Brian Ball | The Ohio Star

Ohio Reps Fault Biden for Bypassing Congress Ahead of Afghanistan Withdrawal

September 1, 2021August 31, 2021 Brian Ball

GOP congressman said President Joe Biden’s decision in early June to dismiss a mandate to confer with lawmakers before withdrawing from Afghanistan contributed to the chaotic withdrawal that officially ended Tuesday.

The Ohio Star contacted the 11 Republican representatives to react to a report from JustTheNews.com that Biden had waived a congressional mandate to receive a Pentagon risk assessment to counter-terrorism operations and the safety to American personnel stationed in Afghasistan to Congress before U.S. troop levels fell below 2,000.

Drive to Legalize Recreational Marijuana in Ohio Begins as Ballot Panel Approves Petition

August 31, 2021August 30, 2021 Brian Ball

The Ohio Ballot Board has approved an initiative petition drive seeking to legalize marijuana for adults 21 years old and older, clearing the way for supporters to collect signatures for presentation to the Ohio General Assembly later this year.

The five-member panel certified the proposed “Act to Control and Regulate Adult-Use Cannabis” in a 5-0 votes as meeting the one-law standard for proposed ballot measures.

Ohio Politicians Pay Their Respects to Navy Medic Maxton William Soviak Who Died in Kabul Terrorist Attack

August 28, 2021August 27, 2021 Brian Ball

U.S. Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, OH-9, have reacted with grief and tributes to the Sandusky area Navy hospital corpsman killed on Aug. 26 at the Kabul international airport as the American military continues to withdraw troops and civilians from Afghanistan.

The military named sailor Maxton William Soviak as one of 13 American military personnel killed in two terrorist attacks at a hotel and nearby gate of the Kabul airport where American forces and civilians are getting airlifted out in the wake of the Taliban takeover of the southwestern Asian country.

Ohio GOP Candidates for U.S. Senate, Cincinnati Congressman Rip Biden After Afghan Blasts Kill Marines, Navy Medic

August 27, 2021August 26, 2021 Brian Ball

The deaths of at least 13 American service men and women and 75 civilians in Kabul on Thursday has again sparked even mor criticism of President Joe Biden’s leadershp from several candidates for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate in Ohio as well as a Cincinnati congressman..

Three candidates – J.D. Vance, Mike Gibbons and Jane Timkemin in statements sent to The Ohio Star – called for Biden’s resignation 10 days after the Taliban rolled into Kabul and Afghani provincial capitals as the U.S. military scrambled to evacuate its personnel as well and U.S. and select Afghani civilians.

Ohio Senate Candidate J.D. Vance Gains Another Endorsement from Trump Cabinet Vets in EPA’s Wheeler

August 26, 2021August 26, 2021 Brian Ball

The U.S. Senate campaign of J.D. Vance has received a boost with the endorsement of the Trump administration’s head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the second endorsement from a Trump cabinet member in as many days.

In an news release sent exclusively to The Ohio Star, Fairfield, Ohio native and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler has announced his endorsement of venture capitalist and Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance for the U.S. Senate seat incumbent Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) will vacate in early 2023.

Vaccine Protests Begin in Ohio as House Bill 248 Gets Testimony, ‘Pause’

August 25, 2021August 24, 2021 Brian Ball

COLUMBUS, Ohio – About 400 or more protesters lined the Third Street stretch of Capitol Square downtown Tuesday morning as a Ohio House of Representatives committee prepared to hear more testimony on the proposed Vaccine Choice and Anti-Discrimination Act that seeks to ban businesses from mandating workers to get…

Former Ohio State Rep. John Adams Challenges LaRose for Ohio GOP Secretary of State Nomination

August 24, 2021August 24, 2021 Brian Ball

John Adams, a four-term veteran of the Ohio House of Representatives, has formally announced he will take on Ohio Secretary of State of Frank La Rose for the GOP nomination to lead the key elections and business registration office.

