FACT CHECK: Ohio GOP Chairwoman Timken Spreads Falsehoods on Refugees in Letter to Party Members

  Ohio Republican Party Chairwoman Jane Timken wrote an error-riddled apologetics letter sent by email on Thursday to party members defending Gov. Mike DeWine’s refugee resettlement policy. It is highly unusual for the chairman of a state’s Republican Party to defend the politically unpopular decision of the state’s governor. In…

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Ohio County Releases Dozens of Illegal Aliens, Including Sex Offender, After Ignoring ICE Detainers

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revealed Thursday that the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office has released 29 criminal aliens, including a sex offender, after ignoring written detainer requests filed by the federal agency.

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Ohio Refugee Resettlement Up 22 Percent Under Gov. Mike DeWine, Including Hundreds From Countries With ‘High Burdens’ of TB

Refugee resettlement in Ohio is up 22 percent under Gov. Mike DeWine, including hundreds from countries with “high burdens” of tuberculosis.

DeWine is one of more than 30 governors who have agreed to accept more refugees under a plan put forth by President Donald Trump in which a governor has to opt in for resettlement, the Associated Press reported.

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Former Kasich Strategist Partners with George Conway to Launch Never-Trump Super PAC

An alumnus of former Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s presidential campaign has joined George Conway in launching a new never-Trump super PAC with the explicit purpose of “defeating President Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box.”

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Jim Jordan Addresses Rumor He May Be Temporarily Added to the House Intel Committee to Push Back on Impeachment

During an interview with Fox & Friends Tuesday morning, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) made big news when he was asked whether he was going to be added to the House Intelligence Committee. Jordan, who is currently on House Oversight, responded, “We’ll see. That’s a call for Leader McCarthy. If Kevin and ranking member Nunes want that to happen, I just want to help our team.”

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American Inventor Series: Garrett A. Morgan, a Son of Slaves Who Invented the Traffic Signal

Garrett A. Morgan was born on March 4, 1877 in Claysville on the outskirts of Paris, Kentucky to two former slaves. He was one of eleven children and his family was forced to live in a segregated portion of the city, so Morgan left for Cincinnati, Ohio at the age of 14 in search of better opportunities.

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Jim Renacci Commentary: How John Kasich Failed Ohio

Failed leadership in the past has caused Ohio to become one of the ‘most left’ states in America thanks to failing infrastructure, slow job creation and lethargic wage growth. The state simply isn’t competitive in the race to attract and retain businesses, and its showing. Since leaving Congress in January, I have been listening to Ohioans in cities and rural areas alike that feel angry, tired and frustrated. They want to know why our neighbors are winning and why Ohio is missing out on the Trump economy. I tell them all: we can thank John Kasich.

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Political Analyst Who Accurately Predicted House Races Thinks Trump Will Lose Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania

The Judy Ford Wason Center for Public Policy, a research institute at Christopher Newport University, accurately predicted that Democrats would pick up more than 40 seats in the U.S. House in the 2018 midterm elections. Now they believe President Donald Trump will lose key battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania in 2020.

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The Battleground State Report: Are Trump Rallies Enough to Motivate ‘Undecided’ Voters to Show Up and Vote?

On Friday’s Battleground State Report with Steve Gill, Michael Patrick Leahy and Doug Kellett – a one hour radio show from Star News Digital Media in the early stages of a national weekend syndication roll out – Gill and Leahy talked about the success of the Trump rallies which continue to mobilize his base yet were concerned whether or not these rallies could help move undecided voters to the voting booths.

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Ohio Gunman’s Alleged Pot-Smoking Friend Who Bought Him Gun Parts Charged with Federal Crimes, Feds Say

Federal authorities announced Monday they made an arrest in the investigation into the Aug. 4 mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio.

Authorities arrested Ethan Kollie, a friend of gunman Connor Betts, Friday and charged him with possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance and making a false statement regarding firearms, authorities announced Monday in a press conference.

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Minneapolis’ Frey and St. Paul’s Carter Among the 235 Mayors Demanding U.S. Senate Return to Washington to Enact Gun Control

More than 200 mayors from across the country sent a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), urging them to immediately call the Senate back to Washington, D.C. to take action on gun control legislation.

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Commentary: The Opioid Epidemic from a Rural Prosecutor’s Perspective

I was at the end of a meeting with a mother whose child is a victim of the country’s opioid epidemic. “So, I’m trying to write about how the opioid epidemic is affecting us,” I informed her. She responded immediately: “It touches everyone, it’s everywhere. I mean, how did it get to this?”

“Where do I even start?”

