Category: Ohio

Three Men Charged in Drug Trafficking Conspiracy to Distribute over 1,100 Pounds of Cocaine in the Cleveland Area

Kaitlin Housler

Federal law enforcement officials announced the arrest of three men charged in a 30-count indictment for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy that is alleged to have brought over 500 kilograms, or approximately 1,100 pounds, of cocaine from Mexico to be redistributed in the Cleveland area, according to a press release by the Northern District of Ohio U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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Ohio Bill Would Ban Abortion If Roe v. Wade Overturned

Peter D'Abrosca

A “trigger bill” was introduced this week in the Ohio General Assembly that would ban abortion in nearly all cases provided that certain conditions are met. 

The text of HB 598 is clear: No person shall purposely cause or induce an abortion by either of the following: (1) Prescribing, administering, or personally furnishing a drug or substance; (2) Using an instrument or other means.

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Bill Would Expand Medical Marijuana Program in Ohio

The Center Square

Ohioans suffering from migraines, arthritis or other medical conditions could be eligible for medical marijuana if a bill in the Ohio House to expand conditions eligible for treatment becomes law.

The legislation also would create the Division of Marijuana Control within the Department of Commerce to oversee the state’s medical marijuana program, rather than the State Pharmacy Board that currently controls it.

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Ohio Mother’s Lawsuit Says School Board Violating First Amendment Rights of Parents

Peter D'Abrosca

A mother who was told to “zip it” and then thrown out of a school board meeting while addressing the board’s members has filed a lawsuit against the district, claiming that the board’s rules for public speakers are unconstitutional. 

Plaintiff Ashley Ryder is seeking injunctive relief to stop the Big Walnut Local Schools (BWLS) from enforcing its rules at school board meetings. 

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Strongsville GOP Leader: Why We Are Backing ‘Reliable Conservative’ Josh Mandel for Senate

Neil W. McCabe

The leader of the Strongsville GOP, Ohio’s largest grassroots Republican organization, told The Ohio Star why he, and his group, are backing former state treasurer Joshua A. Mandel in the fight for the Republican Senate nomination. “We had our endorsement meeting last month, and we had more than 150 members in attendance, and overwhelmingly we voted to endorse Josh Mandel,” said Shannon Burns, the president of the Strongsville GOP and a member of the Ohio Republican Party’s Central Committee. “There’s one clear reason why our members endorsed Josh Mandel,” Burns said. “He is the one truly reliable conservative in the race.” Burns said his members trust Mandel because he is a known quantity. He said other candidates had had both positive and negative views of President Donald J. Trump. “There are some good people in the race, but quite frankly, you just don’t know where they’re going to be — five minutes ago, they were anti-Trump, or five minutes ago, they were doing deals with China, but now they’re America First,” he said. “Josh has been a true — not just a reliable vote, but a reliable fighter and champion for conservative causes, since he was a councilman in Lyndhurst…

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Ohio Dems Send Letter to Gov. DeWine Urging Him to Veto New Gun Legislations

Peter D'Abrosca

Ohio’s House Democratic Caucus sent a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine, urging him to veto a bill that would loosen gun laws in the state. 

“On behalf of the House Democratic Caucus, representatives of law enforcement agencies and local officials across Ohio, and the majority of Ohioans who favor commonsense gun safety measures, we urge you to use your executive powers to veto Senate Bill (SB) 215,” said a letter signed by House Minority Leader Allison Russo (District 24) and three other House Democrats. 

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Report: Ohio’s Sports Betting Law a Model for the Nation

The Center Square
The sports betting areas inside the casinos are like trading floors.

An industry group that tracks sports betting laws and revenue from gaming across the nation called Ohio’s new sports gambling law the best in the country.

PlayOhio, part of the PlayUSA Network, believes the state’s patience and collaborative approach to produce its sports gaming law set the bar high for state’s still debating gaming options. The group’s opinions are outline in a new market analysis recently published.

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Man Pleads Guilty to Two Columbus-Area Armed Robberies of Postal Workers

Peter D'Abrosca

As postal crimes skyrocket and the United State Postal Service (USPS) conducts an audit on policies and procedures for keeping postal workers safe in Ohio, one man has pleaded guilty to two armed robberies against mail carriers. 

According to several reports, 20-year-old Brandon Campbell of Columbus “admitted to using violence and a weapon to endanger the mail carriers’ lives and steal property from them.”

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Ohio Senate Agrees with House Plan to Adjust Military Overseas Voting

The Center Square

Two days after unanimously approving a plan to change the timing of military overseas voting to keep the state’s May 3 primary on track, the Ohio Senate approved a new plan passed by the Ohio House.