Blystone Gubernatorial Campaign ‘Imploding Because Things Aren’t Being Done Right,’ Says Former Co-Campaign Manager; ‘Disrespectful’ Candidate, Disorganization Prompt Staff Departures

August 21, 2021August 20, 2021 Brian Ball

The campaign of Joe Blystone to take the GOP gubernatorial nomination from incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine has lost at least 15 county and regional leaders and a couple of headquarters staff since early July, many due to a what those leaving describe as a disorganized campaign and a disrespect candidate.

Progressive Candidate Seeks to Derail Rep. Ryan’s Bid for Democratic Nomination for U.S. Sen. Portman’s Seat

August 19, 2021August 18, 2021 Brian Ball

Progressive political activist and consumer protection attorney Morgan Harper will take a second shot at challenging a veteran Democrat with her announcement Wednesday she will compete for the Democratic nomination to replace retiring U.S. Senator Rob Portman.

Reform-Minded Conservatives Seek to Bar Ohio GOP Endorsements, Promote State Conventions, Honest State Party

August 18, 2021August 18, 2021 Brian Ball

Reform-minded members of the Ohio Republican Party’s State Central Committee held a press conference outside the Governor’s Mansion east of downtown Columbus on Tuesday to push for ending endorsements in primary races and unchecked financial support of incumbent officeholders.

Renacci Asks Ohio Attorney General, Secretary of State to Investigate Sources of DeWine Campaign Cash

August 18, 2021August 17, 2021 Brian Ball

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci has asked Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Secretary of State Frank LaRose to open another line of investigation into the FirstEnergy Corp. public corruption scandal and incumbent GOP Governor Mike DeWine’s re-election campaign.

Renacci transmitted the joint letter to the Republican statewide officeholders Monday late afternoon in the latest attack attempting to more closely tie DeWine and the corruption scheme from the House Bill 6 passed in July 2019. FirstEnergy pushed the legislation to allow it to tap Ohio electric customers both inside its service territory and that of other investor-owned electric utilities to financially support its two old nuclear power plants located along the Lake Erie shores to the tune of $1.1 billion.

Ohio U.S. Senate Hopeful Timken Joins Calls for Biden to Resign, Adds Sacking of Secretaries of State, Defense and Joint Chiefs Chair

August 17, 2021August 17, 2021 Brian Ball

U.S. Senate candidate Jane Timken joined several Republicans calling for President Joe Biden to resign in the aftermath of the chaotic withdrawal of American troops and diplomatic personnel from Afghanistan.

U.S. Representative Jeff Van Drew, (R-NJ-2) began the call for Biden’s resignation Sunday evening as video streaming from broadcast news outlets showed Afghanis crowding U.S military air transports, desperate to leave with the fall of the Afghani capital of Kabul as well as provincial capitals to the extreme Islamists known as the Taliban.

GOP Senate Candidate Mike Gibbons Calls for Resignation of President Biden After Fall of Afghanistan

August 17, 2021August 17, 2021 Brian Ball

The rapid collapse of Afghanistan to the Taliban and miscalculations during the disorderly withdrawal of American Troops has led U.S. Senate candidate Mike Gibbons to call for the resignation of President Biden.

Congressional Republicans from Ohio also joined the widespread condemnation of the Biden administration’s poor handling of the withdrawal of American troops nearly 20 years after President George W. Bush directed the invasion of the west Asian country in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2011 terror attacks by Islamic extremists trained in that west-central Asian country.

Ohio Attorney General Yost Hunts for Ex-PUCO Chairman’s Assets to Preserve Potential Civil Judgments

August 14, 2021August 13, 2021 Brian Ball

“(Sam) Randazzo is making moves that will make it harder to hold him financially accountable for accepting bribes,” Yost said in a Friday morning news release

Ohio GOP Chair Defends DeWine, Yost Funding as ‘Tradition,’ Donated at His ‘Discretion’

August 13, 2021August 13, 2021 Brian Ball

Those expenditures are lawful and proper and are made at the Chairman’s discretion.”
– Bob Paduchik, Ohio Republican Party chairman

