Ohio
An estimated 3,000 Ukrainians have resettled in Northeast Ohio since start of war
![An estimated 3,000 Ukrainians have resettled in Northeast Ohio since start of war An estimated 3,000 Ukrainians have resettled in Northeast Ohio since start of war](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/044db77/2147483647/strip/true/crop/910x478%200%2014/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http://ewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com/ec/18/6469bb5c46f49c5b0d329f9ffe69/screen-shot-2022-12-15-at-9.40.35%20AM.png)
SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio — Ten months in the past, Russia started its main invasion of Ukraine, ensuing within the deaths of 1000’s and the biggest refugee disaster in Europe since World Struggle II.
Between the Uniting for Ukraine streamlined course of with the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety and different avenues of resettlement, about 221,000 Ukrainians have been processed and arrived in the US since March.
A spokesperson with the US Citizenship and Immigration Companies mentioned an extra 36,000 Ukrainians have been licensed to return to the US however haven’t arrived but.
Based on the Ohio Division of Job and Household Companies, greater than 6,000 Ohioans have utilized to be a sponsor to a Ukrainian.
Joe Cimperman, president of International Cleveland, a corporation devoted to welcoming and integrating individuals from all over the world into the world, mentioned that between all of the visa choices and different avenues out there it may be arduous to trace precisely what number of Ukrainians now name Northeast Ohio residence.
Nonetheless he mentioned his group estimates about 3,000 Ukrainians have resettled in Northeast Ohio for the reason that begin of the warfare.
“We have now extra housing than we occupy,” Cimperman defined. “We have now extra jobs than we now have crammed. We have now extra alternatives which can be being realized. So if we open up just a little bit and say, ‘Come on, there’s there’s loads of Northeast Ohio right here for you. Enroll your children in class. Have a look at your dream residence. Begin that firm. Work that job.’ We are able to accommodate that.”
Amongst these is Nazar Pinkevych, who moved to Broadview Heights 9 months in the past along with his spouse and two youngsters shortly after the warfare began.
Information 5 caught up with Pinkevych as he labored on portray a house in Shaker Heights, certainly one of his building expertise he first acquired in Ukraine.
“[It’s] just a little bit completely different, all the identical however just a little bit completely different,” he mentioned.
Pinkevych labored on the location with the assistance of his brother Igor Turansky and different Ukrainians who’ve resettled in Northeast Ohio.
“It feels proper,” Turansky mentioned of working along with his brother. “It is individuals you’ll be able to belief. I say good.”
The crew has already been applauded for his or her high quality of labor and was employed as a part of a brand new construct building venture with Keystate Houses, an organization based by first-generation immigrants.
“They’re making an attempt to assist [family back in Ukraine] and from what I perceive loads of the cash they make they’re making an attempt to ship again,” Keystate Houses Enterprise Improvement Director Andrew Gotlieb defined.
Turansky defined he first moved to the U.S. in 2015, and after securing his inexperienced card, he has since labored to assist different Ukrainians simply acclimate to life in Northeast Ohio.
“Nobody supported me and stuff so you must obtain every thing by your self,” he recalled.
That mentioned, each males described how their household again in Ukraine nonetheless struggles, even on the western a part of the nation.
“It is arduous to observe to be trustworthy,” Turansky mentioned. “My sister is over there, my dad is over there. I’ve loads of household [there]. Proper now, it is arduous with electrical energy and stuff.”
There’s no scarcity on residence building or renovation tasks for this group of contractors, which is strictly how Turansky desires it — all part of his American dream.
Nonetheless for Pinkevych, the talents he picks up right here will hopefully assist him rebuild the place he calls residence.
“I plan (to go) again to Ukraine when warfare is finished,” he mentioned.
For Cimperman at International Cleveland, it is essential transferring ahead that the neighborhood proceed to welcome and help this rising Ukrainian inhabitants.
