Dear Rusty: My question is not for me, but for my daughter who 62 years is old. She does not want to take her Social Security now. Her husband was a doctor and passed away recently. She had been married to him for more than 10 years and, in the meantime, he married someone else. I thought the President erased taxes on earned money so that people could collect what was due them no matter what they earned. My daughter keeps telling me she has already earned too much this year and cannot collect her widow’s benefits until next year. I don’t understand what no tax on Social Security means then. Also, she wants to wait until she is 67 before she collects her own money. She has been a nurse and believes her own benefits may be larger than her widow’s benefits. Is she correct to wait for that long? Signed: Worried Mom

Dear Worried Mom: Your daughter is likely correct. There are two factors which come into play in your daughter’s circumstance – one is the Annual Earnings Test (for those collecting early SS benefits), and the other relates to Federal income tax on SS benefits received. I’ll try to clarify both of these for you:

If your daughter claims her widow’s benefit at age 62, her benefit will be significantly reduced (by approximately 20+%) from what she would get at her SS full retirement age, and that would be a permanent reduction. And, if she works (which you imply she does) she would also be subject to Social Security’s Annual Earnings Test (AET) which limits how much she can earn by working prior to reaching her SS full retirement age (her “FRA,” which is age 67). The earnings limit for 2026 is $24,480 (changes yearly) and, if her annual 2026 earnings exceed that amount, Social Security will take away $1 of benefits for every $2 she is over the annual limit. For example, if she is $25,000 over the limit, SS would take way benefits equal to $12,500. That would mean she wouldn’t get any SS benefits for the remainder of this year and likely some of next year also. And, if her earnings are significantly more than the annual limit, she may even be temporarily ineligible to receive a widow’s benefit (until she either reaches her FRA or earns less money). FYI, the Annual Earnings Test will go away when your daughter reaches age 67 but, until then, the AET will likely restrict her ability to receive Social Security benefits if she continues to work full time.

The next factor to be aware of is the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) which the President claimed means “no tax on Social Security.” This is an entirely different factor than the Annual Earnings Test (AET) described above. The above AET discussion dealt with SS earnings limits while taking benefits before FRA, whereas the OBBB deals with income tax on Social Security benefits actually received. The OBBB (enacted last year) provides an extra $6,000 deduction per person (on the tax return filed with the IRS) for those 65 years of age or older. That extra IRS deduction is designed to offset (either totally or partially) any income tax which is levied on Social Security benefits received by those age 65 or older. It’s also important to know that the OBBB only provides temporary income tax relief, because the law expires after the 2028 income tax year.

All of which leads me to conclude that your daughter’s decision to wait longer to claim her widow’s benefit from her deceased ex-husband is a prudent choice. As long as she is working and earning more than the annual earnings limit before age 67, the AET will restrict how much Social Security she is able to receive. If she later stops working or goes to part-time employment, she can revisit her decision at that time. And, depending on her own personally earned Social Security benefit amount at age 67 (vs. her widow’s benefit), she can assess whether to claim her personal SS retirement benefit or to, instead, claim her benefit as her ex-husband’s widow if that amount is larger than her own SS retirement. And, unless Congress later extends the OBBB prior to 2029, she will, at that time, likely need to pay income tax on the Social Security benefits she receives.

This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (http://amacfoundation.org/services) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org).

About AMAC

The 2.4 million member Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] www.amac.us is a vibrant, vital senior advocacy organization that takes its marching orders from its members. AMAC Action is a non-profit, non-partisan organization representing the membership in our nation’s capital and in local Congressional Districts throughout the country. And the AMAC Foundation (www.AmacFoundation.org) is the Association’s non-profit organization, dedicated to supporting and educating America’s Seniors. Together, we act and speak on the Association members’ behalf, protecting their interests and offering a practical insight on how to best solve the problems they face today. Live long and make a difference by joining us today at www.amac.us/join-amac.

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COLUMBUS — Financial disclosures filed by Ohio Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted with the Ohio Ethics Commission show that the quasi-private economic development entity JobsOhio gave gifts to Husted in 2021, 2022, and 2023 when he was lieutenant governor.

The gifts could have been as paltry as a meal at a local restaurant or they could have been trips worth thousands, but Husted’s office won’t say what gifts JobsOhio gave him or what they were worth, neither will JobsOhio, and Ohio law doesn’t require them to.

Husted approaches a close midterm election contest against former Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat.

While the financial disclosures he filed with the Ohio Ethics Commission show that JobsOhio gave Husted gifts in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In 2024, Husted’s disclosure doesn’t show any gifts from JobsOhio, but it does show one from its CEO, J.P. Nauseef.

