Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose referred 75 people to the Ohio attorney general and county prosecutors for additional investigation and potential prosecution based on accusations that they illegally voted during the 2020 general election.
LaRose’s office states that individuals who allegedly voted in one state and then cast an additional vote in Ohio, violating state law, have been identified.
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School districts in Northeast Ohio are adding cameras to their buses to increase precautions for student safety.
School bus cameras typically attach to the outside of the bus next to the stop sign that swings outward to alert motorists that children are either boarding or unboarding the bus. These cameras encompass two lenses one facing to the back and one to the front of the bus so they can record any motorist who illegally passes. Some buses also have a camera mounted on the inside of the bus to read license plate numbers.
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An Ohio legislative committee passed a rule on Monday regarding methods to identify a fetal heartbeat despite a court case holding back the abortion ban and Democratic objections.
The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) passed an administration rule from the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) known as “appropriate methods for determining presence of fetal heartbeat,” despite the fact that the rule matched language in a previously passed abortion law and that the law is not currently enforceable.
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In an attempt to bring in more recruits, boost morale, and become more relatable to the community, law enforcement departments around the state have begun to relax their uniform protocols.
For several years now law enforcement departments have struggled to recruit, hire, and retain officers. The combination of increases in retirements and resignations, fewer applicants, and negative portrayals of and attitudes toward law enforcement has only increased the difficulty of bringing in new recruits.
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As early voting began on Wednesday for the 2022 General Election, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose enumerated an increase in absentee ballot applications to date from prior years and assured Ohioans that security checks are in place to make absentee voting secure against fraud.
According to LaRose, the applications for absentee ballots so far reflect a 4.4 percent increase over the gubernatorial statewide election in 2018. So far Ohioans have requested 812,200 absentee ballots, including 4,938 requests from military and overseas voters whose ballots began to be mailed last month.
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One of the most banned controversial books in the United States, according to the New York Times, has been removed from Columbus City Schools high school library shelves.
The autobiography, Gender Queer: A Memoir, was published in 2019 and is both written and illustrated by Maia Kobabe. The 240-page book tells Kobabe’s story from adolescence to adulthood covering sensitive topics such as gender identity, masturbation, menstruation, and navigating the world as someone who considers themself nonbinary.
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The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville is looking to potentially merge with the Catholic Diocese of Columbus. The merger is being considered for several reasons such as a declining Catholic population in the Steubenville diocese, an aging population of priests and Catholics, and economic struggles in the Ohio Valley.
“It is with sadness of heart that I share with you the continued decline in the Ohio Valley population and how it adversely affects our future sustainability. Furthermore, we are all too aware how the population is aging as well, to our ministerial detriment,” Bishop Jeffrey Monforton of Steubenville said.
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The Ohio Debate Commission (ODC) intended to hold debates for the U.S. Senate, Governor, and Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court prior to the November 8th midterm election.
However, the candidates have declined to participate resulting in the cancellation of these planned debates.
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Law enforcement around the state has begun implementing a new app to help residents find information about their department, view alerts, and submit anonymous tips from their smartphones.
The app is known as tip411 through CitizenObserver. It allows law enforcement to engage with the public by creating awareness through community alerts, expanding social media, and allowing the public to share anonymous tips and information with law enforcement. Officers are also able to reply back to these tips in real-time in an anonymous two-way conversation.
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Hospital Pharmacies around the state have begun implementing robots to distribute inpatient medication orders to minimize human error.
The XR2 Automated Central Pharmacy System, manufactured by Omnicell was first introduced in 2017. The 30-foot-long robot is capable of dispensing thousands of inpatient medication orders daily.
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As it is now autumn, Ohio is bustling with fall festivals and activities for the whole family to participate in.
Fall in Ohio is an autumnal wonderland of foliage, festivals, and all things pumpkin no matter what area of the state you are visiting. Outside of classic apple picking, hayrides, and pumpkin patches Ohio is full of unique activities to make the season memorable.
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A four-month-long operation led by federal prosecutors and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) resulted in the seizure of 4,766,788 deadly doses of fentanyl in northern Ohio.
The agencies announced on Tuesday that the operation was part of the nationwide initiative “One Pill Can Kill.”
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A new Ohio law HB30 that went into effect at the end of August is requiring Amish buggies and other animal-drawn vehicles to display a new type of high visibility tape and a yellow flashing light when on public streets.
As law enforcement in Northeast Ohio begins to enforce this law they have strived to educate the Amish community about the new requirements.
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House Bill 497 sponsored by Representatives Gayle Manning (R- North Ridgeville) and Phil Robinson (D- Solon) would eliminate student retention under Ohio’s Third-Grade Reading Guarantee.
