Ohio Politics

12/07/2023

A proposed state law passed by the Ohio Senate Wednesday would temporarily (the next three taxing years) exempt older Ohioans who earn $36,000 or less from paying property taxes on the first $30,000 of their house’s value.

12/07/2023

Starting today, Ohioans age 21 and over can legally possess limited amounts of ma*****na as Issue 2, which voters overwhelmingly approved in November, goes into effect. But the law change comes with a haze of uncertainty about how certain provisions will be enforced, and as lawmakers wrangle over last-minute revisions.

Starting today, Ohioans age 21 and over can legally possess limited amounts of ma*****na as Issue 2, which voters overwhelmingly approved in November, goes into effect.

12/06/2023

This is a story about how a phone call to the Dayton Daily News grows into public calls for reform.

Editor’s note: This originally published in our Weekly Roundup newsletter, where every Sunday Josh Sweigart, editor of investigations and solutions journalism, brings you the top stories from the Dayton Daily News and major stories over the past week you may have missed. Go here to sign up to rece...

12/05/2023

Mewhirter was appointed to the position of interim CEO in November 2022 following the announcement of the departure of the previous CEO, Fred Manchur, who has been at the center of complaints to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office regarding financial misconduct.

Michael Mewhirter, former interim CEO and current chief administrative officer at Kettering Health, is leaving the network in April, the hospital system said.

12/05/2023

Ohioans age 21 and over will be legally allowed to possess and use limited amounts of ma*****na started Thursday, after voters passed Issue 2 in November. Here's what you need to know.

Ohioans age 21 and over will be legally allowed to possess and use limited amounts of ma*****na started Thursday, after voters passed Issue 2 in November.

12/04/2023

Ohio Senators on Monday proposed a ban on homegrown ma*****na and other changes to the state Issue 2 legal ma*****na law voters approved on Election Day.

Ban on homegrown ma*****na, limits on potency, change in taxes for recreational ma*****na are approve by Ohio senate committee after voters approve state Issue 2 last month

12/04/2023

Randazzo allegedly received more than $4.3 million from an energy company and its affiliates to provide favorable official actions for the company through PUCO proceedings, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Samuel Randazzo was charged with crimes related to bribery and embezzlement, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.

12/04/2023

The police department started 2023 with the lowest staffing level in years, and that was before more than 50 officers retired or resigned.

The Dayton Police Department should have 365 sworn officers — but doesn’t. It had 336 officers at the end of November.

12/01/2023

Three local congressmen were the only members of Ohio’s delegation to Congress to vote against the historic expulsion of Republican Rep. George Santos on Friday.

U.S. Reps. Mike Turner, R-Dayton; Warren Davidson, R-Troy; and Jim Jordan, R-Urbana were the only from Ohio to vote against the expulsion of Republican Rep. George Santos

12/01/2023

Ohioans want change when it comes to the Ohio Department of Medicaid’s estate recovery processes, according to public comment responses submitted to the agency obtained by the Dayton Daily News.

12/01/2023

It took 191 years for a woman to become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. That groundbreaking woman, retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, died today.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, an unwavering voice of moderate conservatism and the first woman to serve on the nation's highest court, died Friday. She was 93.

12/01/2023

Watch the video with this story. That is one heck of a traffic roundabout that recently opened to help with traffic in the booming Dayton International Airport area.

Booming development around Dayton International Airport brings jobs including at company making flying taxis, along with Amazon, Crocs, P&G and others

12/01/2023

Prior to the Dayton Daily News contacting Springboro officials, Kruithoff had no idea that this database was public and made it look like he was fired.

Police database may have errors

11/29/2023

Dean told a reporter from the USA Today Network Ohio: “I personally don’t believe that a man, if he’s married and has physical relations with his wife, that can be considered r**e.”

The Ohio House voted 74-1 Wednesday to remove the state’s antiquated spousal exceptions for the offenses of r**e, sexual battery and various other sexual offenses. The bill, along with a slate of others, will now move to the Senate for consideration.

11/29/2023

Watch live now

11/29/2023

Ohio's governor and lieutenant governor have been drawn into a FirstEnergy Corp. investors lawsuit connected to the $60 million bribery scheme concocted by the Akron-based energy giant and a now-incarcerated House speaker.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio's governor and lieutenant governor have been drawn into a FirstEnergy Corp. investors lawsuit connected to the $60 million bribery scheme concocted by the Akron-based energy giant and a now-incarcerated House speaker.

11/29/2023

If it seems to you as if cybersecurity breaches are happening more often, you are right. They are.

Cybercriminals continue to stalk your data as the number of data compromises reaches a record level

11/29/2023

The Senate Government Oversight Committee on Tuesday heard in-person proponent testimony on House Bill 68, a contentious bill that passed the House earlier this year that would ban gender-affirming care for minors and block transgender students from participating in sports in accordance with their gender identity.

The Senate Government Oversight Committee on Tuesday heard in-person proponent testimony on House Bill 68, a contentious bill that passed the House earlier this year that would ban gender-affirming care for minors and block transgender students from participating in sports in accordance with their g...

11/28/2023

State lawmakers began their legislative push Tuesday to define and criminalize grooming, an increasingly familiar colloquial term that that describes an adult deliberately fostering a connection with a minor with the end goal of sexual activity.

11/28/2023

In May, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report noting the F-35 — the Department of Defense’s most expensive weapon system — is more than a decade behind schedule and $183 billion over original cost estimates. For the next six or so decades, the Pentagon plans to spend an estimated $1.7 trillion on nearly 2,500 F-35s — operating, maintaining, and repairing the planes, the GAO has said.

