Jo Ingles

The group that’s collecting petition signatures to ask voters if the state should require universal background checks on gun sales says it plans to move full steam ahead. And the effort is getting a boost from the leader of Dayton where a mass shooting in August left 10 dead, including the gunman.

Westerville was in the national spotlight as Otterbein University hosted the fourth Democratic Presidential Debate. While about 1,500 people were able to watch the event live in the campus gym, many more were outside the venue using the event as a platform for their own agendas. 

\The Democratic candidates for president are gathered here in Westerville, Ohio, a small suburb of Columbus. This city went for Hillary Clinton in 2016 but traditionally had been solidly Republican. It’s the home of former Ohio Governor John Kasich (R-Westerville). The event is being held at Otterbein University, a small liberal arts college in the center of town.

The city is buzzing with excitement and onlookers. Westerville resident Becky Mallott came down to the event to see what was happening.

When political candidates come to a town, they attract a lot of attention. People who sell shirts and other items set up shop to sell their wares. A professor from Washington D.C. is in Westerville today, carrying a sign to advertise her product – a musical about the 2020 election. 

As many as 99,000 low income Ohioans who want birth control and reproductive health care services have fewer options now that Planned Parenthood nationwide has pulled out of the federal Title X program. In nine counties, it’s the only provider that accepted Title X funds. 

The author of the book, “Dead Man Walking,” says she thinks executions in Ohio and elsewhere are soon going to be a thing of the past. 

Gov. Mike DeWine’s gun plan calls for using the so-called “pink slip” process to separate people thought to be dangerous from their guns. But a top lawmaker is questioning that approach.

A new report says there’s a bird emergency in the air – climate change could eradicate two-thirds of the bird species now prevalent in Ohio by the end of this century. 

The Ohio House has unanimously reversed that, passing a bill that would restore that tax break for those professions.

One Ohio lawmaker says current penalties for people convicted of cruelty to pets and other companion animals are too lax. His bill would increase punishment for that crime.

Two months and a day after Gov. Mike DeWine announced he was working on a plan to address gun violence after a mass shooting in Dayton, he’s unveiled a bill that he says lawmakers will approve.

California recently passed a law that will allow college athletes to be compensated through endorsement deals beginning in 2023. Some state lawmakers want to pass a similar bill in Ohio. 

If you want to vote in this November's election, you need to make sure you are still on the voter rolls. Here's how to do that.

The leader of minority Democrats in the Ohio House says when the new human resources handbook came out last month, it was missing the clause that provided job protection for LGBTQ employees. She wanted to know why that clause, which was in previous handbooks, had been removed.

There were slightly fewer abortions performed in the Buckeye state in 2018 than the year before. Supporters and opponents of legal abortion disagree on the reason for the decline.

On the very day a new excise tax on vapor products went into effect, hundreds gathered for a rally at the Ohio Statehouse. Meanwhile, Gov. Mike DeWine called for new changes. 

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose says 182,858 voter registrations were removed from rolls starting on Sept 6. Some community groups are working to get thousands of those voters to re-register.

There are 19 candidates who have thrown their hats in the ring to run for President next year. The Democratic National Committee thinks a dozen of them will be on the stage at the next debate in Westerville. 

Ohio’s Secretary of State says he’ll release the list of registrations removed from voting rolls this month to various voter groups so they can re-register people on that list by the October 7 registration deadline.  And after he's dealt with that, he says he might check past voter removal lists for errors. 

The former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives will be leaving the Ohio Legislature soon to take a leadership post in higher education.