Ohio’s Third-Grade Reading Guarantee is a program utilized to identify students who are behind in reading from kindergarten through third grade. Since the 2013-14 school year, third graders must obtain a 685 score or higher on a standardized reading test or they will be held back a grade.
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House Bill 496, sponsored by State Representative J. Kyle Koehler (R-Springfield), seeks to regulate the practice of certified midwives and certified professional midwives.
“Currently, non-nurse midwives in Ohio are legally prohibited from administering lifesaving pharmaceuticals, despite their extensive training. By licensing midwives, we are allowing midwives the opportunity to legally practice at the top of their scope and provide the safest care possible,” Rep. Koehler told The Ohio Star.
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Several counties in Ohio are looking to use drones to respond to calls for critical injury, surveillance, security, accident reconstruction and measuring, evidence gathering, and fatal crashes.
Drone Pilot, Helicopter Pilot, and Supervisor of the Traffic Unit, Sargent Steven Poff with Butler County Sheriff’s Office, told The Ohio Star that there is a time and place to use a drone.
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A new bill in the Ohio Senate, Senate Bill 360, aims to increase paid parental leave for state employees.
State Senator Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) introduced the bill which would extend paid parental leave for state employees from six weeks to twelve weeks for parents of newborn or adopted children. This bill would also eliminate the waiting period of two- weeks which is required prior to accessing paid parental leave.
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Global Media Company, Forbes, announced Wednesday that Ohio will be the host of the Under 30 Summit from 2023 through 2025.
The annual Summit, presented by JobsOhio will occur in three different Ohio cities over the next three years. It will first be held in Cleveland in 2023 and will then be followed by Cincinnati and Columbus in the following two years.
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A new bill in the Ohio Senate, Senate Bill 361, aims to address the current teacher shortage by allowing veterans to become teachers without having a background in education provided they pass a particular set of criteria set forth in the bill.
State Senator Frank Hoagland (R-Mingo Junction) sponsored the bill, which allows a veteran to become an educator by completing four years of service, being honorably discharged, or receiving a medical separation.
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Three local school districts in Ohio are teaching students about where the food they eat at school is grown, as well as adding to the overall menu variety, as part of a pilot program through Feed Our Future’s Local Menu Takeover.
This pilot program started last year in Northeast Ohio, and this year, three Cincinnati school districts have committed to serving only locally sourced meals this week as part of Farm to School Month.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio March for Life – together with the Center for Christian Virtue – held the first of what they hope to be a new tradition of annual gatherings to March for Life on the Capital Square in front of the state house on Wednesday.
“So many people in our lives said that Roe v Wade would never be overturned. Now we have the opportunity to say no more holding us back. The fight in Ohio is just beginning. All of us together using our voices to ensure abortion will no longer happen here in Ohio. We need pro-life, pro-family policies where families flourish and children are protected. We need to be able to say that not only is abortion illegal in Ohio it’s unthinkable. We want to make Ohio the most pro-life state in the nation,” State Representative Jena Powell (R-Arcanum) told the exuberant crowd.
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Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Wednesday the establishment of the Public Integrity Division. The newly-formed office, he said, will be dedicated to maintaining secure, accurate, and accessible elections in the state of Ohio.
“It’s time that we have it. We are consolidating several things that already exist. All of those are existing functions in our office but by putting them all under one roof with trained professionals we can do this work much better,” LaRose told The Ohio Star.
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Several Ohio public libraries are implementing toy lending where families can use their library cards to check out not only books but also developmental toys and educational materials.
Toys can be expensive to purchase which can be difficult for some parents and it’s hard to know which toys a child will connect with, enjoy, and want to play with over and over again.
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Ohioans will vote on allowing judges to consider public safety when setting bail and on local governments allowing only U.S.citizens to vote in local elections during the upcoming election on November 8th.
Both statewide issues have made their way through the Ohio House and Senate to be voted on in the Ohio General Election. They are State Issue 1 known as the Community Safety Amendment and State Issue 2 known as the Citizenship Voting Requirement Amendment.
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According to state reports, many Northeast Ohio school district buses are not passing their state inspections.
The Ohio Star viewed numerous reports of state bus inspections from Northeast Ohio school districts from June 2021 through August 2022. These reports update monthly, and the reports obtained only reflect percentages from June 2021 to last month.
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Ohioans will be going to the polls for early voting beginning in October.
Starting on October 12th, Ohio residents who are registered to vote can either physically go to the polls or can participate through absentee voting by mail.
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In response to 8 Ohio schools going into lock down on Friday, due to an internet hoax that sent false reports about active shooters on their campuses, additional support has been gathered for Senator Andrew Brenner’s (R-Delaware) bill (SB292) to stop ‘swatting’ and making fake emergency calls a felony in the state.
