Latest news with #WEWS
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio retired teachers' pension fund hires new executive director
STRS Ohio meeting room. (Photo by Morgan Trau, WEWS.) The Ohio retired teachers' pension fund has hired a former pensions expert from North Carolina as its new executive director. Steven Toole, the previous head of the North Carolina Retirement Systems, will take over starting in mid-July. He grew up outside Columbus and went to Ohio State University, according to his candidate material records. 'My experience extends to working closely with boards and stakeholders to ensure transparency, accountability, and integrity — values central to State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Ohio's guiding principles,' Toole wrote in a letter to a recruiter. Currently, he works as a senior product manager at Principal, a retirement and investment company. He also gets some income from Home Depot, according to an ethics filing. While working at the North Carolina retirement system, he managed a $100 billion pension system and $11.8 billion in defined contribution assets, serving approximately 1 million public employees, according to his candidate documents. He worked as the executive director of the North Carolina system from 2011 to 2019, when he was fired, the records request shows. According to Toole, in an email he sent to recruiter Dan Cummings, he stated that there were 'no performance issues at all,' and he didn't receive an explanation from the state treasurer as to why he was being removed. Cummings told a board member that the former North Carolina Treasurer Dale Folwell replaced Toole when he came into office, emails show. The candidate document shows that he was replaced with Folwell's 'hand-chosen successor.' However, Toole was replaced two years into the treasurer's term. Once this was brought up by a board member, according to emails, the new STRS head suggested that the reason may be related to the treasurer's 'cost-cutting platform.' More records are pending from the North Carolina Treasurer's Office. Following being let go from the North Carolina system, Toole then worked for Prudential Retirement. This was later bought out by another company, and his job was 'eliminated,' according to the documents. He worked in retirement benefits for nearly three decades at Nationwide Insurance before joining the North Carolina team, the documents show. His hiring comes after a year of controversy, during which the STRS board chair and one of the former board members were accused of participating in a $65 billion corruption scheme. The chair, Rudy Fichtenbaum, denies all allegations, and some retired educators are accusing Ohio Statehouse Republicans of trying to stop transparency. 'The high scrutiny and media attention surrounding STRS Ohio over the past eighteen months do not give me pause — rather, I see it as an opportunity to step into a leadership role, bring clarity, and strengthen trust among members, legislators, and stakeholders,' Toole wrote in his candidate document. There are mainly two defined factions of the STRS population: 'reformers' and those who want to keep the 'status quo.' In short, reformers want to switch to index funding, while 'status quo' individuals want to keep actively managing the funds. Recent elections have allowed the reform-minded members to have a majority of the board. Fichtenbaum and all of the reformers on the board voted in support of Toole, while each of the status quo members, including appointees, voted against him. The vote ended up being 6-5. The current acting executive director, Aaron Hood, was also given his notice at the meeting. Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on X and Facebook. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio lawmakers once again ambush the citizen ballot initiative process
Ballot petition signature collection. (Photo by WEWS.) In August 2023, Ohio voters sent a clear message when they overwhelmingly rejected the legislature's blatant attempt to undermine our citizen-initiative process. But instead of listening, politicians in Columbus doubled down. Their new targets? Everyday Ohioans who dare to collect signatures, knock on doors, and exercise their constitutional right to direct democracy. Ohio Senate Bill 153 and Ohio House Bill 233 are the latest attempts to dismantle the people's power. While headlines may focus on disingenuous provisions about voter registration and drop boxes, buried deep in these 204-page monstrosities are provisions specifically designed to intimidate, harass, and shut down grassroots campaigns before they ever reach the ballot. Let's be clear: these bills are an attack on the People's Process — on your voice, your rights, your power. Imagine a system where simply collecting signatures for a cause you believe in could land you under investigation, compelled to testify before hostile politicians without any evidence of wrongdoing. No formal charges, no protections — just suspicion, interrogation, and intimidation. Organizers could be forced to reveal private donor lists, volunteer contacts, and internal communications. This isn't democracy. It's surveillance. It's coercion. It's guilty until proven innocent. And it gets worse. These bills are packed with petty, punitive rules designed to trip up campaigns on technicalities. Didn't write the number of signatures in a petition book personally? All signatures in that book: void. A minor correction to a signature count? Void. Wearing a 'compensation badge' while volunteering—because you accepted a slice of pizza before canvassing? If not, void. This is death by a thousand cuts — and it's exactly what the General