Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has launched a new statewide public awareness campaign to draw attention to Ohio’s new distracted driving laws which went into effect on Tuesday.
The new law forbids anyone operating a vehicle within the state from using or holding a smartphone or other electronic device.
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U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) wants the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to look into how residents of East Palestine and nearby towns are affected by the chemicals that were released during the February 3rd Norfolk Southern train derailment.
On Monday, Vance along with U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), and John Fetterman (D-PA) sent a letter to NIH Director Lawrence Tabak and NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Director Rick Woychik urging them to “help assess and mobilize existing assets and resources to respond to the community’s biomedical research needs.”
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Two Ohio Republican candidates have announced their candidacy to run for Ohio’s 9th Congressional district in 2024. U.S. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09), who is currently in that seat, is serving her 21st term in Congress.
Former Republican Mayor of Walbridge Dan Wilczynski was the first contender to enter the running last week, announcing his candidacy with the focus of finally defeating America’s longest tenured Congresswoman Kaptur.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a nearly $13.5 billion state transportation budget on Friday, including rail safety measures that lawmakers added in reaction to the February 3rd train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine.
With oversight from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), among other provisions, the railway safety measures call for two-person crews for freight trains and requires the installation of wayside detectors at shorter distances, every 10 to 15 miles, to help identify issues. The Federal Railroad Administration currently permits the placement of some wayside devices up to 25 miles apart from one another.
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U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) has introduced legislation that aims to establish English as the official language of the United States.
The English Language Unity Act, sponsored by Vance and U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) would require require government functions to be conducted in English, and adjust requirements for naturalization by introducing a universal English language testing standard.
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A Republican lawmaker introduced legislation to improve protections for Ohio businesses from fraud, theft, and scams.
Senate Bill (SB) 98, sponsored by State Senator Michael Rulli (R-Salem), contains solutions Rulli says will allow Ohio businesses to combat those issues.
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A bipartisan group of lawmakers have introduced legislation to end the death penalty in Ohio.
Senate Bill (SB) 101 sponsored by state Senators Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City), Michele Reynolds (R-Canal Winchester), Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus), and Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) aims to remove the death penalty in Ohio and instead pursue life without parole for capital crimes.
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U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) said that the indictment against former President Donald Trump, a 2024 presidential candidate, is a “grave miscarriage of justice.”
Thursday’s indictment results from the protracted investigation into Trump’s alleged use of hush money in connection with porn star Stormy Daniels. To keep Daniels from disclosing her alleged 2006 affair with Trump, Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid her $130,000 as part of a non-closure agreement near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump allegedly then paid Cohen back in installments. Trump has denied the affair.
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Moderate Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) removed State Representative Scott Wiggam (R-Wayne County) on Thursday from his position as chair of the House Constitutional Resolutions Committee and the committee all together due to Wiggam signing a discharge petition for the Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment.
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In order to completely clean up the scene of a flaming train derailment that happened last month in the small town of East Palestine, Ohio, Norfolk Southern has decided to only work with Ohio-based companies.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced on Wednesday that he believed it was a good idea for the railroad to recruit businesses from throughout the state to carry out the work, which may take two years to complete.
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On Wednesday, a group of Republican lawmakers filed a discharge petition on House Joint Resolution (HJR) 1 which aims to alter the process of how constitutional amendments can be proposed by initiative petitions.
A bill or resolution may be discharged from committee if it wins the support of a simple majority of House members (50 percent + 1). This implies that even if the resolution has not yet been approved out of committee or finished holding hearings, it would automatically advance to the floor for a vote if 50 representatives signed on.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued an executive order on Wednesday that would make Ohio one of the first states in the nation to designate xylazine as a controlled substance drug.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, xylazine, a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer, is a central nervous system depressant that can cause drowsiness and amnesia and slow breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure to dangerously low levels.
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The State Legislature revived Cincinnati city officials’ attempt to sell a city-owned rail line to Norfolk Southern, the same company that caused the toxic disaster in East Palestine, which stalled last month,
City leaders announced a plan to sell the rail line that runs to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Norfolk Southern at the end of last year for $1.6 billion. However, that deal could not be done without changes to state law.
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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Tuesday supported a prospective August election as a way to change the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments.
Republicans in both the House and Senate have introduced resolutions to raise the initiative petition voting threshold to 60 percent to amend the state Constitution.
