Sports betting will open in Ohio on Jan. 1, and the state could realize revenues of more than $30 million from fees this year.
Nonrefundable application fees of $9.6 million have already been received according to a report from PlayOhio. Once an application is approved, the vendor must pay a license fee to begin taking bets, then pay an annual fee to continue the license. Licenses are good for five years, at which time the fee structure begins again.
Read the full story
Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance on Friday denounced President Joe Biden for an oration he gave at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA the night before in which the president castigated pro-Trump Republicans as a danger to democracy.
Vance, an attorney, venture capitalist and author, blasted the speech as disuniting and inflammatory. He said Biden should instead turn to problems of consequence to Americans including crime, inflation and the educational and social compromises children have endured as a result of COVID-19 countermeasures.
Read the full story
Former U.S. Representative Jim Renacci (R-OH-16), who now chairs American Greatness PAC, on Thursday castigated the Biden administration for its recent attacks on pro-Trump Republicans as an “extreme threat” to American governance.
Renacci lamented the White House’s reprehension toward its political opponents and asserted that the only danger posed by the the MAGA [Make America Great Again] movement, was to the president’s own electoral prospects.
Read the full story
On Wednesday, the Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) released new records pertaining to the FirstEnergy scandal, indicating that Governor Mike DeWine (R) frequently spoke with a “risk communications team” as well as attorneys including Ohio Attorney General David Yost (R) concerning the issue.
Jeff Crossman and Taylor Sappington, respectively Democratic candidates for Ohio attorney general and Ohio Auditor, are also publicizing these documents via their campaign websites to underscore what their party suggests is increasing evidence of culpability on DeWine’s part. (Crossman will face Yost in this November’s election; Sappington is running against incumbent Auditor Keith Faber.)
Read the full story
Ohio’s Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with Gibson’s Bakery in its libel case against Oberlin College, declining to hear the school’s appeal and permitting the family-owned establishment to collect over $36 million in damages.
The litigation against Oberlin and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo stemmed from uncorroborated accusations of racism that the Gibson family believes initially cost their store half its patronage. In June 2019, a Lorain County court ordered the school to pay the bakers $32 million. About $4.5 million in interest has accumulated since that ruling.
Read the full story
Ohio Republican Party (ORP) Vice Chairman Bryan Williams on Monday announced he will seek election as the committee’s chairman at a reorganization meeting to be held on September 9.
It is widely anticipated within the party that incumbent Chairman Bob Paduchik will seek reelection as the ORP’s leader. Williams and other reform-minded conservatives close to the ORP anticipate, based on statements they say the’ve heard from Paduchik, that the chair will seek to defer the leadership elections to a meeting in January of next year, something party leaders have done in the past.
Read the full story
The 13-state Appalachian Region Commission announced on Monday that it will be spending $1 billion over the next five years on a grant program called the Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies.
The spending was approved as part of the $1.2 trillion federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which became law in 2021.
Read the full story
Ohio Republican Party Vice-Chairman Bryan Williams sent a letter to State Central Committee (SCC) members Monday congratulating them on their recent election and most notably to warn them of what he believes will be an attempt by current Chairman Bob Paduchik to deny the elected officials the “right and duty to elect five new officers including the chairman, in violation of Ohio [law].”
Read the full story
U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH-13), a candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio, said this weekend that he will make a public appearance alongside President Joe Biden despite the latter’s abysmal approval rating in the Buckeye State.
A July survey from Morning Consult indicated Biden suffered from a -23-point net approval rating in Ohio. Ryan is himself struggling to win sufficient favor with Ohioans in his race against Republican attorney, venture capitalist and author J.D. Vance who maintains a 3.7-point average polling lead against the Democrat according to RealClearPolitics.com.
Read the full story
In 2018, as an Ohio legislative leader, OH-13 Democrat nominee Emilia Sykes inserted a pay raise for herself into legislation to benefit the families of fallen first responders.
Between December 2017 and December 31, 2018, Emilia Sykes served as the Democratic Whip in the Ohio House of Representatives. In the Ohio House of Representatives, the minority whip “is responsible for monitoring legislation and securing votes for legislation on the floor. The Minority Whip is elected by all members of the House and is responsible for monitoring legislation and security votes for legislation on the floor.”
Read the full story
Ohio plans to spend more than $2 million to help Ohio college students with disabilities, Gov. Mike DeWine announced.
The money, which is part of the Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities College2Careers program, will be divided into $1,000 grants that may be used for tuition or other educational expenses during the 2022-2023 school year. Students must be participating in OOD services to be eligible.
Read the full story
A dozen meat producers across Ohio will share $3 million to help ease food chain issues, according to Gov. Mike DeWine.
The grants follow two other rounds for grants, the first for $10 million and the second for $15 million, already distributed to producers throughout the state this summer.
