Voters to Decide on Cincinnati Southern Railway Sale to Norfolk Southern in November

Cincinnati voters are to decide in November whether the city can sell a city-owned rail line for over $1.6 billion to Norfolk Southern, the same company that caused the toxic disaster in East Palestine earlier this year.

The Cincinnati Southern Railway Board of Trustees unanimously voted to place the proposed sale of the rail line on the November 7th ballot.

Read the full story

‘Commander in Chief:’ GOP Presidential Hopeful Tim Scott Launches New Ad Before Key Campaign Events in Iowa and New Hampshire

U.S. Senator and Republican presidential hopeful Tim Scott rolled out a new campaign ad Monday in Iowa and New Hampshire in front of two significant campaign events in the first nominating states. 

In the ad, titled “Commander in Chief,” the South Carolina senator denounces China for spying on children, stealing U.S. jobs, and buying up American farmland.

Read the full story

Ohio College Employees Could Be Held ‘Personally Liable’ for Violating Affirmative Action Ban: Attorney General

Ohio higher education employees “will face personal risk” if they violate the Supreme Court ban on considering race during admissions, state Attorney General Dave Yost wrote in a recent letter.

His office won’t be able to protect public colleges and universities if they act counter to the ruling, Yost wrote, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Read the full story

Ohio Governor DeWine Announces New Cybersecurity Training for Local Governments

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted announced that CyberOhio is now to provide free services to local governments to improve their preparedness and resilience towards cybersecurity threats.

Local governments will be guided through three levels of cybersecurity preparedness by the new Ohio Persistent Cyber Improvement (O-PCI) program. Each level of cybersecurity advancement will include five steps: education, training, exercise, mentoring, and improvement.

Read the full story

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose Jumps Into Race to Unseat Dem Sen. Sherrod Brown in 2024

Frank LaRose

Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced a run for Senate on Monday to unseat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in 2024, according to a campaign launch video.

LaRose enters a growing GOP primary field where he will face businessman Bernie Moreno and state Sen. Matt Dolan, who both unsuccessfully ran for Senate during the 2022 midterms. The secretary of state touched on issues he feels plague the country, like parental rights in education, the border crisis and inflation, when announcing his run for Senate, according to a Twitter video.

Read the full story

Ohio Lawmakers Introduce Legislation to Stop Meddling in Party Primaries

Two Republican Ohio lawmakers have introduced a bill into the Ohio House of Representatives to reinforce election integrity and stop meddling in party primaries.

House Bill (HB) 210, sponsored by State Representatives Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester) and Gary Click (R-Vickery), aims to require electors who want to change political parties to register as a member of that political party by December 31st.

Read the full story

Ohio Lawmakers Introduce Legislation to Secure Patient’s Rights to Healthcare Advocates

Two Republican Ohio lawmakers have introduced a bill into the Ohio House of Representatives to ensure every patient’s right to a healthcare advocate at a hospital or care facility.

House Bill (HB) 236, known as The Never Alone Act, sponsored by State Representatives Melanie Miller (R-City of Ashland) and Beth Lear (R-Galena), looks to protect patient’s rights to have access to a loved one or individual who can advocate for their health during their stay at a medical facility.

Read the full story

Watchdog Group Reports on Ohio State University College of Medicine ‘Anti-Racism’ DEI Practices Post-Supreme Court Decision

A comprehensive report by an organization that seeks to protect health care from discriminatory ideology has published a report that finds Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine is steeped in teaching medicine through the lens of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda, and notes the school will need to examine its admissions processes to align with the Supreme Court’s recent affirmative action ruling.

The report, by Do No Harm, is released in the wake of the Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, which struck down affirmative action policies in school admissions.

Read the full story

DeSantis and Haley Well Received by Evangelical Christians at Iowa Faith and Leadership Summit

In closing the nationally watched Family Leadership Summit late Friday afternoon, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ratcheted up the political rhetoric and sounded more fired up than he’s been at some of his previous campaign trips to Iowa.

“With me, on Day 1, you get a new FBI director,” the top tier candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomination told the crowd of 1,700-plus attendees at the 12th evangelical Christian conference.

