Gov. John Kasich signed a slew of new bills into law this week, including the payday lending reform and a measure to allow dogs on restaurant patios - and he also signed a new criminal sentencing bill to toughen laws on trafficking fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin. There to watch Kasich sign the bill was Brenda Ryan of Cuyahoga Falls, her daughter, Sheena Moore, died of an overdose in 2016.
Blind college students are using new technology to help them get around campus. Columbus State Community College installed a new system through a smartphone app so those students don’t need to rely on a human guide. Statehouse correspondent Jo Ingles reports.
Along with a list of candidates running for statewide office, Ohio voters will see at least one issue when they go to the polls. The Secretary of State’s office approved the petition to put the Ohio Neighborhood Safety, Drug Treatment, and Rehabilitation Amendment on November’s ballot. There’s a broad-based coalition of groups behind the amendment, which they say will help the state cut down on the prison population and divert the money saved into treatment and rehabilitation programs. But opponents say it will weaken law enforcement and takes a bargaining chip away from judges and prosecutors. Paul Pfeifer, former Ohio Supreme Court Justice and now executive director of the Ohio Judicial Conference, opposes Issue 1. Shakyra Diaz with Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice speaks for Issue 1.