Five things to know for Wednesday, Jan. 14
Proposed pot referendum goes up in smoke
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office has denied the summary language for a proposed referendum to repeal Senate Bill 56, a measure aimed at changing the state’s medical and adult-use marijuana laws following voters’ approval of Issue 2 in 2023. In its denial, the attorney general’s office said the summary was not a fair and truthful representation of the proposal.
“Upon review of the summary, we identified omissions and misstatements that, as a whole, would mislead a potential signer as to the scope and effect of S.B. 56,” Yost wrote in a response letter to the petitioners. The office received the written petition for the referendum on Dec. 29, 2025.
North Ridgeville doctor faces five years following conviction. Timothy Sutton, a North Ridgeville doctor who worked for a telemedicine company, faces more than five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to ordering thousands of unnecessary cancer-related tests and medical braces worth $14.6 million, according to Cleveland.com. The sentence comes amid ongoing concerns of fraud in Ohio.
DeWine urges Noel to select Ohio for Coast Guard training facility. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine encouraged U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday to select the state as the site for the U.S. Coast Guard’s next major training facility. The move coincides with sometimes violent clashes involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and protesters who are egging them on in the wake of the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis.
Violent crime initiative nets arrests, illegal guns. An operation to reduce violent crime in Cincinnati, part of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s Violent Crime Reduction Initiative, led to multiple arrests and the seizure of illegal firearms on Monday. Around 9:45 p.m., officers downtown tried to stop a Ford Escape. The driver hit two vehicles while trying to flee. After striking a second vehicle, a suspect, 29-year-old Mykez Smith, left the SUV and ran. A second suspect, 26-year-old Madison Stallworth, stayed in the SUV and was arrested.
Ohio sees a positive revenue report. Ohio’s December General Revenue Fund tax revenues surpassed estimates by 2.3%, or $61.6 million, officials said. The numbers include the sales tax holiday transfer. So far this fiscal year, tax revenue with the transfer is 3.5% above the estimate, or $518.2 million.