Read the full story
Ohio paused its investigation into FirstEnergy and House Bill 6 after federal prosecutors said continuing could interfere with their ongoing criminal investigation.
Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairwoman Jenifer French, a former judge, said she understood how the four PUCO investigations into FirstEnergy and the passage of House Bill 6 could create issues for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
Read the full story
Both U.S. Senate candidates from Ohio criticized President Joe Biden for forgiving $300 billion in student-loan debt, with Republican J.D. Vance issuing a particularly scathing rebuke for what he called “an elite giveaway on the backs of American workers.”
“Today, in the midst of a historic inflation crisis, Joe Biden supplied a $300 billion giveaway to college graduates – paid for by single moms in the form of higher food prices, by trade workers in the form of higher taxes, and by the next generation of students in the form of higher tuition,” the attorney, venture capitalist and author said in a statement.
Read the full story
This week the Ohio Ballot Board finalized the wording of a referendum on a proposed state constitutional amendment to prohibit noncitizens from participating in local and state elections.
A majority of Ohio voters will need to approve the measure during the November 8 election for the amendment to become law. The ballot question informs electors that the amendment would “require that only a citizen of the United States, who is at least 18 years of age and who has been a legal resident and registered voter for at least 30 days, can vote at any state or local election held in this state” and that the law would “prohibit local governments from allowing a person to vote in local elections if they are not legally qualified to vote in state elections.”
Read the full story
As a teacher strike keeps Columbus students out of the classroom in the first week of the school year, advocates for Christian education are advertising private school choice on five billboards around the city.
The signs read, “COLUMBUS CITY SCHOOLS LOCKS KIDS OUT… AGAIN,” referencing long periods during which schools were closed in response to COVID-19. The ads, placed by the Columbus-based Center for Christian Virtue (CCV), let passers by know that various Ohio school-choice programs are available to families, particularly low-income ones. CCV is encouraging interested parents to visit BackpackBill.com/Columbus to learn about these opportunities.
Read the full story
A new poll released by the Trafalgar Group shows Ohio Republican U.S. Senate nominee JD Vance with a 4.6 percent lead over Democrat nominee Tim Ryan.
The poll was conducted from August 16 through August 19 and contained the responses of 1087 likely general election voters with a margin of error of 2.9 percent and a confidence rating of 95 percent.
Read the full story
Students in Ohio’s largest school district will begin classes Wednesday remotely after teachers rejected a final contract offer and voted to strike late Sunday night.
Columbus Education Association teachers were on the picket line at several school buildings Monday morning, the first day teachers were scheduled to report, after 94% of its members voted to strike for the first time since 1975.
Read the full story
Republican JD Vance and U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) are locked in a tight race to represent Ohio in the U.S. Senate, but the GOP is moving to push Vance ahead with a major advertising purchase.
The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) announced Thursday it will buy $28 million worth of broadcast ads to air across the Buckeye State beginning on Labor Day. National Republican organizations have spent only about $5 million in Ohio so far in Vances contest with Ryan.
Read the full story
Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) came to the Youngstown area this weekend in support of Ohio Republican JD Vance’s U.S. Senate campaign against U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH-13), whose district includes Youngstown.
“It is important that the people of Ohio send JD Vance to the U.S. Senate this year,” the Florida chief executive, whose mother is from Youngstown, told an audience at the Metroplex Expo Center in Girard. “Yes, Republicans need to take back the majority, and I think we will. But just as important as having the majority, we need people who are willing to go up there and do something with the majority; stop talking and actually get something done. And I think JD is somebody who’s going to be a leader and not just be a follower and we need that in that swamp more than ever.”
Read the full story
An Ohio Republican state senator introduced gun-control legislation that would require a co-signer for 18- to 21-year-olds to buy any gun other than a single-round rifle or shotgun.
State Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, who lost a U.S. Senate primary earlier this year to J.D. Vance, said Senate Bill 357 protects both Second Amendment rights and the public.
Read the full story
Teachers in Ohio’s largest school district are prepared to continue negotiations over the weekend but have scheduled a Sunday meeting for a vote on a potential strike.
After 12 hours of negotiating Thursday, the Columbus City Board of Education made what it called its final contract offer, which teachers called substantially unchanged from their most recent.
Read the full story
In poll results released on Wednesday by Emerson College Polling, Ohio Republican U.S. Senate nominee JD Vance leads Democrat nominee Tim Ryan 45 percent to 42 percent.
The survey of Ohio voters was conducted between August 15 and 16. The FBI raided former President Trump’s Florida home on August 8.
Read the full story
Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is coming through western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio on Friday, August 19, to speak at two rallies, one for Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano and the other for Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance.
The conservative activist organization Turning Point Action is hosting the events. In a statement, turning Point founder and president Charlie Kirk expressed his gladness to facilitate the rallies and his hope that DeSantis’s endorsement will “unite conservatives” around Mastriano and Vance.
