Ohio

Ohio lawmakers push to revive executions through state budget bill

Published

4 weeks ago

April 2, 2025

Ohio lawmakers push to revive executions through state budget bill

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Ohio lawmakers are trying to end the state’s years-long moratorium on executions by compelling state prison officials to seek federal help with obtaining long-sought lethal-injection drugs.

Under language added to the state’s massive budget bill on Tuesday, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction would be directed to “make every effort to acquire lethal injection drugs” in collaboration with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Prisons officials would be required to update lawmakers twice per year about the status of those efforts.

The state of Ohio hasn’t put anyone to death since 2018. That’s because Ohio, like other states, has struggled in recent years to obtain lethal-injection drugs from U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies, which have cut off sales on moral and legal grounds.

Gov. Mike DeWine has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since taking office in 2019, saying no executions will take place while he’s governor unless lawmakers alter state law to permit alternative forms of execution. Since then, bills have been introduced to authorize executions using nitrogen gas and to abolish the state’s death penalty altogether, but neither passed.

DeWine, a Greene County Republican, has repeatedly expressed his concern that if pharmaceutical companies find that Ohio used their drugs to put people to death, they will refuse to sell any of their drugs (not just the ones used in executions) to the state. That would endanger the ability of thousands of Ohioans – such as Medicaid recipients, state troopers, and prison inmates – to get drugs through state programs.

The governor, who’s term-limited in 2026, has told reporters that he’ll have some sort of announcement about the death penalty, but not until after he signs the budget bill into law (which usually happens around late June).

However, when President Donald Trump was sworn back into office in January, he issued an executive order “restoring” the federal death penalty (which was halted by the Biden administration in 2021) and empowering the U.S. attorney general to “ensure that each state has a sufficient supply of drugs needed to carry out lethal injection.”

In response, Attorney General Dave Yost, a Columbus Republican, wrote Bondi last month asking for help with obtaining lethal-injection drugs.

Yost, who’s running for governor next year, wrote that pharmaceutical CEOs and their boards of directors should not be allowed to “subvert our country’s laws based on their moral scruples.” He’s also repeatedly railed against Ohio’s death-penalty purgatory, arguing it leads the state to spend hundreds of millions of dollars unnecessarily.

Yost, in a statement, said he didn’t seek the budget measure. But, he said, “It’s a commonsense approach and I fully support it.”

It remains to be seen whether this new death-penalty measure — one of hundreds of changes Ohio House Republicans made Tuesday to the massive budget bill – will end up in the final budget that DeWine signs into law.

A DeWine spokesman declined comment on the budget measure Wednesday.

JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, didn’t directly answer when asked what, if anything, the department has been doing recently to search for execution drugs, as well as whether state prisons officials have been working with federal officials to obtain such drugs.

“Our department does not currently possess any of the execution drugs listed in Ohio’s execution protocol,” Smith said in a one-sentence reply.

Jeremy Pelzer covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.

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Ohio

Ohio Applebee’s location vandalized with swastikas, antisemitic messages, police say

Published

5 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Press Room

Ohio Applebee’s location vandalized with swastikas, antisemitic messages, police say

MIAMISBURG, Ohio — An Applebee’s location in southwest Ohio was closed Saturday after it was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti, reports say.

The Dayton Daily News reports that police say the restaurant was “tagged” with the graffiti just before 8 a.m. Saturday. No arrests have been reported.

Ken Jarosik, communications manager for the city of Miamisburg, tells the Daily News that swastikas and hate messages targeting Jewish people were painted on various parts of the building.

The restaurant was closed Saturday as the graffiti was power-washed from the building, WHIO Channel 7 reports.

“We have no tolerance for discrimination of any kind at Applebee’s and are deeply saddened by the vandalism that occurred at our Miamisburg restaurant,” Rodney Conant of RMH, the Applebee’s franchisee that owns the location, tells WDTN Channel 2.

