Local
The Mount Zion Baptist Church was awarded over $7 million in state funding for its rehabilitation into a cultural center. Other local awardees of recent Ohio Department of Development grants include the city of Athens for a business district beautification project; the Southeast Ohio History Center for building updates and repairs; and the Village of Chauncey for downtown revitalization. (Ohio Department of Development)
- Indy context: Mount Zion Baptist Church began as a vision of a small group of Black Athens residents, formerly enslaved people and the descendants of enslaved people who began meeting in 1872.
Several Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine faculty and alumni won recent statewide awards for family medicine. (Ohio University)
Athens County Children Services hired muralist Mandi Caskey to paint a mural celebrating Athens County children on the State Route 33 overpass of East State Street. The muralist will work with Athens High School students to incorporate their designs into the mural. (Athens County Children Services)
Ohio University graduated its class of 2024 last weekend. Most of this year’s graduates began their college careers in 2020, during lockdowns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. (The Post)
Grant awards:
- The Russ College of Engineering and the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service at Ohio University received $100,000 each from the AEP Foundation. (Ohio University)
Region
The Polygonia Foundation is a new area nonprofit dedicated to conserving and studying pollinators. The organization will host a gardening symposium in May and moth observation events throughout the summer in Athens and Hocking counties. (Polygonia Foundation)
State
Ohio’s Senate race is the third most expensive congressional race in the country, with Democrats vying to hold on to their U.S. Senate majority. Most of the $64 million in campaign contributions represents cash raised by incumbent Sherrod Brown, although challenger Bernie Moreno has raised over $11 million. About a quarter of Moreno’s campaign money came from Democrats during the competitive Republican primary, who believed the Trump-endorsed candidate would be easiest to defeat in November. (Open Secrets)
An Ohio Republican state senator introduced a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour for nontipped workers by 2028, hoping to fend off a ballot initiative that may appear before voters this fall. (Statehouse News Bureau)
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has ordered boards of elections to prepare lists of inactive voters to be removed from the rolls by May 21. Those who haven’t voted within four years of changing their mailing address or haven’t voted for six years may have their registrations canceled. (Ohio Capital Journal)
Republicans in the Ohio House have proposed even tighter restrictions on voter ID, early voting and voting by mail to protect against election fraud, despite the extreme rarity of voter fraud. The proposed bill also would bar boards of elections from scanning early ballots before polls close on election day and allow boards of elections to count votes by hand instead of using machines. (Statehouse News Bureau)
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is suing the U.S. Department of Education over legal changes offering protections for LGBTQ+ people. (Buckeye Flame)
University protests supporting Palestine in Ohio face opposition not only from police and campus administrations, but also a state law that prohibits public universities divesting from Israel. (Ohio Capital Journal)
- Indy context: Local protests last week targeted Ohio University investments in Israel. Stay tuned for our coverage in this week’s Indy.
