Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will hold a town hall event in Springfield, Ohio, to “have open and honest dialogue” as the city struggles with the effects of mass migration.
Ramaswamy said the town hall event will be held on Thursday evening in the Edward Wren Room at the Bushnell Events Center and is open to hearing “diverse voices from the local community, including Haitian immigrants.”
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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose confirmed Wednesday morning his office was among 15 nationwide to receive a suspicious package containing a powdery substance.
LaRose, in a release, said investigators in other states determined the substance to be nonhazardous.
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Reports of shoplifting and vehicle theft increased considerably in Springfield, Ohio, following the arrival of thousands of Haitian refugees, according to data obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation through a records request. The town, which had a population of 58,622 in 2020, has taken in between 12,000 and 20,000 Haitian refugees over the past three years, marking a population increase of between 20.4% and 34.1%. From 2021 to 2023, Springfield also saw a 51.5% jump in motor vehicle theft reports and a 112.8% spike in reports of shoplifting, data provided by the Springfield Police Division shows.
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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose wants county election officials to be on the lookout for illegal voter registration forms after his office discovered one.
LaRose said a voter registration form translated into the Haitian Creole language was found in Clark County, the home of Springfield. The Clark County Board of Elections reported the form and rejected the local applicant.
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Ohio gas prices continue to plummet, dropping more than 50 cents in the past month and more than $2 from an historical high two years ago.
According to the American Automobile Association, the state’s average price per gallon is $2.97 for the first time in nearly a year.
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Ohio small business owners’ optimism dipped in August, a month after showing positive signs.
The National Federation of Independent Business Optimism Index fell 2.5 points in August, easing July’s gains and continuing a 32-month stretch below the 50-year average.
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LaRose says he has sent evidence of more than 600 election law violations to county prosecutors since 2019 that have not been pursued.
“Unfortunately, many of these referrals have not been pursued by law enforcement, sometimes by choice and other times due to limited prosecutorial capacity,” LaRose said. “State law gives the attorney general the authority to take up these referrals if the prosecuting attorney doesn’t prosecute the violations within a reasonable time. The only way to maintain Ohio’s high standard of election integrity is to enforce the law whenever it’s broken.”
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Mike DeWine, the GOP governor of Ohio, is sending law enforcement and about $2.5 million in health funding to assist the city of Springfield with the influx of temporary Haitian migrants.
According to local news reports, 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of roughly 59,000 people since 2020.
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Jack Windsor, president and editor-in-chief at The Ohio Press Network, said the mainstream media outlets are too “distracted” by reports of Haitian migrants in the town of Springfield, Ohio, that are allegedly stealing residents’ pets for consumption that the overarching issue of nearly an entire U.S. town being “invaded” by Haitians is being ignored.
“Springfield has been invaded by Haitian immigrants, and right now, mainstream outlets are really distracted by this idea that the Haitians may be eating cats or geese. But, it’s about more than eating cats and geese. It’s really about the cultural divide and the fast and explosive migrant growth in Springfield,” Windsor explained on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
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Ohio’s third innovation hub will receive more than $31 million in taxpayer funds and focus on polymer research, development and technology in the Akron area.
Another $10 million in local investment is expected for the Greater Akron Polymer Innovation Hub, with more than 70 partner agencies, including the city of Akron and the University of Akron.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Monday that his office is investigating how to stop the Biden-Harris administration from continuing to resettle massive numbers of foreign nationals into his state.
An enormous increase in the migrant population in Ohio has taken place during the past four years of the Biden-Harris administration, leading to a strain in the state’s economic, medical and educational systems, Yost declared in a press release. Ohio’s top prosecutor says he is now directing his office to research courtroom strategies on how to stop the White House from sending an “unlimited” number of migrants into Ohio communities.
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A new civics center at Ohio State University will help students learn how to “engage with fellow citizens in a civil way,” according to the director.
Former University of Toledo Professor Lee Strang is now at Ohio State University to lead the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society. It is one of five new “intellectual diversity” centers at public Ohio universities that are in the works.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost made good on a threat to sue the Columbus City Schools if it did not resume busing for school choice students.
Yost promised to sue earlier this week after the state’s largest school district eliminated busing for charter- and private-school students, notifying parents about two weeks before school began in August.
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In the wake of a Georgia high school shooting that killed four and injured nine, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued a memo to school superintendents across the state reminding them of safety options.
The state started the Ohio School Safety program in 2019, spreading safety support personnel across 16 regions covering all 88 counties. The program helps K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and first responders prevent, prepare for, and respond to threats and acts of violence.
