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!
There were more than 2,500 oil and gas incidents reported in Ohio from 2015 through 2025, according to a new report.
Anti-fracking advocates hung up signs before an Oil and Gas Land Management Commission meeting. (Photo by Megan Henry/Ohio Capital Journal)
By Megan Henry
The number of incidents are generally increasing, going from 103 in 2015 to 268 in 2025, according to a new report published last week by FracTracker Alliance in partnership with Buckeye Environmental Network. FracTracker Alliance analyzed ODNR records from 2015 to 2025 for the report.
By Susan Tebben
With data showing domestic violence as the “most prevalent violent crime in Ohio,” state officials recently announced boosts to domestic violence programs, including survivor services and law enforcement training.
By Marty Schladen
Ohio has paused its gasoline tax in an attempt to bring down high fuel prices, but some are debating whether to replace it altogether. In a recent survey, Ohio economists weighed the options.
By Morgan Trau, WEWS
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is asking federal law enforcement to investigate another progressive voter engagement group, accusing them of missing key deadlines and doing "sloppy" work.
COMMENTARY
(Stock photo by Wichayada Suwanachun/Getty Images)
By Dan Skinner
We should read the Ohio State Medical Association’s Political Action Committee endorsement in the Ohio governor race for what it is: one governing board’s judgment about what serves its profession.
STATELINE
The big challenges and policy issues that cross state lines.
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris
Idaho’s near-total prohibition includes no exceptions for fatal anomalies. It’s one of 11 states that do not have exceptions for anencephaly or other fatal anomalies.
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris
A survey of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women found nearly half of respondents don’t have a reproductive healthcare provider and more than half don’t know how far they would need to travel for abortion care.
THE RUNDOWN
News from other states
By Madison McVan, Minnesota Reformer
Nine months after immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in south Minneapolis, Pretti’s parents are publicly calling on the U.S. Justice Department to release information and evidence related to Pretti’s killing.
NATIONAL NEWS
By Ariana Figueroa and Shauneen Miranda
Tens of millions of Americans have already made their way to the ballot box as early voting is underway in a midterm election that will determine control of the House and the Senate, possibly flipping one or both from Republicans to Democrats.
By David Lightman
Most of the nation returns to standard time Sunday morning, and Congress could decide as early as next month whether to enact permanent Daylight Saving Time as demanded by Trump.
By Jonathan Shorman
Less than a week before Election Day, Trump’s unprecedented drive for power over elections has set the stage for a series of courtroom fights that could quickly lead to a high-stakes showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court over the limits of federal authority.
By Jonathan Shorman
The U.S. Department of Justice has warned California election officials could be prosecuted if they count ballots cast by noncitizen voters, in a case brought by Trump demanding that the state set aside the ballots of 20,000 suspected noncitizen voters.
HISTORY THURSDAY
Just five days after nearly 13 million shares of U.S. stock were sold in one day in 1929, an additional 16 million shares were sold this day, Oct. 29, in 1929, called “Black Tuesday,” further fueling the crisis known as the Great Depression. Read more from Brittanica
CATCHING OUR EYE
JD Vance-founded donor network. The Washington Post reports, “Brazilian judge orders investigation into JD Vance donor network.”
A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Tuesday ordered a police investigation into alleged ties between a donor network co-founded by Vice President JD Vance and the presidential campaign of Flávio Bolsonaro in the run-up to Sunday’s election.
Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino directed the Brazilian federal police to investigate the “nature” of the contacts between the Rockbridge Network, which was founded in 2019, and any Brazilian companies or political operatives to aid or finance Bolsonaro’s run.
It’s a crime in Brazil for a political candidate to accept funding or other campaign assistance from a foreign source.Too late to mail ballot back. The Statehouse News Bureau’s Jo Ingles reports, “Why it's almost too late to vote by mail in Ohio in this November's election.”
If you want to vote on a mail-in ballot, your request must be at your local board of elections by 8 p.m. tonight (Tuesday Oct. 27). But Ohio’s top elections official says it will be too late to mail it back.
If you submit your request for a mail-in ballot, you might get one mailed to you by Election Day. But Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said if you do, it might be a good idea not to mail it back.Accelerating extreme climate change. The Associated Press reports, “Trump says he's ending restrictions on climate-warming methane from oil drilling.”
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration is "terminating" a Biden-era rule that aimed to cut planet-warming emissions of methane from oil and gas drilling…
The move aims to encourage more domestic drilling as Trump faces criticism over high fuel prices amid the war in Iran.
Methane is responsible for about a third of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, scientists estimate.
THE POD
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS.
Mahalo!
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