Five things to know for Monday, Dec. 29
Unemployment filings are again a mixed bag
Ohioans filed 61,573 unemployment claims the week of Dec. 14 to Dec. 20, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said. That tally included 53,322 continued unemployment claims, which were 2,590 more than the previous week.
The total also included 8,251 initial unemployment claims, which were 485 fewer than the previous week. Officials said 1,354 of those were flagged for verification to ensure they are not fraudulent.
‘Operation Buckeye’ nets more than 200 arrests. Federal immigration authorities have arrested more than 200 people in Ohio as part of “Operation Buckeye,” according to reports. “These are some of the people who are no longer committing crimes and endangering the community,” Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted said in a post to X, sharing an earlier ICE post.
The list of ICE arrests in Columbus as of Dec. 20. These are some of the people who are no longer committing crimes and endangering the community.
Follow the law, enforce the rule of law.https://t.co/smQPFmJnfa
— Jon Husted (@JonHusted) December 27, 2025
Ferguson floats plan to consider if voters nix property tax. State Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville, said that if voters decide to abolish the property tax in November 2027, the state’s sales tax would remain, and 20% of the revenue would go into a new local government fund. Governments would receive a portion based on their 2026 property tax collections.
“If people are not paying property tax, that’s a lot more money they’re gonna have in their pocket,” Ferguson told local officials in Mingo Junction, WTOV-TV reported. “Presumably a lot of that money will be spent in the economy and it would increase the sales tax receipts, which would increase the money that we give to our first responders in our local governments.”
State troopers issue more than half of Franklin County tickets to drivers traveling 20 mph over the speed limit. A Columbus Dispatch review of Ohio State Highway Patrol ticket data shows that troopers issued 49.3% of their tickets, or 2,657, in Franklin County to drivers traveling between 20 mph and 29 mph over the limit. Another 42.4% of its tickets, or 2,287, in Franklin County were for drivers traveling between 10 and 19 mph over the speed limit.
Case against Whitehall city councilman dismissed. A Franklin County Municipal Court judge recently dropped charges against a Whitehall city councilman charged with compelling prostitution from a minor and gross sexual imposition, WOSU reported. Mark Collins, the attorney for City Councilman Gerald Dixon, told the outlet via email that the municipal case against Dixon, who first appeared in court on Dec. 9, must be dismissed by the 15th day after the initial appearance. Despite the dismissal, a probe into allegations that Dixon, 64, “sexually abused children for several years,” WOSU reported.
