Opponents of HJR1 chant in the Ohio Statehouse rotunda. The proposed constitutional amendment would make it harder to pass future constitutional amendments, including an abortion-rights measure in November
I've covered
@MikeDeWine
for at least 7 years, but I can't remember a more strongly worded press release from him than his one this morning blasting the FDA for limiting the deployment of
@Battelle
's mask-sterilization technology
In East Palestine, residents have burning eyes, sore throats, and headaches. Babies have respiratory issues.
People's pets are suffering and dying.
And many affected are having problems getting the $1,000 “inconvenience checks” offered by Norfolk Southern
BREAKING: Ohio Supreme Court orders all state lawmakers to be elected at large in 2022, with all candidates' names listed on one long statewide ballot. Top 99 Ohio House, 17 Ohio Senate candidates who get the most votes will win seats
#redistricting
Dozens of public comments urging the state of Ohio to allow fracking in state parks were sent in the names of people without their knowledge or permission. One was a 9-yr-old girl.
The story gets even deeper from there. Great reporting by
@Jake_Zuckerman
Gov. Mike DeWine (who's seeking re-election) and other Ohio Republicans have trumpeted the benefits of American Rescue Plan Act funding without mentioning that the act was passed by Congress without a single Republican vote in support
Wow — I certainly wasn’t expecting a response like this! I tweeted this on a whim, but I got some very real, wise marriage advice and tips. And with respect to those who are urging me to “run away,” I’m quite happy staying right where I am, with my new wife ❤️
THIS JUST IN: Louisa Jane Pelzer, born at 12:54 am today. She’s healthy and well, as is her mom (we even managed to each get an hour’s sleep this morning!)
Exit poll: Ohio's Issue 1 was backed by:
84% of Black voters
74% of Hispanic voters
61% of women
54% of men
54% of white voters
53% of married women
49% of married men
24% of white evangelicals
BREAKING: Ohio Supreme Court rules Gov. Mike DeWine, other Republicans can be questioned under oath and must turn over documents in redistricting lawsuits
Mitt Romney goes off on J.D. Vance to The Atlantic:
“I don’t know that I can disrespect someone more than J. D. Vance"
“It’s like, really? You sell yourself so cheap?”
“How do you sit next to him at lunch?”
A hacker has released code allowing anyone to automatically submit junk data to Ohio’s controversial COVID-19 Fraud website...to overwhelm the site with a flood of fake submissions, making it harder to process claims and thus deny people their benefits
Inbox:
@JimRenacci
campaign releases statement by attorney describing "an unexpected, uninvited, unwanted, and sudden advance" by
@SherrodBrown
on an unnamed woman
#OHSen
Ohio's population drain is getting to the point that the governor wants to expand the state's tourism office to also try to convince people to move here
New PUCO audit finds no evidence that FirstEnergy’s $150M-per-year grid modernization fee was actually used for grid modernization.
In fact, FirstEnergy didn't track how the money was spent, so the auditors couldn't tell if any $ was used for HB6 lobbying
A freshman Ohio state representative who has already come under scrutiny for belatedly or never reporting tax liens and $1.45 million in outstanding debts is now falsely claiming he graduated from MIT
Marjorie Taylor Greene's 2020 campaign manager, as well as two others who worked for other members of Congress, have agreed to pay more than $50,000 for their roles in an East Palestine charity scam
Nearly 3 years after ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was arrested for overseeing the largest bribery scheme in state history, Ohio lawmakers have yet to pass any legislation to change state ethics or campaign-finance law.
I tried to find out why.
Friday news dump:
@MikeDeWine
named Dan McCarthy to the State Racing Commission.