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The Ohio Supreme Court set a schedule on Tuesday for briefs and evidence in a lawsuit claiming that the Ohio Ballot Board erred by approving a proposed abortion constitutional amendment as one issue.
Earlier this month, the Ohio Ballot Board unanimously certified that the proposed constitutional amendment by the Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, a coalition of radical pro-abortion activists that includes Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice Ohio, the Abortion Fund of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, along with the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights that would legalize abortion throughout the state called “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety,” incorporated only one constitutional amendment and therefore advanced to the signature gathering stage.
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Federal and state Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials were questioned about the East Palestine train derailment at a Tuesday hearing of the U.S. House Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee over a month after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
Debra Shore, the regional administrator of the U.S. EPA Region 5, and Anne Vogel, the director of the Ohio EPA, both gave testimony and detailed the actions they have taken in reaction to the incident.
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In the wake of the murder of six people at a Christian School in Nashville, Tennessee by an individual who reportedly “identified as transgender” on Monday, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) said that the extreme left needs to do a lot of “soul searching.”
According to Vance, this terrible incident should prompt the extreme left to deeply consider the correctness of their ideals.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit against several pharmacy benefit management firms on the grounds that they have erroneously raised the cost of medications like insulin.
Yost claims that the companies, one of which is based in Switzerland, have maintained dominance over most of the pharmaceutical market due to industry consolidation. Yost named Ascent Health Services LLC, Express Scripts Inc., Cigna Group, Evernorth Health Inc., Prime Therapeutics LLC, Humana Pharmacy Solutions Inc., and Humana Inc. as defendants in the lawsuit. Yost filed the lawsuit on Monday in the Delaware County Common Pleas Court.
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States throughout the nation that have facilities for storing hazardous waste are still working to stop the transport of contaminated debris from an Ohio train disaster that culminated in a fire to their states.
On Saturday, the City and County of Baltimore, Maryland announced in a joint statement that they are “seeking a legal opinion from the Attorney General’s Office regarding the City’s requirement to treat and discharge the waste from the Norfolk Southern Railroad derailment.”
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On Friday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education urging the department to maintain a regulation that mandates public universities to uphold the First Amendment or risk losing grant funding.
In accordance with the current rule, which was put in place in 2020 to carry out Supreme Court precedent, public universities are not allowed to deny religious student organizations “any right, benefit or privilege that is otherwise afforded to other student organizations at the public institution” because of the group’s “beliefs, practices, policies, speech, membership standards or leadership standards, which are informed by sincerely held religious beliefs.”
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The Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center (ONIC) has released a public safety notice in order to warn parents that children are using emojis to advertise, sell, and acquire illegal substances on social media and in electronic communication.
According to ONIC Executive Director Cynthia Peterman, this kind of emoji usage is becoming more popular around the country, and the analysis of electronic devices seized in current drug investigations has shown activity in Ohio related to the use of emojis in this way.
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Republican lawmakers have re-introduced a bill to require school systems to have policies in place that allow parents to be more active in their child’s education.
House Bill (HB) 8, known as the “Parents Bill of Rights,” sponsored by state Representatives D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron) and Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton) aims to require school systems to give parents notice of sexually explicit materials and create a health care plan for students with their parents.
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Alex Triantafilou, the newly elected head of the Ohio Republican Party, endorsed legislation on Thursday that aims to alter the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments.
There are currently two pieces of legislation that Republican lawmakers have introduced this session to protect the state Constitution from out-of-state special interest groups.
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On Thursday, the Cuyahoga County Republican Party censured state Representative Tom Patton (R-Strongsville) for voting in favor of newly elected House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill).
The Cuyahoga County Republican Party Disciplinary Committee previously recommended that Patton be censured for disregarding his obligation to the party and public by voting for Stephens.
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Republican state lawmakers are getting closer to putting a measure on the ballot in August that would need 60 percent of voters to approve constitutional amendments.
State Senators Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) and Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) introduced two pieces of legislation on Wednesday one which aims to alter the process of how constitutional amendments can be proposed by initiative petitions and one to allow for special elections to be held in August for certain purposes.
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Alex Triantafilou, the newly elected head of the Ohio Republican Party, stopped in Hillsboro for the Highland County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner on Wednesday to discuss his positive vision for the Ohio Republican Party moving forwards.
According to Triantafilou, one of his primary focuses for the party is removing U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and President Joe Biden from office.