Read the full story
Ohio Democrats plan to announce legislation Thursday that would ban any statewide office holder from holding private employment, performing private work or serving in any private position that they get paid to do.
State Reps. Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson, and Mary Lightbody, D-Westerville, have called a press conference for 11:45 a.m. on Thursday to announce what they are calling the State Official Integrity Act.
Read the full story
The federal government handed out more than twice as much money in COVID-19 funeral reimbursements to Ohioans over the past seven months than it did from the beginning of the program in 2020 until January.
As of Aug. 1, FEMA has given more than $2.7 billion to fulfill 420,000 applications for help with funeral costs for pandemic-related deaths since Jan. 20, 2020. In Ohio, 18,860 of those have shared more than $122.2 million.
Read the full story
During a visit to the Whitehall Police Department this week, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) indicated he will expand funding for the Ohio Violent Crime Reduction Grant Program from $58 million to $100 million, citing a nationwide spike in violence.
According to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2011 and 2020 Uniform Crime Reports, homicides in the Buckeye State rose sharply in the decade between those years. Five hundred murders occurred in Ohio in 2011 and 820 took place in 2020. Regional figures also show violence worsening, with one poll of Franklin County police chiefs showing that aggravated assault increased by 36 percent in that jurisdiction between 2020 and 2021.
Read the full story
Ohio and Kentucky made a second request to a second federal grant program to cover the $1.66 billion needed to replace an Ohio River bridge that connects the two states at Cincinnati.
The second ask follows a May request for the 8-mile Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project from the Western Hills Viaduct in the Cincinnati area of Ohio to Dixie Highway in Kentucky. The May request is still pending.
Read the full story
OH-13 Democrat Nominee Emilia Sykes has criticized Republicans for voting against capping costs for life saving drugs, and has promised to fight to lower drug costs but has taken over $12,000 from pharmaceutical companies that have raised the prices of lifesaving drugs, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On August 3, 2022, Emilia Sykes tweeted that as an elected official, she “will fight to lower the cost of prescription drugs.”
Read the full story
Text messages between FirstEnergy Corp. executives indicate Ohio Lieutenant Governor John Husted (R) had discussions with company officials related to the scandal-plagued House Bill 6, according to a motion filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
In July 2019, Governor Mike DeWine (R) signed that measure into law, bailing out the FirstEnergy-operated Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear power plants to $1.3 billion. Federal attorneys have since accused numerous political bigwigs, including former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, of partaking in a $61 million bribery scheme to enact the bill. The company has itself been smacked with a $230 million fine for its part in the scandal.
Read the full story
Ohio plans to spend $1.2 million to try to stop youngsters from escaping the Department of Youth Services parole supervision and quickly find them if they do, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Friday afternoon as part of another $5.7 million in law enforcement funding.
The money, coming from the state general fund and the federal American Rescue Plan Act, is expected to be used by DYS to develop the new Community Intervention and Intelligence Unit. It will work with local law enforcement to find and reengage with youth who have active warrants not abiding by terms of parole.
Read the full story
Ohio’s largest school district continues to move forward with plans to open the school year for students Aug. 24, despite the system’s teachers union getting closer to a strike.
Jennifer Adair, president of the Columbus City Schools Board of Education, said in a statement the board was troubled to learn the Columbus Education Association filed a notice of intent to strike a day after a 20th negotiating session.
Read the full story
Jim Renacci, a Republican former Ohio gubernatorial candidate who now chairs the pro-Trump American Greatness PAC, announced Friday he will host a series of forums across the Buckeye State this fall to foster conservative unity on political strategy.
The first of these events will occur on the evening of September 15 at the Thirsty Cowboy in Medina. Subsequent forums will be announced at a later time. The events will also feature vendor tables for aligned political organizations.
Read the full story
When President Biden signed the CHIPS Act into law Tuesday, it most likely meant a third round of government incentives for Intel and it’s planned $20 billion semiconductor plant in central Ohio, leaving some concerned with the amount of taxpayer money being funneled to the company.
The signing opened $52 billion to companies producing semiconductor chips and another $10 billion to create regional technology hubs across the country. That’s on top of at least $2 billion in initial state incentives for Intel, and an unknown second round of state money.
Read the full story
The FBI’s Cincinnati Field Office confirmed that an armed suspect attempted to breach its Visitor Screening Facility on Thursday morning, resulting in an exchange of gunfire and a subsequent chase.
Read the full story
Ohio’s 1st Congressional District Democrat nominee Greg Landsman used his official office to coordinate and introduce a partnership with a company where his wife works as an executive.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Landsman coordinated and introduced a partnership with 84.51 to retrieve data and identify areas of need in the area.
Read the full story
Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Paduchik this week condemned the search of former President Donald Trump’s residence at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, FL that the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed on Monday.