When an F-35B was lost for days in September following a malfunction that forced the Marine Corps pilot to eject in rural South Carolina, it was a high-profile embarrassment for the U.S. Department of Defense.

11/27/2023

Most notable of those is the Second Amendment Preservation Act, or House Bill 51, which attempts to preemptively exempt Ohio from federal gun control.

The Ohio House is poised to vote on a number of bills that have recently made their way to the House floor after a busy November committee, including several contentious bills that would further shape and preserve Ohio’s gun policy.

11/21/2023

What made commercial development boom around the Dayton International Airport? More than two dozen officials, experts and others weighed in on that for my three-day series.

What they are saying about commercial development on and around the Dayton International Airport

11/21/2023

Kettering Health officials won't reveal details of reforms they said were made after an investigation discovered misuse of hospital funds. Nor will they say which former senior executives and board members were implicated.

Kettering Health officials won’t specify what changes they made in the wake of an internal investigation that found financial impropriety, even as a former governance attorney and others call for more oversight and transparency.

11/21/2023

Here is the latest on the mass shooting at a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio last night.

Details are continuing to emerge after a gunman injured four people in a mass shooting in the Beavercreek Walmart on Monday night before dying of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

11/20/2023

Sierra Nevada Corp. plans big growth at the Dayton International Airport if it wins bid on new programs.

Sierra Nevada could add hangars and paint facility and employ 500 workers at the Dayton International Airport if it wins bid on big new project

11/20/2023

Development around the Dayton International Airport has really taken off in the last 10 years. You'd be amazed if you've not driven over there in a while.

Booming development around Dayton International Airport brings jobs including at company making flying taxis, along with Amazon, Crocs, P&G and others

11/15/2023

One month after Beemok Capital announced it would keep the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament in Mason, the price of that business retention effort is coming into focus.

MASON — One month after Beemok Capital announced it would keep the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament in Mason, the price of that business retention effort is coming into focus.

11/15/2023

"We believe in the constitution and the three branches of government. Whatever that was... This is Schoolhouse Rock type stuff and we need to make sure we hit the three branches of government. The Constitution is what we abide by,” Stephens said.

Rep. Jennifer Gross called police before her town hall meeting in West Chester on Monday. She told them she worried there could issues. Since voters legalized abortion in Ohio last week, Gross has been aggressive in preparing legislation she says could rollback protections Ohio residents just voted....

11/15/2023

An Ohio representative is proposing a bill that would use $80 million in tax revenue from the sale of adult use ma*****na to fund law enforcement officer training

An Ohio representative is proposing a bill that would use $80 million in tax revenue from the sale of adult use ma*****na to fund law enforcement officer training.

11/14/2023

State Sen. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, announced today he is running for U.S. Congress to replace retiring Rep. Brad Wenstrup.

11/14/2023

The Ohio House is set to hear its first testimony on a bill introduced earlier this year that would ban public drag shows in Ohio and set out criminal punishments for those in violation of the law, if it were to be adopted.

11/13/2023

Former city of Dayton employee, RoShawn Winburn, is found guilty of charges involving a hidden camera and a teenage girl. He was earlier convicted in federal court of soliciting a bribe.

RoShawn Winburn, former city of Dayton employee convicted on corruption scandal, pleads no contest to allegations he secretly recorded a teen girl in her bedroom

11/13/2023

Jyl Hall, a sitting Kettering city councilwoman and daughter of popular local politician Tony Hall, officially announced her campaign for Ohio Senate last week, joining a list of hopefuls that aim to be the first Democratic state senator to represent Dayton in over a decade.

11/13/2023

Here’s what regional politicians and advocates on both sides of the abortion debate had to say about Issue 1 passing last week.

Here’s what regional politicians and advocates on both sides of the abortion debate had to say about Issue 1 passing last week with 56.6% of the vote, constitutionally guaranteeing an individual’s reproductive autonomy in Ohio and protecting access to abortion up to fetal viability.

11/13/2023

The city of Dayton recently pulled a proposed contract with Evans Landscaping after city management learned that company officials years ago were convicted of defrauding another municipal government in southwest Ohio.

Dayton pulls Evans Landscaping contract after concerns about company's criminal history

11/13/2023

As lawmakers on both sides of the issue brace for a Statehouse faceoff, abortion-rights advocates prepare to take the fight to the courts and challenge the constitutionality of various Ohio abortion laws once the amendment goes into effect on Dec. 7.

Local lawmakers are among a group of Ohio House Republicans who proposed last week undermining the powers of the Ohio Supreme Court in order to protect the state’s existing abortion laws that could soon become unconstitutional.

11/10/2023

A group of Republican Ohio House members have proposed blocking implementation of the Issue 1 abortion amendment by removing power from the Ohio Supreme Court.

After Ohio voters approved Issue 1 by a 13-point margin, state Reps. Jennifer Gross of West Chester, Bill Dean of Xenia and other Republicans suggest ways to prevent election from having consequences.

11/09/2023

After Ohioans voted Tuesday to legalize recreational ma*****na in the state, adults 21 years old or older will be able to possess up to 2.5 ounces of ma*****na starting Dec. 7. However, you there are restrictions around where you’ll be able to use it.

New Ohio ma*****na law may have smaller impact on public spaces, but questions about application of law remain.

11/09/2023

State Sen. Bill Blessing, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, said the senate is leaning toward amending the current legislation — it has been stalled for a month — that encompasses all property owners to only provide tax relief for seniors.

After months of wrangling in Columbus, the state legislature appears ready to pivot on property tax relief from changing the way values are calculated to a “universal” Homestead exemption for seniors, in the face of historic value hikes.