The morning newsletter of the Ohio Capital Journal
Reporting for the People
Make a tax-deductible donation supporting our work.
By David DeWitt | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning Ohio!
Ohio Republican governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has investments with a venture capital firm that has backed every one of the defense company Anduril's funding rounds. Anduril is receiving more than $830 million in state incentives to build a production facility outside Columbus.
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images.)
By Nick Evans
To land the Anduril deal, Ohio offered the company an incentive package worth more than $830 million. JobsOhio made a $310 million grant and the Ohio Department of Development pitched in a tax credit worth more than $452 million. Both incentives are tied to Anduril’s hiring commitments.
By Susan Tebben
Ohio lawmakers have again introduced a bipartisan effort to make changes to a statute of limitations regarding sex offenses.
By Morgan Trau, WEWS
The Ohio Senate Republicans passed a bill that would penalize local governments for enacting gun safety regulations.
COMMENTARY
File photo of a doctor from Getty Images.
By Nathaniel M. Tran and Periwinkle Seljord-Solberg
An increasing number of U.S. states have passed laws that allow health care providers to refuse to treat patients based on their personal or religious beliefs. LGBQ+ adults in affected states were 71% more likely to report being in fair or poor health after the laws passed.
STATELINE
The big challenges and policy issues that cross state lines.
By Sofia Resnick
A controversial rule enacted last year that denies federal Medicaid funding to abortion providers is likely to expire this summer, despite anti-abortion pressure on Republicans to renew it.
By Tim Henderson
Some of the Trump administration’s controversial new warehouse immigration detention centers are getting scaled back and postponed as states and cities fight back and new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reviews actions taken by his ousted predecessor, Kristi Noem.
THE RUNDOWN
News from other states
By Markus Schmidt, Virginia Mercury
Virginians will head to the polls Tuesday to approve or reject a closely watched constitutional amendment that could reshape the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 elections.
NATIONAL NEWS
By Jonathan Shorman
The National Guard’s top general told Congress on Friday that it would follow the Constitution and the law when he was asked about the possibility President Donald Trump would order troops to polling places for the midterm elections.
By Jennifer Shutt
Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly’s legal team is urging a federal appeals court to uphold a ruling that allows the former Navy captain to keep his retirement rank and pay while his First Amendment case against the Pentagon moves forward.
CATCHING OUR EYE
Bribery scandal fallout. The Associated Press’ Julie Carr Smyth reports, “Republicans plan big spending to keep Ohio’s Senate seat. A bribery scandal adds to their challenges.”
As he seeks to retain his U.S. Senate seat this fall, Ohio Republican Jon Husted has been unable to escape the shadow of a $60 million bribery scandal that has roiled state politics for more than five years.
Husted was recently called to testify as a defense witness in the related criminal trial of two former energy executives, testimony he might have to reprise after a hung jury led to a mistrial in the case in March. A judge in Akron scheduled the retrial to begin Sept. 28, meaning Husted could be back on the witness stand a week before early voting begins for the November elections.
The former lieutenant governor and Ohio secretary of state has never been charged with or accused of any wrongdoing. But the vast public record that has emerged from the scandal has raised questions about Husted's dealings with key players who have been indicted or imprisoned in the scheme, which revolved around legislative approval of a $1 billion bailout for the state's two nuclear power plants.JD Vance vs. the Pope. The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Dan Horn reports, “JD Vance told Catholics to stop arguing. Then he took on Pope Leo.”
Pope Leo XIV and JD Vance made headlines with their public dispute over the Iran war. But America's two most prominent Catholics had been building to that moment for more than a year.
The pope and vice president disagree on a wide range of issues, from the death penalty and climate change to President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.Iran war. The Wall Street Journal reports, “Behind Trump’s Public Bravado on the War, He Grapples With His Own Fears.”
A president who thrives on drama is bringing an even more intense version of his unorthodox, maximalist approach to a new situation—fighting a war. He is veering between belligerent and conciliatory approaches and grappling behind the scenes with just how badly things could go wrong.
At the same time, the president sometimes loses focus, spending time on the details of his plans for the White House ballroom or on midterm fundraisers—and telling advisers he wants to shift to other topics.Insider trading? BBC News reports, “The insider trading suspicions looming over Trump's presidency.”
Throughout US President Donald Trump's second term in office, traders have been betting millions of dollars just before he makes major announcements.
The BBC has examined trade volume data on several financial markets and matched them to some of the president's most significant market-moving statements. It found a consistent pattern of spikes just hours, or sometimes minutes, before a social media post or media interview was made public.
Some analysts say it bears the hallmarks of illegal insider trading, whereby bets are made by people based on information that is not available to the general public.
THE POD
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS.
Mahalo!
Thanks for reading The Eye-Opener. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.