Every morning in the Ohio Capital Journal’s free newsletter, The Eye-Opener, we round up the news and commentary from across Ohio and around the country and world that is catching our attention. We call this feature Catching Our Eye, republished here.

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Catching Our Eye

• Ohio’s forests. WOUB Public Media/Report For America’s Amanda Pirani is reporting, “The McArthur Research Station could shut down as part of national Forest Service reorganization.”A U.S. Forest Service research station in McArthur is one of 57 “under evaluation” for possible closure as part of a national reorganization announced at the end of March.This month, the Trump administration released a Forest Service budget proposal asking to terminate forest and rangeland research entirely with plans to offload research onto universities and the private sector.

  The closures are part of a plan that moves the USFS headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City, Utah, in an effort to “streamline” the agency.

  Critics of the plan have said it’s an effort to cut the agency’s staff and funding.

   

• Education. WTOL’s Heather Schramm is reporting, “Toledo Public Schools administrative union approves pay freeze to combat $68 million deficit.”Toledo Public Schools Superintendent Romules Durant announced to the district on Monday that its administrative union has voted to approve a pay freeze in order to help the district address a projected $68 million budget shortfall.The Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the matter Tuesday night.
  The agreement with the Toledo Association of Administrative Personnel comes as the district is planning a restructuring plan to stabilize its finances. In an email to staff, Durant said the decision by the administrators shows a commitment to the long-term stability of the school system during a difficult financial period.
• Solar. ProPublica’s Anna Clark is reporting, ”Unfounded health concerns are powering a solar backlash”Kevin Heath had hoped there would be solar panels by now on his family farm in southeastern Michigan, roughly 50 miles outside Detroit.About six years ago, he agreed to lease part of his land for a solar project. It would help him pay off debt and keep the farm in the family, he said. But the opportunity was thwarted when, in 2023, following pushback from some local residents, his township passed an ordinance that banned large solar projects from land zoned for agriculture.

  In the fight over solar development, Heath said he was bombarded by just about every argument from critics — including claims that solar fields are a health hazard. “I’ve heard them say that, but I’ve never heard anybody prove that,” Heath said.

  “The health and safety issue,” he added, “that is just a joke.”