News Staff Officials are assessing water damage at the Ohio Statehouse after a pipe burst during freezing weather, sending water pouring into the Senate chamber, an adjacent lounge for lawmakers, and other areas on Tuesday morning. Retiring state Sen. Jay Hottinger tweeted video showing water falling from a ceiling into an overflowing container and pooling across the … Read more
Word comes…expenses are estimated to exceed revenues in Montpelier utilities in the next three years if rates aren’t changed. A public utilities consulting firm, updated the Montpelier Village Council on a rate study they performed. Revenues for three of the village’s utilities…electric, water and wastewater…won’t meet expense requirements without a rate increase. The good news … Read more
It appears the Van Wert County mink farm that was vandalized in November, resulting in the escape of about 10,000 of the animals, is now closing. Area officials say…Lion Farms, located north of Van Wert…known as North America’s largest mink farm…is selling the property, possibly to nearby Cooper Farms. The entire operation shut down on … Read more
Crews battle the weather and a fire in downtown Continental…on South Main Street. The building was the home to a business and two apartments. The two-story building burned out of control while temperatures dipped below 0…with gusts up to 45 miles per hour…the conditions complicated the response. The water in fire trucks kept freezing. Area … Read more
Ohioans would be required to present photo ID at the polls and have fewer days to apply for absentee ballots or to vote early in person under sweeping elections legislation. Besides imposing Ohio’s first photo ID requirement on voters, the legislation outlaws curbside voting and allows for ballot drop boxes but limits those to one … Read more
Reporters find…gambling interests, positioning for lucrative business as Ohio remakes its betting landscape…donated nearly $1 million dollars to a nonprofit group that helped successfully reelect Gov. Mike DeWine,…a key decision-maker regarding the market’s future. The casino operators, slot machine makers, gaming technology companies, sports interests or their lobbyists that donated to the Republican Governors Association … Read more
Ohioans would be required to present photo ID at the polls and have fewer days to apply for absentee ballots or to vote early in person under sweeping elections legislation. Besides imposing Ohio’s first photo ID requirement on voters, the legislation outlaws curbside voting and allows for ballot drop boxes but limits those to one … Read more
Gov., DeWine picked long-time Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters to be the newest Ohio Supreme Court justice. Deters will fill the seat that Justice Sharon Kennedy is vacating on Dec. 31 to become chief justice. Republican Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, a key swing vote on the court, was barred from running again because of age … Read more
Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor isn’t rattled on a personal level by the political attacks she endured from fellow Republicans during Ohio’s protracted redistricting fight. She’s confident she “did the right thing” in ruling their proposed political maps unconstitutional. What does concern the retiring jurist is the ignorance and lack of respect for foundational government … Read more
A vehicle pursuit in two counties…involving speeds well over 100 miles per hour and a stolen car…ends with the arrest of four suspects, one of which is a “person of interest” in a double homicide in Tennessee. The chase began on U.S. 24, just west of Defiance’s North Clinton Street exit… when a trooper clocked … Read more