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!
ICE has begun targeting and detaining Haitian people in Springfield, Ohio after President Donald Trump revoked their legal status, with at least 18 detained as of Thursday last week.
Mural in downtown Springfield, Ohio. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal).
By Megan Henry
“Behind every number is a human being,” Springfield Haitian Support Center Executive Director Viles Dorsainvil said. “Behind every detention is a family. Behind every deportation is a mother, a father, a husband, a wife, a child, a friend, a church member, a coworker, or a neighbor whose life may be changed forever.”
By Nick Evans
Democratic candidate for governor Dr. Amy Acton is promising to tackle corruption in Ohio if elected this November. On Wednesday, Acton shared a series of executive actions she’d take on day one through executive orders.
By Susan Tebben
The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles has changed the way in which gender is noted on drivers licenses and state identification cards, in a move transgender advocates say was made without notice, announcement, or transition period.
COMMENTARY
Getty Images photo of high school athletes.
By Kati Niven
As Ohio public school districts grapple with inadequate state funding and rising costs, high school students are increasingly required to pay to play, with multiple districts charging fees that reach $500 for each sport a student pursues.
STATELINE
The big challenges and policy issues that cross state lines.
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris
A federal court ruling out of Idaho has potential implications for exceptions in abortion bans nationwide and could eventually end up before the U.S. Supreme Court to decide.
By Robbie Sequeira
Twenty-five states recorded increases in veteran homelessness from 2024 to 2025, and 23 recorded decreases. Just two states — Alaska and Massachusetts — saw no change.
THE RUNDOWN
News from other states
By Dion Nissenbaum
Trump last week unveiled another effort to raise questions about the outcome of the 2020 election that he lost. Experts said there are substantial questions about the Trump study’s validity, and even if his claims were true they wouldn’t have changed the outcome.
NATIONAL NEWS
By Ashley Murray
President Donald Trump has not slowed his pursuit of central policy goals and personal pursuits, even after major setbacks at the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts.
By Jennifer Shutt
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration will face challenges securing Senate confirmation after the committee chairman in charge of that process expressed doubts.
CATCHING OUR EYE
The Ohio Supreme Court and abortion rights decisions. The Statehouse News Bureau’s Jo Ingles and Karen Kasler report, “Both sides of abortion debate say latest Ohio Supreme Court action on amendment won't be the last.”
The Ohio Supreme Court declined to take up a case that challenged the state’s new reproductive rights constitutional amendment. But supporters and opponents of the amendment agree on one thing; it’s not the end for lawsuits related to the 2023 voter-approved constitutional change.Wexner. WOSU’s Allie Vugrincic reports, “Les Wexner steps down as chair of namesake Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, remains on board.”
New Albany billionaire Les Wexner will step down as chair of his namesake Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, but will remain a member of the board. An Ohio State University Board of Trustees committee approved the change Thursday morning. The full board will vote in September.
Wexner has faced scrutiny for his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, though Wexner has denied any wrongdoing. Calls to remove Wexner's name from Ohio State campus buildings have been piling up for months. Meanwhile, 88-year-old Wexner last attended a board meeting in May 2025.Ohio earthworks. The Ohio Newsroom’s Kaitlin Thorne reports, “Inspired by European guidebooks, this author created a tour book of Ohio's historic earthworks.”
Ohio is home to an estimated 500 earthworks, created by Native American groups like the Hopewell over 2,000 years ago. Often large in scale, the architectural structures are made of mounded dirt, clay and other raw materials.
“They were built for ceremonial purposes,” John Hancock, professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Cincinnati said. “They were not forts, they were not cities. They were built as sacred spaces for these American Indian ancestors.” …
Hancock published two books on Ohio earthworks this spring: “Traveler’s Guide to Ancient Ohio,” and “Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks: Landscape Monuments of the Ancient Ohio Valley.”
THE POD
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS.
Mahalo!
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