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!
Ohio Republican lawmakers are trying to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot that requires voters to show photo identification in order to vote.
A voter shows identification to an election judge. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
By Megan Henry
Ohio lawmakers in the House and Senate introduced joint resolutions this week to enshrine voter photo ID laws into Ohio’s constitution.
By Morgan Trau, WEWS
Attorney General Dave Yost's surprise decision to resign from public office shook the Ohio political world. On Wednesday, he spoke about his decision for the first time — addressing his next steps, while also giving a sharp message to his opponents.
By Marty Schladen
The number of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Ohio soared by nearly sixfold last year, according to a new analysis.
COMMENTARY
(Photo by Nathaniel Cline/Virginia Mercury)
By Berry Craig
May 18 was the 130th anniversary of the Plessy case, whose sole dissenter was Kentucky native John Marshall Harlan. “Our constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens,” he argued, adding that racial segregation “cannot be justified upon any legal grounds.”
STATELINE
The big challenges and policy issues that cross state lines.
By Kevin Hardy
Philadelphia is poised to launch the nation’s first city-sponsored retirement plan for workers whose employers don’t offer them.
By Amanda Watford
U.S. violent crime fell sharply in 2025, according to preliminary federal data, with murders dropping an estimated 18.1% — a decline that could push the national homicide rate to its lowest level on record if the figures hold.
By Robbie Sequeira
Private equity firms own nearly 3 million apartment units, about 13% of the total apartments across the country, according to a new analysis from watchdog group Private Equity Stakeholder Project.
THE RUNDOWN
News from other states
By Max Nesterak
Top Trump administration officials traveled to Minnesota on Thursday to announce 15 federal indictments in what they called the largest Medicaid fraud case ever brought in Minnesota.
NATIONAL NEWS
By Ashley Murray and Shauneen Miranda
A multibillion-dollar package to fund immigration enforcement for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term faced new delays Thursday as Senate Republicans showed a rare split with the president over his new “anti-weaponization” fund.
By Jonathan Shorman
U.S. House Republicans on Thursday denounced expanding the Supreme Court, an idea some Democrats support to dilute the court’s conservative majority after years of decisions that have angered liberals.
By Jacob Fischler
Two police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, sued the Trump administration Wednesday to block the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion fund to pay people said to be victims of judicial weaponization, saying the fund would aid and encourage the pro-Trump rioters who attacked that Capitol that day and still harbor desire to harm the officers.
By Ashley Murray
About 100 rallygoers gathered on Capitol Hill Wednesday to hear from activists and members of Congress protesting the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down federal protections for the voting power of minorities.
SCIENCE FRIDAY
Children of the early 2000s may be happy to see bucket hats and butterfly clips back in fashion, but what’s trendy in clothes and accessories actually has a pattern of 20-year cycles going back centuries, a mathematician told NPR. Read more
CATCHING OUR EYE
From keg to farm. The Ohio Newsroom’s Kendall Crawford is reporting, “A rural Ohio brewery is turning beer waste into farm fuel.”
A crowd of regulars were getting restless outside a small craft brewery in rural Coshocton County earlier this month.A small herd of German Mangalitsa pigs, covered in curls, jostled one another as a tractor dropped a giant mushy pile of grain into their pasture. Their anxious snorts quickly subsided as they dove snout-first into barley mash, still warm from brewing.
Wooly Pig Farm Brewery owner Kevin Ely says this is more than just mealtime for the brewery’s namesakes. It's a vital part of the business.
“The pigs help us process all of our brewery waste,” Ely said.
Gas prices. WVXU’s Bill Rinehart is reporting, “Fuel prices, economic uncertainty affecting Memorial Day travel plans, survey shows.”
Gas prices are high, but not high enough to discourage a lot of people from traveling this holiday weekend.Morgan Dean with AAA says the agency's usual survey finds 45 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles for Memorial Day. He says that's a slight increase over last year.
“Those gas prices scream at us every time we’re driving down the roadway, because of the way it’s marketed,” he says. “But [travelers are] willing to do things to balance the budget to get that downtime. That work-life balance is very, very important to them. We’re saying travel demand remains strong, but economic uncertainty is maybe keeping some of that growth in check this year.”
DeWine and Medicaid. The Statehouse News Bureau’s Jo Ingles is reporting, “DeWine answers criticism from his fellow Republicans about Ohio Medicaid.”
Gov. Mike DeWine has been taking some blame following reports of fraud in Ohio's Medicaid program, specifically related to home health providers. But he said when he is criticized by his fellow Republican legislative leaders and the party's candidate to succeed him, they are missing some key points.
GOP candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy, House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima), and Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) have criticized DeWine for vetoing budget provisions they say would have prevented Medicaid fraud. But DeWine said he had a reason.Vaccine policy. The Atlantic’s Katherine J. Wu is reporting, “The U.S.’s most concerning anti-vaccine policy.”
Midway into 2026, the most overt attacks on vaccines in the United States have stopped. With the midterm elections looming, the White House reportedly asked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to quiet his anti-vaccine rhetoric—publicly, at least. But protections against infectious disease are continuing to falter, both domestically and abroad, through sheer neglect. Although the full impact of the U.S.’s disinterest has only started to play out, one effect is already clear: When vaccines’ reach is eroded, the poorest, least well-served people feel the brunt of that loss first.
THE POD
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS.
Mahalo!
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