The Ohio burgee. (Getty images file photo.)
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
• Hunting and fishing amendment? Cleveland.com’s Karan Singh reports, “Proposed constitutional amendment on hunting and fishing deemed ‘a solution in search of a problem’.”
A measure to enshrine hunting and fishing in the state’s constitution has revived a recurring question: Are politicians solving real problems or creating new ones?
Over three hearings, Senate Joint Resolution 8 revealed a sharp divide:
Supporters insist it is a proactive safeguard for tradition and economic stability, while opponents warn it may upend wildlife management systems, trigger legal challenges and complicate Ohio’s governing document.
• Dismissed. Athens County Independent’s Keri Johnson reports, “County commissioner’s intimidation charge dismissed.”
Athens County Commissioner Charlie Adkins’ third-degree felony intimidation charge was dismissed without prejudice Friday at his arraignment in the Athens County Courthouse.
The state asked that the charge be dismissed, pending further investigation. Visiting Judge John Wallace granted the special prosecutors’ motion to dismiss without prejudice.
• Seneca County. The Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune’s Kayla Trevino reports, “What Frankart said under oath.”
When the Seneca County Commissioners’ office described Bill Frankart’s May 2024 deposition as a battle he endured with “typical wisdom and strength,” it did not describe what he said under oath inside that conference room.
According to the deposition transcript, obtained by the Advertiser-Tribune through a records request to the Ottawa-Sandusky-Seneca Joint Solid Waste Management District, Frankart acknowledged over more than six hours of questioning by WIN Waste’s legal team that public statements he had made, including signed testimony submitted to the Ohio Senate, were false. He said he had taken no action to correct them.
• The U.S. government actively suppressing the safety of vaccines. The New York Times reports, “F.D.A. Blocked Publication of Research Finding Covid and Shingles Vaccines Were Safe.”
Officials at the Food and Drug Administration have blocked publication of several studies supporting the safety of widely used vaccines against Covid-19 and shingles in recent months, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed.
The studies, which cost millions of dollars in public funds, were conducted by scientists at the agency, who worked with data firms to analyze millions of patient records. They found serious side effects to be very rare.
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