Republican disrupted, heckled by protesters at town hall
TROY, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio town hall for the Republican who succeeded former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner in Congress got heated as a small but vocal group reacted to his comments on issues from the Environmental Protection Agency to Planned Parenthood.
The protesters were eventually forced to leave after about an hour of vocal opposition to Rep. Warren Davidson.
The Dayton Daily News reports that the protest group was chanting “we the people” as they left the room Tuesday night in Troy, about 68 miles north of Cincinnati. Although protesters voiced their disapproval, the majority of the 250-seat town hall was supportive of Davidson, with many wearing Trump stickers.
Davidson won a special election in the western Ohio district seat after Boehner resigned from the House in 2015.
Ohio House to keep office for families of special needs kids
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio House Republicans reject Gov. John Kasich’s proposal to close a state office that helps parents of children with medical challenges pay certain bills not covered by their insurance.
The Republican governor’s $66.9 billion, two-year state budget proposed eliminating the Bureau of Children With Medical Handicaps and shifting it to Medicaid managed care, then reducing income eligibility for babies born after July.
House GOP leaders announced plans Tuesday to remove Kasich’s language from the budget bill.
They were joined by former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason, whose son has cystic fibrosis. Esiason says families facing life-threatening conditions benefit from certainty.
House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger says the bureau serves nearly 40,000 Ohio children.
The administration committed to working with lawmakers to address Kasich’s concern that the program be sustainable.
Funeral expenses approved for woman killed in Ohio massacre
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The state has approved a request to help pay for the funeral of a woman killed in last year’s southern Ohio massacre of eight people.
The Dec. 12 request to the Ohio Victims of Crime Compensation Program was made by the family of Dana Rhoden.
Rhoden was the mother of three children also killed in the attacks and the ex-wife of the children’s father, Christopher Rhoden Sr., who also was killed.
Dana Rhoden’s mother, Judy Manley, received word of the $7,500 payment last week.
Payments of $22,500 from the fund were previously approved to pay for funerals for the Rhodens’ children: 20-year-old Clarence “Frankie” Rhoden, 19-year-old Hanna Rhoden and 16-year-old Christopher Rhoden Jr.
Ohio asks appeals court to review lethal injection process
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — State lawyers want an entire appeals court to review Ohio’s new and twice-rejected lethal injection process as the state struggles to resume executions.
The Attorney General’s Office asked the full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati late Tuesday to hear Ohio’s appeal of a judge’s decision deeming the proposed use of a contested sedative called midazolam unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel of the court ruled 2-1 earlier this month to side with the judge and reject the process.
The state says the U.S. Supreme Court has previously ruled the use of midazolam constitutional.
State lawyers also disagree with rulings that say Ohio is barred from using two other lethal drugs after abandoning them years ago.
