Gov. Mike DeWine’s ban on the sale of intoxicating hemp items ended before it could even take effect. DeWine, a Republican who has long opposed the sale of the products, announced Oct. 8 that he was declaring an “adulterated consumer product emergency,” effective Tuesday because the ...

If election directors are correct in their predictions for how many votes will be cast in this election – and they’re usually close – Mahoning and Trumbull counties will have the lowest turnout in at least the 30 years I’ve covered elections in the Valley. The League of Women Voters ...

A substitute bill, sponsored by state Rep. David Thomas, to limit unvoted property taxes collected by school districts has a tremendous amount of momentum in the General Assembly as legislators work as quickly as possible to pass property tax reform. The bill would limit the revenue school ...

A Vivek Ramaswamy-Jim Tressel matchup for the Republican gubernatorial nomination would have been fascinating. But Tressel, who went from retired Youngstown State University president and a famed former college football coach to being appointed lieutenant governor, opted not to run in 2026 ...

You’ve got to give Democratic state legislators a little credit for their quixotic congressional redistricting map proposal. At least they offered something even though the map was never going to go anywhere. The Democratic redrawing of lines would take the current map that favors ...

Running for the court of appeals — particularly for the first time and especially for an open seat — is an expensive venture. When Katelyn Dickey ran in 2024 for a vacant seat on the Youngstown-based 7th District Court of Appeals, she loaned $205,000 to her campaign fund with her husband ...