Assembly wants. Why? Because when citizens write the laws, it threatens the political status quo. A status quo built and reinforced by rampant gerrymandering that leaves most Ohioans without a voice in the Statehouse. Two constitutional amendment campaigns — one to end qualified immunity and another to eliminate property taxes — are preparing for signature collection. If these bills pass, both will face outrageous, politically motivated barriers. That's not a bug in the legislation. It's the design. And what about the so-called 'solutions' these bills claim to offer? Requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote is a dangerous fix to a nonexistent problem. Just ask Kansas, where a similar law blocked over 30,000 eligible voters from registering — until a federal judge struck it down as unconstitutional. Claims of widespread non-citizen voting have been repeatedly debunked. Meanwhile, real people — like a longtime East Cleveland resident wrongly flagged as a non-citizen — pay the price. As for drop boxes: these secure, monitored ballot return options helped over 180,000 Ohioans cast their vote in November 2024. We need more of them, not fewer. Restricting access only makes voting harder, not safer. SB 153 and HB 233 would have chilling real-world consequences and set a dangerous precedent. Any lawmaker who says, 'If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear,' should take a long look in the mirror. That logic has no place in a democracy. This isn't about partisan politics. This is about power — and who gets to wield it. The answer must remain: the people. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio educators rally for school funding at Statehouse ahead of budget announcement
Attendees of a rally to support public education hold up signs at the Ohio Statehouse. Photo by Morgan Trau/WEWS Ohio educators held one last rally to urge the state Senate to fully fund public schools ahead of the chamber's budget proposal. Teaching at Jefferson Area High School in Ashtabula County was only supposed to be a temporary job while John Patterson finished graduate school. 'I discovered that teaching was my calling, and it was my mission,' said Patterson, a retired teacher of 29 years. Like him, education is a passion for many teachers. Dozens made their way to the Ohio Statehouse to show their support for public school funding. 'It's important for Ohio's kids, it's important for Ohio's future, to get the school funding formula totally in place so there's predictability and sustainability for all of our schools in every corner of the state,' Patterson told me. The educators protested against the House's passed budget, one that slashes hundreds of millions of dollars from the expected school spending. The program currently in place, the Cupp-Patterson Fair School Funding Plan (FSFP), was a bipartisan formula that Patterson helped create when he was a state representative. 'I spent a great deal of time with my dear friend (former Republican House Speaker) Robert Cupp to come together to put something out there for the legislature that is sustainable, that is transparent, and that is good for the future,' Patterson said. But Speaker Matt Huffman says that funding level is 'unsustainable.' Now the future of the education budget is in Senate Finance Chair Jerry Cirino's (R-Kirtland) hands. 'When we make a move in the budget for school systems, it impacts different systems in different ways,' Cirino said during the start of the budget process. 'That's what makes it complicated.' Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) warned that the funding formula could actually decrease the amount of money for schools this year. 'There's a chance that schools would see negative numbers as a result of that formula going into place,' he said. According to lawmakers who work closely with schools, including state Rep. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, about 5% of districts would have less money this year than they did last year because they have fewer students enrolled. 'Are you fine potentially seeing negative numbers for some of these school districts?' McColley asked. Patterson said that this makes the funding breakdown more equitable for public schools across the state. With the House's budget, every school would receive significantly less money than they planned for, which districts have already said could lead to staff and program cuts. 'Shop classes or (Future Farmers of America) classes or art, music and gym that aren't necessarily required, those sorts of programs could get put on the chopping block,' Patterson continued. The retired teacher is hoping that the Senators hear him before the budget amendments are announced this week. 'To help kids, that's who I am,' Patterson said. Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Attorneys for Householder, Borges ‘hopeful' following pardon for Cincinnati politician
