Your WYSO Evening News Update for May 24, 2022, with Jerry Kenney:
- Getting rid of the 3rd grade reading guarantee
(Statehouse News Bureau) — Jo Ingles at The Statehouse News Bureau correspondent reported Ohio lawmakers are considering a bill that would get rid of one of the educational changes made under former Gov. John Kasich’s (D-OH) administration – the third grade reading guarantee.
- New Ohio bill to decriminalize fentanyl drug testing strips
(Ohio Capital Journal) — Harm reduction advocates say a new bill in the Ohio House could help reduce the state’s opioid overdose deaths. House Bill 456 would decriminalize fentanyl drug testing strips - currently considered drug paraphernalia. Fentanyl is the leading cause of drug-related deaths in Ohio, according to state data. The Ohio Capital Journal reports that the bill is currently in committee, and the public will be able to give testimonies in the coming weeks.
- Collateral sanctions advocacy
(Statehouse News Bureau) — Andy Chow at The Statehouse News Bureau reported a large group of formerly incarcerated people have been organizing to create an advocacy GROUP that can call for policy changes in their communities and around Ohio.
- U.S. Attorney to make Southern Ohio Summer Camps ADA Compliant
(WYSO) — The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Kenneth Parker has announced an initiative to ensure camps are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Public and private camps in southern Ohio will be mailed flyers from the US attorney's office this summer reminding them of the requirement that their facilities be ADA compliant. Parker says the flyers will remind camps that parents are not required to pay the cost of modifications for their child to fully participate in activities.
- Ohio congressmen receive classified briefings
(Columbus Dispatch) — Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) received classified briefings at the National Air & Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Tuesday. The congressmen say the intelligence briefings were about adversaries of the United States. They also say they learned about potential threats and how the US and its allies are responding to them. McCarthy says that even though staff at the base can’t say much to the public about the work they do, it’s extremely important. “I can't thank enough the people who actually work here. They can’t come out and talk to you about it. But they are doing the most critical work possible to keep our security and keep us safe for the future, and that's why I like to meet them firsthand and talk to about it," he said. McCarthy, who represents a district in southern California, also criticized President Biden’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He says Biden should have provided weapons to Ukraine sooner.