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Ohio Republican officials wasted little time responding to a federal court ruling that stopped a planned state ban on foreign money used on statewide ballot campaigns.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Attorney General Dave Yost quickly filed a motion to stay a weekend federal court ruling that stopped the law from taking effect Sunday.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is threatening to sue the Columbus Public School District if it doesn’t restart transportation for charter- and private-school students.
About two weeks before school began last month, the state’s largest school district sent a letter to private- and charter-school parents saying busing would stop for students living within the district’s boundaries because it was impractical.
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A federal court struck down part of an Ohio bill that passed during a special session called to pass legislation to ensure President Joe Biden would have been on the November ballot.
While Democrats never nominated Biden, a ban on foreign campaign money contributed to ballot initiatives in the state was signed into law.
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Two Ohio lawmakers want to clean up the state’s laws on how college athletes can be compensated.
The potential legislation is expected to bridge the gap between the NIL Collective and state colleges and universities and allow schools to directly participate in paying student-athletes.
The bill, introduced by State Reps. Adam Mathews, R-Lebanon, and Jay Edwards, R-Nelsonville, awaits a bill number and committee assignment.
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After a proposed constitutional amendment was denied a chance to go before voters and several bills in the state legislature have stalled, Ohio Democrats are pushing for property tax changes.
Some residents across the state show 40 percent-50 percent property tax increases this year and taxes jumped more than 20 percent between 2019 and 2023.
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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose wants the Legislature to allow him to require proof of citizenship on voter registration forms following a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Both state and federal laws already make it illegal for noncitizens to vote to vote in federal and state elections.
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A new report shows a massive dump of federal taxpayer dollars into Ohio following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2021 recession led to the largest wage increase in more than 40 years, but it wasn’t enough for workers to keep up with the “effective” rate of inflation.
Policy Matters Ohio’s State of Working Ohio report, scheduled to be released Tuesday afternoon, showed the federal COVID-19 recovery plan put Ohioans back to work at a level with prerecession numbers and gave jobseekers their pick of potential jobs.
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Ohio Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) swapped out the word “women” for “persons” to describe pregnant mothers in an updated version of a bill originally introduced in 2015 filed again in the U.S. Senate last year.
In 2015, Brown introduced the Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine (MOM) Act which, at the time, would have required health insurers to offer special enrollment periods to pregnant women if signed into law.
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Ohio’s ballot for the November election is nearly set.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose released a list of candidates who met the requirements to appear on the statewide ballot with the final deadline less than two weeks away.
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Mixtures of powerful drugs that can cause overdoses or skin wounds are being found more often in illicit drug samples throughout Ohio, according to the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center.
The agency recently issued a safety bulletin to alert Ohioans of what it calls “tranq-dope” and “benzo-dope” after state labs reported an eight-fold increase in drug samples in one and double the number in the other between 2021 and 2023.
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A policy group continues to push forward with a class action lawsuit claiming the city of Cleveland failed to pay tax refunds within a 90-day requirement.
The Buckeye Institute recently filed a notice to appeal with Ohio’s 8th District Court of Appeals after a Cuyahoga County judge dismissed the case in July.
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Dr. Amy Acton, former Ohio Department of Health Director, told reporters at the Democratic National Convention this week that she is considering launching a campaign for Ohio governor in 2026.
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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Wednesday that he has formally referred evidence of noncitizen voter registrations to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost for further review and potential prosecution as a result of his office’s ongoing effort to strengthen election integrity ahead of the November 5 general election.
“I’m duty-bound to make sure people who haven’t yet earned citizenship in this country do not vote in our elections,” LaRose said in a statement.
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Tom Zawistowski, president of the We the People Convention, conducted a poll for the closely watched Ohio U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Republican nominee Bernie Moreno, which showed that the race is “dead even.”
Zawistowski said he polled 273 individuals chosen randomly from a phone database over a two-day period earlier this week and asked respondents about the U.S. Senate and presidential races and the overall direction of the nation.
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Ohio plans to spend $150 million in taxpayer money to expand broadband access across the state, including in seven Appalachian counties, one of which was classified at-risk recently by the Appalachian Regional Commission.
The state announced Wednesday that $94.5 million will go to 23 counties as part of the Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program. The Broadband Expansion Authority authorized Broadband Ohio to give enough money to Time Warner Cable Midwest and Brightspeed for six projects in the 23 counties.
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Workers at the Parkway Ford dealership in Dover, Ohio have successfully pushed out International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local 1363 union officials from their workplace.
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Four of Ohio’s 32 Appalachian counties are considered distressed in fiscal year 2025, the same as the previous year. However, the number of at-risk counties fell by one.
A distressed county is among the 10 percent most economically distressed in the nation, as determined by the Appalachian Regional Commission.
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The Ohio Republican Party is highlighting Ohio U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) notable absence from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week by placing “Missing” posters outside the convention’s main venue in the Windy City.