The Senate passed, 26-2, amendments late Wednesday to Substitute Senate Bill 11, which designated congenital heart defect awareness month but now also eliminates 16 days of military overseas voting, allows for expedited mailing of military overseas ballots, allows those ballots to be received 20 days after the primary and gives $200,000 to county boards of elections.

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Ohio Gov. DeWine Signs Bill to Cut State Regulations

Peter D'Abrosca

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R)  this week signed into law a bill aimed at cutting state regulations. 

“If, upon reviewing a proposed rule or revised proposed rule, the joint committee on agency rule review makes any of the following findings with regard to the proposed rule or revised proposed rule, the joint committee may recommend to the senate and house of representatives the adoption of a concurrent resolution to invalidate the proposed rule or revised proposed rule or a part thereof,” the text of SB 9 says. 

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Federal Jury Finds Former Westlake Investment Advisor Guilty of Stealing More Than $9.3 Million from Clients in Ponzi Scheme

Kaitlin Housler
Raymond Erker

Acting U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler announced that a federal jury returned guilty verdicts Wednesday against Defendant Raymond A. Erker, 50, of Avon, Ohio, following a seven-day trial before U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland, according to a press release by the Northern District of Ohio U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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Freedom Foundation Facilitating Exit of Ohio Union Members

Peter D'Abrosca

A nonprofit is making progress in Ohio in facilitating the exit of public sector union employees from those unions. 

“For some reason, the First Amendment right for people to leave public sector is the best kept secret,” Freedom Foundation Ohio State Director Lauren Bowen told The Ohio Star. “Their hard earned money does not have to be directed to union coffers via union dues.”

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Proposed Law Would Stop Ohio Communities from Prohibiting Vacation Rentals

The Center Square
Sarah Fowler

Ohioans who want to rent their homes on a short-term basis as vacation rentals or an AirBNB could not be stopped by local governments if a bill recently introduced in the Ohio House becomes law.

House Bill 563 would prohibit local regulations that would place outright bans on short-term rentals and limit the duration of use. It would not stop local municipalities from regulating the rentals but would require those regulations are the same as long-term rentals.

“Ohioans should always have the right to use what is often their most valuable asset, their homes, as an investment to make money through short-term rental,” Rep. Sarah Fowler Arthur, R-Ashtabula, said. “Short-term rentals also help drive traffic to countless small businesses – restaurants, shops and tourist attractions – across the state. Eliminating short-term rentals hurts Ohio’s economy.” 

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Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan Blames Putin for Rising Gas Prices

Peter D'Abrosca
Tim Ryan

An Ohio U.S. congressman and U.S. Senate candidate has joined many of his Democrat counterparts in blaming Russia and its President Vladimir Putin for skyrocketing gas prices. 

“Today I’ll vote to ban U.S. dollars from funding Putin’s war machine. Now we must do everything in our power to shield working people from Putin’s price hike at the pump by fully restoring America’s energy independence and passing a working-class tax cut,” Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) said Wednesday on Twitter.

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Military Voting for Ohio’s May 3 Primary Remains Uncertain After Department of Defense Denies Waiver

The Center Square

The U.S. Department of Defense’s refusal to allow Ohio a waiver could jeopardize military voting in the state’s upcoming May 3 primary, state Democrats said.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose, however, has sent proposed legislation to the General Assembly he believes would sidestep any issues as the state continues to wait on Ohio Supreme Court approval of state and congressional district maps.

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Ohio Bill Takes Aim at Workers’ Compensation Injuries at Home

The Center Square
Ohio Rep. Brian Lampton

Workers’ compensation injuries taking place at home would look more like injuries suffered in an office if a bill passed recently by the Ohio House eventually becomes law.

House Bill 447 would eliminate at-home injuries suffered by employees working from that were not a direct result of a typical work. State law does not currently differentiate injuries from injuries sustained by work-from-home employees that are outside of the employer’s control.

“The pandemic changed our lives dramatically,” Rep. Brian Lampton, R-Beavercreek, said. “With that change, legislators should act to modify laws that reflect the world we live in today. House Bill 447 codifies that injuries sustained by work-from-home employees qualify for workers’ compensation if the injury was caused by their employment and within the control of their employer.”

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OH-13 Republican Candidate Max Miller Has Nearly $1 Million Financial Lead over Nearest Competitor

Aaron Gulbransen

Republican Candidate Max Miller has a nearly $1 million financial lead over his nearest competitor in the race for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District, as of the December 31, 2021 filing deadline.

According to FEC records, Miller has raised $1,828,312.50 and has $968,976.38 cash on hand in the bank. No other candidate in either the Republican field or the Democrat field have more than $15,000 on hand.

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Ohio Political Consultant Sentenced to Prison for Embezzlement of Congressional Campaign Funds

Cooper Moran
Steve Chabot

James Schwartz, a Cincinnati-based political consultant, was sentenced to two years in prison for embezzling roughly $1.4 million from the campaign of U.S. Representative Steve Chabot (R-OH-01).