Feds Nix Ohio Plan to Tying Expanded Medicare Benefits to Work, Training, ‘Engagement’

August 12, 2021August 11, 2021 Brian Ball

The Biden administration has squelched a fledgling Ohio program requiring those in their prime working years receiving Medicaid health coverage to get a job to remain covered. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMMS), on Wednesday withdrew approval…

Committee for a Better Ohio and Mercer County GOP Challenge State Party’s Support of DeWine

August 11, 2021August 11, 2021 Brian Ball

A small Republican grassroots panel called the Committee for a Better Ohio has challenged the legality of the Ohio Republican Party (ORP)’s decision to support the re-election campaign of Gov. Mike DeWine without the affirmation of the state central committee.

Carey Set for Second Sprint of 2021 Special Election Even as 2022 Elections, Redistricting Loom

August 10, 2021August 9, 2021 Brian Ball

GOP congressional candidate Mike Carey has jumped right back into campaign mode after besting 10 other candidates on August 3 in a three-month sprint to become the Republican nominee to keep Ohio’s 15th District red with nearly 37 percent of the vote.

The second sprint began the next day, as the November 2 special election to replace five-term Congressman Steve Stivers – and the possibility of May 2022 primary – loom, even as the boundaries of the conservative district covering all or parts of 12 counties could change the political landscape.

DeWine Stresses Vaccine, Informed Choice v. COVID-19 Strain Even as Some Businesses Press Masks, Social Distancing

August 7, 2021August 6, 2021 Brian Ball

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) has stepped up his calls for unvaccinated Ohioans to get a COVID-19 shot amid the rising threat presented by the Delta strain that has quickly spread throughout the state since May.

He said individuals must decide for themselves what precautions to take given what he said is the growing danger Delta presents.

Ex-PUCO Chairman Randazzo Added to Ohio AG’s Racketeering Lawsuit in FirstEnergy Case

August 6, 2021August 5, 2021 Brian Ball

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has expanded a civil racketeering lawsuit tied to the federal FirstEnergy Corp. public corruption case to include the former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and two fired executives of the Akron, Ohio-based electric utility.

The addition of energy consultant and attorney Sam Randazzo, former FirstEnergy CEO Charles Jones, and Vice President Michael Dowling comes just a few weeks after the utility cut a deal with federal prosecutors where it admitted its role in the scandal and paid a $230 million fine in a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice.

Ohio Businesses Optimistic After Court Upholds End of Bonus Pandemic Cash

August 5, 2021August 4, 2021 Brian Ball

Trade associations representing Ohio’s restaurants and other small businesses have lauded a July 29 decision in Franklin County Common Pleas Court upholding Governor Mike DeWine’s authority to not spend federal funding that gave those unemployed – as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic – a $300 weekly bonus to their state unemployment benefits.

But the attorney representing the Cleveland area plaintiffs in the case said a hearing on an appeal of Judge Michael Holbrook’s decision to end the payments effective June 26 could get heard in the Franklin County Court of Appeals as early as this week.

Ohio’s Senator Portman Boosts Prospects of Infrastructure Bill on Squawk Box, Credits Trump for ‘Stirring Up Debate’

August 5, 2021August 4, 2021 Brian Ball

U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) hopes to get the $550 billion Infrastructure & Investment Act legislation before the full Senate next week after the proposed bipartisan legislation recently cleared the committee on a 20-0 vote.

Portman speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box show on Tuesday, lauded the legislation as a way to boost economic productivity while avoiding a rollback of the Trump administration’s signature tax cuts from 2017.

Ohio Republican Party Has Given DeWine Re-election Campaign $870k Since January 1, Despite Two Announced Gubernatorial Primary Challengers

August 3, 2021August 2, 2021 Brian Ball

The Ohio Republican Party (ORP) has given the 2022 re-election campaign of Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) $870,968 since January 1, 2021, despite the fact that DeWine has two announced primary challengers for the Republican gubernatorial nomination–former Congressman Jim Renacci (R-OH) and Joe Blystone.

