Jo Ingles

Last month, Ohio issued food stamp benefits for February to low income Ohioans. The idea was to get needy families the assistance up front so they wouldn’t go hungry due to the federal government shutdown. But now, families are finding it hard to stretch those dollars into March. So the state is making another adjustment.

Once again, the ACLU of Ohio is pushing for criminal justice reform with a new report on what it calls the “Statehouse to prison pipeline”. 

Two Republican state representatives will unveil legislation tomorrow to change the state’s prevailing wage law. Actually, Ohio’s lawmakers have been trying to alter those laws for a while now.

The 2017 Republican tax law changes are in full effect this year, and the average federal tax refund is down nearly 9 percent from a year ago. The law lowers federal withholding paychecks and increases the standard deduction for individuals, but it also takes away some deductions. And if taxpayers haven’t adjusted their withholding, they might find themselves with smaller refunds or even owing money this year. What do Ohio's senators think about this?  

The new head of the Ohio Department of Agriculture is traveling around the state, talking to farmers about their needs. 

There are now six medical marijuana dispensaries open in Ohio, with the latest one in East Liverpool opening last week. And the sales at those facilities continue to be brisk. 

Ohio's attorney general has given a down payment to officials in southern Ohio's Pike County to help them prosecute the people accused of murdering eight members of one family in 2016. And the state is promising to help with more money in the high-profile case. 

There’s a new anti-drug effort that involves a variety of groups from around the state. 

Once again, a proposal to eliminate sales tax on feminine hygiene products has resurfaced in the Ohio Legislature. But this time, it has bi-partisan co-sponsors. And it has a companion bill that goes one step further. 

The leader of the Ohio House says the controversial Heartbeat Bill, which bans abortion at the point a fetal heartbeat is detected, is not a priority. But he says lawmakers there want to pass it.