“The native born inhabitants will not be having children the best way that it used to,” he mentioned. “If we need to develop, we now have to develop. What could be actually useful could be if we might let these individuals actually reside out the American dream that I do know exists when it comes to individuals discovering a job, shopping for a home, getting their children enrolled. The extra individuals we welcome, the higher we turn into.”
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Ohio
Hellbenders are real, large and live in Ohio, and they showed up on a sold-out ODNR T-shirt
![Hellbenders are real, large and live in Ohio, and they showed up on a sold-out ODNR T-shirt Hellbenders are real, large and live in Ohio, and they showed up on a sold-out ODNR T-shirt](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/10/02/PSPR/02fb0872-78b9-4791-9d1c-1fcd5ba5e810-Hell5.jpg?auto=webp&crop=4255,2394,x0,y213&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Hellbender are big salamanders that are losing population and their habitat
Hellbenders are aquatic species and found in cool, highly oxygenated streams. They often use large flat rocks to nest and hide under.
Cecelia Hanley, Springfield News-Leader
Found lurking in Ohio’s rivers and streams, this salamander can grow to nearly two feet long. But despite its name and size, this endangered species is harmless.
Yes, hellbenders are real. And now the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has immortalized them on a T-shirt.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources uses hellbenders on 75th anniversary T-shirts in homage to Hell is Real sign
In an homage to the infamous Hell is Real sign on Interstate 71 between Cincinnati and Columbus, ODNR is using the slogan “Hellbenders are Real” (complete with an H that’s a different color from the rest of the letters, just like the sign) on one of its five 75th anniversary T-shirts. Other T-shirts read “Take a Hike,” “Let it Grow,” “Wild for Wildflowers” and “Ohio’s for the Birds.”
Sadly, the hellbenders T-shirt is currently out of stock. ODNR spokesperson Karina Cheung says they’ve sold out twice so far, first at the Ohio State Fair in late July and early August, and then shortly after they went live for online sales last week. However, ODNR has put in another order.
All about the hellbender salamander, an endangered species
The largest amphibian in Ohio, the eastern hellbender can grow to a length of 27 inches, according to ODNR, but they are usually 11.5 to 20 inches in length. They have functional lungs, along with a single gill slit on each side of the neck.
Found mostly in southern and eastern Ohio, hellbenders prefer large, swift streams where they hide under rocks during the day. They feed on crayfish, snails, minnows, insects and worms. Because hellbenders need clean, oxygen-rich water, they can be a good indicator of water quality and overall health of the stream, according to the Ohio State University Extension.
They breed in late August or September, according to ODNR. The female lays up to 500 eggs in a nest under a large rock dug by the male. Sometimes, several females use the same nest. That nest is then guarded by the male until the young hellbenders hatch in two to three months. They keep their gills until they’re about a year and a half old.
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium helping to repopulate the hellbender
Sept. 20, 2023, was a red-letter day for Greg Lipps, amphibian and reptile conservation coordinator for The Ohio State University. That was the day he and his team discovered a hellbender raised at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and released in 2016, guarding a nest of eggs, Lipps wrote for the zoo.
“This was, of course, exactly what we had always hoped to see: an animal born and raised at a zoo, released back into the wild, going on to reproduce and help reverse the decline of this iconic species,” Lipps writes.
The hellbender in question, a male, was found two weeks earlier — on Sept. 6 — having taken up residence in a “hellbender hut,” an artificial concrete habitat in streams used by hellbenders to nest. The male was collected as an egg in 2013, raised at the zoo and released into the wild as a 3-year-old, Lipps wrote.
More on the hellbender: Zoos, other officials work to keep hellbender salamander happy and healthy in Ohio
“This is the first evidence of a released hellbender reproducing in the wild,” John Navarro, program administrator for the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Aquatic Stewardship program, told Farm and Dairy.
Hellbender eggs, collected each year, are sent to the Columbus and Toledo zoos as well as the animal husbandry program at the Penta Career Center in Perrysburg, Ohio, where they are raised until age three, Farm and Dairy reports.
More than 1,900 hellbenders raised at these facilities have been released into Ohio waterways in the past 10 years, Navarro said.