Read the full story

Pence Battles Boos, Tucker Carlson’s Tough Questions at Iowa Family Leadership Summit

Former Vice President Mike Pence has long been a standard bearer for the evangelical Christian movement in American politics.

On Friday, before a gathering of hundreds of Christian faithful at the 12th Annual Family Leadership Summit in downtown Des Moines, it felt, to some degree, that the GOP candidate for president had lost a good portion of that faithful base.

Read the full story

Tucker Carlson Grills GOP Candidate Senator Tim Scott on War in Ukraine, Biden’s Cluster Bombs

U.S Senator Tim Scott said there shouldn’t be American military “boots on the ground” in Ukraine. But the South Carolina Republican campaigning for president  remains supportive in the U.S. providing the weapons and resources Ukraine needs to push back Russia’s invasion. 

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson hit Scott with tough questions on Ukraine, the border and more at Friday’s Family Leadership Summit, which included a cattle call of GOP presidential candidates. 

Read the full story

Ohio Governor DeWine Appoints Attorney James Payne to the Vinton County Court of Common Pleas

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the appointment of Republican attorney James Payne to the Vinton County Court of Common Pleas, General and Domestic Relations Division serving the Ross, Gallia, Jackson, Hocking, and Athens communities.

Judge-designee Payne, of McArthur, has been the Vinton County prosecutor for the past two-and-a-half years. Before that, he started his own law practice that year in South Point, a village consisting of about 3,500 individuals in Lawrence County, where he had lived most of his life after beginning his career as a judicial attorney in Lawrence County in 1994.

Read the full story

New Morning Consult Poll Shows Trump Dominating, Ramaswamy Rising

Former President Donald Trump continues to crush the competition, but political outsider Vivek Ramaswamy is swiftly rising in the crowded field of Republican presidential candidates, according to a new Morning Consult poll.

Trump is polling at 56 percent, distantly followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, at 17 percent, according to the poll of more than 3,600 potential Republican primary voters.

Read the full story

Trump Skips Des Moines Family Leader Summit amid Tension with Vander Plaats, but Plans Iowa Town Hall Next Week

Donald Trump won’t be attending the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines later this week. The former president has other plans. But Trump will be back in Iowa next week for a second town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity, eschewing influential Christian conservative leader Bob Vander Plaats‘ cattle call of Republican presidential candidates for his own political show. Vander Plaats, who has said it’s time conservatives “turn the page” on Trump, is hosting his annual summit on Friday. Most of Trump’s rivals for the GOP nomination will be there — including former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, Ohio businessman and anti-woke crusader Vivek Ramaswamy, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Trump’s nearest competitor in the polls. The summit is a big deal. Put together by Vander Plaats’ Family Leader, a suburban Des Moines-based evangelical Christian organization that aims to inspire “Christ-like leadership in the home, the church, and the government,” the summit is now in its 12th year. It’s seen as a top stop for conservative candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination in the first-in-nation caucus state. If nothing else, the day-long event is a great way to meet…

Read the full story

Iowans See ‘Humanity of Unborn Children with Beating Hearts’ as Legislature Passes Heartbeat Bill

Iowa lawmakers passed the Heartbeat Protection Act in a special session Tuesday night, leading one pro-life representative to say, “Iowans recognize the humanity of unborn children with beating hearts and won’t rest until they are protected.”

“Today, the Iowa legislature once again voted to protect life and end abortion at a heartbeat, with exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother,” Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) announced Tuesday following the legislature’s approval of the measure.

Read the full story

GOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Stands with Iowa Conservative Lawmakers Poised to Pass ‘Heartbeat Bill’

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy took his campaign to the steps of the Iowa State Capitol Tuesday, throwing his support behind a swiftly moving “heartbeat bill” that would limit most abortions in the Hawkeye State after six weeks of pregnancy. 

The Ohio biotech entrepreneur met with Republican state legislators and Governor Kim Reynolds, as a special legislative session to take up the bill got underway amid loud opposition from hundreds of pro-abortion activists.