JobsOhio was created by the legislature, its board is appointed by the governor, and it controls the state liquor franchise. As a “private” corporation, it has been exempt from most state open meetings and records laws as it has disbursed more than $2 billion in what used to be public money — profits from the state liquor franchise — to private businesses.

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In its 15 years, it’s made contributions to many entities, but good government watchdogs have questioned the ones it’s made to the businesses of its board members and those of affiliated entities.

Earlier this year, the public learned that JobsOhio paid $60,000 to a woman with whom Ohio State President Ted Carter had an “inappropriate relationship” that led to his ouster.

The money was supposed to fund production of four episodes of a podcast, but only one was made. JobsOhio in March said it would look into trying to claw the money back, but now it won’t respond when asked if it’s attempted to do that.

Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, said of the gifts to Husted that the public should have enough information to determine whether it could influence decision making.

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“It makes sense for JobsOhio to be as transparent as possible because otherwise voters are going to really question their motives and assume the worst,” she said. “It’s not necessarily fair that the public would assume the worst, but that’s one of the reasons why transparency is essential… It’s always better to have good information than have things be super-foggy.”

State law allows for quite a bit of fogginess.

Ohio law “only requires that the filer disclose ‘the source of each gift of over seventy-five dollars,’” Paul Nick, executive director of the Ohio Ethics Commission, said in an email. “It does not require the filer to disclose the nature or value of the item.”

Nick added, however, that officials can’t take a gift “that is of such character as to manifest a substantial and improper influence upon the public official or employee with respect to that person’s duties.”

He added, “We’ve said that, in simpler terms, means you cannot accept (and no private party or entity can give) a substantial thing of value if the source of the thing of value is someone who is doing or seeking to business with, regulated by, or interested in matters before the official’s public agency.”

In one of the years Husted received gifts from JobsOhio, Gov. Mike DeWine appointed lobbyist Josh Rubin to chair the JobsOhio Board, in September 2023. Rubin was being paid by Intel at the time and continued to be at least until this year.

Rubin was registered until the end of last year to lobby JobsOhio on behalf of Intel and other businesses, the Capital Journal reported in August.

JobsOhio has committed $150 million to the long delayed Intel chip-making project near Albany. The DeWine administration, of which Husted was a member at the time, committed more than $2 billion in taxpayer dollars.

Rubin’s lobbying disclosures show that he actively lobbied Husted and the lieutenant governor’s office for Intel until DeWine appointed Husted to fill the U.S. Senate seat at the start of 2025 that was vacated by now-Vice President JD Vance.

Though the substance and value of the gifts remain unknown, Husted received gifts from JobOhio and its CEO while he was still lieutenant governor and the chairman of JobsOhio’s board was being paid to lobby him on behalf of a company that had already gotten more than $600 million from the state and stood to get much more.

Was the gift “a substantial thing of value” and was its source “someone who (was) doing or seeking to business with, regulated by, or interested in matters before the official’s public agency,” we asked.

“I can’t draw any direct conclusions in response to your questions without investigating all of the facts,” Paul Nick of the Ethics Commission said.

He referred to a written explanation of how the law relates to gifts to public officials from nonprofits (JobsOhio is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization).

The law “prohibits a person or nonprofit organization from promising, offering, or giving ‘things of value’ to a public official or employee if the things of value could have a ‘substantial’ and ‘improper’ influence on the public official or employee,” it says.

“’Substantial’ gifts could include jewelry, the promise of future employment, meals at expensive restaurants, entertainment activities, such as exclusive golf outings or season tickets for a professional sports team, or travel, meal and lodging expenses,” it says.

The document defines as an “improper source” entities seeking to do business with a public agency, that are regulated by a public agency, or that have matters before the public agency.

For a follow-up question on whether the Ethics Commission had any way of knowing what JobsOhio had given Husted short of mounting an investigation — and whether such a probe would be undertaken, Nick was out of the office and not immediately available for comment.

Turcer of Common Cause said that in the context of recent controversies, state laws regarding gifts and political contributions need to be updated — and Husted and JobsOhio need to be more transparent.

In those recent controversies, Husted controversially joined the board of a private bank in 2022, saying he was doing it for the experience, not the money. The bank contributed nearly $500,000 to his political committee. Husted and the DeWine administration also were part of an energy bailout that blew up into one of the biggest corruption scandals in state history.

“We’re living in a time period when what’s legal and what’s ethical are clearly being bent and broken,” Turcer said.

