10,000+ Ohio customers lost power after FirstEnergy tried to loosen reliability rules
The power outages occurred seven days after the PUCO denied FirstEnergy’s request for more lax reliability standards. The regulators cited the many customer complaints about blackouts, the history of ratepayer funded grid upgrades, and weak performance indicators.
LATEST NEWS FROM SIGNAL STATEWIDE
Election 2026
Why Ohio Democrats nearly caught Republicans in primary election turnout
Post-election voter data shows turnout among Republicans dropped while more previously unaffiliated voters requested Democratic ballots.
DeWine vetoes bill requiring photo ID for mail voting in Ohio
In a written statement, DeWine said the bill posed a burden to voters without any real benefit.
Ohio will again send all voters absentee ballot applications as mail voting continues to plunge
A state spending panel voted Monday to approve spending $2.5 million on the universal absentee ballot application mailing, which Ohio has done in every even-year, general election since 2012.
GOVERNMENT
One year later, Ohio professors say Senate Bill 1 changed how they teach and work
From closed DEI offices to shuttered academic programs, educators describe how the state higher education law revamped their work over the past year.
EDUCATION
Ohio colleges face increasing maintenance challenges as campuses age
The recent capital budget offers a look at what campus updates the state’s 14 universities and 22 community colleges are making.
HEALTH
Deadly neglect lawsuits and fines follow Ohio nursing home chain
In courtrooms and Ohio Department of Health inspections, Arbors at Ohio facilities have repeatedly been accused of neglectful care with fatal outcomes. The chain has paid hundreds of thousands in regulatory penalties.
STATE SIGNALS NEWSLETTER
Just 23% of Ohio’s 18-year-olds are registered to vote – among the lowest rates in the U.S.
Ohio political news and insights from the State Signals newsletter. Plus, why 2,000 provisional ballots were rejected in the May primary.
PUBLIC SAFETY
The rise of super-potent synthetic opioids: How nitazenes hit Ohio hard
Nitazenes — synthetic drugs that can be far stronger than fentanyl — are turning up across the state. In 2020, there were just four fatalities linked to the drug; in 2021 that number rose to 90. Between 2022 and 2024, according to government data, there were 200 more deaths.
NEWS FROM NOTUS
DOGE Cut Off Small Town America’s 250th Birthday Money
Ohio Humanities was planning history projects for the 250th when DOGE axed its funding last year. Then Trump redirected federal money for his own beautification projects.
Local Newsrooms
Signal Ohio is a nonprofit statewide network of local newsrooms.
Why Local News
Local news is in crisis. Across the country, including here in Ohio, the commercial news industry has been on the decline, leading to the loss of nearly three-quarters of journalism jobs since 2005, leading to less accountability, more polarization, and more government waste. With the volume of original reporting in Ohio communities reduced to a small fraction of what it once was, nonprofit news offers a path forward