Many in the ex-president’s party have expressed outrage that Biden Administration Attorney General Merrick Garland secured a warrant for federal agents to surprise Trump with a search of his home. No Justice Department has ever taken similar action to investigate a former commander-in-chief.
Read the full story
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a proclamation declaring August 9 as honorary “Dolly Parton Day” to commemorate the success of Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio mails kids one book each month until their fifth birthday, 60 books. All kids in Ohio are eligible, and this program is available at no cost to families.
Read the full story
Republican members of Ohio’s congressional delegation reacted with mistrust that the federal government had sufficient cause to conduct its surprise search of former President Donald Trump’s home at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, FL earlier this week.
The former president himself has characterized the move as “prosecutorial misconduct” by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice to unfairly target President Joe Biden’s most high-profile adversary. Sources with knowledge of the event told the press that agents intended to gather evidence regarding whether Trump brought classified documents from the White House to his Palm Beach residence.
Read the full story
A group of Ohio and Michigan charter schools sued the Biden administration today, claiming a new rule that requires charter schools to prove public schools are over-enrolled is illegal.
The federal lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, includes the Michigan Charter School Association and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a nonprofit charter school authorizer that supervises 13 charter schools in Ohio.
Read the full story
Saying communities in Ohio have been denied economic development and job growth opportunities because of energy issues, two Ohio lawmakers announced legislation Friday that would provide taxpayer incentives to grow energy infrastructure in the state.
Reps. Jon Cross, R-Kenton, and Jay Edwards, R-Nelsonville, called areas of the state “energy deserts,” and want House Bill 685 to promote the use of the state’s natural gas energy resource.
Read the full story
Ohio police agencies will soon be eligible to receive $5 million in new funding for body cameras and related equipment, according to Gov. Mike DeWine (R).
Many law-enforcement organizations in the Buckeye State have wanted to equip their officers with video recorders but costs have reportedly proved prohibitive for many localities. This led DeWine to launch the Ohio Body-Worn Camera Grant Program which awarded its first $4.7 million in January.
Read the full story
Doctors from across state lines have begun applying to work in Ohio, which entered the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact last year.
The state received 15 applications from doctors in seven states Tuesday, the first day applications were accepted.
Read the full story
A little more than two weeks from the first day of school for students, teachers in Ohio’s largest school district voted late Thursday night to authorize a 10-day strike notice.
With contract negotiations stalled, the Columbus Education Association voted to give its strike notice. This allows it to file that notice with the State Employment Relations Board at any time. Students are scheduled to start school Aug. 24.
Read the full story
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio announced this week they are working to place a state constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights on the election ballot in Ohio.
The prospective effort comes as abortion proponents’ confidence surges after Kansas voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have stipulated that the Kansas Constitution does not contain the right to terminate a pregnancy failed by a vote of 59 percent to 41 percent.
Read the full story
More than 1,000 Ohio schools in 81 of 88 counties will share $47 million in the state’s push to promote school safety, part of a response to a shooting at a Texas elementary school in May.
Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday grants of up to $50,000 will be used to cover expenses for security cameras, public address systems, automatic door locks, visitor badging systems, and exterior lighting.
Read the full story
Ohio’s largest utility company does not want the Public Utility Commission of Ohio to conduct an independent, outside investigation into summer power outages, despite calls from consumer groups.
AEP Ohio, which serves about 1.5 million residential and commercial customers in central, southeast and northwest Ohio, said in a response filed to a recent motion that an independent investigation would be an expensive, time-consuming litigious process while the PUCO is conducting its investigation.
Read the full story
Ohio Republican Party (ORP) Treasurer Dave Johnson won his race for re-election on Tuesday to represent the Youngstown-area 33rd District in the GOP’s State Central Committee. However, conservatives and reformers won several ORP victories elsewhere.
Johnson defeated challenger Rick Barron, who ran on implementing rigorous and regular audits of committee finances, something many in the party believe Johnson has neglected. Alleged financial irregularities, including $3 million said to have “gone missing” from party financial records, have led several ORP members to sue Johnson and state-party Chair Bob Paduchik.
Read the full story
Nonviolent offenders could find it easier to get out of prison and work their way back into society if bipartisan legislation introduced in the Ohio House becomes law.
At the same the Sentencing Fairness and Justice Act was introduced in the House, Democratic Gov. Mike DeWine released recommendations for control supervision based on recommendations from a group he commissioned in 2019.
Read the full story
Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nan Whaley this weekend took to Twitter to promote an energy plan for the Buckeye State that excludes fossil-fuel production in favor of renewables.
“Check out mine and [running mate Cheryl Stephens’s] energy plan…,” she wrote. “1. Reform the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) so consumer interests are at its core; 2. Spur innovation & create good-paying, union jobs in clean energy; 3. Build climate resilient communities.”
Read the full story