Ohio State has received a verbal commitment from Khary Wilder, a four-star defensive end from Southern California.

Wilder revealed his pledge on June 10, a little more than a week after taking his official visit to the school.

“Go Buckeyes,” he wrote in a post on X. “All Glory 2 God!!”

The addition helps the Buckeyes bolster the trenches, providing them with their first defensive lineman in the class of 2026.

Wilder, who attends Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, California, is the No. 242 overall prospect and No. 23 edge rusher in the class of 2026, according to composite rankings from 247Sports. While listed as 6 feet 4 and 260 pounds by recruiting services, he offers length as a pass rusher.

He appeared to move up on the Buckeyes’ recruiting board in rapid fashion this spring, receiving a scholarship offer last month. Georgia, Notre Dame and Washington also extended him offers in recent months.

Defensive line was the only position on defense that the Buckeyes did not have at least commitment in this cycle.

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow along on Bluesky, Instagram and X for more.

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• The proposal, called the “She Wins Act,” comes after a judge blocked Ohio’s previous 24-hour waiting period law.
• Abortion rights advocates oppose the bill, arguing it violates the 2023 amendment guaranteeing reproductive rights and a judge’s ruling.
• The bill’s sponsors claim it aims to ensure patients have adequate information, not to circumvent the court’s decision.

Ohio Republicans want to reinstate a 24-hour waiting period for abortions, despite a judge’s order blocking it.

The proposal from Reps. Mike Odioso, R-Green Twp., and Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Twp., would require doctors to provide patients seeking an abortion with information about the “physical and psychological risks” at least 24 hours before an abortion pill or procedure.

Patients would receive information about abortion risks and reviews of the physician providing it, Williams said. Patients could sue if they don’t receive this information in person, via phone, email or other means, according to a news release. Lawmakers are calling the bill the “She Wins Act.”

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Abortion rights advocates say the proposal is at odds with a judge’s decision that blocked Ohio’s longtime 24-hour waiting period. The preliminary injunction came after Ohio voters approved a reproductive rights amendment in 2023.

Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge David Young cited the 2023 amendment in his ruling, which allowed providers to offer same-day abortions. In many cases, the waiting period extended beyond one day because of transportation challenges or other issues.

More: Abortion access has increased in Ohio since 2023 vote. What comes next?

Williams said he isn’t trying to undermine that decision.

“This is not an attempt to go around the court or even put our thumb on the scale,” Williams told the statehouse bureau. “This is an effort to make sure the patient is given adequate information to make a life-changing decision.”

But Abortion Forward Executive Director Kellie Copeland isn’t convinced.

“This whole proposal is bizarre,” Copeland said. “Ohio had a medically unnecessary 24-hour waiting period before the passage of the Ohio Reproductive Freedom Amendment. It has been ruled unconstitutional by the courts and blocked from enforcement. Politicians like Reps. Josh Williams and Mike Odioso clearly do not care about the law or what is best for patients.”

The bill is in the early stages and hasn’t yet been assigned to a House committee for review.

State government reporter Jessie Balmert can be reached at jbalmert@gannett.com or @jbalmert on X.

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• The Trump administration drastically cut funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities, affecting grants to arts and culture organizations nationwide.
• The Mellon Foundation provided stopgap funding to state humanities councils, but it’s insufficient to replace lost federal funds, officials said.
• Ohio Humanities and other organizations are advocating for restored NEH funding in the federal budget.

After National Endowment of Humanities canceled tens of millions of grants to arts and culture institutions around the country April 1, including $2 million in Ohio, disproportionately affecting smaller and rural institutions, officials called the cuts “heartbreaking.”

Now, humanities funds around the country could breathe a small sigh of relief after the Mellon Foundation announced in late April that it would send each state council a grant to help each of them stay afloat, but that is a fraction of the once-reliable federal funding.

Each state humanities council got $200,000 in unrestricted funding to continue operating and up to $50,000 in additional matching funds.

The stopgap in funding is helpful, but the organizations need more stable funding to continue their work, Ohio Humanities Executive Director Rebecca Asmo said in an email to The Dispatch.

“The grant from the Mellon Foundation is an important bridge in funding that will help us respond to this crisis in the short term, but it in no way can replace the consistency and amount of federal funding that has been available to support communities throughout Ohio for the past 50+ years,” Asmo said.

Ohio Humanities moved up its annual fundraising campaign to help make the match and is about halfway to the goal a month after the initial grant announcement, Asmo said. But more funding is needed.

“The NEH contract termination abruptly eliminated $900,000 worth of funding that was anticipated between March 14 and Sept. 30, 2025, so while the Mellon funds are an important bridge, there is still much that is lost and much more we need to work to raise beyond the match,” Asmo said.

Although discourse about President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” has focused on proposed cuts to Medicaid and boosting national debt by $2.8 trillion over the next decade, it also omits future funding for cultural institutions, including the NEH and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Asmo said the organization is working to advocate for NEH funding in the federal budget, which barely passed the House and has an uphill battle in the Senate.

The NEH distributes funding around the country through state humanities councils, which were established in the early 1970s to facilitate more even distribution of grants around the country.

The Federation of State Humanities Councils and Oregon’s council also sued the Trump administration in mid-May. Although Ohio is not part of the lawsuit, Asmo said Ohio Humanities is paying close attention to the proceedings.  

And although the National Endowment for the Humanities announced several new projects, including $260,000 to three in Ohio, this does not restore funding for the other projects with canceled funding.

“While we are encouraged to see NEH distributing grant funding, we are confused as to why these grants are being distributed when funds to state humanities councils were terminated. Over half of these grants are going to just six states — California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Washington, D.C.,” Asmo said.

The NEH did not respond to a request for comment June 6.

The organization posted a statement April 23, weeks after the initial funding cuts were announced, that said the NEH cancelled awards “at variance with agency priorities, including but not limited to those on diversity, equity, and inclusion (or DEI) and environmental justice, as well as awards that may not inspire public confidence in the use of taxpayer funds.”

Ohio Humanities distributed 19 grants totaling nearly $148,000 to organizations around central Ohio in 2024, including a local history walking tour, an oral history project documenting women in prison and a documentary series about the Hopewell Earthworks.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers the western suburbs for The Columbus Dispatch. She can be reached at awinfrey@dispatch.com.