Home

What’s Up Ohio – Ohio Capital Journal

• New Ohio law banning intoxicating hemp products, THC and CBD beverages takes effect March 20, 2026
  The changes made by Republican state lawmakers to Ohio’s voter-passed weed law have now taken effect, including new criminal charges, along with the state’s new intoxicating hemp ban — which includes THC and CBD beverages. Ohio Senate Bill 56 became law Friday after Ohioans for Cannabis Choice failed to get enough signatures to get a […]
• Catching Our Eye News Roundup, March 20, 2026 March 20, 2026
  Every morning in the Ohio Capital Journal’s free newsletter, The Eye-Opener, we round up the news and commentary from across Ohio and around the country and world that is catching our attention. We call this feature Catching Our Eye, republished here. Please subscribe to our free daily newsletter to get all the Ohio news you need to know […]
• Nearly half of Ohioans don’t make enough to be economically secure, report says March 20, 2026
  Updated data from the Urban Institute underscores what candidates and pollsters are hearing in Ohio and around the country: Average people are having a harder and harder time getting by. Other measures, such as those of income fragility, also show widespread economic insecurity. The Urban Institute this week updated 2023 research into the “true cost […]
• Ohio House approves data center study group, delays vote on overriding tax exemption March 20, 2026
  The Ohio House unanimously advanced a bill Wednesday establishing a new data center study commission. But state lawmakers held off on plans to override a data center sales tax exemption — at least for now. “It’s just simply a matter of, are we going to have 60 people in the chamber (to) vote for an […]
• Drag queens testify against Ohio performance ban March 20, 2026
  Performers, including Nina West, testified this week against an Ohio bill that would ban public drag shows. Growing up in a conservative family, Andrew Levitt said he hid himself for years. “I was also worried that if people truly knew who I was, I would no longer belong or fit in,” Levitt said. But in […]
• Brothers held by ICE in Ohio denied bond, again March 20, 2026
  This story was originally published by the Athens County Independent.  CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Immigration Court Judge Richard Drucker earlier this month denied bond motions for Victor Laverde Laguna and Gregory Javier Laverde Laguna for the second time. In an interview with the Independent, Victor’s son called Drucker’s decision “disappointing” and said he was “heartbroken.” […]