Recent filings by the Ohio Republican Party Central Committee State Candidate Fund with the campaign finance division of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office show the party gave the 2022 re-election campaign of Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted a $500,000 payment on July 30 without the approval of the party’s fiscal review committee or a formal endorsement of the governor’s campaign against rivals for the GOP nomination.

Ex-GOP Chair, U.S. Senate Candidate Jane Timken Dodges Questions in Ohio GOP Accounting Mess

July 31, 2021August 18, 2021 Brian Ball

U.S. Senate Candidate Jane Timken has refused to answer questions about the health of Ohio Republican Party’s financial records during her tenure as the chairwoman of the State Central Committee. Revelations of pressure within the Ohio Republican Party (ORP) to clean up the organization’s accounting practices and its leadership’s…

Ohio Republican Party Treasurer Johnson Defends GOP Chair in Accounting Tiff, Bashes ‘Malcontents’ Calling for Expansion of Audit Back to 2017

July 31, 2021August 18, 2021 Brian Ball

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The treasurer of the Ohio Republican Party (ORP) has defended top management’s handling of the political organization’s financial statements against concerns the policies and procedures have created risk for improper accounting. David W. Johnson, the 32-year incumbent Columbiana County GOP chairman now in his second term…

Gibbons Commits $9.9 Million Media Buy Through May 3 Primary as 88-County Tour Begins

July 30, 2021July 29, 2021 Brian Ball

Cleveland businessman Mike Gibbons has reserved $9.9 million worth of television, cable and radio advertising through the next nine months in his bid to secure the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.

The nine-month commitment through the May 3 primary includes $2.9 million in media planned buys before year’s end.

Ohio GOP Central Committee Members Challenge Chairman Paduchik on $638k Write-Off in 2021 and $1.7 Million Deduction to Equity in 2017

July 29, 2021August 18, 2021 Brian Ball

Lingering accounting issues dating back at least four years have pitted three members of the Ohio Republican Party’s Central Committee against Ohio Republican Party (ORP) Chairman Robert Paduchik over the scope of the ongoing audit of the ORP’s financial records – the first complete audit of the party’s finances in at least 16 years.

The Ohio Star has obtained internal emails exchanged between three of the Ohio Republican Party Central Committee 66 members – Audit Committee member Laura Rosenberger and Fiscal Review Committee members Mark Bainbridge and Denise Verdi – and Chairman Paduchik that discuss the need to improve the financial reporting practices of the ORP to accounting industry and government regulatory reporting standards, starting with an expansion of the years covered by a standard audit just now getting underway.

Renacci Calls for Full Investigation of All Sources of FirstEnergy Contributions to DeWine Campaign, Including Ohio Republican Party

July 27, 2021July 27, 2021 Brian Ball

MEDINA, Ohio – Republican gubernatorial challenger Jim Renacci has asked for a full investigation of the flow of FirstEnergy Corp.’s political contributions into the 2018 campaign of Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) in the wake of the Akron-based electric utility’s $230 million settlement of public bribery charges with the Department…

Ohio Restaurant Association Seeks More Federal Aid Amid Cost Pressures, Labor Shortage

July 27, 2021July 26, 2021 Brian Ball

Ginger man with a white shirt and tan apron on

The Ohio Restaurant Association has called for another round of federal aid to assist restaurant owners and workers nationwide as labor shortages and higher supply costs slow the industry’s recovery from restrictions in placed during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The trade group’s call for a $60 billion replenishment of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund comes as food-service operators struggle with higher costs and labor shortages.