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A newsroom death watch in Northern Ohio is moving from a slow burn to a sprint.

In Toledo, the warning light is flashing red: Block Communications has signaled that if a buyer isn’t found, The Toledo Blade could cease publication by the end of the year. If The Blade goes under, it would leave a major Ohio metro without a daily printed newspaper—a grim milestone once thought unthinkable for a city of Toledo’s size.

Now, word leaking out of Lorain County suggests the fallout is spreading eastward.

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Darrell E. Moore, 51, of Ash Street, was indicted by a county grand jury on three felonies stemming from an investigation into the death of an individual identified in court records as K.M.

On or about March 8, according to the indictment, Moore sold or offered to sell a fentanyl-related compound to K.M. and furnished the Schedule II controlled substance, causing serious physical harm and ultimately leading to the victim’s fatal overdose.

The grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Moore:

• Involuntary Manslaughter (Felony of the 1st Degree)

• Corrupting Another With Drugs (Felony of the 2nd Degree)

• Trafficking in a Fentanyl-Related Compound (Felony of the 5th Degree)

Following his indictment, an arrest warrant was executed by the Erie County Sheriff’s Office. Moore appeared for arraignment before Judge Beverly K. McGookey, where defense counsel entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.

The Prosecutor’s Office in discovery included body-camera footage, digital extraction reports from cell phones examined via Cellebrite, 911 audio recordings, physical evidence recovered from the scene—including drug paraphernalia—and official toxicology reports from the Lucas County Coroner’s Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI).

Moore is represented by attorney Robert H. Ritzler from the public defender’s office. A final pre-trial hearing is scheduled for October 6, with a jury trial formally set to begin on October 19.

COLUMBUS — Around Ohio, utility bills are climbing and the strain families are feeling could help decide November’s election. To voters, utility bills are a straightforward problem: higher is bad. Although that equation is simple, untangling the forces driving bills higher is anything but.

Policies at the state and federal level play a significant role, as do decisions by PJM Interconnect, the 13-state electric grid operator serving Ohio. Data centers, in particular, have become the physical embodiment of ratepayers’ frustrations — gobbling up tax incentives in exchange for higher energy costs and sprawling, bland buildings.

Politicians have a long list of fixes. They’ve proposed a range of restrictions for data centers, new requirements for state regulators, expanded assistance programs and streamlined permitting.

Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy has even promised free electricity for residents living near data centers, though experts are unsure how this can be accomplished legally and constitutionally

.No matter how big the promises get, Ohio’s leaders can’t wave a magic wand and ‘solve’ rising utility costs, but their decisions over the next several years could have a significant influence on what your bills look like.

What’s in my bill?

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio maintains an online dashboard detailing utility costs by city. Last month, 15 of the 16 metro areas listed reported higher year-over-year electric bills. Cleveland and Ashtabula led the pack with a 28.1% increase; Cincinnati was the lone exception, more or less holding steady with a decline of .4%.

A recent report from state Auditor Keith Faber noted statewide average energy prices have more than doubled since 2001, and in the past five years alone, they’ve climbed 34%.

The array of charges on to residents’ bills varies around the state, but generally speaking, utility bills break down into three categories: generation, transmission, and distribution.

Generation is the cost of power itself, including the price of electricity we actually use as well as reserve capacity. Transmission is the cost of high voltage power lines — think the tall steel lattice type structures — while distribution covers the cost of the “last-mile” power network typically strung along wooden utility poles.

Because demand is high, generation costs have grown, and Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Maureen Willis said it has happened in two ways.

First, imagine all the power plants in the 13-state PJM footprint stacked up based on price. As PJM contracts energy to meet demand, it moves up that energy stack to higher bids. The bid it eventually lands on sets the overall market price.

PJM compares the pricing model to a taxi ride. When demand is low, it’s like hailing a ride in light traffic, “you can expect a consistent and predictable taxi fare.” But as traffic grows — or demand for electricity grows — the fare climbs higher.

Second, PJM runs an annual auction for reserve power when demand peaks. Naturally, that auction relies on forecasts to determine future demand, and data centers have had a significant impact.

Willis pointed to a report from PJM’s independent market monitor, which found data centers accounted for $29.4 billion in higher capacity costs over the past four auctions.

At the transmission level, oversight gets shared among PJM, state regulators, and the federal government. Even with all that attention, Willis said, there’s a problem.

“No one is reviewing those (projects) for prudence, need, or cost effectiveness,” she said. “There’s a gap — what we call regulatory gap.”

