Monday morning on Always Right with Bob Frantz, weekday mornings on AM 1420 The Answer, host Frantz welcomed GOP Ohio Senate hopeful Mike Gibbons to the show to clear up what he meant in video audio that has resurfaced from a September podcast that has gone viral.
Read the full story
Ohio will begin collecting personal protective gear from local and state law enforcement agencies around the state to send to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of the country, according to Governor Mike DeWine.
Previously, DeWine surveyed law enforcement agencies to determine a rough estimate of materials that could be sent to the country. According to his numbers, the state may be able to collect roughly “75 ballistic and riot helmets and 840 pieces of body armor, including vests and plates.”
Read the full story
Ohio businesses will not have to pay employees overtime for some tasks, and high-volume online marketplace sellers will have to be identified after Gov. Mike DeWine signed two bills into law.
Senate Bill 47, which spent more than a year in the General Assembly, was one of the laws created with DeWine’s signature. Its changes to overtime pay requirements were a result of adjustments to employee workdays as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also followed changes to federal overtime rules.
Read the full story
We the People Convention, an Ohio-based nonprofit that advocates for a limited constitutional governance, backed U.S. Senate candidate Mike Gibbons in the state’s Republican Party primary.
The organization, which also supported his unsuccessful 2018 campaign, selected the Ohio businessman from the crowded GOP field, vying to replace retiring Senator Rob Portman.
Read the full story
Friday morning on Always Right with Bob Frantz, weekday mornings on AM 1420 The Answer, host Frantz welcomed Dr. Carol M. Swain and author of Black Eye for America on the show to describe how Critical Race Theory and Critical Gender Theory are being used with K-12 public and independent school students.
Read the full story
An LGBT Senator in Ohio is upset over a recently-introduced bill that would prevent “divisive concepts” from being taught in the classroom.
“HB 616 is more than just about censoring LGBTQ discussion. The bill combines the worst parts of Ohio’s curriculum bans censoring topics of race and intersectionality. A more expansive version of Florida’s Recent Bill,” State Sen. Nickie Antonio (D-District 23) said.
Read the full story
The certified public accountant, who is one of the five members of the Ohio Republican Party’s Central Committee suing the state party and its chairman, told The Ohio Star and The Star News Network former state party chairwoman Jane E. Timken does not have the moral courage nor integrity required to represent Ohio as a senator.
“If she could not effectively run an organization like the Ohio Republican Party, I do not believe she could be an effective senator or have any understanding of the federal budget or the complicated issues faced by a U.S. senator,” said Mark A. Bainbridge, who retired from Ernst & Young after a three-decade career there as a partner.
Read the full story
After President Joe Biden declared April “Second Chance Awareness Month” for felons, Ohio’s Gov. Mike DeWine (R) bragged Thursday about his initiative to expedite the pardon process for convicted felons.
“April is Second Chance Awareness Month in Ohio. I believe that those who’ve lived upstanding post-conviction lives deserve a second chance for better opportunities, which is why I created the Ohio Governor’s Expedited Pardon Project,” DeWine said on Twitter.
Read the full story
Ohio Right to Life, a grassroots pro-life organization, endorsed J.D. Vance in the state’s U.S. Senate race to replace retiring Senator Rob Portman.
The organization selected Vance over the three other candidates considered frontrunners in the race: Jane Timken, Josh Mandel, and Mike Gibbons.
Read the full story
An Ohio lawmaker wants the Ohio Supreme Court to pay the potential $20 million price tag for a second primary election after it ruled three times legislative redistricting maps were unconstitutional.
Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Jefferson, plans to introduce legislation to pull second primary election costs from the court’s budget, saying the Ohio Redistricting Commission worked in a bipartisan manner to develop new districts.
Read the full story
Tuesday morning on Always Right with Bob Frantz, weekday mornings on AM 1420 The Answer, host Frantz welcomed Ohio senate candidate Josh Mandel to the show to announce how he’s been endorsed by Ted Cruz and taking on the Republican bosses in the US Senate.
