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 eye. We call this feature Catching Our Eye and have published it here.
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Catching our eyes
• Fracking Ohio’s only national forest. Signal Ohio’s Jake Zuckerman reports: “The feds plan to open 2,800 acres of Wayne National Forest in Ohio for fracking“
The federal government took a major step forward Friday toward opening more than 2,800 acres of Ohio’s only national forest to oil and gas development.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced the September 15 lease sale of 41 parcels in Wayne National Forest totaling 2,840 acres.
• Vivek is trying to become Ohio’s first billionaire governor. Alexander Coolidge of the Columbus Dispatch reports: “Ramaswamy could become Ohio’s first billionaire governor“
Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for Ohio governor, could become the state’s first billionaire governor. Since the campaign began, his net worth has doubled to over $2 billion, largely thanks to his stake in Roivant Sciences.
State financial disclosures do not fully reflect his assets, but federal records reveal his extensive resources.
• Gas prices. The Associated Press reports: “As the war in Iran escalates, U.S. gas prices are returning to an average of $4 a gallon“
U.S. gas prices rose to an average of $4 a gallon on Monday as Washington’s latest fight with Iran again hampers the flow of fuel around the world.
According to the AAA Auto Club, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is currently just over $4. That’s up about 13 cents from a week ago and significantly higher than gas station prices this time last year, when American drivers could fill up for an average of about $3.14 a gallon.
The United States and Israel’s war on Iran has plunged the world into a global energy crisis, particularly as prices of crude oil, the main ingredient in gasoline, skyrocket due to supply chain and production disruptions in the Middle East.
• Withholding damage. The New York Times reports: “The Pentagon withheld dozens of US military injuries during the Iran war.“
In the week before Friday’s Iranian attack that left two U.S. soldiers dead and one service member missing in Jordan, Iran carried out three other attacks against U.S. forces in the country.
Those attacks injured dozens of U.S. service members and damaged several helicopters, according to several U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.
However, the Pentagon did not disclose previous attacks or the victims or damage caused by them.
The episode is the latest example during the Iran conflict of the tension between the Pentagon’s need for operational security and the government’s obligation to keep the public informed about the war.