A utility generally has to demonstrate its investments are “prudent and reasonable” and “used and useful” to pass costs on to customers. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has final authority over transmission rates, but many projects follow a less onerous “supplemental” process overseen by PJM.

“PJM’s analysis is a do no harm analysis,” Willis explained. “All it says is we’ll allow this project to go on as long as it doesn’t harm existing transmission.”

Without more rigorous review, Willis contends, utilities have an incentive to invest in projects that are profitable for them, but expensive for consumers.

In 2023, Willis’ office filed a complaint about that lack of oversight FERC. The commission has yet to take action.

And the price tag for transmission projects isn’t small change. Between 2017 and 2025, Willis said, Ohio utilities passed along $16 billion in new transmission expenses to consumers.

According to reporting from Cleveland.com, more than $10 billion of that total went through PJM’s supplemental process. Many of those projects are high voltage lines built to serve data centers.

The phenomenon isn’t limited to Ohio. Nationwide, utilities are planning $1.4 trillion in new transmission projects by 2030. Those projects will eventually land on ratepayers’ monthly bills.

“We could end up with stranded costs,” Willis warned, “where you build a system for a customer — huge transmission line, hundreds of millions of dollars, perhaps even billions — and then that customer leaves early, or the business doesn’t pan out.”

Oversight for distribution rates falls to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. While the dollar figures are often smaller, Willis still worries about utilities billing for upgrades that don’t make enough of a difference.

Willis brought up FirstEnergy’s Distribution Modernization Rider. The company collected almost half a billion dollars from customers, but couldn’t account for how it actually spent the money. The Ohio Supreme Court struck down that fee in 2019.

More recently, FirstEnergy asked state regulators to reduce its reliability standards — allowing for more and longer outages to occur. This came after the utility billed ratepayers nearly $1 billion for grid modernization projects, Willis said, “based on the assumption that reliability would get better.”

Willis’ office along with the cities of Lakewood and Barberton challenged FirstEnergy, and in June the PUCO rejected the proposed changes. FirstEnergy has appealed.

To Willis, it’s too easy for utilities to get an idea greenlit and start charging customers.

“We have not seen the benefits,” she said, “but we pay for the benefits ahead of time.”

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Ramaswamy’s promises

Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy promises to bring electric bills down by increasing the supply of energy.

To do that, he’ll “expand natural gas and deploy innovative energy technologies,” in addition to streamlining Ohio’s permitting process “so projects get built on time and on budget,” he’s said.

Ramaswamy also announced an “Ohioans-first” data center pledge including free power for nearby residents and reduced property taxes.

Data centers would be held to all air and water quality standards “without exception,” he said. Those changes would require legislation, but Ramaswamy promised an executive order banning data centers until that law can take effect.

“Eliminating electricity costs is the right objective,” Ramaswamy’s pledge asserts.

He contends that if the governor sets that goal and “negotiates accordingly,” hyperscale data center developers will “fully cover the cost of power for Ohioans who reside near a data center.”

Ramaswamy suggested data center developers will build power plants behind-the-meter and then contribute excess power to grid. He’s banking on the surplus being enough that “most of Ohio’s counties would fit entirely within a benefit zone” meaning the entire county would get free power.

The Ohio Capital Journal sent Ramaswamy’s campaign multiple emails requesting details — how do we determine how many neighbors get free power? And for how long? — but the campaign didn’t respond.

In an interview with the Statehouse News Bureau, Ramaswamy clarified his plan would cover the power generation portion of residents’ bills, but not distribution and transmission charges.

Ashley Brown is a former PUCO commissioner and former executive director of the Harvard Electricity Policy Group at the Kennedy School. He dismissed Ramaswamy’s proposals as misguided and said the data center pledge was “doomed to fail.”

Ohio already has “incredible” access to natural gas, Brown said. Increasing supply won’t make rates worse, he said, but it probably won’t make a huge difference.

Remember the energy stack that sets the price of power? Brown explained that renewable energy sources like wind and solar can bid close to zero, and that helps hold down the price of energy generation overall.

“I’m laughing because (Ramaswamy’s) running mate, (Ohio state) Sen. (Rob) McColley, sponsored the bill that makes it almost impossible to site solar farms in Ohio,” Brown said, “and makes it difficult — not quite impossible, but very difficult — to site wind farms.”

That bill, Ohio Senate Bill 52, allows local officials to intervene in the Ohio Power Siting Board process to block solar or wind farms. They have no similar authority when it comes to other power sources.

According to OPSB data, since the bill became law in 2022, eight solar projects representing 1.29 gigawatts of power have been denied. For context, that’s 45% of the 2.84 gigawatts in new generation Ohio installed between 2022 and 2025.

