Abortion, marijuana issues likely to make statewide ballot this fall

July 7, 2023

As long as enough valid signatures are on petitions, Ohio voters will have two statewide issues — abortion rights and legalization of recreational marijuana — to consider on the Nov. 8 ballot. The signature validity part of the equation is often quite a task. That’s because if people who sign do so in the wrong county, aren’t registered to vote or print their names, among other conditions, those signatures are invalidated or questioned. The timing of reviewing the signatures by county boards of elections for the two issues is challenging because deadline to certify the ...

Federal redistricting case to affect Ohio

June 30, 2023

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision regarding a North Carolina congressional redistricting case will have repercussions in Ohio, but we still may end up with the same map the state Supreme Court ruled last year was unconstitutionally gerrymandered. That’s because just like in North Carolina, the judicial philosophy of the new state Supreme Court in Ohio has changed to align with Republican legislators. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Tuesday in Moore v. Harper against North Carolina Republicans who used what is called the “independent state legislative theory.” The theory ...

Plans take off to aid regional airport

June 22, 2023

If the Mahoning Valley is going to progress, it needs a strong transportation system. That is why the development of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport is important. The airport hasn’t had a commercial airline since Allegiant Airlines left in January 2018. While better than nothing, Allegiant had a history of delays and limited service. It offered flights only on certain days and even at its height, it flew to four Southern airports. Before Allegiant arrived in 2006, the last airline at Youngstown-Warren was the former Northwest Airlines, which flew to Detroit until it left in ...

Issue 1 foes score a victory

June 15, 2023

Opponents of a proposal to make it harder to pass constitutional amendments scored a partial victory when the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that some language in the proposal was misleading. The Ohio Ballot Board, which has a Republican majority, wrote the language for state Issue 1 on the ...

Rail safety bill faces political obstacles

June 8, 2023

The rail safety bill, sponsored by U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance in response to the East Palestine train derailment disaster, is having some issues in the Senate and likely faces a roadblock in the House of Representatives. Regarding the lack of movement, Brown, D-Cleveland, told me: “I never promised you, David, or promised anybody in East Palestine that this was going to be easy. That’s certain. But I’m optimistic because so far, we’ve done it right.” The legislation was introduced March 1 by Brown and Vance, R-Cincinnati, and was approved 16-11 May 10 by the ...

Don’t expect big August turnout

June 2, 2023

Turnout for nonpresidential elections is usually poor, but those who come out for August special elections take that percentage to a new level of bad. Last year’s August special primary election for state legislative seats became necessary after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled the Ohio Redistricting Commission violated the state constitution by drawing gerrymandered General Assembly maps. Statewide turnout was 8 percent. The Republican-controlled Legislature voted in December to eliminate all August elections except if a local government or school district in fiscal emergency wanted ...