The Ohio legislature worked into the wee hours this morning, pushing through legislation on the last day of the lame-duck session. Any bills unpassed by the end of the year are moot and a new two-year legislative session begins in January. State senators and representatives could get called back to Columbus for some unfinished business during the holiday break. In the past weeks, legislators have declared natural gas “green energy,” added a strict voter ID requirement and dropped the idea of making constitutional amendments more difficult. Our statehouse team stayed up way past midnight to deliver you the news. - Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
Cavs at Dallas Mavericks: Donovan Mitchell outduels MVP candidate Luka Doncic, leads Cleveland to 105-90 win over Dallas Northeast Ohio Thursday weather forecast: Rainy, windy conditions expected |
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A bill with tougher voter ID restrictions now heads to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature. If it becomes law, the changes would go into effect for the May election. |
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Voter ID: The Ohio General Assembly approved a sweeping elections bill early this morning that includes a tougher ID requirement for voters, sending the package to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk. In a final, 55-32 vote, the Ohio House approved House Bill 458, which would require a voter to show a photo ID when voting in person, either early or on Election Day, Andrew Tobias reports. The bill includes a slew of other measures, including largely ending special elections in August, specifying that county boards of election can offer only a single drop box for completed absentee ballots, and eliminating the day of early, in-person voting the day before Election Day. Area code: A new phone area code “overlay” has been approved for the 440 zone, with officials saying the current code soon will run out of available numbers. Cliff Pinckard reports the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved the plan Wednesday, but a new code has not been selected. The 440 code is expected to exhaust its available numbers in the third quarter of 2024. The 440 code includes all of Lake, Lorain, Geauga and Ashtabula counties and parts of Cuyahoga, Erie, Huron and Trumbull counties. Today in Ohio: Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’ proposal to make it harder to amend Ohio’s constitution is unlikely to clear the Ohio House during the waning days of this year’s legislative session. We’re asking what changed on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast. |
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Tobacco laws: State lawmakers adopted legislation early Thursday morning prohibiting cities from passing their own laws restricting smoking and e-cigarette tobacco sales, Jake Zuckerman reports. The legislation essentially claims tobacco sales are the domain of state – not local – government. It stops cities from adding new fees or taxes to tobacco products, including cigarettes and vapes, or raising the age requirements to buy tobacco products. Supreme Court: A lobbying effort is underway to sway Gov. Mike DeWine as he considers whom to appoint to a vacancy on the Ohio Supreme Court, reports Andrew Tobias. Letters show DeWine has been urged to consider several candidates, including Ben Flowers, the state solicitor general who works for Attorney General Dave Yost, and Megan Shanahan, a Hamilton County Common Pleas judge. FTX collapse: The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs chaired by Ohio’s Sherrod Brown on Wednesday weighed whether the high-profile failure of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and the arrest of its former chief executive amounted to fraud by a rogue company or evidence that digital currencies are nothing more than a Ponzi scheme, Sabrina Eaton reports. |
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Bibb cabinet: One of Mayor Justin Bibb’s highest-ranking cabinet members is leaving her job, paving the way for a shakeup of Bibb’s top leadership team one year into his administration, including the appointment of a chief of staff. Chief Administrative Officer Elise Hara Auvil -- who has shared chief-of-staff duties with Chief Strategy Officer Bradford Davy since Bibb took office -- is resigning from her post, effective Jan. 7, reports Courtney Astolfi. Jail staffing: Amid questions over the future of the Cuyahoga County jail, serious understaffing, and investigations into the deaths of three inmates, Interim Sheriff Steven Hammett is looking to expand his leadership team in the jail. Kaitlin Durbin reports the county has posted positions for a second warden to help oversee jail operations, and three new openings for lieutenants to supervise corrections officers and make sure the jail is running as it should. Climate change: While more than 50% of the people in most Ohio counties believe in climate change and its effects on the environment and the future, in Cuyahoga County people are far more concerned, according to data from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Zachary