Read the full story

Cleveland Shooting Sparks Calls for ‘Gun Safety’ Measures

Cleveland-area lawmakers are citing a Sunday-morning mass shooting that wounded nine people in the popular Warehouse District to push gun safety legislation already introduced in the House.

“What played out in our community is just one of more than 365 mass shootings in the U.S. this year already,” State Reps. Darnell Brewer, D-Cleveland, Terrence Upchurch, D-Cleveland, and Juanita Brent, D-Cleveland, said in a joint statement. “Ohioans can’t afford to wait for more proof that it is well past the time to pass common sense gun safety measures that will keep our children, families and communities safe. Congress must step up and we will continue to engage our Ohio House of Representatives colleagues in meaningful dialogue to come together and find common ground to reduce gun violence and keep people safe.” 

Read the full story

Ohio GOP Calls on Mayor Bibb to Stop Deflecting Responsibility for Cleveland Violence

The Ohio Republican Party called on Mayor Justin Bibb to stop deflecting responsibility for the violence occurring in Cleveland and to instead fix the problem by supporting law enforcement.

On Sunday, an early morning shooting in a nightclub area of downtown Cleveland sent nine people to MetroHealth Medical Center with injuries. According to authorities, no fatalities were reported.

Read the full story

Senator JD Vance Urges Ohio Colleges to Comply with Affirmative Action Ruling

U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) is urging Ivy League universities and two Ohio colleges to preserve admission records following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning affirmative action.

On June 29th the U.S. Supreme Court decided in the case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that declaring racial preferences in college admissions is unconstitutional.

Read the full story

Ohio House Speaker Stephens Asks State Representative Bob Young to Resign Amid Domestic Violence Charges

Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) requested that State Representative Bob Young (R-Green) resign as State Representative and as Chair of the Ohio House Pensions Committee due to alleged domestic violence charges.

On July 6th Young held a fundraiser with Speaker Stephens as the guest of honor. According to a statement from Stephens, he attended the fundraiser and afterward went to Young’s home to spend time with his friends and family. According to Stephens, the alleged incident occurred after he left the Young home.

Read the full story

New Bill Would Cut Down the Number of Members on Ohio Board of Education

A Republican Ohio lawmaker introduced a bill into the Ohio House of Representatives to reduce the size of Ohio’s State Board of Education and remove governor-appointed positions.

House Bill (HB) 235 sponsored by State Representative Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula), and former state education board member, looks to downsize the 19-member Board of Education to fifteen members by 2027. It also aims to remove the eight positions appointed to the Board of Education by the governor beginning in 2025.

Read the full story

Ohio Lawmakers Introduce Legislation to Increase Drug and Human Trafficking Penalties

Two Republican Ohio Lawmakers have introduced a bill into the Ohio House of Representatives that aims to increase the penalties for drug and human trafficking in Ohio.

House Bill (HB) 230, known as the Saving Ohio Communities Act, sponsored by State Representatives Cindy Abrams (R-Harrison) and D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron) looks to address the staggering increase in drug overdoses, specifically fentanyl poisoning in the state.

Read the full story

Stumping in Iowa, Trump Calls the 2024 Presidential Race ‘The Final Battle’

Calling the 2024 presidential race the “final battle,” former President Donald Trump pledged to “expel the war mongers” and “demolish the Deep State” during a campaign rally Friday afternoon in western Iowa.

Campaigning in the shadow of a federal indictment and mounting legal troubles, the Republican Party frontrunner sounded as defiant as he takes on the political fight of his life.

Read the full story

Ohio Adult-Use Marijuana Activists Submit Signatures for November Ballot Initiative

A group of marijuana legalization activists delivered thousands of signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office on Wednesday in an attempt to put an initiative to legalize the purchase and sale of marijuana by Ohio residents aged 21 and older on the ballot in November.

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol submitted 222,198 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office before the deadline to go before voters in November.

Read the full story

Pence Says Trump and DeSantis Are Wrong on Ukraine and America’s Role as Arsenal of Democracy

Former Vice President Mike Pence says his “former running mate,” among others in the Republican Party presidential nomination chase, are missing the significance of the U.S. coming to the aid of Ukraine.