Read the full story
A new poll, conducted by Tony Fabrizio for a pro-Vance superPAC, showed Ohio U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance has surged into a three-way tie for first place with Josh Mandel and Mike Gibbons.
Fabrizio, who served as a pollster for former President Donald Trump, noted that “as voters learn more about J.D. Vance and what he stands for, his ballot support increases.”
Read the full story
In a Wednesday press release, a former U.S. Congressman and current gubernatorial candidate slammed incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine (R) for allegedly turning a blind eye to warning signs regarding the former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) who was part of the FirstEnergy corruption scandal.
“Why did Mike DeWine ignore a 200-page warning about Sam Randazzo’s unethical behavior and appoint him to lead the Public Utilities Commission anyway?” said Jim Renacci in the release. “What else did DeWine know about FirstEnergy’s scandalous corruption? There are still several unanswered questions about this scheme that frauded Ohio taxpayers. With every new court filing, news report, or resignation, the FirstEnergy noose keeps tightening around Mike DeWine. Enough is enough: conservatives have a chance next month to vote for real accountable conservative leadership and put an end to Mike DeWine’s 40-year corrupt establishment career.”
The comments came on the heels of a news story published in The Ohio Capital Journal claiming that DeWine was in possession of a 198-page dossier “alleging Sam Randazzo – a lawyer and lobbyist who represented gas companies and industrial scale electricity buyers – used businesses registered in his name to ‘funnel’ money from FirstEnergy to buy real estate.”
Read the full story
A U.S. Congressman from Ohio unexpectedly retired from his post Wednesday amid the state’s long and dramatic congressional redistricting saga.
“These long, drawn-out processes, in which the Ohio Supreme Court can take weeks and months to deliberate while demanding responses and filings from litigants within days, is detrimental to the state and does not serve the people of Ohio,” Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH-07) said. “It is irresponsible to effectively confirm the congressional map for this election cycle seven days before voting begins, especially in the Seventh Congressional District where almost 90 percent of the electorate is new and nearly two thirds is an area primarily from another district, foreign to any expectations or connection to the current Seventh District.”
Read the full story
Ohio plans to use more federal COVID-19 money to help local law enforcement agencies reduce violent crime, Gov. Mike DeWine announced.
The state plans to add $50 million from American Recovery Plan Act funds to the Ohio Violent Crime Reduction Grant Program, which began this year with $8 million in the state budget.
“One of the most important things that we can do to support our law enforcement officers is to give them the tools they need to keep themselves and the public safe,” DeWine said. “By significantly increasing the amount of funding available, we can help more law enforcement agencies better combat crime and protect their communities.”
Read the full story
A bill targeting “divisive concepts” that specifically names Critical Race Theory (CRT) and other far-left agendas in schools has been introduced in the Ohio General Assembly.
“The school district board shall not select any textbook, instructional material, or academic curriculum that promotes any divisive or inherently racist concept…” the text of HB 616 says.
Read the full story
Neil Wolfe, a longtime home-improvement contractor who deceived dozens of his customers and then repeatedly flouted a judge’s injunction, has been held in civil contempt and ordered to stop operating his business immediately, according to a press release by Attorney General Dave Yosts’s office.
Read the full story
A “solidarity fund” has been created for Starbucks employees at a Columbus store as they attempt to join coworkers nationwide in unionizing, a process they say is being opposed by the coffee giant.
“In Columbus, OH, a courageous and amazing group of Starbucks workers have come together at the 88 E. Broad St. store to form their Union with Starbucks Workers United! They are fighting for better wages, safe working conditions, and a voice at their worksite,” says a GoFundMe page organized by former Columbus mayoral candidate Liliana Baiman.
Read the full story
Republican members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission say they did everything the state Supreme Court ordered them to do. Still, they say independent map makers ran out of time, leaving tweaks to a previously unconstitutional GOP plan as the only option for new state legislative districts.