Ohio
Ohio trooper rescues injured kitten from busy highway, now awaiting adoption
![Ohio trooper rescues injured kitten from busy highway, now awaiting adoption Ohio trooper rescues injured kitten from busy highway, now awaiting adoption](https://images.foxtv.com/static.livenowfox.com/www.livenowfox.com/content/uploads/2024/09/1280/720/akitten.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Ohio state trooper rescues injured kitten from busy highway
A state trooper in Canton, Ohio, was able to safely remove an injured kitten lying on a busy highway on Wednesday. (Credit: @OSHP_NEOhio via Storyful)
CANTON, Ohio – Heartwarming video shows an Ohio state trooper stopping to safely remove an injured kitten that was found lying on a busy highway Wednesday.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol released footage that showed the officer leaving his vehicle on Interstate 77 in Canton to approach the black and white kitten.
The trooper then scoops up the kitten, using a jacket, and places the cat in the back of his vehicle.
The kitten was brought to the Stark County Humane Society where it’s waiting for a forever home, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.
Ohio
Judge blocks Ohio ban on foreign nationals, green card holders contributing to ballot campaigns
![Judge blocks Ohio ban on foreign nationals, green card holders contributing to ballot campaigns Judge blocks Ohio ban on foreign nationals, green card holders contributing to ballot campaigns](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/c9ddbfb5d1edc013336ddea0e78b2d5540458d18/c=0-122-2400-1472/local/-/media/2020/04/19/USATODAY/usatsports/ghows-OH-200419018-a9a2cb48.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=1200)
A judge ruled Saturday that the Ohio law, which was set to take effect Sunday, violated the First Amendment rights of non-U.S. citizens living here legally
A federal judge blocked Ohio’s ban on foreign nationals and green card holders contributing to ballot campaigns.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Watson ruled Saturday that the Ohio law, which was set to take effect Sunday, violated the First Amendment rights of non-U.S. citizens living here legally, often known as green card holders.
Watson concluded that Ohio lawmakers have a legitimate interest in protecting ballot issues from foreign influence, but this law missed the mark.
For example, the law doesn’t limit foreign companies from contributing to ballot measures. Instead, it likely violates the rights of lawful permanent residents, who live in the United States indefinitely and can serve in the military.
“If the U.S. Federal Government trusts LPRs [lawful permanent residents] to put U.S. interests first in the military (of all places), how could this Court hold that it does not trust them to promote U.S. interests in their political spending? It cannot,” wrote Watson, who was appointed to the court by former President George W. Bush.
Ohio lawmakers added a ban on foreign contributions to ballot campaigns to a bill changing the deadline for presidential nominees to make the Ohio ballot. Democrats scheduled their national convention this year after Ohio’s initial deadline, necessitating the change.
There already was a ban in Ohio on candidate donations.
The penalty for these contributions is a fine of at least $10,000 or three times the amount contributed and a first-degree misdemeanor for the first offense or a fifth-degree felony for repeat offenses. The Ohio attorney general is tasked with investigating and prosecuting these crimes.
When the bill was moving through the Legislature, Republican lawmakers like Rep. Bill Seitz, of Green Township, and Sen. Niraj Antani, of Miamisburg, warned that a judge could decide that they had overstepped.
“Green card holders absolutely have the right to freedom of speech,” Antani said before the vote. “And absolutely, donating to campaigns and candidates is free speech. This is going to get mucked up in the courts.”
Antani’s words proved prescient on Saturday.
Watson wrote: “Not only does the First Amendment protect lawful resident foreign nationals as speakers, but it also protects U.S. citizens’ right to hear those foreign nationals’ political speech.”
The lawsuit challenging Ohio’s ban on foreign spending was filed by OPAWL – Building AAPI Feminist Leadership, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, a German citizen and her husband who live in northeast Ohio and a Canadian citizen who lives in Silver Lake by the Elias Law Group and Cooper Elliott.
Read the decision:
Jessie Balmert covers state government and politics for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
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