Jo Ingles

Ohio’s House Minority Leader says Republican state lawmakers are taking a page from a national playbook as they try to reform voting. 

If you are a state employee and you’ve been vaccinated, you are going to get a little extra money. The latest incentive involves paying state workers who get COVID shots. 

A lawsuit claims that Ohio has an unwritten policy of denying release to death row inmates who were re-sentenced after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Ohio’s death penalty in 1978. 

Now that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has advised all Americans, vaccinated or not, to wear masks indoors to prevent spread of the highly-contagious Delta variant, what will Ohio businesses and government do? 

Democrats and groups representing voters have been critical of two changes in election laws that are in the new state budget. Now, there’s a bill that would repeal those measures. 

Some Democratic state lawmakers say the Ohio National Guard has helped keep Ohioans safe during the pandemic. So, some lawmakers have drafted a bill to give members $1000 each as a thank you for their service. 

Republican U.S. Senator Rob Portman says he’s concerned about the U.S. House committee that is looking into the January 6th attack on the nation’s Capitol building. 

Less than 50% of Ohioans are fully vaccinated. And numbers from Ohio’s Department of Health show a staggering difference between serious COVID cases in unvaccinated and vaccinated Ohioans. 

Ohio has a new law that stiffens penalties for people convicted of hazing at the state’s college campuses. Now, the public colleges themselves are taking actions to prevent hazing. 

The Ohio Department of Health’s latest COVID guidance for K-12 schools strongly recommends those who can be vaccinated get shots, and masks for those who can’t or choose not to. But it doesn’t mandate masks for all, like some individual schools are doing. 

A bill has been introduced in the Ohio Legislature that would levy stiff fines and penalties on cities that dump raw sewage into the western basin of Lake Erie. 

FirstEnergy will pay a $230 million fine in a plea deal with federal prosecutors in the federal investigation into the $1.6 billion bailout for Ohio’s two nuclear energy plants. But some are saying state leaders have not done enough to prevent back room dealing that can lead to scandals like this. 

Ohio is one of several states that will share $26 billion dollars as part of a national opioid abuse settlement. 

Pediatricians are warning the new contagious Delta variant is putting kids under 12, who cannot be vaccinated right now, at greater risk of contracting COVID. 

After falling to levels not seen in over a year, COVID-19 cases in Ohio have more than doubled in the past couple of weeks due to the latest highly contagious Delta variant. And  doctors are warning unvaccinated people that they, and their unvaccinated children, are at great risk of catching it. 

After lots of back and forth, Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senator says he thinks the bipartisan infrastructure deal he’s been working on with President Biden’s administration will happen. 

COVID cases in Ohio are trending upward as schools are preparing to reopen for the upcoming school year. So, what do teachers think need to be done to make sure schools are safe?

Ohio’s COVID-19 rates are on an upward trend, and less than half of the state’s residents have been vaccinated. Still, some lawmakers want to make sure Ohioans who don’t want to get vaccinated or don’t want to wear masks won’t feel compelled to do so. The latest bill would keep schools and businesses from requiring masks for entry. 

The founder of JetBlue is launching a new, low-cost airline. Breeze Airways is offering flights from 39 routes throughout the country, including some from John Glenn Columbus International Airport and Akron-Canton Airport. 

Even though Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill earlier this week saying public K-12 schools and colleges cannot mandate students or staff to get COVID vaccines, that doesn’t mean some can’t require that next month at the beginning of this upcoming school year. 

A bill that would require abortion clinics to give women information about how to possibly reverse medication-induced procedures died in the last General Assembly. But it’s been brought back for another shot at passage. 

The Democratic mayor of Cincinnati hasn’t formally announced his candidacy in the primary for governor. But John Cranley is weighing in on the perennial issue of legalizing marijuana. 

There’s an effort underway to repeal provisions in the new two-year state budget that non-profit groups say will prevent them from educating Ohioans about the voting process. 

Ohio’s top elections official has asked the state’s attorney general to investigate 117 people who either registered to vote in Ohio or actually cast a ballot in the 2020 election. But that’s way down from previous elections.

Gov. Mike DeWine has vetoed a bill that was passed by a large majority of legislators that would have allowed Ohioans to set off the big fireworks they can legally purchase here in Ohio. 

Ohioans can buy fireworks that cause big explosions but cannot legally set off those consumer grade fireworks here. That could change if Gov. Mike DeWine signs a new bill into law. 

Ohio’s top legislative leaders are being sued for not being transparent with the public in matters related to the state’s new voter-approved process for drawing new maps for Congress and the state House and Senate. 

The newly passed Ohio budget contains a provision that prevents public-private partnerships with boards of elections. Election rights advocates fear that could lead to the end of many effective voter education and registration efforts. But Ohio’s top elections leader says he’s not worried. 

Late last month, Ohio ended the extra $300 unemployment benefit that had been coming from the federal government, saying it would encourage Ohioans to get back to work quicker. Advocates for unemployed and low-income Ohioans disagree, saying that decision is shortsighted and hurts families. 

Sixteen people died in traffic crashes on Ohio’s highways and state routes over the July 4th weekend. But that number is less than last year’s death toll.