The responses from Gov. Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, State Auditor Keith Faber, Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, and House Speaker Robert Cupp, R-Lima, came at the 9 a.m. deadline on Monday the court gave to show cause why the group should not be held in contempt.
Read the full story
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, in connection with Attorney General Dave Yost and State Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Richard Fambro, announced a new initiative to address gun violence-related crimes.
The state will give $10.5 million to the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) to improve access to key technology for law enforcement throughout the state.
Read the full story
Thursday morning on Always Right with Bob Frantz, weekday mornings on AM 1420 The Answer, host Frantz welcomed America First congressional candidate Jonah Schulz to the show to discuss why he’s running and the need for an end to establishment Republicans.
Frantz: Let’s welcome to the program now, Jonah Schulz. It’s been a little bit since we have talked to the candidate for Congress. I won’t say which district because I still don’t know what district he’s going to be running in, but he’s still running for Congress. And he joins us now on 1420 The Answer. Hi, Jonah. Good morning.
Read the full story
Ohioans browsing and buying on online marketplaces would get more information about sellers if a bill aimed at organized retail crime is signed by Gov. Mike DeWine.
House Bill 272, which would require high-volume, third-party online sellers to disclose pieces of identifying information that could protect consumers, recently passed the Senate and is headed to DeWine’s desk.
Read the full story
Legislation that would give local school boards the authority to put guns in the hands of teachers moved forward in the Ohio Senate after passing the House more than four months ago.
House Bill 99 received its first Senate hearing Wednesday in the Veterans and Public Safety Committee, with bill sponsor Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Township, saying local schools need to be able to make decisions to protect students.
Read the full story
An appellate court this week upheld a lower court’s ruling that a local bakery was defamed by Oberlin College, a private liberal arts schools in Ohio.
In 2019, Oberlin was ordered to pay the maximum of $11 million in compensatory damages, $33 million in punitive damages, plus more than $6 million in attorneys fees to Gibson’s Bakery, a town staple that had served students at the school for generations, and even had a contract to sell some of its products to the school.
Read the full story
The Ohio Senate Democrats Thursday marked their party’s holiday – the “Transgender Day of Visibility” – by peddling what is called the “Ohio Fairness Act.”
“Today is #TransDayOfVisibility and Ohio Senate Democrats are committed to creating policies that protect the safety and wellbeing of all Ohioans,” the group said. “Passing the #OhioFairnessAct, introduced by [State Sen. Nickie Antonio (D-District 23)], will ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, creating a more safe and inclusive Ohio.”
Read the full story
An Ohio police officer was killed on Thursday after being struck by a fleeing vehicle that he was attempting to stop.
Officer Dominic Francis of the Bluffton Police Department was trying to place spike strips to stop the driver when he was hit by the vehicle around 3 a.m.
Read the full story
“In recent years, there has been a global shift in attitudes toward the development of new nuclear technologies to deploy scalable clean energy,” Rep. Dick Stein, R-Norwalk, said. “This legislation will bring Ohio to the forefront of advanced nuclear innovation and strengthen our domestic supply chains. This legislation is a proactive measure to tell the federal government Ohio is here to be a solution to find a clean, carbon-free energy source.”
The new authority, according to a news release, would be responsible for the development of advanced nuclear reactor commercialization, isotope production and nuclear waste reduction.
Read the full story
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.
Read the full story
Ohio’s governor Tuesday released a campaign ad bragging about his toughness.
“He’s not afraid of the tough fights – Governor Mike DeWine,” the ad says. “When big city unions refused to open our schools, he took them head on and got our kids back in the classroom. As China cheats with unfair trade tactics, DeWine fought bring manufacturing jobs back to Ohio. While radicals pushed to defund our police, DeWine increased funding for law enforcement to keep us safe.”
Read the full story
Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission passed a modified version of state legislative districts previously ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court, bypassing the efforts of two independent map makers it hired last week.
An hour before Monday’s 11:59 p.m. court ordered deadline, the commission voted along party lines, 5-2, in favor of maps drawn by Republicans.