Despite Ramaswamy’s confidence, Brown has doubts about data center developers signing on to provide free power, and he warned it would actually hurt the market if they did.

“The generation (market) is very competitive,” Brown said. “And now he’s going to give a monopoly in communities — however that’s defined — to a data center to be a monopoly utility, but it’s required to give away all of its product. What is that? That completely destroys the market.”

The arrangement would lead to higher prices and volatility in the supply of power, Brown said.

“It’s not a serious plan,” Brown said. “It’s so obviously doomed to fail that it just makes no sense.”

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Acton’s promises

Democratic candidate for governor Amy Acton proposes more energy production, too. Unlike Ramaswamy, she emphasized “incorporating the lowest-cost and cleanest sources of energy.”

She said she’d also overhaul PUCO membership with an eye toward closing the “revolving door,” and expand access to lifeline programs like Ohio’s Percent of Income Payment Plan and the Home Energy Assistance Program.

In an email, a campaign spokeswoman said Acton would push eligibility from 175% to 200% of the federal poverty level.

Ohio’s PIPP program is the oldest of its kind in the country, and Brown helped come up with the idea. He said Acton is right to propose expanded eligibility.

“Is that important overall to the state’s economy? Yeah, but it’s extremely important to low-income people and to maintaining their quality of life but also health,” Brown said.

Acton promised to make data centers to pay their own way “so the burden doesn’t fall onto Ohio families or businesses,” and rein in their tax incentives.

She’s talked about issuing a conditional moratorium on data centers.

In addition to covering utility costs, Acton’s rubric would require data centers build with union labor on brownfields. Developers would also have to abandon nondisclosure agreements and meet existing environmental standards.

“If companies cannot meet these rigorous standards,” Acton’s campaign said, “they have no business working in Ohio.”

It’s a set of demands popular across the political spectrum.

A bipartisan data center overhaul that stalled out in the statehouse this summer ticked many of those boxes, and Libertarian candidate for Don Kissick raises very similar critiques. Ramaswamy has even accused Acton of “parroting” positions he took before expanding his plan to include free power.

To Brown, ensuring data centers actually pay for new infrastructure is a more realistic goal than promising free power.

“What she’s proposing is a commonsense remedy that’s been there all along,” he said, “and for a lot of reasons, political and otherwise, they haven’t really been applied. Ohio is not unique. What I’m talking about is (happening) nationally.”

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The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel is a nonpartisan position working on behalf of all the state’s ratepayers. So, Counsel Willis declined to weigh in on the candidates’ plans. But she did offer a handful of recommendations that policymakers at the state, regional, and federal level could do that she believes would help Ohioans.

Last year, state regulators approved a data center tariff for AEP Ohio. That billing arrangement requires data centers to cover new infrastructure and pay an exit fee if they back out early.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are backing legislation to extend those requirements statewideand Willis thinks that would be a good idea.

Willis also praised a bipartisan measure requiring an independent review of utilities’ demand forecasts.

“If you’re over-forecasting, you’re over-procuring,” she said, and usually consumers wind up with the bill.

When the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio sets rates, commissioners have to determine what is “just and reasonable.”

Willis contends affordability needs to be a central part of that discussion, but it often isn’t. It’s a similar story at PJM, Willis said, where the guiding principle is reliability.

“No one will say no to that one, but reliability should be a given,” Willis said. “It should be yes, we’re going to be reliable, but we also have to keep our eye on affordability and what’s in the public interest, and that is not written into their charter.”

When it comes to FERC, Willis’ ask is simple — do something about their transmission complaint.

“FERC has an obligation to establish just and reasonable rates,” she said, “and when no one’s looking at $10 billion worth of investment that’s just not right.”

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Nick Evans on X or on Bluesky.

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SANDUSKY — The Supreme Court of Ohio has rejected Ashli Ford’s latest attempt to disqualify presiding Judge Beverly K. McGookey from her criminal case (State v. Ohio v. Ashli Ford, Case No. 2025-CR-0316).

In a Judgment Entry and Decision filed late Tuesday, Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy formally dismissed the successive affidavit filed by defense counsel Peter Pattakos, ordering that the underlying criminal case proceed under Judge McGookey’s authority.

Key rulings

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CLYDE — WTOL News Channel 11 is reporting that Clyde police are investigating after a man was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head early Tuesday morning.

He was found at about 3 a.m. on Fairhome Avenue in Clyde, near Clyde Elementary and just south of U.S. 20, the news channel reported. The Sandusky County Coroner’s Office told WTOL 11 that the man’s cause of death remains under investigation.