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, ‘swatting’ is: to make a false report of an ongoing serious crime in order to elicit a response from law enforcement (such as the dispatch of a SWAT unit)
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Ohio Task Force 1 along with Ohio First Responders and American Electric Power “AEP” are deployed to Florida for Hurricane Ian relief. Hurricane Ian is anticipated to make landfall between Wednesday and Thursday and preparations are being made.
As a result of Hurricane Ian strengthening to a Category 4, on Saturday morning at 7:00 am the Federal Emergency Management Agency known as “FEMA” deployed Ohio Task Force 1.
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Ohio residents on October 5 can participate in the first Statewide Ohio March for Life at the State Capitol in Columbus.
Ohio Right to Life, in partnership with the national March for Life Organization and Center for Christian Virtue, has organized this pro-life advocacy event.
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Cities throughout the state have been responding to safety concerns from residents about online purchases by creating monitored safe zones at police stations for transfers of goods.
There are several online platforms such as online auctions, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace, where buyers and sellers will need to meet in person to make a transaction.
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House Bill (HB) 371 “The Breast Cancer Bill” was signed into law Friday by Governor Mike DeWine. The new legislation brings more access to additional breast cancer screenings for all women throughout the state.
“The bill originally passed the Ohio House with zero opposition testimony, and 89 representatives voting in favor and only two against – a rarity for politics, even in Ohio. With bipartisan support, and unanimous support from Ohio’s medical community, HB 371 is a powerful example of what laws can accomplish,” the bill’s joint sponsor and State Representative Sedrick Denson (D-Cincinnati) said.
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PLAIN CITY, Ohio – The Ohio Republican Council of Clubs along with Turning Point Action held the second of what they hope will many Ohio Freedom Rallies on the Scheiderer Farm in Plain City, Ohio Sunday.
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Thursday, the Republican National Committee hosted a Zoom press call with Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted and congressional nominee Max Miller (OH-07) to discuss border security, the fentanyl crisis, and crime.
In speaking with Tricia McLaughlin Communications Director for Governor Mike DeWine and Husted, “The domestic supply of opioids from over prescribing pharma companies both production and distribution have largely ceased.”
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Religious release time programs increase in popularity as optional classes during the school day.
Pastor Claude Davis of New Life Church in Whitehall, the facilitator of a released time program, said that their program drastically jumped from a mere 18 students on the first day to 269 students in attendance last year.
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Voyager Space, a space technology company, has selected The Ohio State University to host an analog laboratory at the Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
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Central Ohio’s oldest mall faces demolition if it cannot be brought back up to code, owing to two years’ worth of accumulating citations and warnings by City Code Enforcement and a judge declaring it a public nuisance.
“The owner is working on improvements,” mall manager Nihal Weerasinghe told The Ohio Star. “He is committed to uplift the mall by the end of the year.”
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Mentor Schools is withholding mental health information about transgender or transitioning students from parents.
An Ohio school board meeting on Tuesday, September 13th raised concern in parents over an e-mail which went out to teachers in the district informing them that they are not required to inform parents if a student, 11 years old or older, who is transgender or transitioning asks to use a different name or pronoun.
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Former Ohio Republican congressman and current Chairman of American Greatness PAC Jim Renacci held his first in a series of pro-MAGA (Make America Great Again) forums at the Thirsty Cowboy in Medina, Ohio.
“Last night, 11 conservatives from different niches talked about uniting the conservative base and forwarding MAGA policies. I think it’s the start of something great. American Greatness can be achieved,” Renacci posted on Facebook following the meeting.
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Hilliard City Schools met for a board meeting on Monday to discuss a policy regarding release time for religious instruction. However, the meeting was flooded with concerned parents over a different issue. The LGBTQ badges.
These badges were implemented at the beginning of the school year and were distributed by the teachers union National Education Association (NEA) and its local affiliate, Hilliard Education Association (HEA). They provided a badge to any teacher who requested one. According to Lisa Chaffee, director for Ohio Parents Rights and Education, “The school district did not give permission for these badges. Rather, the Union president with the HEA, Linna Jordan, did it on her own volition.” Several unsuccessful attempts were made to contact Jordan for a comment.
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House Bill 99 went into effect on Monday, allowing Ohio teachers to carry firearms into their classrooms.
State Representative Thomas Hall (R-Madison Twp.) spearheaded the measure, which focuses on school gun and safety training. “We are doing something to help protect the lives of our children and staff at schools here in Ohio,” Hall said during the bill’s signing ceremony in June.
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Ohio County Boards of Elections finalized its post-election audit of the November 2022 general election. According to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the results show a 99.9 percent accuracy rate.
Ohio County Boards of Elections finalized its post-election audit of the November 2022 general election. According to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the general election resulted in several exceptionally close votes and eight races resulted in either a tie or were decided by two votes or fewer.
According to Larose, these tight races once again prove “that every vote matters.”
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