GOP lawmakers revive plan to cut Ohio gas tax amid rising diesel prices
Republican lawmakers said Wednesday they will take up gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s gas-tax holiday proposal next week. Democrats would need to cooperate for the measure to take effect before the November election.
LATEST NEWS FROM SIGNAL STATEWIDE
Election 2026
How Ohio college students can register to vote on campus or back home
Though potential changes around voting by mail have sparked confusion ahead of the Nov. 3 election, nothing is changing about voting in Ohio. Residents have until Oct. 5 to complete or update their voter registration.
What to know about the Amy Acton Canfield Fair incident
News and insights from the State Signals newsletter. Plus, what data centers say they want Ohio to do about tax breaks they receive; a Republican mayor criticizes President Trump’s immigration policy.
Ohio’s Amy Acton vs. herself: Tale of two Cleveland Labor Day parades
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton campaigned in Cleveland’s 2025 Labor Day parade – when the party had yet to fully coalesce around her bid. She returned to the 2026 parade, where her participation and reception was very different.
GOVERNMENT
An Ohio judge was kicked off the bench and suspended. He’s still on the November ballot
The Ohio Supreme Court kicked Jon Ickes off the bench and suspended his law license. But the board of elections kept him on the ballot, and his opponent has asked the Supreme Court to intervene.
EDUCATION
‘Ghost students:’ Ohio’s community colleges are targets of financial aid fraud
Campus leaders asked the state for more help in their work to beat the bad actors, including money for fraud prevention software and a database to help identify repeat offenders.
HEALTH
Ohio delays SNAP ban on sugary drinks
Ohio was one of nearly two dozen states working to implement bans on SNAP sales for non-nutritious items such as soda or candy that were encouraged by the Trump administration.
STATE SIGNALS NEWSLETTER
Amy Acton refuses to debate Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio governor’s race
Ohio politics news and insights from the State Signals newsletter. Plus, new regulatory filings reveal just how massive the Piketon AI data center project will be.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Ohio dispensary closes after reports of ‘serious adverse health effects’ from vape
Neither the state nor the dispensary offered details about the health events, but regulators say an investigation is ongoing. Vapen brand products are on what their manufacturer calls a “precautionary hold.”
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