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Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw faced questions about the decision to vent and burn vinyl chloride at a Wednesday hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation over a month after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) asked Shaw if anyone in the decision-making process disagreed with the recommendation to vent and burn the vinyl chloride from all five tank cars.
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An Ohio pro-woman and pro-parent group said that their large group of Ohio-based coalition members is a testament that Ohioans refuse to sit back and watch as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood bring a war on parental rights to Ohio.
Protect Women Ohio (PWO), a new group dedicated to defeating a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize abortion throughout the state, released a list of it’s first wave of Ohio-based coalition members on Wednesday.
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At a Wednesday hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that in light of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, freight trains should have mandates for both inward and outward-facing image and audio recorders.
According to NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy, the train involved in the East Palestine derailment was only equipped with an inward-facing camera and because it was immediately put back into service following the accident, the data from the day of the derailment was overwritten.
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At a Wednesday hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that after speaking to medical leaders from the East Liverpool City Hospital, the temporary health clinic in East Palestine is becoming a permanent clinic for the community.
“This is a long term commitment to the health of the people of East Palestine,” DeWine said.
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Although the “Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment” did not pass in the Ohio House and Senate prior to the February 1st deadline to be on May’s primary election ballot, state lawmakers may reinstate an August special election to consider the amendment.
House Joint Resolution (HJR) 1 sponsored by state Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) aims to alter the process of how constitutional amendments can be proposed by initiative petitions. Currently, issues proposed by initiative petitions need to meet a 50 percent voting threshold to amend the Constitution. Under this proposal, these issues would need to meet a 60 percent threshold.
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At a Wednesday hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Norfolk Southern’s CEO Alan Shaw evaded questions about the company’s support for safety requirements included in the bipartisan Rail Safety Act of 2023.
The Rail Safety Act sponsored by U.S. Senators JD Vance (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) would require that trains carrying hazardous materials be scanned by wayside defect detectors, or “hotbox detectors,” every 10 miles to prevent future derailments caused by faulty wheel bearings. It stipulates that railroad companies must provide advance notification to state emergency response commissions when transporting hazardous materials. It requires railroads to operate with at least two-person crews. It also, increases the maximum fine for rail safety violations.
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The Cuyahoga County GOP says that bringing politically motivated charges against former President and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump will severely undermine America’s confidence in the judicial system.
According to a Fox News report, the Manhattan District Attorney‘s office requested a meeting with law enforcement on Friday in anticipation of a potential indictment of Trump this week.
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On Monday, two Southeast Ohio residents asked the state Supreme Court to overturn the Ohio Ballot Board’s decision last week to advance a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize abortion throughout the state.
According to the lawsuit, the Ohio Ballot Board erred last week when it decided that the proposed amendment contained only one issue, when it actually contained two or more. A proposal including more than one amendment would need to be divided into separate issues under Ohio law.
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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has announced that Ohio is the latest Republican-led state to pull out of a national bipartisan voter registration initiative.
LaRose, a Republican who is actively considering running for U.S. Senate against U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2024, sent a letter to the executive director of the Electronic Registration Information Center, also known as ERIC, announcing the decision following the bipartisan compact’s member states meeting on Friday.
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Ohio Republican politician and businessman Bernie Moreno says that an indictment against former President and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump would be a “disastrous idea.”
According to a Fox News report, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office requested a meeting with law enforcement on Friday in anticipation of a potential indictment of Trump this week.
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A bill in the Ohio Senate aims to stop diversity and equity training for faculty and students at state colleges and universities.
Senate Bill (SB) 83 known as the Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act introduced by state Senator Jerry Cirino, (R-Kirtland) would eliminate the need for professor, staff, or student participation in diversity, equity, or inclusion training or courses. It would also create transparency for all tasks, as well as compulsory and suggested reading.
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Republican lawmakers have reintroduced a plan to allow state education dollars to be used by every Ohio parent to pay for private school or other education expenses. House Bill (HB) 11, sponsored by State Representatives Riordan McClain (R-Upper Sandusky) and Marilyn John (R-Richland County), aims to make all public, nonpublic, and home-school students in grades K-12 eligible for a state scholarship to attend a nonpublic school or to be home-schooled. “The Backpack Scholarship Program would empower families to find the best educational environment for their child. As a father of five, I know how different the needs of each child can be and by giving each child the opportunity to pursue the best path will lead to better outcomes. Education is not a one size fits all model. This program recognizes that and allows educational freedom as well as competition. Parental involvement is one of the most important aspects of a child’s education regardless of learning environment,” McClain said. Under the legislation, an education savings account would fund the scholarships. Scholarship recipients would receive $5,000 for students K-8 or $7,500 for high school students. The funds could be paid directly to a school or reimbursed to parents. According to the…
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday ordered states to stop preventing the transportation of contaminated debris from an Ohio train disaster that resulted in a fire from reaching hazardous waste storage facilities around the country.
