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.
Sign up for our free daily newsletter to get all the Ohio news you need to know delivered straight to your inbox every weekday morning.
If you’re already a subscriber, please share with your family and friends to also learn about the Ohio Capital Journal: https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/subscribe/
Catching our eyes
Data centers. Sarah Donaldson of the Statehouse News Bureau reports: “Senator Moreno: SoftBank’s investment in Ohio is ‘very different’ from Intel’s investment.“
Last Friday, business leaders and government officials descended on southern Ohio to detail plans for a data center so vast that it would require a $33.3 billion, 9.2 gigawatt (GW) natural gas plant to power it.
The groundbreaking event for the artificial intelligence data center had the pomp and circumstance of other technology announcements, where investment and job creation figures are reported in glossy videos above the snaps.
In honor of fallen soldiers. WOSU’s Mark Ferenchik reports: “Three fallen Ohio Air National Guard members killed in Iraq return to Columbus.“
Three fallen Ohio Air National Guard airmen who died in western Iraq on March 12 returned to Columbus on Sunday.
Capt. Seth Koval, 38, of Stoutsville, Capt. Curtis Angst, 30, and Tech. Sgt. Tyler Simmons, 28, both of Columbus, died when their KC-135 refueling plane crashed.
Voting changes. According to an Associated Press report by Nicholas Riccardi and Julie Carr Smyth: “Some state officials say moving the mail-in ballot deadline will complicate plans for the November election.“
Election officials in Nevada and 13 other states that allow regular absentee ballots mailed on Election Day but arriving days later to be counted focused their attention on Monday’s arguments, during which conservative justices appeared skeptical of such waiting periods. Fifteen other states have waiting periods specifically for military and overseas voters.
Educators to candidates. Andrew Tobias of Signal Ohio reports: “These teachers had had enough. Democrats recruited them to run for the Statehouse“
Democrats are betting that frustration among public school officials will assist them in this year’s state legislative elections. They recruited several teachers who were fed up with a decade of decisions made by the Statehouse – expanding private school vouchers, increasing religion in schools, and a bipartisan school funding plan they didn’t fully pay for – to run in Republican-leaning districts.
Ticks. Adelyn Moore of The Reporting Project reports: “In 2025, Lyme disease cases increased in Ohio. Warmer seasons may make the situation worse“
Tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease are on the rise across the United States. In 1995, approximately 12,000 cases of Lyme disease were reported in humans. In 2022, the number of reported human cases rose to more than 63,000, according to the FDA.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