The Anti-Defamation League reports there has been a nearly 900% increase in antisemitic incidents during the past decade in the U.S. In 2015 there were 942 reported incidents, while there were more than 9,300 in 2024, an all-time high, according to the ADL.

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Deep Ohio State football talent pool produces impressive 14 NFL draft picks

Published

24 hours ago

April 27, 2025

Press Room

Deep Ohio State football talent pool produces impressive 14 NFL draft picks

Woody Hayes famously believed, “You win with people.” The Old Man was not wrong, but to win at the highest level of college football, you win with people drafted into the NFL.

Ohio State led all schools with seven players selected in the first two rounds of the April 24-26 NFL Draft, including four in the first round, the most for the program since 2016. Not coincidentally, the Buckeyes won the 2024 College Football Playoff national championship. As much as OSU preaches about The Brotherhood, it takes more than strong team chemistry to hoist the CFP trophy. It takes elite talent. And lots of it.

Proof? Check out which schools had the most first-round draft picks. Ohio State (4), Georgia, Texas, Michigan (3), Alabama, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State (2), Arizona, Boise State, Colorado, Kentucky, LSU, Miami, Missouri, North Dakota State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, North Carolina.

Ohio State, Georgia, Texas, Oregon, Penn State and Boise either had first-round byes or advanced to the second round of the playoff. Tennessee made the field; Alabama, Miami and Ole Miss nearly did.

What happened to Michigan, which had three first-round picks? 1. Well, the Wolverines did defeat the eventual national champions, which fans of the Maize and Blue are only too happy to remind everyone; and 2. UM had to play without Connor Stalions. A year earlier, the Wolverines won the natty with seven players drafted in the first three rounds, which led all schools. They also led with 13 total picks. And the three first-rounders this year played starring roles on the championship team.

Notre Dame is an exception. The Fighting Irish had no player selected in the first round and only two selected in the first three rounds, which cover the first two days of the draft. Credit ND coach Marcus Freeman with doing more with less, at least compared to Ohio State, Georgia and Texas.

Another way to analyze it: Ohio State has the most first-round picks (95) and third most wins (732) since the draft was instituted in 1936, according to Statmuse.com. Southern California is second with 85 first-rounders and ninth in wins (660), while Alabama is third (85) and leads FBS with 749 wins. Rounding out the top five is Notre Dame (71, fourth most wins with 690) and Miami (68 and 15th most wins with 609).

Majority of OSU early picks were five-star recruits

Not for nothing, four of Ohio State’s seven picks in the first two rounds were rated as five stars coming out of high school by 247sports.com. Maybe OSU recruiting coordinator Mark Pantoni is the real brains behind the Buckeyes’ draft-day success? Or maybe it is offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Brian Hartline, who, in the spring of 2021, had the following wide receivers in his room: Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jameson Williams, Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka. Four years removed and all six were first-round draft picks. Take away Williams, who transferred to Alabama, and you still have five OSU receivers drafted in the top 20 since 2022. Wowza.

Not to be outdone, Ryan Day’s draft day resume is impressive in its consistency. This is the third time since Day took over from Urban Meyer in 2019 that the Buckeyes have seen at least three players go in the first round. In 2020, it was Chase Young, Jeff Okudah and Damon Arnette; in 2023, C.J. Stroud, Paris Johnson and Smith-Njigba; and in 2025, Egbuka (19th to Tampa Bay), Donovan Jackson (24th to Minnesota), Tyleik Williams (28th to Detroit) and Josh Simmons (32nd to Kansas City).

Buy Ohio State posters, books, gear from CFP title win

Ohio State finished the three-day draft with 14 players selected, tying the school record set in 2004. After the four first-rounders, Quinshon Judkins (Cleveland), TreVeyon Henderson (New England) and J.T. Tuimoloau (Indianapolis) went in the second, followed by fourth-round picks Cody Simon (Arizona), Lathan Ransom (Carolina) and Jack Sawyer (Pittsburgh). Ty Hamilton (L.A. Rams), Jordan Hancock (Buffalo) and Denzel Burke went in the fifth, while Will Howard (Pittsburgh) got picked in the sixth.