Pence said he recently paid a call on the war-torn European nation and its president to see firsthand “the results of the extraordinary, unprovoked invasion by Russia” as well as the “tenacity and toughness” of the Ukrainian military.

Read the full story

Ohio Pro-Abortion Activists Submit Signatures for November Ballot Initiative

A group of pro-abortion activists delivered thousands of signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office on Wednesday in an attempt to put an amendment to enshrine abortion into the state constitution on the ballot in November.

The Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, a coalition of radical pro-abortion activists that includes Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice Ohio, the Abortion Fund of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, along with the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights submitted 710,131 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office before the deadline to go before voters in November.

Read the full story

ACLU Submits Signatures for Radical Ohio Late-Term Abortion and End to Parental Consent Ballot Initiative

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) submitted signatures Wednesday for its Ohio ballot initiative that would not only bring late-term abortions to the state but also end parental consent laws and other protections for women and children.

Protect Women Ohio (PWO) is a parental rights and pro-life coalition that is seeking to block radical leftist organizations’ attempt to rewrite Ohio’s Constitution via the ballot initiative that would eliminate parental notification and consent requirements for minors obtaining abortions and gender transition hormone drugs and surgeries.

Read the full story

Ohio Governor DeWine Signs $86 Billion State Budget with 44 Vetoes

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed the state’s $86 billion biennial operating budget containing tax cuts for individuals and businesses, higher income limits for school vouchers, and a new requirement for parental approval of social media accounts for children under 16.

DeWine vetoed a total of 44 budgetary measures, including a two-week sales tax holiday, legislation that would have prohibited the regulation of tobacco and nicotine products, and legislation that would have prohibited higher education institutions from forcing students to have specific immunizations.

Read the full story

Illegal Immigrant Who Allegedly Raped Nine-Year-Old That Got Abortion to Stand Trial in Ohio

An illegal immigrant is due to appear in an Ohio court Wednesday for his trial after he allegedly raped a minor who was nine years old at the time.

In July 2022, Gerson Fuentes, who the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency announced in 2022 was in the country illegally, was charged with two counts of felony rape after he was accused of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old in Ohio twice between January and May 12, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The minor obtained an abortion in Indiana at the age of 10, leading police to arrest Fuentes, who is set to stand trial this week for the charges in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, in Ohio.

Read the full story

Ohio Governor DeWine Requests Presidential Disaster Declaration for East Palestine

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine requested on Monday that President Joe Biden issue a Major Presidential Disaster Declaration for damage resulting from the catastrophic East Palestine train derailment that occurred earlier this year.

This follows two groups of protestors, Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment and River Valley Organizing, pressuring the Ohio Governor to submit a disaster declaration before the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Monday deadline.

Read the full story

U.S. Supreme Court Sends Back Ohio Redistricting Case

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Ohio’s highest court must reconsider the congressional districting of the state that the Ohio Supreme Court previously ruled unlawful.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a summary judgment, a decision made without listening to oral arguments, reversing the Ohio Supreme Court’s judgment from last July that the congressional districting process unfairly favored the Republican Party.

Read the full story

Florida’s First Lady, Republican Presidential Hopefuls Mike Pence and Doug Burgum Campaign in Iowa This Week

Florida’s first lady is scheduled to launch her “Mamas for DeSantis” effort as she campaigns Thursday in Iowa for her husband and Republican presidential hopeful Governor Ron DeSantis.

Casey DeSantis’ stop is part of a busy Fourth of July holiday week for presidential campaigns in the Hawkeye State, with former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum returning to Iowa, as well. 

Read the full story

Ohio Professor Reprimanded by University After Giving Student ‘Zero’ for Using ‘Biological Women’ on Assignment

University of Cincinnati administrators reprimanded professor Melanie Nipper earlier this month for violating the free speech of a student when she gave her a zero on an assignment, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Student Olivia Krolczyk released a viral TikTok video discussing how she was given zero points for a section of her project for using the term “biological women” in her Gender in Popular Culture course, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Krolczyk submitted a Freedom of Speech claim with the school which resulted in Ashley Currier, head of the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at UC, issuing the reprimand to Nipper on June 14, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Read the full story