CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Republican Ohio governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy shared he will make a “special announcement” in Cleveland on Wednesday evening.

The event will be held at Windows On The River in the West Bank of the Flats at 2000 Sycamore St.

The doors open at 6 p.m., and the program is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Details of this campaign stop have yet to be released.

The announcement comes on the same day the Vivek Ramaswamy for Ohio campaign shared it raised $9.88 million during the second half of 2025, which surpassed the previous record breaking $9.77 million raised during the first half of the year, “marking the strongest fundraising performance by a gubernatorial candidate in Ohio history.”

Ramaswamy has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, more than 70 legislators, and 65 sheriffs, the campaign listed.

On the other side of the aisle, Dr. Amy Acton is running as the Democratic Ohio governor candidate.

Acton served as the Ohio Department of Health director during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic before becoming Chief Health Advisor.

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Hospital admissions and positive tests for influenza are soaring in Illinois, prompting warnings and concerns from health officials.

According to an update Monday from the Illinois Department of Public Health, flu activity in the state has climbed to “very high” levels in recent days, the most severe of five categories of respiratory illness activity used by the CDC.

Data available via the IDPH’s Seasonal Respiratory Illness Dashboard shows that more than 19% of emergency room visits in Illinois during the last reporting period were due to acute respiratory illness, with more than 18% of hospital admissions attributed to those illnesses.

Acute respiratory illnesses include the flu as well as COVID-19 and RSV, according to officials.

COVID-19 rates are also on the rise, increasing to “moderate” levels in the state according to the CDC.

The CDC uses wastewater monitoring to help detect viruses infecting people in a community, according to its website.

The bulk of hospital admissions and ER visits associated with respiratory illnesses were made because of flu symptoms, according to officials.

Health officials in Illinois are warning of a new and unexpected mutation that could make for a “more serious flu season.” Natalie Martinez has more.

Data shows that the spike in illnesses is having a serious impact on those residents under the age of 18. Children between the ages of 5 and 17 are most impacted by hospital admissions related to acute respiratory illnesses and the flu, while residents over the age of 65 are most impacted by COVID-19.

In the press release, Illinois also reported its first influenza death in a child this season.

“Illinois is facing a significant winter surge in seasonal respiratory illnesses with flu activity at very high levels,” Dr. Sameer Vohra, IDPH director, said. “Vaccinations remain the most effective tool to prevent severe illness from flu, COVID-19 and RSV.”

That push for vaccinations comes as approximately 22% of state residents have received flu shots, according to Illinois health officials. Even though flu season peaks in January and February, officials caution that it can last into May, making vaccination a smart strategy in containing spread of the illness.

In addition to vaccines, washing hands frequently is critical to preventing spread of the illness, as is covering coughs and sneezes, and wearing a mask when ill.

Antiviral treatments can also minimize symptoms and speed up recovery, but must be sought in the early stages of the illness to be effective, officials warn.

More information can be found on IDPH’s website.

At some point in 2025, the FBI helped a local police agency foil an “ISIS-inspired plot” that at least one minor planned to carry out at an unnamed central Indiana school, according to an annual summary released by the federal agency’s Indianapolis field office on Jan. 5, 2026.

FBI agents “disrupted an ISIS-inspired plot targeting a Central Indiana high school through rapid coordination with local partners,” according to the news release.

Beyond that, the agency provided few details, sharing neither the name of the school involved nor the city or town in which the school was located. Nor did the agency clarify why the report characterized the plot as ISIS-inspired.

Chris Bavender, an FBI spokesperson, declined to answer an IndyStar request for additional information about the foiled attack, responding in an email that “this matter is ongoing.”

“Because the student had immediate access to firearms, FBI Indianapolis worked closely with the high school and our local law enforcement partner to remove all firearms from the house, and the student was expelled from school. DOJ did not file charges as the individual is a juvenile,” Bavender wrote.

Bavender did not provide any information on whether the student is facing charges in the juvenile justice system.

Although high schools in both Mooresville and Westfield were the site of high-profile threat investigations in 2025, neither matched the details mentioned in the FBI report.

In February 2025, Trinity Shockley, 18, was arrested after sharing plans for a Valentine’s Day school shooting at Mooresville High School. Though the investigation into Shockley began after the FBI received a tip, Shockley was not a juvenile at the time of her arrest. Nor did court documents filed in her case reference any connection to ISIS.

The Mooresville Police Department did not immediately respond on Jan. 5 to a request for comment.

In September 2025, Westfield High School was placed on lockdown after a “potential threat.” Billy Adams, the assistant chief of the Westfield Police Department, said there’s no indication the lockdown “had anything to do with an ISIS-inspired plot.”

IndyStar reached out on Jan. 5 to multiple police agencies in central Indiana, including the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Southport Police Department, the Speedway Police Department and the Beech Grove Police Department.

Officials for IMPD, Southport, and Speedway police said their agencies handled no such threat. Beech Grove’s police department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at rhmurphy@indystar.com.