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LaRose makes criminal referrals; says non-citizens registered to vote
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent 11 criminal referrals Wednesday for purported election crimes from “non-citizens” to the Ohio Attorney General. They include 10 people who allegedly registered to vote but never cast a ballot, and one who “may have voted illegally,” according to LaRose. The referrals came via a 2016 Ohio law that […]
Ohio Supreme Court upholds permit for offshore wind farm on Lake Erie
The Ohio Supreme Court upheld a decision Wednesday granting a permit for developers to build the nation’s first offshore, freshwater wind farm off the coast of Lake Erie. In a 6-1 ruling, the court rejected arguments from Bratenahl residents who claimed the wind turbines posed a lethal threat to birds and bats. The justices sided […]
Judge scolds former GOP chairman, forbids him from intimidating whistleblower
A federal judge lambasted a suspect in a criminal public corruption case for posting a FBI informant’s social security number and address on the internet. U.S. District Judge Timothy Black said he finds it “entirely incredible” that lobbyist and former GOP Chairman Matt Borges accidentally posted the information of the whistleblower online, as Borges claimed. […]
Utility regulator accused of taking a bribe helped write bill targeting watchdog
Ohio’s former top utility regulator, who was accused of taking a $4.3 million bribe, quietly spent months helping write a sweeping energy bill that targeted a state watchdog agency that advocates for Ohio’s residential electric customers, records show. Emails that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio gave in response to two FBI subpoenas show its […]
After suing to delay a primary, LaRose blasts using courts to change election law
With COVID-19 quickly emerging as a new and lethal public health risk, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose joined the governor in announcing a bold and controversial move. They had organized plaintiffs, all in fragile states of health, to file a lawsuit in an effort to move Ohio’s March 2020 primary that was slated to […]
He needed supplemental oxygen. FirstEnergy cut off his electricity
Months after the state government granted hundreds of millions in subsidies to FirstEnergy Corp., the company disconnected the electric service of an Ohio man relying on supplemental oxygen. The customer, David, called the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and told an intake representative that after he got home from a doctor’s appointment he discovered his […]
Regulators block deposition of FirstEnergy’s former ethics chief
A state regulator granted a request from FirstEnergy Corp., purportedly made at the behest of federal prosecutors investigating the company’s lobbying practices, to cut off a state watchdog agency’s deposition of the company’s former top ethics officer last week. The Akron-based utility company last summer admitted to bribing two state officials with about $64 million […]
FirstEnergy asks its fired former CEO to return the $56 million it paid him
After FirstEnergy Corp. admitted in court to bribing state officials, it sent word to its former CEO about his salary. The company wanted its money back. All $56 million. In November 2021, the compensation committee of the company’s board made a “recoupment demand” to former CEO Charles Jones for $56 million, according to a quarterly […]
On appeal, lawyers for Strauss victims say OSU shouldn’t profit off ‘deception’
Lawyers representing the victims of an Ohio State University physician’s decades of sexual abuse asked a federal appellate court Tuesday to overturn a judge’s dismissal of their lawsuit against the school. Last year, U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson dismissed a Title IX lawsuit the victims filed against the university, ruling that the statute of […]
LinkedIn co-founder pours money into Ohio races
The co-founder of LinkedIn, a Silicon Valley-based professional networking website, poured more than $82,000 into Ohio’s statewide and legislative races this year, campaign finance records show. The contributions from Reid Hoffman — a venture capitalist who was also an early executive of PayPal — make him the second most prolific individual donor in state politics […]
Ohio companies pay CEOs over workers by factors of hundreds
At least eighteen Ohio companies pay their CEO more than 100 times what they pay their median worker, a new report shows. Those companies pay their CEOs an average of more than $14.5 million per year, according to a report compiling financial data produced by the AFL-CIO, a trade union that advocates for higher worker […]
‘Look beyond our age:’ Three Democratic teenagers run for Ohio House
Sam Cao worked out a plan with his principal and superintendent. They had to figure out how Cao could potentially balance constituent work in the Ohio House of Representatives with classwork at Mason High School. At Miami University, Sam Lawrence mulled a similar plan for his upcoming sophomore year. Ohio University’s Rhyan Goodman is likely […]