This announcement follows Ohio Governor Mike DeWine calling on both the EPA and Norfolk Southern Railway to authorize more sites to take East Palestine’s contaminated soil due to some states with sites that are certified to take in hazardous materials not accepting it.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine visited East Palestine, Ohio to receive remediation updates on Friday, exactly six weeks since a Norfolk Southern train derailed wreaking havoc on the environment and negatively impacting the health of residents.
Although soil is being removed in the area more swiftly than before, according to DeWine, “it’s never fast enough.” Despite the fact that 1,620 tons of earth were removed last week as opposed to 910 tons the week before, there is still a substantial amount.
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Alan Shaw, CEO of Norfolk Southern, drank a glass of East Palestine, Ohio, tap water in front of a group of reporters at a media round-table on Thursday while promising to clear the scene of a horrific train derailment and contribute to rebuilding the community.
According to Shaw, he is sorry for what happened and wants to make it right.
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Cincinnati city officials have stalled its attempt to sell a city-owned rail line to Norfolk Southern, the same company that caused the toxic disaster in East Palestine last month.
The elements required for the proposed sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway are no longer included in the state’s transportation budget, hence Norfolk Southern cannot currently purchase the city-owned railroad.
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After more than two years, Attorney General Dave Yost’s civil lawsuit against FirstEnergy, former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, and others connected to the House Bill (HB) 6 scandal is once more being permitted to move forward.
Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Chris Brown has granted Yost’s motion to lift the stay on proceedings in the case.
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Republican Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Shanahan has announced her bid for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court in 2024. Shanahan is the first to announce her candidacy.
According to Shanahan, she is running for an Ohio Supreme Court Seat because she understands the proper role of the judiciary “interpreting the law, not legislating from the bench.”
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost released a statement outlining the next steps in the House Bill (HB) 6 scandal following the guilty verdicts declared against Larry Householder and Matt Borges in federal court on March 9th.
According to Yost, with the completion of the federal prosecution the state’s racketeering lawsuit should be able to resume.
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Cleveland aimed to encourage increased rail safety in response to the February disaster of the East Palestine train derailment, particularly because the train that derailed also passed through the city.
Cleveland City Council Member Jenny Spencer sponsored a railroad safety resolution on Monday urging Congress to pass U.S. Senate Bill (SB) 576, the Federal Rail Safety Act of 2023, introduced in Congress by U.S. Senators JD Vance (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
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Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ordered rail company Norfolk Southern to test for dioxins following the catastrophic February 3rd train derailment, and says that East Palestine suggests a “low probability” of dioxin contamination a retired chemist told The Ohio Star that dioxins “were produced” during the burn “it’s not a question of maybe.”
The EPA has maintained there is a “low probability” that dioxins were released from the derailment based on its sampling for “indicator chemicals” that it says would signal the presence of dioxins in East Palestine.
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On Monday, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) pushed the Biden administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to transport dangerous waste to authorized facilities after seeing a pile of toxic waste in East Palestine, Ohio.
Vance visited the waste site after giving testimony at a March 9th U.S Senate railroad safety hearing regarding how the waste was still in East Palestine weeks after a railway catastrophe caused dangerous chemicals to contaminate the community.
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The cleanup at the toxic train derailment site in East Palestine last month has stalled because Ohio is having problems locating sites to accept the 24,400 tons of excavated contaminated soil. According to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s office only 2,980 tons have actually been removed so far.
DeWine says that some states with sites that are certified to take in hazardous materials aren’t accepting the soil. He said that refusing the soil is unfair to the residents of East Palestine, which isn’t where it belongs.
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The Ohio Supreme Court has formally accepted an appeal by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in a case involving the state’s six-week abortion ban.
The court announced on Tuesday morning that it will only consider two of the three legal issues Yost asked the court to consider: whether he has the right to appeal a lower court’s decision to put the heartbeat law on hold and whether abortion clinics have “standing” or the legal authority to challenge the law in the first place.
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