Democrats claimed the approved maps again were drawn in secret while the map makers worked for days in public to develop maps. House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, called it a slap in the face to Ohio voters.
Read the full story
Twenty-one states have filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s continued mask mandate on public transportation, including on airplanes.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody are leading the effort. Moody filed the suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida along with 20 other attorneys general. DeSantis said the mask mandate was misguided and heavy-handed.
Read the full story
A dislodged member of the Ohio Republican Party Central Committee’s Financial Review panel told The Ohio Star and The Star News Network the former chairwoman of the state party and now a candidate for Senate, Jane E. Timken, violated professional ethics when she concealed that her family’s accounting firm was chosen to audit the Ohio GOP books.
“Jane Timken had a fiduciary responsibility to disclose her conflict of interest related to her personal relationship with the CLA accounting firm,” said Mark A. Bainbridge, who was removed from the Financial Review Committee by Timken’s successor Robert A. Paduchik after the certified public accountant asked about up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in unaccountable funds.
Read the full story
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced an $80 million settlement with the Monsanto Company Thursday that “forces the company to pay for the long-standing environmental damage it knowingly caused in Ohio with its toxic products.”
“Ohio has been absorbing the health and environmental costs of PCB contamination for decades, and the cleanup will likely continue for even longer,” Attorney General Dave Yost said. “This settlement not only holds Monsanto accountable for its actions but also provides significant financial resources to assist in environmental cleanup.”
Read the full story
Nearly a month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, for which Democrats blame skyrocketing gas prices nationwide, gas in Ohio remains at more than $4.00 per gallon on average.
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average price for a gallon of gas in Ohio has climbed three cents in the past week, from $4.01 per gallon to $4.04 per gallon. That’s only about 10 cents less than the state’s record high of $4.15 per gallon, recording in May of 2015.
Read the full story
Campaign finance requirements govern how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations, how often they must report those contributions, and how much individuals, organizations, and political entities may contribute to campaigns.
While campaign finance is not the only factor in electoral outcomes, successful fundraising can provide a candidate with advantages during a campaign. Fundraising can also indicate party momentum.
Read the full story
The Ohio Supreme Court rejected a Democrat request to move the state primary to June, while independent map makers told the Ohio Redistricting Commission progress is slow creating a fourth set of state legislative districts.
The Supreme Court left the power to establish election dates and times in the hands of the General Assembly after Sen. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron, and House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, filed a motion last week to have the court set a new date.
Read the full story
A bill Thursday passed through the Ohio State House of Representatives that will change the way the state selects which company that makes voter ballots is chosen, and establishes guidelines for that process.
“The contract shall be awarded to the most qualified, responsible proposer that meets the minimum standards established by the Secretary of State under division (D) of this section,” the text of HB 487 says.
Read the full story
Two independent map makers could have a first draft of state legislative maps to the Ohio Redistricting Commission by Thursday night, a day after getting their instructions.
The commission faces a Monday deadline to have new maps on the desk of Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who must have the maps to the Ohio Supreme Court by 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Read the full story
After years of corrupt dealings between the Clinton family, the Biden family, and the administration of former President Barack Obama, all of which contributed to Russia’s near-total monopoly on uranium, one Ohio utility company needs to keep that Uranium flowing for its nuclear energy production.
The National Energy Institute (NEI), a trade group of U.S. nuclear power generation companies including Duke Energy Corp … and Exelon Corp … is lobbying the White House to keep the exemption on uranium imports from Russia, the sources said, according to a report in Reuters.
