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 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Sherrod Brown raised more than twice as much as incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Jon Husted from April to June, according to campaign finance filings from both campaigns.
Former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, left, and U.S. Senator Jon Husted, right. (Photos from WEWS)
By Siddarth Sivaraman
By Susan Tebben
The Supreme Court of Ohio ruled that a woman does not have the right to file a delayed appeal for damages as the victim of a crime, despite the fact that there was legal and legislative confusion over her right to compensation.
By Morgan Trau, WEWS
Issue 3 asks Ohioans if the current voter photo ID requirement should be enshrined in the state constitution. While Republicans say this is good policy, Democrats and Libertarians argue the constitutional amendment is just meant to rally the GOP base.
By Ariana Figueroa
Several media reports have indicated that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning for aggressive enforcement of Haitian immigrants who lose their legal status this week, starting with the large population in Springfield, Ohio.
COMMENTARY
The Ohio River on July 7, 2026. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal).
By Marilou Johanek
Enraged citizens got wind of the Ohio EPA’s outrageous proposal to make it easier for massive data centers to pollute local waterways with impunity and they mobilized. They fought and won. The power of the people is alive in Ohio, when they use it.
STATELINE
The big challenges and policy issues that cross state lines.
By Nada Hassanein
The number of preteens — ages 8 to 12 — who die by suicide in the U.S. each year is relatively small. But the total in 2025 was 194 — the most since at least 2001, according to preliminary data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By Amanda Watford
From hijacked freight shipments to tampered gift cards hanging on store racks, states are responding to new forms of organized retail crime with a fresh round of legislation.
THE RUNDOWN
News from other states
By Alexander Rocha
Low-income Georgians living with HIV would not be counted as “medically frail” under a state proposal still under consideration and would therefore have to satisfy work requirements to qualify for Medicaid coverage.
NATIONAL NEWS
By Jacob Fischler
The Trump administration on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a district court ruling that blocked President Donald Trump’s broad March 31 executive order restricting vote-by-mail.
By Jennifer Shutt
President Donald Trump on Monday called on the U.S. Senate to cancel its five-week August break, keeping lawmakers in session to advance several of his priorities, despite not having the votes.
By Jennifer Shutt
Attorneys representing the former Olympic canoeist charged with damaging part of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool have asked the judge in the case to release more information from the grand jury.
WEDNESDAY WISDOM
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.
-William Wordsworth
CATCHING OUR EYE
Public schools. WVXU’s Zack Carreon reports, “Cincinnati Public Schools board will ask voters to approve a new income tax levy.”
In a 5-2 vote Monday night, Cincinnati's Board of Education decided to proceed with a proposal for a five-year, 0.75% earned income tax. If approved by voters, it would generate $74 million annually.
The school district's administration says additional revenue is badly needed. In June, the school board voted to approve more than 100 job cuts district-wide, to help close a $58 million budget gap. The district's treasurer now warns that CPS may need to consolidate schools, add pay-to-play fees for athletics, and reduce student transportation services to avoid deficit spending in 2027 without a new levy.Akron data centers. Ideastream’s Anna Huntsman reports, “Akron approves new process for data centers with requirements tied to utility demand.”
Akron has approved new guardrails for future data center proposals. Council unanimously passed a new process that, among other rules, requires data centers to be approved by both the city’s planning commission and city council.Racist harassment. WOSU’s Katie Geniusz reports, “Somali business owners say they are still being harassed months after viral Medicaid fraud claims.”
Somali business leaders and community advocates held a press conference in front of the Ohio Statehouse on Monday.
They say Somali-owned businesses in Columbus are facing an increase in anti-immigrant and Islamophobic harassment after being targeted by conservative social media influencers, alleging fraudulent use of public money at their facilities.Drones. The Statehouse News Bureau’s Sarah Donaldson reports, “Anduril Industries shows off first Ohio-built autonomous drone.”
Production is underway on autonomous combat aircrafts 30 minutes south of Columbus, just 18 months after Anduril Industries announced its Ashville facilities.Injustice department? ProPublica reports, “Federal Judges Chastise Trump’s Justice Department for “Unlawful,” “Unethical” and “Unseemly” Conduct.”
Across the country, federal judges are calling out Department of Justice lawyers, questioning in unprecedented ways whether they can be trusted to tell the truth or uphold centuries-old legal norms.
From Washington, D.C., to Rhode Island to Oregon, federal judges nominated by presidents from both parties, including Donald Trump, have zeroed in on what’s called “the presumption of regularity.” It essentially means that judges must presume that the government — whether it be federal prosecutors, an IRS auditor or an FBI agent — did their jobs according to the rules and in good faith.
THE POD
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS.
Mahalo!
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