Larry Householder, left, and Matt Borges, right. (Photos by WEWS/WCPO.) The attorneys for former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former Republican leader Matt Borges are feeling 'hopeful' after a Cincinnati politician convicted of bribery got a pardon from President Donald Trump. Once convicted of accepting $20,000 in bribes, former Cincinnati City Councilmember PG Sittenfeld's slate has been wiped clean. President Donald Trump pardoned the Democrat, who was sentenced to more than a year in prison in 2023. And with this pardon comes interest from other influential Ohio politicos. We asked Householder's attorney Scott Pullins if that gives him hope for Householder. 'Yeah, I can't comment, obviously, on what we're doing right now, what I'm working on, our legal team's working on,' Pullins replied. 'But it certainly gives us a lot of hope.' Thursday, Borges's appeals attorney, Dennis Belli, said in a phone interview that the Sittenfeld pardon also gives him hope. In March 2023, a jury found Householder and Borges guilty of felony racketeering in the largest public corruption and bribery scandal in state history. And earlier this month, a panel of federal court judges upheld the convictions of Householder and Borges. We asked Gov. Mike DeWine if he believes Householder and Borges should be pardoned. 'Look, I don't have any comment about the pardons,' he responded. 'These are decisions that are made by the president of the United States. I have authority in regard to state pardons, and I always will tell you about why I made a decision.' Pullins has been telling us for months now that the former speaker is seeking clemency, arguing the FBI was politically motivated in arresting the former speaker. 'They singled out Larry, him alone,' he said. 'No one else has been charged, no other politician — period.' Legal expert Steve Gooden, partner at Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, said this could be a sympathetic argument for a pardon. 'It obviously strikes very close to home for Donald Trump who has been the subject of these kinds of inquiries and cases in the past,' Gooden said. In an interview in February, Attorney General Dave Yost refuted this allegation. 'He was indicted by President Trump's United States Attorney, David DeVillers, who, I believe, is the same political party,' Yost said. 'I don't think that dog hunts.' And Yost said he was against Householder getting out. Householder is also facing Ohio charges. He has pleaded not guilty to 10 felony counts in Cuyahoga County. 'I oppose,' Yost said in February. Asked why, he said, 'Because I've seen the evidence and he committed multiple crimes. Even if his appeal is successful in the federal case, there is additional evidence of criminal acts that are included in the state's indictment.' If convicted on state charges and appeals fail, it would take an act of the governor to clear him of that. Previously, Pullins told us in an interview that the team is hoping to leverage Householder's close relationship with Trump to get him out. Asked about the appearance that Householder could be using his connections in order to get out of prison, Pullins responded, 'Well, yeah. He is. Hopefully, he has some friends left that can help.' After our exclusive, in-depth interview in 2023, we've kept in touch with the head juror, Jerrod Haines, who convicted Householder in federal court. He said that Householder was, once again, using power to get what he wanted. 'I definitely feel like he is using his connections to skip his sentence,' he said. 'I would feel that the justice system failed if he would be pardoned. I would feel that my time as a juror was wasted, even though I think it was a very valuable experience for me, my life was interrupted for seven weeks.' Haines told us in 2023 that he was left disillusioned with state government, hoping political leaders would finally learn not to undercut their citizens in exchange for power and money. Paula Christian from WCPO contributed to this story. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
New York Post
27-05-2025
- New York Post
Ohio boy, 13, killed by float in freak accident during Memorial Day parade
A 13-year-old boy died Monday after he was run over by a parade float he had fallen from during a Memorial Day procession in Ohio, authorities said. The North Canton teen — whose identity hasn't been released — was participating in the holiday parade in the town of Green around 11:23 a.m. when he tumbled off the front of the festive trailer and was struck by the platform's dual tires, the Summit County Sheriff's Office announced. The annual event came to a sudden halt as the youngster, who sustained severe injuries, was rushed to Akron Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 3 A 13-year-old North Canton boy died after he fell from a float and was then run over during a Memorial Day parade. ABC News 'It's really a tragedy that this happened today,' Sgt. Corin Usinski told WEWS. 'They had numerous people on the float and alongside the float. I've been doing this for 25 years as a police officer and I've never heard of this happening ever before.' The nearly two-mile-long parade kicked off from Green High School Monday morning around 10 a.m., according to the city's website. The patriotic wooden float — on which the boy was standing — was being pulled by a gray Ford F-150 pickup truck when he tragically fell, officials said. 3 The youngster died after he was rushed to a local children's hospital in critical condition. ABC News 'Our hearts go out to the family at this time of terrible loss,' Green Mayor Rocco Yeargin told reporters following the heartbreaking incident, the outlet reported. 'We look to support them as a Green community any way that we can. Our school district has reached out to the school district of North Canton to offer counselors that will be in action to help their students walk through this issue.' 3 Officials said the tragic incident remains under investigation. ABC News The North Canton City Schools District also released a statement notifying families that a crisis management team will be on hand to help grieving students and staff. 'We are deeply saddened to have been informed of the passing of one of our North Canton City Schools students,' the statement read. 'There is no greater tragedy than the death of a young person, and we offer our sincere condolences and support to the family.' The fatal incident remains under investigation.