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Rep. Jim Jordan Slams Democrats for Handling of Border Crisis: ‘Fabricating Stories of Cruelty’

  Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) slammed Democrats for their handling of the crisis at the southern border during a recent hearing before the House Oversight Committee. “What we’re going to hear from Democrats this morning is astonishing. It will be truly astonishing. For months they’ve declared there wasn’t even a…

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House Democrats Want Answers on Change of Date for Ohio’s 2020 Presidential Primary

by Todd DeFeo   Democratic lawmakers from Cuyahoga County are seeking information about a “possibly reckless change” that moved the 2020 presidential primary to St. Patrick’s Day. Nine lawmakers from the Cleveland area sent a letter to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose regarding the change of date from March…

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Ohio Cities That Use Traffic Cameras for Tickets Will Be Financially Punished Starting This Month

by Tyler Arnold   Starting this month, any local government that uses traffic cameras to issue tickets will be financially punished by the state. To discourage localities from using these cameras as a means to generate revenue, state government will remove all financial incentives for using them. The state will…

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Pro-Abortion Group Will Invest $20 Million in State Legislative Races in Minnesota, Ohio and More

  A national pro-abortion group recently announced that it plans to spend $20 million during the 2020 election cycle to help pro-choice state legislative candidates. EMILY’s List, the self-described “largest resource for women in politics,” said it will specifically target races in 10 different states, including Minnesota and Ohio. The…

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Ilhan Omar Pushes Back on Use of Terrorist Watchlist with Support of CAIR

  Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) recently issued a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo requesting information about the “dissemination of data” from the country’s Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), commonly referred to as the terrorist watchlist. Omar was joined by ten of her congressional colleagues in crafting the letter, including…

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Supreme Court Rules Judges Can’t Block Partisan Gerrymandering

by Tyler Arnold   A narrowly divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that federal judges have no authority to block politically gerrymandered maps. The 5-4 decision fell along ideological lines with the five conservative judges signing onto the decision and the liberal judges dissenting. “We conclude that partisan gerrymandering claims present…

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9/11 Gaffe, Technical Difficulties, Spanish Responses: Highlights from ‘BORING’ First Debate

  Ten Democratic presidential candidates took to the debate stage in Miami, Florida Wednesday night for the first of a two-night event. President Donald Trump weighed in on the debate with just one word: “BORING!” BORING! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2019 He later criticized NBC News after…

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Report: 44 Percent of Twin Cities Residents Considered ‘Post-Christian’

  A new study released this month found that the Northeast region of America is the most “post-Christian” area of the country. The study, conducted by Barna research, is part of an ongoing survey of Americans based on a random sample of 21,378 adults conducted over a ten-year period. To…

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Tim Ryan Wants Social-Emotional Learning in Every Public School Nationwide

  2020 hopeful Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) wants to introduce social-emotional learning standards to every public school in the country. The Ohio Star’s Beth Lear recently did a deep dive on the Ohio State Board of Education’s efforts to bring social-emotional learning to the state. “This is part of a…

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Ohio Lt. Gov. Husted Urges Congress to Act on Trade Agreement

by Todd DeFeo   The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will benefit Ohio’s economy, and Congress should proceed with ratifying the deal, the state’s lieutenant governor said in a letter to federal officials urging them to act. Lt. Gov. Jon Husted sent a letter to members of Ohio’s congressional delegation expressing…

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St. Paul Public Library Hosting ‘Drag Story Hour’ for Preschoolers

  St. Paul Public Library is scheduled to host three “Drag Story Hours” throughout the summer that will “bring together a traditional library storytime with the performance art of drag.” “Participants can expect to sing children’s songs, listen to stories about kindness and inclusion, make crafts, and join in a…

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Ohio River Commission Opts to Introduce New Standards, Drawing Ire of National Wildlife Federation

by Steve Bittenbender   A multistate organization in charge of improving the quality of one of the country’s most important rivers voted on Thursday to adopt a new plan on how to ensure states meet water pollution standards. By a 19-2 vote, with one abstention, the Ohio River Valley Water…

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Oberlin College Ordered to Pay $11 Million to Bakery it Wrongly Accused of Racism

  A jury has ordered Oberlin College to pay $11 million in damages to a family bakery on its campus that was falsely accused of racial profiling and faced months of student protests. The bakery, called Gibson’s Bakery, has operated on campus since 1885 and had a business relationship with…

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Ohio Considering Push to Designate Mexican Drug Cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations

by Todd DeFeo   Ohio lawmakers are weighing a push to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move that could send additional resources to help the state fight the influx of drugs. House Concurrent Resolution 10 calls on the federal government to levy the foreign terrorist organization…

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Michigan Governor Signs Auto Insurance Reform That Will Lower Rates

by Tyler Arnold   Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed bipartisan auto insurance reform into law Thursday that will guarantee lower rates for all drivers in the state with the highest premiums in the country. “By signing this legislation, we are providing relief to millions of drivers across the state and guaranteeing…

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Supreme Court Blocks Order Requiring Republicans to Redraw District Lines in Ohio and Michigan

by Kevin Daley   The Supreme Court temporarily blocked two decisions Friday requiring Republican-controlled legislatures in Michigan and Ohio to produce new legislative district lines ahead of the 2020 election. There were no noted dissents from the Friday orders. The decision was not surprising, as the justices are currently deciding…

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Kenneth Blackwell Commentary: Bernie and AOC Will Destroy Low-Income Americans with Their New ‘Banking Solutions’

by Kenneth Blackwell   If you like unnecessarily long lines, surly clerks, and terrible service, then you’re probably going to love the latest idea to come from the fevered minds of some of the most radical Democrats in Congress. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both of whom identify…

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