McCarthy resigned as DeWine's legislative lobbyist in 2021 amid scrutiny for his ties to a group that routed FirstEnergy bribe money to Larry Householder's political operation
Newly released documents show how FirstEnergy worked with DeWine administration officials & lawmakers to lobby for the passage of HB6, the bill at the center of the largest corruption scandal in Ohio history. Here's what
@Jake_Zuckerman
and I found
What a photo by Joseph Maiorana of the Toledo Blade of
@DerekMerrin
as the vote totals came in showing he lost the Ohio House speaker's race to
@JasonCStephens
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that the Ohio Constitution allows Republican state lawmakers to set an Aug. 8 special election on State Issue 1, even though the legislature banned August elections a few months earlier
Within just three weeks of the Ohio House steering hundreds of millions more in Medicaid dollars to state nursing homes in the budget, House Finance Committee Chair Jay Edwards accepted $465,000 from nursing home executives,
@Jake_Zuckerman
found
Lawyers for ex-FirstEnergy executives say their clients face "looming potential indictments" because they were “undeniably at the forefront” of the federal investigation into the HB6 scandal.
@Jake_Zuckerman
reports
I'll gladly add my name to the growing list of people praising
@DrAmyActon
for her
#coronavirus
work so far. She's one of the rare people who has deep technical knowledge, good communications skills, and grace under pressure. Ohio's lucky to have her
Ohio Secretary of State
@FrankLaRose
was scheduled to vote and have a media event at 11 am, but spokesman Rob Nichols says that was canceled because anti-Issue 1 activists got wind of it and intended to protest there. LaRose will vote sometime later today, Nichols said
The other day, during a news conference with Democratic leaders at the Ohio Statehouse, I noticed something very unexpected behind them in the tile near the fireplace -- swastikas.
Ohio Secretary of State
@FrankLaRose
says the rewrites to the ballot language of Issue 1 that he helped push through were written with the help of anti-abortion groups in a way intended to help defeat it,
@AndrewJTobias
reports
With
@SherrodBrown
ruling out a presidential run,
@KamalaHarris
becomes the first declared Democratic presidential candidate to schedule a visit to Ohio
I've seen a number of liberal-leaning Ohioans in the past couple days say basically the same thing: "I didn't vote for Mike DeWine, but he's shown a lot of leadership here"
NEW: State Rep. David Dobos has resigned as vice chair of the Ohio House Higher Education Committee after news that he falsely claimed to be an MIT graduate
Jim Siegel was simply a great reporter. He was a tenacious journalist who was respected as much as he was well-liked. His death is a blow not only to those who knew him, but the public as a whole.
BREAKING: Ohio is closing all fitness centers, gyms, bowling alleys, rec centers, movie theaters, water parks, trampoline parks, Gov.
@MikeDeWine
says, because of
#coronavirus
BREAKING: Federal court panel orders
@FrankLaRose
to hold Ohio's legislative primaries on Aug. 2 using GOP-authored redistricting maps ruled unconstitutional twice by the Ohio Supreme Court. More soon at
I think we can all agree the real hero of today's Ohio House speaker election was House Clerk Brad Young, who had to rattle off 91 names 11 different times, then record and tally each vote. If you see him, buy him a drink or a Ricola.
Campaigning and governing are two different skill sets, and it's a flaw in our system of government that our leaders need to be good at the former to do the latter.
My car was stolen overnight from my driveway on Columbus’ South Side. It’s a gray 2013 Toyota Corolla, license # GPF6733, on the off-chance you see it.
In a related story, I’m ready to get the hell out of this year.
Less than a month after news that Cleveland businessman Tony George is "Individual B" in
@FirstEnergy
's deferred prosecution agreement over the HB6 scandal, he's co-hosting a fundraiser today for Ohio Supreme Court Justice
@PatDeWine
. Background:
Lots of people dunking on Ohio.
Yeah, it’s not the sexiest state, and it has problems like anywhere else. But it’s a good place to live & a very underrated place to visit. I think it’d surprise a lot of people who slam it but haven’t spent time here.
Signed,
A non-native Ohioan
My analysis of the new Republican Ohio legislative redistricting plan: It would make it easier for the GOP to expand their supermajorities in both the House and Senate, as well as create fewer competitive districts overall