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
• FirstEnergy trial juror speaks out. Jake Zuckerman of Signal Ohio reports: “‘We should have sent these guys to jail’: Jury forewoman speaks out after FirstEnergy bribery trial“
She said the jury was split 10-2 or 9-3 in favor of convicting former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and senior vice president of external affairs Mike Dowling on bribery and other charges.
She said both opponents think extremely “linearly.” They can go outside and see snow on the ground and on cars, hear meteorologists discussing overnight snowfall, and see plows on the road. But such “circumstantial evidence” would not convince them.
“Why don’t you think it’s snow?” said the steward. “Their answer is, ‘Because I didn’t see the snowflakes forming in the sky.’ So we knew we couldn’t get them to move. What do we do about it?”
• Helping Ohio’s wealthiest residents. Karen Kasler of the Statehouse News Bureau reports: “The legislature says repealing capital gains would lend a hand all Ohioans, but the analysis singles out one group“
A Republican-sponsored bill would allow Ohioans to deduct gains from the sale of real estate, stocks and other investments from their state income taxes. Its sponsor said exempting capital gains from state taxes would lend a hand statewide economic development, an idea promoted by Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
But an analysis by legislative researchers shows that almost all of the bill’s benefits would go to Ohio’s wealthiest residents.
• Taking the case to court. Haley BeMiller of the Columbus Dispatch reports: “Ohio breweries and smoke shops are fighting a ban on hemp products and THC beverages“
Ohio companies are challenging a modern law that bans certain hemp products and THC drinks. Senate Bill 56, which became law in March, restricts cannabis sales and mirrors future federal law.
Breweries and smoke shops in Ohio have filed multiple lawsuits over Senate Bill 56. Affected businesses are also lobbying lawmakers to override Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto that lifted the waiting period for THC beverage sales.
• Raising the AEP rate again. WOSU’s Allie Vugrincic reports: “State Public Utilities Commission Approves Ohio AEP Rate Changes“
On Wednesday, the Ohio Public Utilities Commission decided that AEP Ohio could adjust its electricity rates.
The state utility regulator is allowing AEP Ohio to boost its primary distribution revenue by $11 million, less than the $97 million the company originally requested.
• Central State. Eileen McClory of the Dayton Daily News reports: “DeWine proposes more money for the central government and major reforms“
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says Central State University is ‘critical to the state’ but will have to make changes… Central State is the only public, historically black university in Ohio. Wilberforce University, down the street, is a private HBCU…
In October 2024, the Ohio Department of Higher Education placed Central State on fiscal watch. Since then, the university has made cuts, including 16 university employees who will leave at the end of the school year. Last year, 33 employees and seven faculty members were laid off as a cost-cutting measure.
• ICE appeal. WVXU’s Nick Swartsell reports: “Cincinnati ICE supervisor accepts plea agreement in federal case“
An ICE supervisor in Cincinnati pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court to one count of lying to a federal law enforcement officer. Samuel Saxon is suspended from his position as deputy director of the Cincinnati Field Office of the ICE ERO Suboffice pending multiple legal proceedings related to an alleged domestic violence incident.
Saxon was arraigned Dec. 12 in Hamilton County Superior Court on charges of strangulation, domestic violence and criminal assault after he allegedly strangled his domestic partner in the hallway of their Corryville apartment building on the afternoon of Dec. 5. He was arrested at a Cincinnati hotel around 1 a.m. on December 6.
Saxon pleaded not guilty to these charges. Hamilton County prosecutors say Saxon suffered domestic violence.
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