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Ohio GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno has launched a $25 million ad campaign across television, mail and radio.
The Trump-backed Moreno hopes to unseat incumbent Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown in November.
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The campaign behind the effort to amend Ohio’s constitution by rewriting redistricting rules via constitutional amendment announced it will be filing a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court this week after the Ohio Ballot Board adopted ballot language not supported by the group.
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The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Enbridge Energy’s request for the Line 5 lawsuit Nessel v. Enbridge to receive a rehearing in federal court, returning the case to state court.
The court Enbridge had missed the 30-day deadline after Nessel filed the lawsuit in June 2019 to appeal moving the case to federal court, and that it relied on improper arguments when doing so.
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For nearly four decades, small business owners across the country in Ohio said the cost of health insurance is the top chronic issue they face.
It remains the No. 1 concern in 2024 after the National Federation of Small Business released the 11th edition of its Small Business Problems and Priorities report, a survey conducted every four years since 1982.
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A 73-year-old Ohio man will not serve any jail time after pleading guilty to dumping thousands of gallons of a hazardous, ammonia-containing substance into the Scioto River that ended up killing over 43,000 fish and endangering other wildlife.
On April 17, 2021, according to the Northern District of Ohio U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mark Shepherd discharged approximately 7,000 gallons of the hazardous substance into the river.
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The Cleveland Browns want a new $2.4 billion domed stadium using $1.2 billion in public funds in Brook Park.
But Cuyahoga County leaders made it clear in a letter to Browns ownership and at a press conference that it wants a stadium renovation downtown instead.
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Tom Zawistowski, president of the We the People Convention, said Vice President Kamala Harris’s “leftist agenda” is not working in Ohio. Ohio is the scene of the high-stakes U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Republican nominee Bernie Moreno.
As of Thursday, Harris, who has officially become the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee, has refused to sit down for a media interview or hold a formal press conference for 25 consecutive days.
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An Ohio lawmaker, federal lawmakers and both presidential candidates want to eliminate taxes on tips, but a nonpartisan tax policy group says the idea could create issues.
Rep. Jay Edwards, R-Nelsonville, recently introduced legislation exempting tips and gratuities from state income tax. It has not been sent to a committee, and lawmakers are not expected to return to session until after the November election.
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Ohio is expected to launch the first-ever statewide human trafficking hotline later this year, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced at his office’s fifth annual Human Trafficking Summit held in downtown Columbus last week.
The statewide hotline number – 844-END-OHHT (844-363-6448) – will “funnel incoming tips on suspected sex and labor trafficking directly to law enforcement,” according to Yost’s office.
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Ohio small business owners continue to struggle with inflation despite growing optimism around the country, according to a new survey from the National Federation of Independent Businesses.
NFIB-Ohio released results from its monthly survey Tuesday, showing its Small Business Optimism Index rose 2.2 points in July, the highest reading since February 2022.
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A company that canvassed Ohio to register voters could face criminal charges for submitting fraudulent registration forms.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Monday he has referred evidence of suspected election law violations to 20 county prosecutors around the state.
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Nearly 1,300 more buildings across the state will be torn down as Ohio continues to spend taxpayer money on grants it says will spur economic development.
The new projects in nine counties will cost $67.3 million and cover 1,277 vacant, dilapidated buildings – all part of the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program that has spent more than $200 million on nearly 5,000 projects in all 88 counties since it began in 2021.
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The campaign behind the proposed constitutional amendment that would amend Ohio’s constitution by rewriting redistricting rules has raised more than $23 million this year, according to campaign finance reports.
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A former Ohio county commission admitted to racking up thousands of dollars worth of personal credit card charges in the name of a group that runs the county fair.
State Auditor Keith Faber said former Hocking County Commissioner Jessica Dicken pleaded guilty to two felony charges and one misdemeanor for misusing more than $19,000 in public funds while serving as secretary of the Hocking County Agricultural Society.
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Cleveland Browns ownership will reportedly unveil a plan for a $3.6 billion new stadium and development in Brook Park in the coming weeks.
That plan includes $2.2 billion for the stadium and parking lots, with half of that coming from a tax capture fund at the site along with $1.4 billion in development surrounding the stadium that will be privately funded, according to the NEOtrans blog.
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Ohio’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors will stand after a Franklin County judge failed to issue a permanent injunction and lifted the temporary injunction Tuesday.
The ruling clears the way for House Bill 68 to go into effect. The law also includes a ban on males competing on female sports teams.
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Ohioans can now upload their driver’s licenses or state identification (ID) cards directly to their Apple devices through a collaboration between InnovateOhio, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), and Apple.
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Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou released a statement on Tuesday following Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ running mate selection as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, warning that the pair, if elected in November, would “crush” middle class families in Ohio.
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