According to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Schwartz utilized his companies Fountain Square Group LLC and Prime Media LLC to conceal the improper payments from 2011 to 2019. Furthermore, he served as the “de facto treasurer” for the campaign.

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Ohio Employers Not Struggling as Much to Fill Jobs as Rest of Nation

The Center Square

While filling jobs continues to be a source of struggle for businesses across the nation, Ohio employers seem to be dealing with it better than most, according to a recently released study.

A WalletHub report compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on the rate of job openings for the latest month and the past 12 months.

“Lots of businesses are struggling to hire enough workers, which has sometimes led to delays in services and reduced business hours,” the report read. “In fact, the labor force participation rate has experienced the slowest recovery of any recession since World War II. Some businesses aren’t even able to keep the employees they already have – as Americans are quitting their jobs at record rates in what’s been dubbed the ‘Great Resignation.’ ”

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State Senator Wants Ohio to Be Leader in Electric Vehicle Market

The Center Square

A northeast Ohio state senator believes moving the state more rapidly into the electric vehicle industry is the way to restore the state’s once booming auto industry.

Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, wants the state to take advantage of billions of dollars in investments planned by the auto industry in the electric vehicle market over the next three years by offering incentives to convert traditional plants and create a high-tech workforce.

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Left-Wing Groups Sue Ohio to Prevent Abortion Law from Taking Effect

Peter D'Abrosca

A host of left-wing groups are suing in a last-minute attempt to halt the implementation of new abortion legislation. 

“Lack of access to abortion services … clearly decreases patient safety and threatens patients’ health,” a lawsuit filed by the Ohio American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says. “Continuing a pregnancy against one’s will can pose a risk to one’s physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as the stability and well-being of one’s family, including existing children.”

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Ohio Gives $10 Million to Meat Producers to Help Supply Chain

The Center Square

Ohio is offering $10 million in grants to livestock and poultry producers across the state to help farmers increase capacity and ease growing stress on supply chains, Gov. Mike DeWine announced.

The plan is to offer 40 Ohio producers grants of up to $25,000, with half the money provided before projects start and the other half awarded after companies show the money was spent on eligible costs.

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As New Poll Shows Him Leading Pack, Ohio Senate Hopeful Mike Gibbons Tells The Ohio Star: ‘I Am Tea Party at My Roots’

Neil W. McCabe
Ohio Rep. Mike Gibbons

Cleveland investment banker Mike Gibbons, who shot from virtual unknown to frontrunner when The Hill-Emerson College poll of 410 Republican voters, conducted February 25 and February 26, put the banker in the lead, told The Ohio Star his political program is more Tea Party than Republican Party. “I’ve got Tea Party at my roots, in my core,” said Gibbons, the Ohio finance chairman for Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. “I believe we need to take this country back to the American values that made it great. We have a Left that wants to destroy it.” Gibbons said the Ohio Republican Party’s establishment was not ready to hear that from him. “When I first went to the first central committee meeting I ever went to, I had a screening committee,” he said. “I walked in, and they said: ‘Mike, we’ve seen you giving a lot of money to Republican candidates over the years.’ I said: ‘I said, “Yeah, they closely reflected my ideology, and I look for people that believe what I believe.”’” Gibbons said there was an uneasiness already present in the room. “They said: ‘Well,’ and I said: ‘But if I have to tell you the truth, I’m…

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Mike Gibbons Commentary: I Am 100 Percent Pro Life

Admin

I was 12 years old when I found out my mother had been adopted. I was raised in a religious, pro-life household, but I was 12 years old when my pro-life convictions were truly forged in steel.

As I learned the story, my mother was the product of what we now call a crisis pregnancy. And yet through the grace of God, my mother’s biological mother gave her newborn child up for adoption. My grandparents provided my mother with a loving, nurturing home, and it was in her adoptive home where she learned the values of love, charity, hard work, and dedication to family that she passed along to us.

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Head Start Teachers in Ohio, Virginia, and Louisiana Suing over Biden Administration’s COVID Vaccination Mandate

The Center Square

Head Start teachers in Louisiana, Ohio and Virginia are suing the Biden administration over a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination mandate for the federally funded program.

Elizabeth Etherton, a preschool teacher at Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court over a threatened termination Monday for failing to take a COVID-19 vaccine.

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Ohio Department of Health Still Won’t Provide Pandemic Update Despite CDC’s New Mask Guidance

Peter D'Abrosca
Three people wearing masks, one focused on center

After the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Friday recommended that 70 percent of the U.S. population can stop wearing masks to slow the spread of COVID-19, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is still unwilling to update Ohioans on the status of the pandemic. 