GOP Ohio Gubernatorial Candidate Renacci Blasts Gov. DeWine in Expanding FirstEnergy Scandal

July 24, 2021July 24, 2021 Brian Ball

COLUMBUS, Ohio – FirstEnergy Corp.’s agreement this week to pay a $230 million fine in the ongoing federal investigation into an Ohio Statehouse bribery scheme has generated more criticism from GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci who is seeking to take the 2022 Republican nomination from incumbent Governor Mike DeWine.…

GOP Gubernatorial Challengers Blast President’s Cincinnati Visit- Renacci Says Biden ‘Has a Close Friend in Mike DeWine,’ Blystone Says ‘Infrastructure Bill Is a Joke’

July 23, 2021July 22, 2021 Brian Ball

The two challengers to incumbent Governor Mike DeWine’s bid for the GOP nomination in 2022 had harsh words in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s ‘town hall’ political event in Cincinnati Wednesday night. But it wasn’t just complaints about Biden and his left-of-center agenda. Biden covered familiar territory during…

GOP Senate Candidates Pummel Biden on Inflation, Infrastructure in Wake of ‘Town Hall’ Talk

July 22, 2021July 22, 2021 Brian Ball

President Joe Biden took to the stage at Mount St. Joseph University at 8 p.m. Wednesday before an intimate audience comprised of hand-selected, loyal Democrats and disgruntled Republicans to run the gamut of issues from the surge of the Delta strain of COVID-19 and the proposed federal infrastructure bill to economic issues such as inflation concerns and one restaurant owners’ inability to find workers.

Biden singled out those in their 20s and 30s as well as skeptics in poor, minority communities to get immunized. “We have a pandemic (among) those who haven’t gotten the vaccine,” He noted his administration has stepped up efforts with ads featuring prominent athletes and entertainers urging reluctant Americans to get jabbed.

U.S. House Hopeful Carey Sets Tele-Rally with Trump, Fairs as GOP Primary Hits Final Stretch

July 20, 2021July 19, 2021 Brian Ball

U.S. House of Representatives candidate Mike Carey enters the last two weeks of his campaign for the GOP nomination to represent Ohio’s 15th congressional district playing his Trump card in a telephonic rally set for the early evening of July 20.

Carey, a leading contender to replace retired U.S. Representative Steve Stivers, will feature President Donald Trump as the headliner for the hour-long telephonic rally 14 days before the Aug. 3 special election. Those wishing to listen in to the call can sign up and receive instructions to access the rally at https://careyforcongress.com/trumpcall/.

Ohio Restaurant Association to Laud Husted for COVID Work at Virtual Awards Ceremony

July 13, 2021July 12, 2021 Brian Ball

The trade association representing Ohio’s restaurant industry will recognize Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted as its Outstanding Public Official in fashioning COVID-19 policy at the onslaught of the pandemic 16 months ago.

Ohio Restaurant Association President and CEO John Barker credited Husted for working with an industry group formed to create an effective response to the crisis with state health advisers and others that maximized the flow of food to the public in the initial weeks and formulating a policy allowing further opening two months later.

Ohio Budget Revives Brownfield Remediation Program to Spur Redevelopment

July 10, 2021July 9, 2021 Brian Ball

The recently enacted state government budget will create a $500 million brownfield remediation fund designed to spur the cleanup and redevelopment of former industrial sites and other environmentally damaged properties throughout the state.

A last-minute addition to the two-year, $74 billion operating budget Governor Mike DeWine signed on June 30 revives the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund (CORF) program shut down under former Governor John Kasich in 2013. The reconstituted program will offer $350 million over two years toward cleaning up and revitalizing brownfields and another $150 million for the demolition of vacant and abandoned properties in Ohio communities.

Renacci Likens DeWine to Democrat Governors Cuomo, Newsom in Latest Campaign Ad

July 9, 2021July 9, 2021 Brian Ball

GOP gubernatorial contender Jim Renacci has stepped up his campaign against incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine in a social media ad likening the governor’s language and actions during the COVID-19 pandemic to prominent Democrat governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gavin Newsome of California.

The Renacci for Governor campaign’s 30-second ad this week calls DeWine “Democrat DeWine” for the way the incumbent handled the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Ohio Businessman Gibbons Vows Aggressive Campaign in Second Run for U.S. Senate

July 7, 2021July 25, 2021 Brian Ball

Cleveland businessman Mike Gibbons spent part of his Independence Day weekend walking in a couple of parades with his wife Diane in his hometown of Parma and another nearby community, hoping to shore up support in the Ohio county with the most Republican voters so as not to lose…