The victim’s name has not been released.

Clyde police detectives are investigating, WTOL reported.

Calls to Police Chief Monti Campbell were not immediately returned.

This is a developing story. Check back here for updates

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COLUMBUS — Nearly 75 Haitians living in Ohio have been detained at one of four Ohio detention facilities that contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since President Trump took away their legal protected status on July 27 — a 142.3% increase, according to a new report.

Springfield ICE Watch reported 74 people detained by ICE from Aug. 7 to Sept. 17, according to a new report by Ohio Immigrant Alliance.

“Only 8% of the Haitians being detained in Springfield have had removal orders,” Springfield ICE Watch said in a statement.

“ICE has been most often seen in Springfield doing traffic stops in the middle of the road while people are on their way to or from work, or in the parking lots of apartment complexes with high immigrant populations, grocery stores, and gas stations.”

The report looked at the roster of four ICE detention facilities in Ohio: Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Mahoning County Justice Center in Youngstown, Seneca County Jail in Tiffin, and Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio in Stryker.

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There are two ICE detention facilities in Ohio — the Geauga County Safety Center in Chardon and the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown, but they do not publish their rosters publicly and therefore weren’t included in Ohio Immigrant Alliance’s report.

There were 26 Haitians booked in Butler County Jail, Mahoning County Justice Center, Seneca County Jail, and Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio prior to TPS ending, from Jan. 1 to July 26, according to the report.

At least 445 people were booked into those four ICE detention facilities between July 27 and Aug. 31, according to the report. Of those, 239 were Latin American and 62 were Haitian.

More Haitians are now being detained by ICE after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled at the end of June that President Donald Trump could end temporary protected status for the 330,000 Haitians who’ve fled the violence in their home country. Legal protected status officially ended for Haitians on July 27.

About 15,000 Haitians live in Springfield, with a mixture of temporary protected status, citizenship, and other legal status.

Butler County Jail, which had 1,078 people as of Friday morning, held 44 Haitian people between July 27 and Aug. 31.

The general housing capacity for Butler County Jail is 844, even though the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction recommends 756 as the housing capacity, according to a 2025 ODRC inspection report.

Erik Crew, a staff attorney at Haitian Bridge Alliance, said he interviewed 15 Haitians who were detained by ICE and held at the Butler County Jail.

“None had criminal records,” he said in a statement. “All entered the U.S. with its authorization, all had active and valid work authorization, and all had done everything the U.S. had asked.”

Springfield Pastor Gilbert Joubert Adrien was recently released from Butler County Jail after beingdetained by ICE in August.

Haitian Support Center Executive Director Viles Dorsainvil said Adrien used his time detained to minister to other people in jail.

“He told us that he was a source of consolation for other detainees,” Dorsainvil said.

ICE is starting to use the smartphone app SmartLINK to track Haitian in Springfield and seems to be phasing out ankle monitors, Dorsainvil said.

Haitians living in Springfield have been receiving letters requiring them to report to the ICE offices in Blue Ash or Westerville to accept ankle monitors after TPS ended.

There are hundreds of Haitians in Springfield with ankle monitors, Dorsainvil said.

“We don’t know what is going to happen, but what we’ve seen so far is the relief of the ankle monitors,” Dorsainvil said.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said ICE evaluates those enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program on a “case-by-case basis to determine the appropriate level of supervision and technology.”

“Decisions about enrollment, electronic monitoring, and any escalation or de-escalation of supervision are made by career law enforcement officers after reviewing relevant factors, including immigration status, criminal history, compliance history, and humanitarian or medical considerations,” the spokesperson said in an email.

“(Alternatives to Detention) uses a continuum of technology and case management tools, including SmartLINK and GPS monitoring, to provide varying levels of supervision based on the alien’s individual circumstances. ATD technology is not assigned based on nationality.”

Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Wright State University student, died in an apparent suicide last month, which his family said happened after he was forced to wear an ankle monitor by ICE.

Many advocates have been calling on to ICE to stop using the ankle monitors.

“We don’t know if (the ankle monitors) will come back,” Dorsainvil said. “What we all have to do is to continue to raise our concerns.”

ICE raids are continuing to happen in Springfield and a doctor recently told Dorsainvil that ICE picked up two people in his parking lot.

“They don’t have the freedom even to seek medical help,” Dorsainvil said.

Dorsainvil shared how a Haitian woman recently went to an ICE check-in with her two-month-old baby and they kept the mother, but ICE gave the baby back to the woman’s driver.

