Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced he fulfilled his pledge to bring more transparency to the Secretary of State’s office.
Unanimously passed at the end of 2020, Senate Bill 107 (SB107) is an act to “allow certain entities to file campaign finance statements electronically, to require the Secretary of State to make the information in those electronic statements available online.”
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Increases in homeschooling and working from home triggered by COVID-19 closures may have permanent impacts, according to University of Virginia (UVA) researcher Hamilton Lombard.
“Based on trends over the past few decades, the number of homeschoolers and telecommuters were both expected to continue growing rapidly even before the pandemic. If Virginia’s homeschoolers were a school division, they would be one of Virginia’s largest school divisions, and easily its fastest growing,” Lombard told UVA Today.
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Three of the four Democratic Toledo City Council members accused of taking part in a bribery and extortion scheme have agreed to temporary suspensions, according to the state attorney general’s office.
Tyrone Riley, Yvonne Harper and Larry Sykes will continue to get their annual $27,500 council salaries, and their temporary replacements will be paid the same salary on a prorated basis. If the council members plead guilty or are convicted of the charges, the city could recover any funds paid to them during their suspensions.
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The FBI has arrested Democratic Toledo City Council members Tyrone Riley, Yvonne Harper, Larry Sykes and Gary Johnson Tuesday for allegedly “accepting bribe payments for official acts.” Two years ago, the FBI began its investigation into the Toledo City Council for “soliciting/and or accepting cash, checks, money orders, or other things of value from local business owners in exchange for their vote on City Council, the affidavit says. According to the affidavit, FBI found evidence of Riley having solicited bribes going as far back as 2013. Furthermore, Harper is accused of using local attorney Kevin Mitchell to “solicit and funnel” her bribe payments. Each elected official who was arrested used cell-phones to arrange these alleged transactions, according to the affidavit. To gather evidence, the FBI recorded phone conversations, conducted in-person meetings, collected text messages, and looked through government, business, and financial records. In reaction to the news, Democratic Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz issued this statement in reaction Tuesday, according to WTOL. “I am shocked and heartbroken by today’s arrests. This is a terrible day for Toledo — and for everyone who believes in the good that can be accomplished through public service. “I was inspired to run for public…
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