Longtime FirstEnergy lobbyist accused of paying a $4.3 million bribe speaks out for the first time
“It’s greased.” That’s how Mike Dowling, the former senior vice president of external affairs of FirstEnergy, described in a text message to the CEO a complex amendment to pending legislation worth tens of millions per year to the company. Not long after, lawmakers rolled the “decoupling” amendment into House Bill 6, which also included a…
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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