Smith reports that nationally, 72% of Americans believe global warming is happening. Bobcat: A recent sighting of an elusive bobcat in Cleveland Metroparks has the curious wondering where, exactly, the slowly repopulating animal was spotted. Peter Krouse reports the Metroparks are steadfastly refusing to say. Winter reading: Many students dread summer reading lists, which makes perfect sense — summer is for gardening and winter is for reading. Just in time for last-minute gift-giving, Susan Brownstein has book suggestions to give a gardener in your life some reading material when the snow flies. Antisemitism: Cleveland landmarks will be lit blue next week to shine a light on antisemitism, reports Molly Walsh. The Jewish Federation of Cleveland, in partnership with Anti-Defamation League and other organizations, is hosting a special menorah lighting for people of all faiths to raise awareness of antisemitism, coinciding with Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. |
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Defending Boutros: The MetroHealth System board member who resigned last week said he disagreed with the board’s decision to fire CEO Dr. Akram Boutros and that he believed Boutros was authorized to receive the bonuses that are central to the controversy, Julie Washington reports. “It is my belief that the board had authorized Dr. Boutros to take all actions that he took,” Terry Monnolly said in his resignation letter. Betting fine: Barstool Sportsbook might be hit with a $250,000 fine from state regulators because of a live event outside the University of Toledo’s football stadium. The Ohio Casino Control Commission issued a notice of violation to Penn Entertainment, which takes bets under the Barstool brand name, reports Sean McDonnell. Regulators say the company broke two rules; advertising on or near a college campus and targeting customers who are under 21. Wearpack: Chad Porter, a sophomore at the Ohio State University, noticed that students were hauling fewer books and more technology around campus. That shift, he decided, required a change from the traditional, bulky backpack, reports Paris Wolfe. So he created the Wearpack, “a versatile, detachable front handbag and backpack combined as one with an adjustable shoulder and waist bag.” Willoughby House: The abandoned Van Gorder Manor, just west of downtown Willoughby, is getting new life as a fine dining restaurant, bed and breakfast, and event space. Brothers Mike and Paul Neundorfer, who bought the three-story sandstone building in June, are working with specialists to restore the elegant interior to its 1902 glory, reports Paris Wolfe. |
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Murder sentence: A Euclid man whose mother is a Cuyahoga County judge was ordered Wednesday to spend life in prison after a jury convicted him of killing his wife. Retired Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Patricia Cosgrove said Omnisun Azali will get his first chance at parole after serving 21 years behind bars, reports Cory Shaffer. Officer threat: A Cleveland police officer under fire for threatening to shoot up an Akron bar last year resigned the day before his pre-disciplinary hearing, recently released city documents show. John Tucker reports Sean Bannerman, a patrol officer, was scheduled to discuss his case with police authorities on Sept. 2, but he resigned the day before. Doctor scandal: A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected Ohio State University’s request for a second review of a decision to reinstate lawsuits filed by hundreds of former students who were sexually abused by Dr. Richard Strauss during his two decades at the school. Adam Ferrise reports the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the review the university sought was unnecessary considering its previous ruling that reinstated the cases. |
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MLK concert: The Cleveland Orchestra’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert will take place at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, Zachary Lewis reports. Free tickets will be released Jan. 7. The program at Severance Music Center will feature music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Florence Price, and William Dawson as well as Copland’s “A Lincoln Portrait” and a variety of spirituals and other traditional pieces. |
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Woman fatally shoots daughter’s boyfriend in Cleveland’s St.Clair-Superior neighborhood, police say Read more Suspect in murder in Louisiana arrested by federal agents in Akron Read more Lorain man convicted of trafficking fentanyl gets over 11 years in prison Read more Two people shot on Cleveland’s West Side on Wednesday, police say Read more Deer culling begins in Highland Heights; 237 deer counted in city Nov. 28 Read more Reed, Havens honored for preserving Medina County history Read more Crane tips in Mentor-on-the-Lake accident Read more Akron City Council narrowly approves sale of land for White Pond development; Akron Police remove protesters following vote Read more |
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