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
- JD Vance in the taxpayer-funded Trump and friends fund. Cleveland.commSabrina Eaton reports: “Vance defends $1.8B political prosecution fund; does not rule out payment on January 6.“Vice President J.D. Vance on Tuesday defended the Trump administration’s creation of the nearly $100,000 fund1.8 billion fund to compensate people who say they were targeted for political persecution, pushing back against critics who called the arrangement a slush fund and refusing to rule out payments to defendants convicted on Jan. 6 of violence… When asked directly whether people who attacked police officers on Jan. 6 should receive payments, Vance declined to rule out the possibility, saying the administration would consider the claims on a case-by-case basis.
- Abortion rights in Ohio. Jo Ingles of the Statehouse News Bureau reports: “Abortion opponents continue to fight Ohio’s 2023 reproductive rights amendment“Two lawsuits recently filed in Ohio target the voter-approved 2023 constitutional amendment that legalized reproductive rights and access to abortion. The lawsuits are on different grounds and in different courts. One was filed in Trumbull County and the other in Butler County. Both challenge the voter-approved 2023 amendment as unconstitutional.”
- Big river. Ideastream’s Zaria Johnson reports: “Bipartisan push to fund Ohio River Basin restoration“The Ohio River Basin spans over 200,000 square miles 15 states including Pennsylvania, Kentucky and of course Ohio. However, unlike other vast watersheds, it does not have a dedicated EPA office or associated funding. The Ohio River Basin Alliance, a Cincinnati-based cooperative, has been working to change this for the past twenty years. And with federal bills introduced in the House and Senate, the tide may finally be turning.
- Trumped. NPR reports: “Trump-endorsed Ed Gallrein defeats Republican Rep. Thomas Massie in the GOP House primary.“Massie, who says he agrees with rather than conflicts with Trump, has often acted as a Republican disruptor of the president’s agenda. He made national headlines when the Republican led the fight, alongside California Democrat Ro Khanna, to subpoena the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. He has consistently opposed Trump’s involvement in foreign conflicts, introducing war power resolutions aimed at blocking further U.S. hostilities. He was also one of the two House GOP opposition votes on Trump’s signature tax and spending package, “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
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