Ohio
Ohio Issue 1: How it would impact voters, what those who oppose and support the measure say
CINCINNATI — Voters heading to the polls in Ohio will notice another “Issue 1” on their ballot this general election — this time, the measure is a redistricting proposal that could drastically change the balance of power within the statehouse.
The goal of Issue 1 is to end gerrymandering, which is manipulating district lines to favor one political party.
“We have some of the most biased maps in the country, not just at the congressional level but the State House and the State Senate,” said Dr. David Niven, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati.
Niven was asked by the League of Women Voters Ohio to look over the state’s districting maps and see if the issue of gerrymandering had been fixed by Ohio’s last redistricting reform.
“My answer from my review of the districts is decidedly no, we didn’t fix the problem,” Niven said. “We changed some of the problems but the fundamentals are still the same.”
Ohio Secretary of State
The League of Women Voters Ohio is working to campaign in favor of Issue 1, stating that the current districting maps hurt all voters.
“What we see are these weird districts that make it difficult for Ohio voters to be heard and represented,” said Jen Miller, executive director for the League of Women Voters Ohio.
One of those “weird” districts Miller refers to is the 1st Congressional District right here in Cincinnati.
Miller says those who created the map grouped the City of Cincinnati with Warren County, creating a “land bridge” since the two don’t connect. But she says the shape is not the biggest issue.
“The biggest concern would be the profound differences between residents of Warren County and Cincinnati,” Miller said.
She added the two areas have drastic financial differences, homeownership numbers and more, often causing one of the two to be disappointed by their political leaders.
However, many GOP lawmakers disagree, saying the current maps work.
“The three main things are to make sure you have one person, one vote, you have communities together, and you keep compactness, and you can only split communities one time,” said Republican state Rep. Adam Mathews (District 56).
Taylor Mirfendereski | WCPO
Mathews argues that if Issue One passes, it will gerrymander district maps.
“It will push both regional and political polarization, all for the benefit of adding two democratic congressional seats,” Mathews said.
He and others who oppose Issue 1 add that only new Democrats who are voted in will benefit from it, and if they truly wanted “unbiased maps” then they would only change who draws them.
Out of prison, Indiana’s caviar king back on Ohio River to find fishing holes taken
David Cox, of English, Indiana, says once he began setting his nets again after a two-year prison sentence and a three-year ban on commercial fishing, all of his once-secret spots were taken.
Can you eat fish from the Ohio River?
In 1975, future presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts, bet 20 pounds of New England cod that the Red Sox would defeat the Reds in the World Series. If things went south for Boston, Ohio governor James Rhodes promised to send Dukakis 10 pounds of Lake Erie perch and 10 pounds of Ohio River catfish. The Reds ended up winning and the cod was sent to the Convalescent Home for Children, in Cincinnati.
At the time, people were still eating catfish from the Ohio without too much concern. The fish were also served at several restaurants along the river.
There were warnings in 1977
But two years later, in 1977, The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission released the results of a study of contaminants found in the tissues of Ohio River fish. They warned anglers in cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Wheeling and Gallipolis that man-made chemicals known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, had been discovered in the river fish. Later, high concentrations of mercury were discovered in the fish, too.
Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the environmental regulations that followed, the river is now cleaner than it was in the seventies. And it’s still teeming with a variety of fish, including catfish, striped bass, drum and black bass, among other species.
But even though PCBs were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979, they are still found in fish, since they remain in the sediment in the bottom of the river. “Organisms live in the sediment and fish feed on them,” Rich Cogen, the executive director of the Ohio River Foundation told The Enquirer. Mercury is also a big problem, according to Cogen.
So the question is: Can you eat fish caught in the Ohio River?
The short answer is yes. But it depends on what species you are eating and where along the river you caught it.
There are also very strict limitations on how frequently you should eat them, according to the web site for the Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, part of the Ohio Department of Health.
In areas of the river between the Belleville Lock, located 204 miles downstream from the river’s origins in Pittsburgh, to the Indiana border, the advisory agency currently recommends consuming Ohio River fish no more than once a month max. That area includes Adams, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Lawrence, Meigs and Scioto counties.
Here’s where to check
Recommendations change throughout the year, but you can keep up by visiting the Ohio Department of Health’s Sport Fish Consumption Advisory page, which provides updated information on when certain fish, usually bottom feeders such as carp, are deemed too dangerous to eat at all.
Here’s who should take a pass on Ohio River fish
The agency also warns that people who are more likely to have health effects from eating contaminated fish, includingchildren younger than 15 years old, pregnant women and women who are planning to become pregnant to avoid Ohio River fish altogether.
Just because you have to limit the amount of fish you eat, doesn’t mean the river is a bad place for fishing, as long as you limit your intake or do catch-and-release fishing. Just make sure you have a proper fishing license before casting your line.
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It isn’t over until it’s over. That’s the case for both the UCLA Bruins football program recruiting and for quarterback Brady Edmunds. Edmunds is currently committed to head to Ohio State but he took a visit from UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy earlier this week.
Kennedy met Edmunds on Thursday despite the fact that the quarterback has been committed to the Buckeyes since December of 2024 but could the UCLA Bruins be making a run at flipping the quarterback?
Edmunds has only had an official visit with Ohio State but could UCLA heave a heat check on the 6’5” quarterback? New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney is off to an unbelievable start to his recruiting with the Bruins and flipping a recruit of Edmunds’ caliber would be his most impressive move yet.
247 Sports has Edmunds as the No. 16 quarterback in the class, which would give UCLA a clear predecessor for Nico Iamaleava whenever the Bruins current starting quarterback decides to head to the professional level.
It’d be a full circle moment for the Bruins, as Edmunds was originally recruited to Ohio State by former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who bailed on UCLA to go run the Buckeyes offense. Ohio State is a great spot for a developing quarterback, as the Buckeyes produce tons of NFL talent, especially at the wide receiver position, which would help Edmunds put up some gaudy numbers in Columbus.
Chesney and the Bruins have geography on their side, Edmunds attends Huntington Beach High School in Southern California, which could potentially become a factor if Edmunds views UCLA as a program on the rise that’d be much closer to his friends and family than out in Ohio.
Time will tell if Kennedy’s visit will make a difference but UCLA’s recruiting has made waves in the first offseason under Chesney and the new regime.
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