Dear Ohio - Politics, Issues, and People

The redistricting process of Ohio’s legislative maps has been a point of contention and drama for the state’s lawmakers and policy watchdogs. In some instances, members of the same party find themselves disagreeing on the quality of maps approved by legislators at the midnight hour. In this episode, Curtis Jackson discusses the process and its implications for Ohio's legislators and voters.

Venture capitalist J.D. Vance, who is also the author of the best-selling book ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ is part of a crowded Republican field in the race to succeed Sen. Rob Portman. Curtis Jackson talks with Vance about why he is running and his stance on various issues.

In the last episode of Dear Ohio, Gerald Torres, Yale School of Law professor and one of the founders of Critical Race Theory, explained what it is and what it is not.

In this episode, Curtis Jackson talks to opponents of Critical Race Theory in Ohio to find out why they think CRT is a threat to public education and compares their responses to what Torres explained is the purpose behind the theory.

Local school board meetings have been besieged by parents and others who claim children are being exposed to Critical Race Theory concepts in the classroom.

In this episode, Curtis Jackson takes a look at how conservative political candidates in Ohio and elsewhere are hosting town halls on the subject and lawmakers are introducing bills aimed at CRT. Curtis speaks with Gerald Torres, professor of law at Yale law School and a founder of CRT, and takes an in-depth look at Critical Race Theory from an academic view and the challenges of the issue in a polarized political environment.

Saving our Afghan allies is an arduous process. It takes years of vetting for them to get a special immigrant visa, a crucial step in the process. The costs of medical exams and vaccinations is also astronomical for people living in abject poverty.

In this episode of Dear Ohio Curtis talks to a former Afghan interpreter now living in Cincinnati and the Army officer who helped him get there. Through first-hand accounts, they explain the danger and the difficulty of going from Afghanistan to Ohio.

The surge in delta variant COVID-19 cases has reignited the debate over whether people should get vaccinated and wear masks to protect others against the coronavirus. For more than half of the country, and half of Ohioans, the answer is no. But are we failing to understand the morality of that choice?

In this episode of Dear Ohio, Curtis Jackson looks at the concept of utilitarianism and how it could help some reconsider how they are looking at the pandemic.

The NCAA now allows student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness, or NIL. It clears the way for endorsement deals and other opportunities, but the NCAA implemented the policy quickly, leaving schools and athletes little time for preparation.

In this episode of Dear Ohio, Curtis talks to the head of NIL for the Ohio State University about the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead and why NIL has come to mean a different acronym for some administrators, Nightmare, Image and Likeness.

The special elections in the 11th and 15th Congressional districts drew national attention, a flood of campaign cash and the involvement of former President Donald Trump. Now that the primary has been decided, what do the results say about the conditions of the Democratic and Republican parties in Ohio, the fate of the upcoming Senate race and Ohio’s presence on the national stage?

Find out as Curtis Jackson has an in depth conversation with one of the state’s leading political reporters, Seth Richardson of Cleveland.com.

Seven months after supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, some Ohio lawmakers are playing direct roles in investigating what happened, while others could become part of the probe.

Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan (R, OH-4) was initially chosen to serve on the Jan. 6 Select Committee tasked with investigating the Capitol attack, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blocked him once he started calling it “impeachment round three.” He’s now a leading voice criticizing the panel, but there’s a chance he could be called to testify before it because he confirmed to Spectrum News that he spoke with then-President Trump on Jan. 6.

Tim Ryan, a Democratic congressman who represents northeast Ohio, was one of the first members of Congress to start investigating the attack because he chairs the subcommittee that oversees funding the U.S. Capitol Police. While he’s not on the new select committee, he is tracking its work closely as he continues to figure out how to safely reopen Capitol Hill to the public.

In this episode, our Washington Bureau reporter Taylor Popielarz speaks with Jordan and Ryan after the select committee’s first hearing, which featured testimony from four police officers who responded to the attack. Their divided views over it represent how fractured Congress is after Jan. 6.

On July 15, families across Ohio and the rest of the country started receiving new, larger monthly payments from the federal government for their children. The child tax credit was temporarily expanded by Democrats in March when the American Rescue Plan was signed into law by President Joe Biden.

For 2021, a family with a child under age 6 will receive $3,600 while those with kids ages 6-17 will receive $3,000 per child. But the expanded policy is currently in place for only one year, meaning it could return to $2,000 per child if the expansion isn’t extended.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who chairs the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, has been pushing for the child tax credit to be expanded and made permanent since 2013.

