions of Americans to these prescription opioids and to the foreseeable result that many of those addicted would turn to street drugs.” In the past year, the majority of these cases were folded into one giant multidistrict litigation that has been consolidated in the Ohio federal courts. The defendants in this case include the three largest drug wholesalers in America: AmerisourceBergen, McKesson, and Cardinal Health. These three entities are commonly referred to as the “Big Three,” accounting for “about 85 percent to 90 percent of all revenues from drug distribution in the United States.” United States District Judge Dan A. Polster of the Northern District of Ohio rejected Wednesday a Motion to Dismiss by the…

Read the full story

Commentary: Freedom to Choose

In addition to excellent legal protection, professional learning, networking and career resources, along with opportunities for leadership, there is no doubt that joining a professional organization that benefits educators. Our advocacy efforts carry significant weight with legislators, and other policymakers. We choose to collaborate, not separate, which is a natural choice for a group that is member-owned and member-driven.

Read the full story