Is our summer vacation from the pandemic over? The Centers for Disease Control reversed course this week on its mask recommendation from May. The CDC now says even vaccinated people should wear masks when they are indoors in areas where transmission of the coronavirus is high. The spread of the delta variant of the virus is driving the change in course from health experts. A high incidence of coronavirus spread is defined as more than 50 cases per 100,000 people.
The changing dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic means changes for universities and colleges as the fall school year approaches. Ohio State University is requiring everyone report their vaccination status by August 5 to help guide further university decisions. OSU says it will require students living on campus to take an at-home Covid-19 test.
We started off last week talking about First Energy's admission that it bankrolled the bribery scheme involving the passage of House Bill 6.
The company agreed to pay $230 million in a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors. Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder still faces federal charges in the scheme and there are still questions about a First Energy payment to former Public Utilities Commission Chairman Sam Randazzo, who has not been charged. Both Housholder and Randazzo say they've done nothing wrong.
But, questions are being raised about what Governor Mike DeWine, who appointed Randazzo to head the PUCO, knew about his relationship with FirstEnergy and the millions the company paid him.
Voters in Ohio's 11th Congressional Districts will vote Tuesday in a primary--the first step toward selecting the person to take the seat held by Marcia Fudge. She resigned her seat in March to become the Secretary for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
A judge is expected to rule soon in a case that seeks to restore the additional federal unemployment payments made to workers impacted by the pandemic. Ohio ended the extra $300 per week last month.
The City of Cleveland aims to restart its curbside recycling program by the end of 2021.
The city halted the program in the spring of 2020 when its contract with a recycler expired and instead sent recyclable items to a landfill.
A group that wants to make marijuana fully legal in Ohio is making another run at it. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has taken the first steps with the Ohio Secretary of State and Ohio Attorney General to begin the process of circulating petitions.
- Nick Castele, Senior Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
- Kabir Bhatia, Reporter, WKSU
- Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio/TV