“The woman didn’t even know the driver very well,” Dorsainvil said. “The driver came back to the (Haitian Support) Center with the baby, and we were able to locate the father.”

The Ohio Immigrant Alliance report also said more than 90 immigrant students from preschool to high school have missed school for weeks “due to ICE’s presence and parents’ concerns for safety.”

“Some parents we know are keeping their children at home,” Dorsainvil said.

“We’re having a conversation with some parents who received letters already because the kids are not showing up at school. So we are asking them to start a conversation with the school just to tell them about the situation.”

Springfield City Schools did not respond to the Ohio Capital Journal’s request for comment.

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky.

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COLUMBUS — Affordability is on the minds of many Ohioans this election season, whether it’s groceries, utility bills, housing, or farming costs. Childcare affordability and the high cost of living for families are concerns across the political spectrum in Ohio, new research shows.

Childcare is among the issues Ohioans have seen as a struggle for years when it comes to access and cost, and something the legislature has been attempting to navigate as well.

“When families are talking about the cost of living, we can’t separate childcare from groceries, housing, transportation, utilities, even gas,” said Tami Lunan, director of the childcare-focused Caring Economy Organizing Project within the Ohio Organizing Collaborative.

Affordability is on the minds of many Ohioans this election season, whether it’s groceries, utility bills, housing, or farming costs. Childcare affordability and the high cost of living for families are concerns across the political spectrum in Ohio, new research shows.

Childcare is among the issues Ohioans have seen as a struggle for years when it comes to access and cost, and something the legislature has been attempting to navigate as well.

“When families are talking about the cost of living, we can’t separate childcare from groceries, housing, transportation, utilities, even gas,” said Tami Lunan, director of the childcare-focused Caring Economy Organizing Project within the Ohio Organizing Collaborative.

“When you start to layer in all those costs, you create a harsher reality for parents who are trying to stay in the workforce.”

Researchers and advocates in Ohio and the U.S. have been watching the childcare industry as it’s developed, and the cracks in the system brought on by funding gaps and workforce shortages. They recognize the immense need for a childcare system that works for families and for the businesses themselves.

Ohio-specific polling commissioned by advocacy group Groundwork Ohio and the national early childhood advocacy group First Five Years Fund, showed “significant agreement across party lines about the problem.”

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The polling, released at the end of August, showed 64% of Ohio voters saw lowering the cost of living as one of the most important issues facing the state.

“Ohio’s next governor and legislature cannot control every cost putting pressure on working families,” the polling report stated. “Childcare is different. State policy can make a difference in what families pay, whether they can find care and whether parents can work.”

Ohio voters of all parties agree that quality childcare “is a crisis or a major problem,” with 76% of all voters agreeing to that statement.

Of those polled, 62% of Republicans found the childcare crisis to be a major problem, along with 78% of independents, and 94% of Democrats.

Of the voters who were parents paying for childcare, half of them said childcare costs “prevent them from saving money or getting ahead financially,” according to the polling, with more than a third of parents polled cutting back on other “household essentials” to afford childcare.

One in five Ohioans said they are delaying having children because of the cost.

The economic strength of a sturdy childcare industry was appealing to most voters polled, with 74% of voters agreeing that “increasing access to high-quality childcare will strengthen Ohio’s economy and workforce.”

“Ohio is working hard to attract employers, grow its economy, and fill available jobs,” the researchers stated. “Workers need somewhere safe and reliable for their children to go while they work. Childcare has to be part of that economic strategy.”

First Five Years Fund also recently released national polling taken in July of this year, which showed 82% of voters listed childcare as part of the “affordability crisis,” with nearly 40% saying their ability to work is impacted by decisions related to childcare.

The polling was consistent with previous surveys done by the group in January, when 80% of voters said the “inability of working parents to find affordable childcare is a ‘state of crisis’ or a ‘major problem.’”

The issue spanned partisan groups nationwide similar to the Ohio numbers, with 94% of Democrats agreeing childcare was in crisis, along with 81% of independent voters, and 65% who identified as Republicans.

The fund found a 29% increase in childcare prices between 2020 and 2024 “due to increased operational costs and competing wages from other service sectors,” an increase of more than 7% over the the prices of other goods and services.

The average cost of childcare in the U.S. is $13,000 per year, or more than $1,000 a month, according to the First Five Years Fund research.

Ohio’s average was similar to the national average, according to the research, at $13,780 per year.