Read the full story
Two leaders of the Ohio Republican Party told The Ohio Star and The Star News Network Thursday that it is time for Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to get involved in reforming the Ohio GOP. “I don’t understand why Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the national Republican committee hasn’t looked into these issues, and gotten back to us, and backed us getting answers to our questions regarding the financial activities of the Ohio Republican Party,” said Mark A. Bainbridge, a member of the state party’s central committee, and one of five members of the central committee suing the state party, its Chairman Robert A. Paduchik and Treasurer David W. Johnson. Bainbridge, a certified public accountant, now in private practice, retired from Ernst & Young as a partner after three decades at the Big Four accounting firm, is at the forefront of exposing more than $3 million in accountable funds, including a $1.7 million write-off of retained earnings. The lawsuit asked the court to restore Bainbridge and others to their committee assignments after Paduchik summarily took them off those assignments, order an audit of the Ohio GOP books going back to 2017, and claw back funds Paduchik transferred to campaigns…
Read the full story
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday the state of the state is strong but challenged the General Assembly to do more for mental health, addiction issues, state parks, children, highway safety, law enforcement and violent crime.
DeWine also asked lawmakers to invest more for economic development, addiction treatment and downtown redevelopment in the state’s 32-county Appalachian region.
Read the full story
In conjunction with Franklin County, the city of Columbus is inviting opioid-addicted residents to order free naloxone, also known as Narcan, to help them reverse overdoses.
“Narcan distribution is part of our comprehensive programming to address the addiction crisis – and it is highly effective,” Columbus’ Director of Communications Kelli Newman told The Ohio Star. “Last year, through the Columbus & Franklin County Addiction Plan, we provided 24,144 Narcan kits (48,244 doses) and conducted 624 community trainings. As a result of Narcan being dispensed by bystanders, friends and family members, there were 3,699 overdose reversals in our community last year. Simply put, Narcan saves lives.”
Read the full story
Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, interviewed former congressman and Ohio Republican gubernatorial hopeful James B. Renacci about the March 4 letter to rival candidate Joe Blystone from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s director of the campaign finance office, Brian Katz.
Both Renacci and Blystone are primary challenging Ohio Gov. R. Michael DeWine to keep him from winning a second term.
Read the full story
The Authority with Bob Frantz on WHK Radio in Cleveland talked to U.S. Senate candidate Mike Gibbons to comment upon his altercation in a live debate with challenger Josh Mandel.
Frantz: In this instance, Josh Mandel was standing and speaking. He challenged Mike Gibbons, I played this for you before and then surrendered the floor to him. Mike Gibbons stood. And then Mike Gibbons responded in a way that apparently Josh Mandel didn’t like, because then he also stood.
Read the full story
Always Right with Bob Frantz on WHK Radio in Cleveland talked to U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel, a politician who served as the 48th treasurer of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, to comment upon the confrontational Senate debate last Friday night.
Read the full story
Campaign finance requirements govern how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations, how often they must report those contributions, and how much individuals, organizations, and political entities may contribute to campaigns.
While campaign finance is not the only factor in electoral outcomes, successful fundraising can provide a candidate with advantages during a campaign. Fundraising can also indicate party momentum.
This article lists top fundraisers in the Ohio House of Representatives, overall and by party. It is based on campaign finance reports that officeholders in and candidates for the House submitted to the Ohio Secretary of State. It includes activity between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021.
Read the full story
Multiple post offices in Ohio failed to deliver thousands of pieces of mail and did not report the delayed delivery, according to a new federal audit.
Two post offices in the Columbus area were subject to the audit, as residents of the region have continued to describe issues with theft and slow delivery.
Read the full story
Monday morning on ‘The Answer with Bob Frantz,’ host Frantz spoke with United States Congressman (R-OH) Jim Jordan about Hunter Biden’s laptop, Big Tech censorship, mainstream media, Ukraine, and Joe Biden’s continuing troubles.
Read the full story
An Ohio policy group is continuing its fight against cities in the state collecting income taxes from people who do not work in those cities.
The Buckeye Institute filed an appeal with Ohio’s Sixth District Court of Appeals in a case challenging the authority of the cities of Toledo and Oregon to tax nonresidents who do not work within those cities because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read the full story
Ohio voters will not be able to decide on candidates for the state Legislature during the May 3 primary after the state Supreme Court struck down new district maps for the third time.
In a letter to House and Senate leadership and Gov. Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said it was no longer logistically possible to include district-specific legislative races on the ballots.
Read the full story