October 17, 2022 | The Ohio Star

Additional Security Protocols Put into Place as Thousands of Ohioans Request Absentee Ballots

October 17, 2022October 16, 2022 Hannah Poling

As early voting began on Wednesday for the 2022 General Election, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose enumerated an increase in absentee ballot applications to date from prior years and assured Ohioans that security checks are in place to make absentee voting secure against fraud.

According to LaRose, the applications for absentee ballots so far reflect a 4.4 percent increase over the gubernatorial statewide election in 2018. So far Ohioans have requested 812,200 absentee ballots, including 4,938 requests from military and overseas voters whose ballots began to be mailed last month.

Progressive Ohio College Town Continues Push to Let Noncitizens Vote

October 17, 2022October 16, 2022 Bradley Vasoli

Democratic officials who run the village of Yellow Springs, a progressive college town near Dayton, are persisting in their effort to legalize noncitizen voting.

Mayor Pam Conine (D) is pushing for the enactment of a state constitutional amendment that would actualize the policy. Yellow Springs voters approved a referendum in 2019 allowing dozens of noncitizen residents of the village to participate in local and state elections, but the measure never went into effect.

Apartment Demand Drops to 30-Year Low as Renters Lose Confidence in the Market

October 17, 2022October 16, 2022 Ohio Star Staff

Apartment demand in the third quarter of 2022 dropped into the negative for the first time in 30 years as many renters have lost confidence in the market due to economic uncertainty, according to RealPage analytics.

Rental markets boomed at the start of 2022, but Q3 data shows a 1.0% increase in apartment vacancies despite a 0.2% month-over-month asking price decrease in September, RealPage reported. Weak rental numbers, despite the first month-over-month asking price drop since December 2020, point to a general economic uncertainty among renters who have adopted a “wait and see” mentality, the outlet reported.

Columbus City Schools Staff Removes Controversial Book from High School Library Collection

October 17, 2022October 16, 2022 Hannah Poling

One of the most banned controversial books in the United States, according to the New York Times, has been removed from Columbus City Schools high school library shelves.

The autobiography, Gender Queer: A Memoir, was published in 2019 and is both written and illustrated by Maia Kobabe. The 240-page book tells Kobabe’s story from adolescence to adulthood covering sensitive topics such as gender identity, masturbation, menstruation, and navigating the world as someone who considers themself nonbinary.

Commentary: Voter Rolls Are Essential to Victory in the Election Integrity Fight

October 17, 2022 Ohio Star Staff

Voter rolls are the most important election integrity documents. They tell election officials who is eligible to vote. The voter rolls also tell election officials where to send mail ballots, so it is even more important that they are accurate in states that automatically send registered voters mail ballots.

It is essential that states have accurate and up to date voter rolls. This includes removing individuals who moved, have died, and duplicate registrants. Many states across the country are failing to do this essential voter list maintenance that is required by federal law.

Commentary: Karl Marx’s Gravest Miscalculation

October 17, 2022 Ohio Star Staff

I recently had occasion to re-read Karl Marx’s seminal Communist Manifesto. It had been nearly twenty years since my first reading of the text in graduate school and I remembered little beyond class antagonisms, Marx’s materialism, and the exploitation of the proletariat. But the ongoing crisis in Venezuela led me to once again reflect on the Socialist and Communist Philosophy underneath the unfolding crisis.

More Bail Reform Could Come No Matter Outcome of Issue One

October 17, 2022October 16, 2022 The Center Square

While Ohioans can vote on some bail reform issues on Election Day, lawmakers and other policy groups continue to work on other aspects in the General Assembly.

The ballot wording on Issue One gives the legislature room to pass bills that would add to the requirements judges must use to establish bail. That, according to the Columbus-based Buckeye Institute, provides an opportunity to continue to tackle issues it believes are key.

Commentary: Learning to Speak Fearlessly in the Midst of College Cancel Culture

October 17, 2022 RealClearWire

Many parents send their college students off for a new academic year with well-intentioned advice. For some, that now includes a cautious directive: maintain a low profile in the classroom on political and religious subjects. Parents have good reason to offer such counsel.

‘Shocking’: EcoHealth Alliance Receives Another Round of Funding for Coronavirus Bat Research in Asia

October 17, 2022October 16, 2022 The Center Square

A coalition of leading House Republicans is raising the alarm and demanding answers after the Biden administration approved another round of grant funding for research on coronaviruses and bats in Asia.

The lawmakers sent a letter to Anthony Fauci, who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and serves as the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden.

Border Authorities Discover New Version of Rainbow Fentanyl

October 17, 2022October 16, 2022 Ohio Star Staff

Border authorities encountered a new form of rainbow fentanyl that smugglers attempted to bring into the U.S., Nogales Port Director Michael W. Humphries said in a tweet Tuesday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sunday seized around 413,000 fentanyl pills, 44,000 of which “had the rainbow colors combined in each pill.” Humphries said the new version of the pills was “not encountered before” as the area continues to see seizures of the new type of candy-colored drug.

Prosecutors: U.S. Election Firm Gave Chinese Workers ‘SuperAdministration’ Access to Election Data

October 17, 2022October 16, 2022 Just the News

A U.S. election technology company currently embroiled in scandal gave Chinese subcontractors high-level security access to American election data, according to a warrant filed by prosecutors this week in Los Angeles.

Authorities earlier this month arrested Eugene Yu, the CEO of the election software company Konnech, on charges of grand theft and embezzlement related to his work with that firm. Controversy has also swirled over Konnech’s alleged storage of poll worker data in servers located in the People’s Republic of China.

Report: Pfizer Board Member Helped Convince Twitter to Ban Vaccine Critic Alex Berenson

October 17, 2022October 16, 2022 Ohio Star Staff

Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb, M.D. played a major role in COVID “vaccine” critic Alex Berenson suspended from Twitter in the summer of 2021, according to emails obtained through discovery in Berenson’s lawsuit against the social media giant. Gottlieb worked with former Biden White House senior coronavirus adviser Andrew Slavitt to suppress Berenson’s influential voice as the administration was preparing to impose boosters and vaccine mandates on the American public.

Clinics Sees Surge in Reproductive Sterilization Procedures amid Tightening Abortion Laws

October 17, 2022October 16, 2022 Just the News

Planned Parenthoods and other clinics in some regions are seeing considerable surges in reproductive sterilization procedures for both men and women amid the tightening of abortion laws around the country following the repeal of Roe v. Wade earlier this year.

The abortion clinic told the Associated Press that its clinics in Missouri have seen “a surge in demand” for vasectomies following the Roe repeal, while tubal litigations have also increased in frequency in the area.