Karen Kasler

A Franklin County judge has ruled against reinstating the $300 weekly checks for unemployed Ohioans during the pandemic that were discontinued by Gov. Mike DeWine last month. The judge said the law is clear that DeWine wasn’t obligated to continue the program for around 200,000 Ohioans. But the suit isn't over.

Ohio’s COVID numbers are higher than they’ve been in two months, as the number of new vaccinations inches up only slightly.

Ohio’s Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said he’s talked to Capitol and DC police officers who watched the powerful testimony earlier this week at the U.S. House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the nation’s Capitol.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has 21 days to decide appeals from people who were denied federal pandemic unemployment assistance, according to a ruling from a Franklin County judge.

Ohio Democrats have been talking up last week’s plea deal from FirstEnergy as proof of Republican corruption in state government. But now Gov. Mike DeWine’s main opponent in next year’s GOP primary is joining in.

A group hoping to regulate marijuana like alcohol in Ohio has changed its legalization plan. It’s now looking at passing a state law rather than a constitutional amendment.

Gov. Mike DeWine has made his first public comments since last week’s plea deal from FirstEnergy in the federal corruption case involving the nuclear power plant bailout law known as House Bill 6.

A Franklin County judge is expected to rule in the coming days on a lawsuit that seeks to restore the $300 weekly checks that the federal government was providing to unemployed people through September. Ohio became one of 26 states that ended the program last month.

A law that took effect this spring puts Ohio in line with US Supreme Court decisions against life sentences without parole for those who kill or commit other violent crimes as juveniles. But the families and victims of some of these underage offenders are angry.

Last year is likely to have been the deadliest year for drug overdoses ever in Ohio, according to a projection from the CDC.

The idea of “means testing” for Ohioans getting food stamp or SNAP benefits was removed in the final version of the state budget. But advocates for low-income Ohioans and those who cycle in and out of poverty say the idea isn’t dead.

Two Democrats are introducing a bill in the Ohio House that would legalize marijuana for personal use beyond the medical use already allowed in law now. It’s the first bill that would set up a structure for the state to regulate and tax it.

With more than 40% of Ohioans unvaccinated against COVID, the Ohio Department of Health is urging people to get those shots. And they say it’s critical with the way the highly contagious delta variant of the disease is spreading.

A new bill in the Ohio Senate would allow for debt settlement companies to operate in Ohio. The sponsor says it’s about consumer choice, but opponents says that choice isn’t a good one.

Hundreds of mayors from around the country from both parties have signed onto the $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan being pushed by President Biden. The announcement was made in Columbus, as the new president of the group representing mayors of the country’s largest cities takes over.

The new two-year Ohio budget includes a plan for the state to directly fund charter schools, and gives more money for taxpayer-paid vouchers for kids to go to non-public schools. With the budget in place, voucher opponents say they’re preparing to file a lawsuit that’s been months in the making.

The new two-year state budget includes a 3% income tax cut, a new school funding plan and hundreds of millions of dollars for broadband, foster care, foodbanks and grants for businesses hurt by the pandemic. While the Republican-backed budget also included things that Democrats didn’t like, many of them voted for it.

The new state budget sets aside $250 million for broadband programs – that’s a restoration of what Gov. Mike DeWine had initially proposed, which the House reduced and the Senate totally eliminated. But DeWine thinks the resolution is a good one.

Gov. Mike DeWine says he’s still weighing his options on what to do with a bill that includes a provision that bans public schools and colleges from requiring employees and students get COVID vaccines.

Last spring, Ohio was the first state to deploy its national guard to help with what became a critical element of the pandemic: getting emergency food to people in need who were locked down at home, including those who’d been unemployed and many suddenly out of work. The people dispatched to help are now off that job.

One of Gov. Mike DeWine’s 14 vetoes struck a provision of the state budget that got a lot of early attention – the erasing of COVID-19 violations by bars and the refunding of the fines they paid.

Nearly two hours past the midnight deadline, Gov. Mike DeWine put out a statement saying he signed the two-year, $75 billion state budget – while striking out 14 items. Most of the vetoes were technical and specific, but others were more notable.

The 3% across the board income tax cut in the state budget, along with other tax changes, won’t do much for people making less than $110,000 a year, according to an analysis by a liberal leaning think tank.

Groups representing Ohio school districts, teachers and education officials are pleased the final state budget includes what’s been called the Fair School Funding plan, an overhaul of the formula by which Ohio calculates state aid to schools.

The two-year $75 billion state budget is awaiting Gov. Mike DeWine’s signature before the fiscal year expires tomorrow. The budget process was led by Republicans, from DeWine’s initial proposal through the House and Senate, which are dominated by the GOP. But a lot of Democrats ended up supporting the final product.

With a little over a day till the deadline on Wednesday, the new two-year $75 billion state budget is on its way to Gov. Mike DeWine after overwhelmingly bipartisan votes in the House and Senate late Monday evening.