Mayor from Ohio. (Getty image file photo.)
Each morning in the Ohio Capital Journal’s free newsletter, The Eye-Opener, we round up the news and commentary from across Ohio, the country and the world that catches our attention. We call this feature Catching Our Eye and have published it here.
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Catching our eyes
• Data center dumped into rivers and streams? Doug Petcash of WBNS reports: “The Ohio EPA continues to review proposed permits that would change data center water discharge regulations“
It’s been eight months since the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency proposed a modern permitting process for water-draining data centers, and the agency said it is still reviewing a immense volume of public input before making a final decision.
A spokesman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the agency was reviewing more than 7,000 public comments on the proposal. The spokesman added that there is no deadline for when a final decision will be made.
The proposal has raised concerns among supporters who worry about what could be in water discharged from data centers into surface waterways, including rivers, streams and lakes.
• Republicans have been saying this about supply-side economics for over 50 years. Jeremy Pelzer of Cleveland.com reports: “Vivek Ramaswamy bets economic growth will fill local financing gaps resulting from his proposed property tax cuts“
Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy suggested Tuesday that any financial “gaps” facing local governments and public services under his property tax cut plan would be filled by economic growth generated by the cuts.
Ramaswamy’s remarks, made Tuesday after accepting the Ohio Chamber of Commerce’s endorsement, came as the Columbus-area Republican has so far offered few details on how he would plug the significant budget holes that would be created by his proposed restoration of the property tax to “pre-pandemic” levels, as well as his plan to completely phase out Ohio’s income tax.
Such moves, if implemented, would likely involve significant increases in other taxes and/or major cuts in government services.
• Speculating on the presidency. Forbes reports: “Trump earns three times more in the White House than in business.“
Donald Trump, who decades ago described himself as “a bit of PT Barnum,” has finally found his most lucrative job yet: being president.
It earned $2.4 billion last year, according to a Forbes analysis that combined its financial disclosure report with bond filings, securities filings and court filings to come up with a more specific number than the “at least $2.2 billion” that has been widely reported in recent weeks. The $2.4 billion figure, a combination of operating income and proceeds from asset sales, dwarfs the estimated $760 million Trump received in 2024. It is also 6,000 times higher than the US president’s current salary of $400,000.
