Today’s News
Churches jump into action with threat of targeted immigration crackdown
CHICAGO (AP) — As a nationwide immigration crackdown loomed, religious leaders across the country used their pulpits Sunday to quell concerns in immigrant communities and spring into action to help those potentially threatened by the operation. A Chicago priest talked during his homily about the compassion of a border activist accused of harboring illegal immigrants, while another city church advertised a “deportation defense workshop.” Dozens of churches in Houston and Los Angeles offered sanctuary to [...]
House Democrats who tangled with leader not backing down
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Days after tensions with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi boiled over publicly, several House Democrats sent a message to Washington: We’re not backing down. Three members of the “squad” — the cadre of liberal freshman lawmakers who are struggling with their party’s more centrist members over impeachment, immigration and other issues — defended their approach Saturday while appearing on a panel at the annual Netroots conference. All are young women of color, a [...]
Several local companies rank high for women workers
Seven companies based in central Ohio are among the top employers for women, according to Forbes magazine. The publication ranked 300 businesses for its America’s Best Employers For Women 2019 list, released last week. Forbes compiles the list of 300 by surveying 60,000 employees, including more than 40,000 women working for companies employing at least 1,000 people. Designer Brands Inc. was the highest employer out of the seven local companies. Its Designer Shoe Warehouse brand [...]
Old software makes electoral systems ripe for hacking
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pennsylvania’s message was clear: The state was taking a big step to keep its elections from being hacked in 2020. Last April, its top election official told counties they had to update their systems. So far, nearly 60 percent have taken action, with $14.15 million of mostly federal funds helping counties buy brand-new electoral systems. But there’s a problem: Many of these new systems still run on old software that will soon [...]
Auto workers union, Detroit 3 at odds as contract talks open
DETROIT (AP) — In recent years, Detroit automakers have been at relative peace with the United Auto Workers union because times have been good and profit-sharing checks have been fat. That could change this week as talks open on new four-year contracts with the union representing 142,000 workers across the nation. Auto sales are starting to slow as well as profits, health care costs are rising and a labor cost gap has widened with workers [...]
Biden campaigns as Obamacare’s top defender
Joe Biden is taking an aggressive approach to defending Obamacare, challenging not just President Donald Trump but also some of his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination who want to replace the current insurance system with a fully government-run model. The former vice president will spend much of the coming week talking about his approach to health care, including remarks he’ll deliver on Monday in Iowa at a presidential forum sponsored by AARP. His almost [...]
Nonopioid directive sought for patients in Ohio
A legislative measure resurrected from the previous session of the Ohio Legislature’s General Assembly would require state Health officials to develop a nonopioid directive for patients who do not want treatment or therapies to include the highly addictive class of drugs. Freshman Democrat Sen. Tina Maharath of Canal Winchester brought the bill before members of the Health, Human Services and Medicaid Committee to bolster the state’s efforts in fighting the scourge of opioid addiction, plaguing [...]
Apollo 11 moon landing had thousands working behind scenes
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — It took 400,000 people to put Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon a half-century ago. That massive workforce stretched across the country and included engineers, scientists, mechanics, technicians, pilots, divers, seamstresses, secretaries and more who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to achieve those first lunar footsteps . Amid the sea of white shirts, black ties and pocket protectors inside NASA’s firing room for the liftoff of [...]
Hawaii activists protesting over start of work on telescope atop mountain
MAUNA KEA, Hawaii (AP) — Hundreds of demonstrators are gathered at the base of Hawaii’s tallest mountain to protest the construction of a giant telescope on land that some Native Hawaiians consider sacred. State and local officials will try to close the road to the summit of Mauna Kea on Monday morning to allow trucks carrying construction equipment to make their way to the top. Officials say anyone breaking the law will be prosecuted. Protesters [...]
Legal News
High court to settle postrelease control conflict
The Ohio public defender’s office was successful in getting its appeal of a 10th District Court of Appeal decision that conflicted with a ruling by [...]
Ambiguous language about moral character may be replaced
With about one in five Ohioans requiring a state-issued occupational license in order to work, a Springfield legislator believes it’s time to make more clear [...]
How Epstein’s secret deal could affect his current sex trafficking case
NEW YORK (AP) — Financier Jeffrey Epstein awaits a bail hearing after pleading not guilty this week to sex trafficking charges in a case brought [...]
Business News
VW, Ford broaden alliance to autonomous, electric vehicles
NEW YORK — Volkswagen will sink $2.6 billion into a Pittsburgh autonomous vehicle company that’s mostly owned by Ford as part of a broader partnership [...]
Per Scholas Columbus receives KeyBank tech grant
The Columbus operation of national nonprofit Per Scholas was awarded $100,000 in funding from the KeyBank Business Boost & Build program to help underrepresented groups [...]
Local software startup GhostLabs expands with merger
Since 2015, Nafis Azad grew his startup company in central Ohio, but its reach has expanded across the nation. Now the founder of GhostLabs has [...]
Real Estate
BIA Foundation awards grant to Franklinton nonprofit
The Building Industry Association Foundation is awarding a grant to a nonprofit company focused on mentoring and training in the building trades. Franklinton Rising will [...]
Central Ohio home sales up slightly in May
Home sales in central Ohio have ticked up slightly this year despite increasingly higher prices and a stubbornly low number of homes for sale. Homes [...]
Columbus renters leasing in September pay more
Renters in central Ohio may want avoid signing a new lease in September, according to a recent study. “The rental market in Columbus doesn’t peak [...]
Politics
Cabinet of curiosities: 15,000 ink samples at Secret Service
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a cabinet inside a modest laboratory in downtown Washington are rows and rows of ink samples in plastic squeeze bottles and [...]
How the Trump administration’s 2018 trade aid package works
MINNEAPOLIS — The Trump administration’s Market Facilitation Program is meant to compensate farmers for income they’ve lost due to the U.S. trade war with China. [...]
A congressman who fought City Hall is Big Tech’s new foe
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Can the congressman who took on an entrenched machine politician in Rhode Island also stand up to Big Tech? David Cicilline, [...]