Buckeye Nation can now drool over what is coming next. Safety Caleb Downs almost certainly will be a first-round pick next April. Linebacker Sonny Styles also could jump into the first round, and possibly wide receiver Brandon Inniss if he has a big 2025 season. After that, sophomore wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has another year in Columbus before becoming a first-round pick in 2027.

Buckeyes still talented enough to compete for national title

Sprinkle in a handful of second- and third-round picks over the next two seasons, and there is no reason to think Ohio State won’t compete for another national championship next year. The talent is there, as long as the starting quarterback, most likely Julian Sayin, is good enough to eventually get drafted.

The biggest concern? Defensive line, where OSU needs to replace four top-150 picks. Defensive line coach Larry Johnson has developed his guys into strong run stoppers and, at times, dangerous edge rushers. He’ll need to keep it going for the Buckeyes to be a top-10 defense in 2025.

Woody was right. You win with people … who can make a living playing football.

Sports columnist Rob Oller can be reached at roller@dispatch.com and on X.com at@rollerCD.

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Cleveland Browns’ dome scandal a symbol of Ohio’s shame | Letters

Published

2 days ago

April 26, 2025

Press Room

Cleveland Browns’ dome scandal a symbol of Ohio’s shame | Letters

Letters to the Editor
| Columbus Dispatch

Browns’ dome a symbol of Ohio’s shame

I am ashamed of the Representatives in the Ohio House and the authors of the proposed two-year budget for the state.

I pray the Ohio Senate will vote this budget proposal down and suggest edits that will better protect our freedoms, not micromanage citizens and cost us more to help millionaires build a new domed stadium.

Seriously, when did we lose the capacity to care for one another?

Supporting families and children with a tax on tobacco is much more proactive and fiscally smart than financing bonds to build yet another stadium in Cleveland.

I beg the voters and our “representatives” to make their voices heard.

I do NOT believe this bill should be passed as-is.

Remove the unnecessary language that has nothing to do with a budget (gender-affirming care) and focus our spending on REAL infrastructure improvements (schools instead of prisons, mental health care for ALL) so that we can be a better example of American freedoms.

Alena Fox, Bucyrus

I can’t retire

I’m concerned about our property taxes in Hamilton County.

I’m not a native of Cincinnati; I was born in Portsmouth.

I bought a home in Anderson Township a year after moving to the area and got a great deal. It was the first home I had bought for myself.

My taxes were very low — I believe around $500-$600 every six months, which wasn’t too bad, but I was still working full time.

Over the years, however, taxes have risen very drastically.

I’m now retirement age and my Social Security check isn’t enough to live on. I now have to work part-time just to basically live.

Last year, my taxes rose by $600.

A couple years ago, I appealed, but it didn’t work. The appeals court didn’t pass it. So now I struggle month-to-month just to pay bills and buy food. I still owe some on my house and make a mortgage payment.

It’s getting harder and harder every day.

I feel like I’m just struggling and surviving every day. I want to stay in my residence, but It’s getting harder and harder to pay my property taxes.

I’m 69 and still working. I and other elderly citizens — especially veterans — need help with our property taxes.

I feel like I’ve worked all my life and now I can’t retire.

It’s really a shame, and I know I’m not alone. Others face similar circumstances.

We really want to stay in our homes, but the way things are going, I just wonder how much longer this can continue.

Sherry Fitch, Cincinnati

Who is deranged?

Re “Criticism of Buckeyes shows how bad TDS has become, April 21: Louis Nobile, you are spot on. The OSU Buckeyes handled themselves with an aplomb that would and should make all Ohioans proud.

The president? Well, you called it. Deranged.

Josh Eaton, Columbus

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