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!
With Ohio's Haitian refugees losing protected status Monday, Springfield's large population has begun being terminated from their jobs, a pastor who works with them said Tuesday. Now they face being returned to a country facing a humanitarian crisis.
A mural is displayed in an alley downtown in Springfield, Ohio. (Photo by Luke Sharrett/Getty Images.)
By Marty Schladen
Right now, gangs control Haiti. Kidnapping, murder, and rape are rampant. And the pastor, Carl Ruby, said one Springfield 12-year-old faces having to return to a place where he saw animals feeding on murdered corpses when he was just five.
By Megan Henry
Nearly 3,000 acres of land in Ohio’s only national forest will be auctioned for fracking in September. The Bureau of Land Management announced 41 parcels totaling 2,840 acres in Wayne National Forest will go up for a bid on Sept. 15.
By Morgan Trau, WEWS
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine isn't anticipating a surge of immigration enforcement as the TPS for Haitian immigrants expires, and he isn't aware of any federal plans. Still, the Akron-Canton Airport continues to host deportation flights for ICE-affiliated charters.
By Ariana Figueroa
Maryland Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen Wednesday tried to advance in the Senate a bill that would create a legal pathway for immigrants with Temporary Protected Status. His request was blocked by Missouri Republican U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt.
COMMENTARY
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By Dr. Stephen Cook
More than 3 million adults in Ohio — nearly 37% — live with obesity. This is not a personal failing; it is a complex, chronic disease crisis that is worsening each year and demands a focused, statewide intervention with the advent of GLP-1 medications.
STATELINE
The big challenges and policy issues that cross state lines.
By Shalina Chatlani
In 49 states, the number of people enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans declined since Congress made coverage more expensive by allowing subsidies to expire. The lone exception was New Mexico, which used its own money to fully replace the expired aid.
By Kevin Hardy
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers is calling for an overhaul of the nation’s childcare system, which they say is failing children, parents and providers.
By Tim Henderson
New estimates put the U.S. undocumented immigrant population in mid-2024 at 14.6 million to 15.8 million, a sharp increase from around 11 million in the 2010s.
THE RUNDOWN
News from other states
By Alex Baumhardt
Connected Ohio says Ohio data centers are “the heartbeat of our modern lives.” Such groups are now up in seven states as part of the Data Center Coalition backed by Meta and other companies to promote the data center industry as public backlash grows.
NATIONAL NEWS
By Jacob Fischler
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the federal government can continue implementing President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting vote-by-mail, reaching the opposite conclusion that another appeals panel decided over the weekend.
By David Lightman
New Jersey found 6,600 noncitizens on voter rolls in ‘23 and ‘24 with less than 400 actually voting. Alaska officials raised questions about a few thousand voters but haven’t proven they weren’t entitled to vote. Trump won Alaska in ‘24 by 44,000 votes.
By Ariana Figueroa
Federal asylum officers can deny interviews to asylum seekers and send them immediately to an immigration judge, speeding up deportation proceedings, under a rule U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services published Tuesday.
By Amelia Twyman
A proposed federal commission on artificial intelligence ethics could help address moral questions associated with the rapidly developing technology, but there are still some areas in which they believe the proposal falls short, experts say.
By Jennifer Shutt
Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation’s most visible public health officials during the coronavirus pandemic, declined to answer questions from a U.S. Senate committee in a tense and confrontational hearing Wednesday, citing his Fifth Amendment rights.
HISTORY THURSDAY
The USS Indianapolis was sunk this day in 1945 by a Japanese submarine shortly after delivering the internal components of the atomic bombs that were later dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some 900 men died, many of whom succumbed to shark attacks, dehydration, and salt poisoning as they awaited rescue. The character Quint in Jaws delivered a monologue about the sinking. Read more from Brittanica
CATCHING OUR EYE
Another school levy. The Toledo Blade’s Melissa Burden reports, “TPS Board of Education votes to send levy to the November ballot.”
The Toledo Board of Education voted unanimously to submit paperwork to the Lucas County Board of Elections to certify a proposed 6.9-mill levy for the November ballot…In April, the board approved its Transformation 2.0 plan. The recovery plan was designed as a response to a projected loss of $68 million in state and federal funding beginning in fiscal year 2026.
Hurting public schools, helping private ones. The Cleveland.com Editorial Board writes, “Ohio should not force public schools to sell buildings to private schools.”
These buildings are the people’s property, and their local officials are in a far better position to judge school building uses, conditions and sales than General Assembly members who think one size fits all – which it manifestly doesn’t.How taxes in Ohio work. In a Columbus Dispatch opinion column, former editor Michael Curtin writes, “Ramaswamy's weary staff hasn't explained property, income taxes to him, so I will.”
It's no wonder Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign staff, an overworked mop-and-bucket brigade, limits his appearances. He's flunking Ohio Taxes 101, and they fear what he might say next, spilling arrogance and ignorance.Big Bankers and your 401(k). ProPublica reports, “Wall Street Wants to Change the Rules for Your 401(k). It Could Put Your Retirement at Risk.”
Most Americans don’t look to their 401(k) plans for excitement or experimentation, instead relying on the promise that steady saving and sober planning will guarantee security in their golden years. But the Trump administration wants to transform the well-worn patterns of retirement investing.
To do so, it is moving to weaken the main protection workers have over their retirement money. The man in charge of the regulatory rollback is an industry insider whose former clients are among the large companies likely to benefit from his plan.Russia helping Iran target U.S. troops. CNN’s Aaron Blake reports, “Does Trump even care if Russia helps Iran target US troops?”
When President Donald Trump launched the Iran war, one of his chief goals was to stop Tehran from funding proxy groups in the Middle East. Those proxy groups, he noted, were responsible for wounding and killing scores of US troops.
When it comes to whether Russia is helping Iran target those Americans, though, Trump seems remarkably incurious. And that’s become a pretty familiar posture for him.Maturity. The Hill reports, “Moreno drops f-bomb on Fauci, recalls COVID arrest at football game.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) lobbed an expletive at Dr. Anthony Fauci during a Senate hearing Wednesday on the origins of and government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the former White House chief medical adviser invoked his Fifth Amendment right…
“Here I am sitting in front of you six years later, saying, who the f— do you think you were for doing that?” Moreno asked Fauci during the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, seemingly referring to the doctor’s views on masking requirements in the country during the health crisis.Bringing AI to Ohio election officials? USA Today’s Alex Perry reports, “Ohio adopts AI for elections, but other states still have concerns.”
Ohio election officials are using an artificial intelligence chatbot to help answer questions about election procedures, but some states remain wary of adopting AI for election-related work.Fox News hyping online trolls to attack Mike DeWine. Fox News reports, “Red state governor pummeled online after defying Trump’s deportation orders.”
A Republican governor in a state that voted to elect President Donald Trump is facing intense backlash online after an interview arguing against the president's order to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) migrants from the United States.
THE POD
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS.
Mahalo!
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