In this episode, our Washington Bureau reporter Taylor Popielarz speaks with Brown about his strategy going forward, how this would be paid for, and the obstacles he faces from Republicans and the Biden Administration.

Congressional races and an open Senate seat have once again put Ohio in the national political spotlight. What's unusual this time is the influence of a former president and other national figures who are taking an unprecedented interest in the outcome of these races. It all begs the question: is all politics still local or has the polarized political climate made district and statewide races an extension of national interests?

In this episode, Curtis talks to Washington Bureau reporter Taylor Popielarz about what he's seeing in Washington and on the ground in Ohio.

The government added 850,000 jobs last month in another sign that the economy is rebounding after the pandemic, but the recovery is happening amidst an unprecedented demand for workers.

The good news is more people are actively looking for jobs. The bad news (for employers) is jobseekers are being more selective. As a result, employers are offering incentives, including higher wages, bonuses and more flexible schedules. All are signs of how the pandemic has changed the labor market and the economy.

In this episode of Dear Ohio, Curtis looks at what this all means for the future of work.

Happy Birthday, America! As we near the 245th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we’re going to take a look at what drives American exceptionalism.

Our national character is defined by optimism and a belief in the impossible, but what happens when that can-do spirit devolves into magical-thinking and a refusal to accept empirical evidence that’s contrary to one’s beliefs? Ohio recently became a powerful example of this kind of conspiracist thinking.

On this episode of Dear Ohio, Spectrum News 1 anchor Curtis Jackson interviews Kurt Andersen, author of Fantasyland, who explains why sometimes rejecting reality can be as American as the 4th of July.

Can anything be done to slow or stop the spread of disinformation and delegitimizing surrounding the 2020 election?

In this episode of Dear Ohio, Curtis Jackson talks to Spectrum News 1 political analyst and University of Cincinnati professor Brian Calfano about a new study that reveals how disinformation spreads and the impact of conspiracy-minded thinking by voters and elected officials had on the presidential election and the threat it poses to democracy in the future.

The Biden Administration recently announced an effort to close the racial wealth gap between white and Black Americans. But how big is that gap and how did it form?

In the third and final part of our Roots of Racial Inequality series, Curtis Jackson explores the origins of wealth disparity along racial lines and why some believe a broken promise that dates back to the end of the Civil War could provide a solution.

There is a new battleground in the culture wars: the classroom. Republican legislatures are targeting Critical Race Theory, including lawmakers in Ohio. But what is Critical Race Theory and how much a presence does it have in the state’s public elementary, middle and high schools?

In this episode of Dear Ohio, Spectrum News anchor Curtis Jackson looks at what CRT is (and isn’t), and how the debate surrounding it could threaten local control of schools and important discussions about race and inequality.

The federal government is moving to repay the loans of socially-disadvantaged farmers, including Black, Latino and Asian producers. The initiative is meant to address financial disparities laid bare by the pandemic, but those same inequities can be traced back even further— to Reconstruction and Manifest Destiny. The discussion surrounding the repayment program for disadvantaged producers is also connected to national conversations about race and public policy, including Critical Race Theory and reparations for the descendants of African American slaves.

In this series of reports, Curtis Jackson examines how the past is informing current policy in Ohio and political debate in the state and beyond. 

The first lotteries of $1 million and college scholarships for vaccinated adults and adolescents will be held Wednesday, May 26. The Ohio Department of Health said the lotteries are driving more Ohioans to get vaccinated.

In this episode of Dear Ohio, Curtis Jackson explains why it’s working. 

White police officers in Columbus have killed five Black people in five months. The shootings have once again amplified calls for police reform that reached a fever pitch last summer, but the components of reform, and how best to implement them, are seldom agreed upon. And even the best intentions can lead to bad outcomes.

In this episode of Dear Ohio, Spectrum News 1 anchor Curtis Jackson walks listeners through some proposals for change and explains why some are misguided and others will take time.

This year's celebration of AAPI Heritage Month comes at a time of unprecedented pain and promise for Asian Americans in Ohio and across the country. An increase in violence against Asian Americans is being driven by xenophobia and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode of Dear Ohio, state Sen. Tina Maharath, the first Asian American woman elected to the Ohio Senate, and University of New Mexico law professor Vinay Harpalani, detail the challenges facing the AAPI community before and since the pandemic started.