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!
One candidate for Ohio attorney general is calling for the state inspector general to investigate new revelations about ties between the head of the state's quasi-public economic development agency JobsOhio, the governor's office, and Intel.
Then-Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and Gov. Mike DeWine joined by politicians and business leaders break ground ceremony for Intel’s new semiconductor manufacturing site, September 9, 2022. (Photo by Graham Stokes for the Ohio Capital Journal / Republish photo only with original story.)
By Marty Schladen
John Kulewicz, the Democratic nominee for AG, last week amended his complaint to Ohio Inspector General Randall J. Meyer with details of other possible conflicts of interest on the part of Josh Rubin, a lobbyist who chairs the board of JobsOhio, that were reported last week by the Capital Journal.
By Susan Tebben
Ohio domestic violence shelters have been facing an increase in the need for their services long before the controversy surrounding Congressman Max Miller, but it has brought the spotlight back on the issue and advocates are sharing how Ohioans can get help they need.
By Morgan Trau, WEWS
Ohio Republican U.S. Rep. Max Miller is being sued by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, for publishing a naked photo of their toddler in a document dump he released on social media in early August.
Stories from the States podcast
Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, are being targeted and forced to wear ankle monitors. The community became a focus of Donald Trump in 2024 when he falsely accused them of eating house pets. He vowed to terminate their legal protections in order to deport them.
COMMENTARY
“With the weakening of the VRA, people of color (in Virginia and elsewhere) will keep fighting for voting rights and fair representation. They fear regression,” columnist Roger Chesley writes. (Photo by Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
By Roger Chesley
Civil rights stalwarts held a requiem for the Voting Rights Act on its 61st anniversary, lamenting the neutering of a law that had propelled African Americans into choosing their own leaders without fear of violence, murder, or lesser polling place obstacles.
STATELINE
The big challenges and policy issues that cross state lines.
By Kevin Hardy
State Democratic officials are preparing for chaos at the polls this November, as President Donald Trump casts doubt on election security and pushes for more federal involvement in local voting.
THE RUNDOWN
News from other states
By Ralph Chapoco, Alabama Reflector
The U.S. Department of Justice Tuesday filed a superseding indictment in its prosecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center in April. The updated criminal complaint increased the number of charges filed against the SPLC from 11 to 14.
CATCHING OUR EYE
New allegation. Mother Jones’ Abby Vesoulis reports, “Legal Filings Allege Rep. Max Miller Made “False Statements” to an Ohio Court.”
The Republican is accused of misrepresenting evidence to get a civil protection order against his ex-wife Emily Moreno.Toledo and the West Bank. The Toledo Blade’s Alex Bracken reports, “Area businessman’s family under siege by West Bank settlers.”
Loui Ridi has spent the past five days watching security footage of Israeli settlers surrounding his home in the West Bank, where his brother and nephew are rationing supplies to survive.
Mr. Ridi, president of Ridi stores, says Israeli settlers have set up a tent in front of his home, putting his brother, Qusay Ridi, and his brother’s 18-year-old son, Ahmad Ridi, under siege.
“It’s literally under siege. Just imagine someone built a tent in front of your house and is not allowing you to go out, not allowing anyone to come in, or anyone try to be close or the settlers attack them,” Mr. Ridi said.
The two Ridis are without electricity after settlers cut power lines, and are running out of food and water.Truck drivers. The Columbus Dispatch’s Nathan Hart reports, “Ohio part of recent Trump crackdown on immigrant truck drivers.”
Officials with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Immigration & Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations were in Ohio for three days at the end of July as part of the second wave of Operation Highway Shield, a Trump administration crackdown on "unqualified foreign [semi-truck] drivers," according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).
The enforcement blitz is the latest effort by President Donald Trump and his administration to crack down on immigrants with commercial truck driver's licenses, whom Trump has repeatedly cast as unsafe or dangerous in his second term.The bodyguard. NPR reports, “Former bodyguard for Vivek Ramaswamy, wife, plead guilty to federal drug trafficking charges.”
A former bodyguard for Ohio Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy has pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking charges.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Justin Salsburey, 44, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Columbus to participating in a narcotics conspiracy involving bulk amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the mail.
THE POD
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS.
Mahalo!
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