County Election Officials Test Voting Machines for Accuracy Ahead of Election Day

Ohio counties such as Butler and Cuyahoga have been making sure every single voting machine in their districts has been checked. Election officials perform mock votes before using the machines to make sure the information is populating correctly.

Logic and accuracy (L&A) testing on every voting machine and system component ensures that ballots are accurate and that the votes cast will tabulate properly. This includes voting machines used at polling locations on Election Day and those used for scanning absentee ballots.

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Buckeye Institute Disputes Expanded Municipal Taxing Authority in Ohio on Behalf of Blue Ash Resident

A Columbus-based think tank this week filed its legal response in the Ohio Supreme Court in defense of a Blue Ash man who believes the state cannot make him pay Cincinnati income taxes for a period of time he actually worked from home. 

The Buckeye Institute argued that a state law passed in March 2020 to allow jurisdictions encompassing an “employee’s principal place of work” to levy taxes on that worker even when he or she works from home is unconstitutional. Specifically, the institute notes that the federal Constitution’s dormant commerce clause in Article I, Section 8 disallows states to enact statutes that “unduly burden interstate commerce.” Buckeye attorneys also believe the Ohio Constitution constrains lawmakers’ ability to broaden cities and towns’ tax-collection power. 

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Cleveland Area Gets Nearly $8 Million in State Grants for Anti-Crime Efforts

Governor Mike DeWine (R) announced this week that a new $12.3 million funding package would go to local law enforcement agencies to address violent crime, with Cleveland and Cuyahoga County getting two-thirds of those funds. 

Nearly $1 million will go to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s office, mainly to hire three new staff attorneys to help the jurisdiction make headway in its backlog of sexual and domestic violence cases. The Cleveland Division of police, the Cleveland State University Police Department and the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office will meanwhile receive an approximate total of $6.5 million, largely to enhance police-officer pay. Euclid’s Police Department will also get $107,000, for technological improvements. 

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Ohio Judge Rules Pennsylvanian Needn’t Pay Cleveland Taxes for Work Done from Home

Dr. Manal Morsy

A Cuyahoga County, OH court this week ruled in favor of a Pennsylvania resident employed in Cleveland who argued she did not need to pay taxes to that city for work she did from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The plaintiff, Dr. Manal Morsy, executive vice president at the Athersys biotechnology company who lives in the southeastern Pennsylvania town of Blue Bell, would commute to Cleveland and stay through her workweeks before COVID hit in 2020. Whenever she worked outside of Cleveland previously, she would receive income-tax refunds from the municipality. Pursuant to a state law passed in March 2020 which stated that work from home during the public emergency would be deemed to take place “at the employees principal place of work,” the city collect the municipal income tax from her employer without refunding it. 

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Ohio Think Tank Joins Minnesotan’s Fight for Property Rights

The Columbus, OH-based Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday defending Minnesota widow Geraldine Tyler’s right to the profit from the forced sale of her home. 

Tyler’s one-bedroom Minneapolis condominium was taken and sold by Hennepin County after the elderly resident could no longer afford her real-estate taxes. She quickly moved out of the condo in 2010, determining she could not safely stay in light of rising violent crime. For five years she incurred tax debt on the original residence while paying rent on a new apartment. 

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Renacci Tops DeWine, Others in New Ohio Gubernatorial GOP Nomination Poll

Jim Renacci

The campaign manager for former congressman James B. “Jim” Renacci told The Star News Network that the March 28-conducted Harris poll of 1,342 Ohio Republican voters showed Renacci leading Gov. R. Michael DeWine with 46 percent support compared to the governor’s 30 percent, just over a month before the May 3 GOP primary.

“That recent Harris poll actually corroborates some massive internal data that we’ve collected over the last week or so with our phone banking operations,” said Tom Weyand, who is helming the former congressman’s campaign.

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Ohio Probation Officer Claims Union Collected Dues Without Consent

A Cuyahoga County probation officer wants union dues taken out of her paycheck returned because she was never part of the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council union.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Ohio on behalf of Kimberlee Warren against the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council, claiming union officials violated her First Amendment rights as a public employee by continuing to collect union dues without her consent.

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Ohio Parents Rally to Reopen Schools and Sports

Parents across Ohio are rallying for on-campus learning and extracurricular activities to resume as the school year starts.

More than 100 people rallied in the rain in front of Brecksville-Broadview Heights City Schools offices on Monday, according to cleveland.com. While some were there to show their support for online-only programs the vast majority called for the immediate re-opening of campus learning.

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Ohio in the ‘Yellow Zone’ Accounting to White House Task Force Report

Ohio is in the “yellow zone” for coronavirus cases, according to a White House Coronavirus Task Force report that presents a list of suggested actions.

The July 14 report is available here. The Ohio data begins on Page 246.

The classification means Ohio had between 10 to 100 new cases per 100,000 residents the week before the report was released, and the yellow zone for test positivity, indicating a rate between 5 percent to 10 percent.

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Ohio’s Cuyahoga County Council Expected to Pass Countywide Ban on Plastic Bags

  The Cuyahoga County Council is showing signs of supporting an ordinance that would ban the use of single-use plastic bags in the county. The council’s Education, Environment, and Sustainability Committee discussed the ban during a meeting last week, and all members expressed support. Council President Dan Brady told The Cleveland Plain Dealer that he supports the ban, meaning the measure now has the six votes necessary to secure a majority of the 11-member council. “We as a council dealt with this issue for quite a while some time ago. We’ve learned a lot, we’ve worked it through. I believe we’ve got a proposal with broad consensus, and so I just wanted to indicate that I’m certainly in support and I would like my name to be added as a cosponsor,” Brady said to applause during Wednesday’s committee meeting. If passed, the ban wouldn’t go into effect until October 1 so that retailers have time to adjust to the ban. For each day a retailer fails to comply, they would be subjected to a written warning, followed by a $100 fine and a $500 fine. “We’ve heard from the community, there’s broad support and I think it’s time to move…

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Kamala Harris Headlines Cuyahoga County Democratic Party’s Annual Dinner

  Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) headlined the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party’s annual fundraising dinner Sunday night. Harris’ appearance at the event was called into question earlier this month after a dispute between union leaders and the Cuyahoga County Council. As The Cleveland Plain Dealer explains, the council voted to transfer control of three county jails to MetroHealth, and as a result placed the jobs of nurses at the jails in jeopardy. Shontel Brown, a county councilwoman and the chair of the county’s Democratic Party, voted in favor of the move. The local chapter of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) planned to protest Sunday night’s event. “Kamala Harris is a longstanding friend of labor and if there is a dispute that leads to a picket line, she will not cross it,” a spokesperson for Harris’ campaign said in response. The dispute, however, was resolved last week, allowing Harris’ appearance to move forward as planned. “These hardworking and dedicated nurses are guaranteed employment through the transition to MetroHealth. Individuals not retained, or those who decline employment, will be offered jobs elsewhere in the county or placement services to assist in seeking employment,” Brown said in a statement.…

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