Cleveland

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton toured the Youngstown Business Incubator and rallied in Liberty, stressing ties to Mahoning and Trumbull counties ahead of Election Day against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. Acton has repeatedly addressed a Ramaswamy-backed ad featuring her estranged mother, calling her a liar and alleging mental health issues; Gov. Mike DeWine called it exploitative. Both candidates are closing with pitches on Ohio's affordability crisis, with Ramaswamy touting his business background and property-tax executive orders, and Acton emphasizing public-service experience, a working families tax cut, and school funding.

Ramaswamy has self-funded and outspent Acton nearly $80 million to $34 million overall, though Acton has outraised him recently; both have shattered Ohio's gubernatorial fundraising record, and neither has held elected office before. Democrats are banking on a late push, including a Cleveland rally with Barack Obama and expanded early voting, as prediction markets show Acton favored heading into Election Day.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office reported delays in returning collected voter-registration forms by Field Forward Ohio (identified as Black Fork Strategies LLC under another name), prompting a request for federal review by the U.S. attorney's office and FBI in the Northern District of Ohio. Officials said the group delivered thousands of forms to Hamilton County, with some arriving after Ohio's Oct. 5 registration cutoff and others exceeding the separate 10-day collector return deadline.

Ohio law treats these deadlines differently: missing the collector return window can carry criminal penalties, while an applicant's eligibility depends on when officials actually received the form. Existing registered voters who moved or changed names retain provisional-ballot options through Election Day, Nov. 3. No wrongdoing or voter harm has been established.

A federal judge in Cleveland sentenced Samuel Saxon, 47, former assistant field office director of ICE's Cincinnati sub-office, to 21 months in prison for lying to a federal agent about attacking his girlfriend. Saxon, who joined ICE in 2005, pleaded guilty in April. Prosecutors detailed years of alleged abuse, including strangulation, broken bones and death threats, and said Cincinnati police responded to his home roughly two dozen times without Saxon reporting it to ICE as required. He was arrested in December 2025 after a neighbor reported him choking the woman, then denied seeing her in person. Related domestic violence charges remain pending in state court.

Cuyahoga County, Ohio election records show that officials accepted provisional ballots from nine voters in the November 2022 election after voter-registration organization Black Fork Strategies submitted forms that changed addresses without voters' knowledge. Officials verified the ballots by matching signatures against older registration records, and two additional voters had addresses corrected before voting early. The county board referred the matter to the Ohio secretary of state's office in 2023.

The issue has resurfaced after Secretary of State Frank LaRose asked the FBI and federal prosecutors to investigate new allegations that Black Fork, also known as Field Forward Ohio, submitted thousands of registration forms late in Summit and Hamilton counties ahead of a recent deadline.

Dollar General's September 2023 consent judgment with Ohio, resolving a 2022 pricing lawsuit, required $1 million in payments plus safeguards against shelf-to-checkout price discrepancies. Employees must adjust prices when customers flag overcharges, stores must correct shelf tags within 24 hours, and district managers must spot-check items at least every 45 days. Repeated inspection failures trigger full-store reviews and sworn reports to the attorney general. Most obligations run through September 2027.

Those terms predate a new federal and multistate pricing lawsuit Ohio joined in October, alleging overcharges continued after the settlement, including one Ohio egg-pricing complaint. Dollar General denies liability and says it will defend the case; the allegations remain unproven.

President Donald Trump made his third October campaign stop in Ohio, rallying supporters in Chillicothe ahead of the November 3 midterms. Joined by Sen. Bernie Moreno, Trump backed Sen. Jon Husted, who faces former Sen. Sherrod Brown in a tight special election for the seat JD Vance vacated, and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who faces Democrat Amy Acton. Trump criticized Democratic economic policy and touted Ohio data-center growth while urging turnout.

Democrats countered with their own events, including a Cincinnati rally featuring Acton and Brown, following a Cleveland appearance where former President Barack Obama campaigned alongside them. Early voting is already underway statewide.

Rylin Turley, 27, of Cleveland, N.Y., was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and 10 years of supervised release for possessing child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York announced. Turley was arrested in August 2024 at the U.S.-Canada border after Customs and Border Protection officers found illegal material on his phone during a search.

Turley had pleaded guilty to possessing 52 videos and 324 images, admitting he purchased the files from another user via social media in November 2023. Chief U.S. District Judge Brenda K. Sannes ordered $18,500 in restitution to four victims. The case was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood.

Cuyahoga County and Chagrin Valley Dispatch (CVD), a regional council of governments handling 911 dispatch for several member communities, are at odds over CVD's purchase of a separate 911 call-handling system. The county argues the move needs further review; CVD says the system can run alongside the county's and speed a transition to Next Generation 911.

Ohio law splits 911 responsibilities among municipalities, dispatch operators, a county review committee, and the state's 911 Program Office, which oversees statewide call-routing. Municipalities choose dispatch providers and help approve the countywide plan, but cannot opt out of it or veto individual equipment decisions. The county's plan requires its coordinator to review new or upgraded equipment for compatibility, with disputes referred to a program review committee — a process that has not yet resolved whether CVD's project has all required approvals.