The morning newsletter of the Ohio Capital Journal
Reporting for the People
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By David DeWitt | Editor in Chief
Good morning Ohio!
Several of Ohio’s GOP Congressmen swung through Columbus recently to tout the importance of permitting reform. With data centers driving demand for power and an ocean of natural gas beneath our feet, they argued, federal red tape can’t be the bottle neck delaying new pipelines and transmission lines from getting built.
Power lines cross the Susquehanna River near the Hummel Station power plant in Snyder County, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Peter Hall/Capital-Star)
By Nick Evans
A major energy transmission project in Western Ohio offers a glimpse of just how difficult a needle lawmakers are trying to thread.
State and local officials seemingly agree that investments in energy infrastructure are worthwhile. The problem is they also agree those investments should be made elsewhere.
By Megan Henry
Five Haitians from Springfield, Ohio have been deported back to Haiti after President Donald Trump revoked their legal status, said Theresa Hice-Fromille, a board member of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center.
By Marty Schladen
Women — especially women of color — continue to lag average Americans in measures of wealth and wellness. But when it comes to tracking how Ohio women are doing in the aftermath of last year's deep cuts to the social safety net, people who study the issue say they're flying blind.
COMMENTARY
Vivek Ramaswamy, left, and Dr. Amy Acton, right. (Photo by Morgan Trau & WEWS.)
By David J. Jackson, Ph.D.
Currently Democrat Dr. Amy Acton leads Vivek Ramaswamy 48% to 45%, which places this race clearly within the margin of error. Because the range of the candidates’ support overlaps, the race is said to be a statistical tie.
The big challenges and policy issues that cross state lines.
STATELINE
By Robbie Sequeira
The U.S. Department of the Treasury released new guidance Thursday for participating states, scholarship-granting organizations and taxpayers as a federal K-12 scholarship tax credit program prepares to take effect in January.
By Amanda Watford
County and local district attorneys oversaw higher state prison admissions during election years than in other years during the height of the nation’s “tough on crime” era, according to a new study from Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law.
By Robbie Sequeira
The six measures across California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are the highest number in a single election year in at least two decades, according to Ballotpedia, a nonpartisan election research organization.
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and the attorneys general in Arkansas and Alabama filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. Supreme Court, suing California, Massachusetts and New York to invalidate the so-called “shield laws” that have allowed providers in those states to send abortion medication to people in states with abortion bans.
By Tim Henderson
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a case challenging a Trump administration policy that threatens millions of immigrants with mandatory and indefinite detention while fighting their court cases.
THE RUNDOWN
News from other states
By Mackenzi Klemann
Gov. Mike Braun on Wednesday renewed Indiana’s gas tax suspension for another 30 days — until early November — and issued a new order lifting restrictions on the sale of untaxed diesel fuel for trucks operated by farmers and timber harvesters on public roads.
NATIONAL NEWS
By Jacob Fischler
President Donald Trump is scheduled to kick off a month-long blitz of campaign stops with a Thursday rally in deep-red Oklahoma before heading to other states with strong Republican leanings.
By Ashley Murray
U.S. Senate Republicans did not gain any support Wednesday from Democrats as they attempted to advance a bill that mashed together two hot-button midterm issues: requiring voter ID in federal elections and limiting stock trading for members of Congress.
By Jennifer Shutt
The chamber won’t return until Nov. 9 for the five-week lame-duck session, when party leaders will have to decide which bills they want to negotiate during what could be the final days of unified Republican control.
By Shauneen Miranda
Dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees remain held up amid Sen. Kevin Cramer’s outrage over a Biden-era rule dealing with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wetland easements that Cramer says harm his state’s property owners.
SCIENCE FRIDAY
Saturn is about to reach its annual opposition this week, when it appears at its brightest and biggest all year and becomes the only planet visible all night. Read more from Live Science
CATCHING OUR EYE
Booked solid. The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Erin Glynn reports, “Republican Eric Conroy won't attend President Trump's SW Ohio rally”
You won't find President Trump in the ads for Eric Conroy, a Republican House candidate in a competitive Greater Cincinnati district. He's hard to find on Conroy's website.
But now that Trump is coming to Southwest Ohio, Conroy faces a choice: Should he appear with a president whose popularity is hitting record lows?
Eric Conroy, a Republican Air Force veteran running against Cincinnati Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman, has Trump's endorsement but hasn't referred to the president in recent ads.
Conroy will be attending his sister's wedding on Oct. 3 and thus will be unable to attend the Trump rally. The Enquirer confirmed the timing by checking Conroy's sister's wedding website.
Catholic Foundation arrest. The Columbus Dispatch’s Shahid Meighan reports, “Catholic Foundation executive charged with sex crimes involving teenage girl”
Scott Richard Hartman, 49, of Westerville, was arrested Oct. 1 by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office at his home while deputies were executing a search warrant.
He faces a misdemeanor charge of grooming, and felony charges of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor and pandering an obscenity involving a minor. Additional charges may be filed as the investigation continues.
Good Fences, good neighbors. Cleveland.com’s Kaylee Remington reports, “Bratenahl board approves privacy fence for Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce home after neighbors express concerns”
The board voted Sept. 8 to approve the fence at 12725 Lake Shore Boulevard, with conditions that it match the design and appearance of a fence on Ingall Brook Lane, that its gates match and that its height align with existing stone walls.
The revised plan calls for a 6-foot fence and leaves a corridor open to preserve lake views.
THE POD
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS.
Mahalo!
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