Articles by Julie Carr Smyth

Ohio to Vote on Legalizing Recreational Marijuana in November

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A proposal to legalize recreational adult use of marijuana in Ohio was cleared Wednesday to appear on statewide ballots this fall after the Republican-led state Legislature failed to act on it. The measure would allow adults …

Railroad Industry Sues to Block Limit on Crew Sizes That Ohio Imposed After Derailment

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The railroad industry has sued to block a new minimum crew- size requirement that Ohio imposed after a fiery train derailment in East Palestine in February. The new rule was part of a $13.5 billion state …

Ohio Senators Prepare Rail Safety Bill After Norfolk Southern Crash

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Railroads like the one involved in this month’s fiery crash and toxic chemical release in Ohio would be subject to a series of new federal safety regulations and financial consequences under legislation being introduced Wednesday by …

Charter School Can’t Appeal Ohio School Board $60M Order, Court Says

The Ohio school board’s order requiring a giant, now-defunct online charter school to repay the state $60 million over inflated enrollment figures is final and cannot be appealed, the state Supreme Court ruled. In a 4-3 decision, the court delivered …

More Than 100 Dams in Ohio Rank as ‘High-Hazard’

Picturesque, and at times, worrisome. The Muskingum University dam in OHio holds back what locals call “College Lake” on the campus of the private liberal arts college. Perched directly over the inlet to the lake’s spillway is a wooden gazebo …

Ohio AG: Opioid Settlement Should Be Spent Locally

Any money Ohio might receive from a settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and other drugmakers should be spent at the local level, the state’s top lawyer said. Republican Attorney General Dave Yost told reporters that so many of the …

Ohio Awards $2.4M in Opioid Science Challenge

Ohio awarded another round of prizes totaling $2.4 million in its global technology challenge seeking scientific breakthroughs to address the U.S. opioid crisis. The dozen winners from six states and Canada were judged the most promising of nearly 60 proposals …

Ohio Misses Sept. 8 Deadline to Launch Medical Marijuana Program

While Ohio blew past the deadline Saturday for rolling out its medical marijuana program, the pot industry is confident greener days are coming soon. It’s not uncommon for states’ marijuana programs to be delayed, sometimes for years, by legal, regulatory …

5 Winners Receive $10K Each in Ohio Opioid Science Challenge

Virtual reality, neural feedback and digital therapy were among five ideas to help solve the U.S. opioid crisis that won a global technology challenge in Ohio on Jan. 30. Winners were selected from hundreds of ideas submitted by researchers, caregivers, …

Ohio Restricts Back Surgery, Opioid Use for Injured Workers

Ohio residents with work-related back injuries in most cases must try remedies like rest, physical therapy and chiropractic care before turning to spinal fusion surgery and prescription painkillers under a groundbreaking new guideline that is partly meant to reduce the …