Eligibility for the Publicly Funded Child Care program in Ohio currently goes up to 145% of the federal poverty line, a level the state has maintained in the state operating budget despite calls from childcare advocates to raise the line to 160%, if not 200% for all Ohio children.

With the level staying at 145%, Ohio has one of the lowest eligibility limits in the country.

The state budget did include other options, like the Child Care Cred Program, a measure to share the costs of childcare between participating businesses, its employees in need of childcare, and the state.

The Child Care Choice Voucher Program was also funded with $50 million from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant, allowing for more access to childcare to those who fall outside the Publicly Funded Child Care limits.

In Ohio, First Five Years Fund identified a 13% gap in supply of childcare services, with decreases in the number of licensed childcare centers and family childcare homes in the state.

The gap exists as Ohio has more than 800,000 children aged five and under, with 67% of those children in households where all parents are working.

The fact that Ohio changed how Publicly Funded Child Care providers are paid is having a major impact on the ability for parents to get childcare and for facilities to stay afloat, according to Lunan.

Payment by the state for PFCC providers is dependent on the number of hours of childcare they provide in a week, from the lower “hourly” category, to the highest, full-time childcare.

In the most recent state operating budget, the Ohio General Assembly changed the payment categories for PFCC providers, so payment made in the “hourly” category comes from 10 hours or less of childcare.

The change raised the threshold of payments in that category from the previous state threshold of seven hours or less.

Budget documents said the modified categories meant there “would likely be a reduction in payments,” something Lunan and other childcare advocates agreed with, saying it would “negatively impact an entire industry.”

Part-time childcare is now considered any time between 10 and 33 hours per week, and full-time childcare is considered 33 hours or more of weekly childcare.

“That one change has had such a huge impact on who has access to care, is it affordable, and then it’s also really impacting the providers, because there are a lot of centers who are closing,” Lunan said.

Statewide research group Policy Matters Ohio said with nearly one in three Ohioans living in a childcare desert, workforce shortages are the difference between access to childcare and closed doors.

“Even where childcare centers are easy to access, many are operating at less than their full capacity because of this workforce shortage,” Heather Smith, researcher for the organization, wrote in a report.

The First Five Years Fund report recommended prioritizing federal funding to the Child Care & Development Block Grant, and also to Head Start programs and childcare tax credits nationwide to bring much needed support.

Groundwork Ohio, Lunan and Smith see other things the state can be doing, including support from the newest governor, whoever that may be, to increase eligibility for Publicly Funded Child Care and push to fill childcare funding gaps.

There’s also a bill currently active in the Ohio General Assembly that would give free childcare to those who work in the childcare sector.

Ohio House Bill 484 is a Republican-sponsored bill that would establish a pilot program under the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, providing Publicly Funded Child Care to employees of childcare facilities, regardless of income level.

The bill would use $20 million in state funds toward the pilot.

“Passing this legislation would not only provide current childcare workers with necessary financial relief … it would also draw more workers to the sector,” Smith said in a Policy Matters report on the bill.

H.B. 484 was introduced nearly a year ago, and has since been referred and re-referred to House committees. It currently sits in the House Finance Committee.

While the bill is led by members of the supermajority GOP in the General Assembly, it’s unclear whether the bill will be brought up before the end of the year.

After the November election, the legislature will start its “lame duck” session, in which the General Assembly must wrap up any priority business by the end of December.

Any measures not passed before that date will have to be reintroduced and start the process again in the new year, with a new General Assembly.

Lunan sees all the options as part of the values the state should hold to develop a new generation of Ohioans.

“We actually are responsible for children developing into good citizens, and good stewards of our state, and when we invest in those dollars up front, we know that the impact will be felt years down the line,” Lunan said.

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30

NEW HAVEN TWP. — A 74-year-old Willard man involved in a two-vehicle collision in Huron County on Sept. 16 died from the injuries he sustained, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

The accident at State Route 61 and State Route 103 in New Haven Township happened at about 10:15 that morning.

Edwin Lynch, 74, of Willard, was eastbound on Route 103 in a 2018 Toyota Tundra when he failed to yield at a posted stop sign at the Route 61, according to the Patrol. Lynch’s vehicle entered the intersection and struck a northbound 2025 Mack Pinnacle semi-truck operated by Eric Smith, 35, of Mansfield.

Lynch suffered serious injuries in the impact. He was initially treated at the scene before being flown by Cleveland Metro Life Flight to Cleveland Metro Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on Sunday.

Smith, the driver of the semi-truck, was not injured. State troopers said that both drivers were wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash.

The intersection was closed for about an hour while emergency responders processed the scene.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Highway Patrol.

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