When contacted by The Ohio Star to ask for the department’s professional opinion on whether Ohioans will soon be able to return to pre-pandemic life, ODH spokesman Ken Gordon declined to comment. The Star also noted that even Congress – which has had a mask mandate in place for two full years and threatened to fine members who refused to wear masks – finally made masks optional ahead of President Joe Biden’s Monday night State of the Union address. 

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State Official: More Money Needed for Ohio Primary Elections

The Center Square
Frank LaRose of Ohio

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose wants more money from the General Assembly to conduct the state’s May 3 primary after continued delays in creating new district maps increased pressure on county boards of elections.

LaRose, who also is a member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission that twice had maps thrown out by the Ohio Supreme Court, also ordered county boards to start taking steps to place candidates for the General Assembly on the ballot, even though the court has yet to approve a third set of maps passed late last week.

“The General Assembly has the legal authority to set the time, place, and manner of our elections, and they’ve made it clear that the state House and Senate contests will be placed on the May 3 ballot,” LaRose said. “I’ve also communicated to the legislative leaders the risks associated with rushing this process. Elections officials across Ohio are concerned about the compressed timeline for candidate certification, ballot preparation and the programming and testing of voting equipment.”

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Cleveland Police Officer Cleared in Shooting of Wanted Alleged Murderer

Peter D'Abrosca
Cleveland, Ohio, Police car

A Cleveland Police officer was cleared by a grand jury earlier this week after it determined that he acted lawfully in self-defense in the shooting death of an alleged murderer last year. 

“The grand jury ruled that the officer acted properly based on its review of a thorough, independent investigation,” Attorney General Dave Yost (R) said in a press release. “The goal is always to find the truth.”

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Ohio Redistricting Commission Passes Third Set of State Legislative Maps

The Center Square
Robert Cupp and Vernon Sykes

The GOP-dominated Ohio Redistricting Commission has passed its third set of state legislative maps, a week after a court-ordered deadline and with one Republican objection.

The 4-3 commission vote means if the maps are approved by the Ohio Supreme Court, they last only four years rather than the traditional 10 that would have happened with bipartisan support on the commission.

Commission Co-Chair and House Speaker Bob Cupp, R-Lima, said the new maps, which were passed late Thursday, met all the constitutional requirements established when voters created the commission and twice when the court ruled previous maps were unfairly gerrymandered to benefit Republicans.

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Ohio Gov. DeWine and Minnesota Gov. Walz Issue Bipartisan Response to Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Peter D'Abrosca
Mike DeWine and Tim Walz

Two governors who serve as co-chairs of the bipartisan, presidentially-appointed Council of Governors – meant to give advice and opinions to the United States President’s Office along with heads of executive branch agencies like the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Friday denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin. Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) said the United States must stand with Ukraine because the two countries share the same values. “At the direction of President Vladimir Putin, Russian forces have invaded Ukraine in violation of international law. This is unacceptable, and all freedom-loving people should stand against this unprovoked invasion,” DeWine said in the release. “Ukraine has been a sovereign and independent state since the collapse of the former Soviet Union in the 1990s.  The United States and Ukraine share common values including freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. Our thoughts are with the Ukrainian people.” Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) appeared to be more worried that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was somehow a threat to America’s national security. “We stand with Ukraine and condemn Russia for these unprovoked and unlawful attacks,” he said in the release. “We stand ready to…

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Timken Endorsers Silent on Her Alleged Mismanagement of Ohio Republican Party Funds

Peter D'Abrosca
Jane Timken For U.S. Senate

Three U.S. Senators who this week endorsed Ohio Republican candidate Jane Timken for U.S. Senate are silent after The Ohio Star reached out to ask about Timken’s alleged mismanagement of Ohio Republican Party (ORP) funds. 

Tuesday, Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Deb Fischer (R-NE) endorsed Timken in the hotly contested primary race that includes candidates J.D. Vance, Mike Gibbons and Josh Mandel. 

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Ohio Senate Candidate J.D. Vance Slams Proponents of Intervention in Ukraine

Peter D'Abrosca

Noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “an evil man,” U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance Tuesday slammed proponents of U.S. intervention in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. 

“The media and political elites are seething at me because I uttered aloud what everyone deep down knows is true: that the Russia-Ukraine border dispute has nothing to do with our national security, no American interest is served by our intervention, and that the obsession with Ukraine from our idiot leaders serves no function except to distract us from our actual problems,” Vance said in a press release. 

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Ohio Supreme Court Gives Redistricting Commission Deadline to Show Cause

The Center Square

The Ohio Supreme Court has given the Ohio Redistricting Commission until noon Wednesday to show cause why it should not be held in contempt of court for failing to meet a deadline for new state legislative maps.

The commission missed an 11:59 p.m. Feb. 17 court-ordered deadline to submit a third set of maps after the court ruled the first two were unfairly gerrymandered to favor Republicans.

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