Free Republic

Michele Weiss has made history as the first female Orthodox Jewish mayor in the United States, winning decisively as a Republican in a heavily Democratic Cleveland suburb after building a reputation for fiscal responsibility and bipartisan cooperation over 15 years on the city council. Weiss, a mother and grandmother who has lived in University Heights for 28 years, will take office in January after rising from volunteer work with the League of Women Voters to vice mayor, championing environmental sustainability and municipal infrastructure along the way.

A woman who has organized a local farmers' market for years in the city of Pataskala, Ohio, was prohibited from putting on a live nativity display for a Christmas-themed market until officials backed down. Susan Conley requested in September to be allowed to set up the nativity scene on public grounds this year after previously having it located on private property. The city denied the request, despite allowing other displays that included the Grinch, Santa Claus, and Buddy the Elf. The First Liberty Institute, which represents Conley, said in a press release that city officials backtracked after the organization sent...

A University of Toledo Medical Center surgery resident has been suspended from practicing medicine in Ohio after admitting to secretly obtaining and administering abortion drugs to a pregnant woman. The Ohio State Medical Board on November 5 issued an emergency suspension of Dr. Hassan-James Abbas’ medical license, finding “clear and convincing evidence” that his actions posed “an immediate danger” to the public. The board’s notice detailed Abbas’ alleged use of his estranged wife’s personal information to order the drugs and his subsequent forcible administration of them to his girlfriend, who had refused an abortion. The woman, who is seeking a...

Public universities in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee have been on notice for four years that they cannot force faculty to use students' preferred pronouns and may pay a steep penalty if they try. Last week, those states' K-12 schools got the same message as applied to student speech. The full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a lower court to issue an "appropriately tailored preliminary injunction" that bans Ohio's Olentangy Local School District "from punishing students for the commonplace use of biological pronouns," as distinct from "the abuse of transgender students" in violation of harassment policies. Half of...

SEVEN HILLS, Ohio — A Broadview Heights man is facing an assault charge after police said he attacked a 3-year-old boy inside a Meijer store in Seven Hills on Wednesday morning. According to Seven Hills police, the 37-year-old suspect allegedly ran up behind the child around 10:30 a.m. and smashed the boy's face into the spikes of a shopping cart. Witnesses told officers he struck the boy's face at least three times before the child's mother and aunt grabbed their children and tried to escape through the store. They told police they were afraid for their lives. Police said the...

The Ohio governor race has started to come into focus as voters look ahead to the 2026 election contests, and a recent poll has shown Democrat hopeful Amy Acton ahead of Republican frontrunner Vivek Ramaswamy—if only by a slim margin. The poll, conducted on behalf of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, shows Acton with a higher favorability among Ohio likely voters—including a potentially key 21-point advantage among independent voters—but Ramaswamy's campaign has disputed these results. Ohio will face an open election for governor after incumbent Mike DeWine serves out his term-limited time in office. Ohio has elected only 1 Democrat...

AUBURN HILLS, MI. Stellantis announced plans to invest $13 billion over the next four years to expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint. The initiative will add more than 5,000 jobs across Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana and increase U.S. vehicle production by about 50 percent. The investment will fund five new vehicle programs, 19 product refreshes, and a new four-cylinder engine program. It is the company’s largest single U.S. investment and signals a long-term commitment to both internal combustion and electrified vehicle platforms. “This investment in the U.S. will drive our growth, strengthen our manufacturing footprint, and bring more American jobs...

Republicans in Columbus had one job: draw a congressional map that reflects the voters who elected them. When President Trump called on GOP-led states to fight as hard as Democrats do in redistricting, Ohio was supposed to be part of that charge. Instead, it answered his call with surrender, handing Democrats a "compromise" map they didn't even have to ask for.

Upcoming changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will soon restrict which Ohioans are eligible for benefits. The One Big Beautiful Bill, which President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, changes “non-citizen eligibility for SNAP.” Only U.S. citizens, green card holders who have gone through a five-year waiting period, and some Haitian and Cuban nationals with special status will be eligible for SNAP. This means refugees, people who have been granted asylum and human trafficking survivors will all lose their benefits, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service...

Summary Combined bank to have $288 billion in assets Comerica shares surge, Fifth Third falls marginally Deal expected to boost retail franchise Analysts expect a flurry of regional bank deals

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan's already battered state budget stands to lose more than $1.5 million in annual fees because of changes being made by Comerica Inc. Comerica officials announced earlier this year that the company, founded in 1849 as Detroit Savings Fund Institute, plans to move its headquarters from Detroit to Dallas by fall. The company also has applied for a national charter, meaning bank regulators in Michigan no longer would oversee Comerica even if it kept its headquarters in Detroit. That change alone means the state may be unable to collect supervisory fees charged annually by the Michigan...

We first were introduced to Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge, back at the end of July. Jazz Festival weekend was marred by the most horrific videos of black revelers attacking small groups of white festival goers in the city's downtown in the early morning hours and seriously injuring some of them. Above is only one of the incidents, and it turned out the fellow throwing the punches already had multiple felony charges pending. He shouldn't have been out partying to begin with. Another victim was a young woman who stepped in to try to break the fight up, only to...

You knew something was off with the police response regarding this fiasco last July. In Cincinnati, Ohio, Police Chief Terri Theetge scolded the media for posting and reporting on a vicious assault on a white couple. The woman was knocked out cold, her face bloodied as she lay on the pavement. It was another case of what if the races were reversed, but Chief Theetge seemed more upset that some outlets were doing their job regarding this story instead of, I don’t know, suppressing it. That was the least of it. There’s been a lawsuit filed by Cincinnati police officers,...

Two children carried out one of the most horrifying attacks imaginable in a crime-ridden Democrat city. The New York Times reported on Thursday that the two children face several felony counts, including attempted murder, four counts of r*pe, two counts of felonious assault, strangulation, and kidnapping, over an incident that occurred last month in a wooded field in Cleveland, Ohio. Antavia Kennibrew, the victim’s mother, revealed to WOIO that she dropped her daughter off Sept. 13 at a family member’s home in Cleveland, thinking she would be okay. But the 5-year-old walked out the front door and was savagely beaten...

Five people were shot within the span of eight hours in Cincinnati on Monday night. Police Chief Teresa Theetge responded by saying that people need to "learn how to behave" in the city. This comes after the chief has gotten backlash over the handling of a mob attack earlier in the summer that left a woman unconscious. In response to two of the people being shot in Fountain Square, "My message to everybody, learn how to behave in our city, but especially learn how to behave in our downtown and our Fountain Square." "These things sometimes start as a minor...

An NCAA Division II college football game between Central State University Marauders and Fort Valley State University Wildcats descended into chaos on Saturday after the final whistle had blown. Central State defeated Fort Valley State, 18-14, to spoil the Wildcats’ homecoming day. But the action didn’t end there. Markers lie on the ground before a football game Signal poles and down markers are seen before the Division II Football Championship held at McKinney ISD Stadium on Dec. 21, 2024 in McKinney, Texas. (C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) A video posted to social media by journalist Kalan Hooks showed...

MARION, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—A Marion County Grand Jury has indicted Xiaoping Peng, a 53-year-old resident of Chicago, Illinois, on multiple serious charges linked to a prostitution enterprise operating out of the Chinese Spa located at 1288 Delaware Avenue in Marion. The indictment includes charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, two counts of trafficking in persons for involuntary servitude, and two counts of promoting prostitution. Peng was arraigned today in front of Judge Todd Anderson, who set his bond at a staggering $1,000,000. A Chinese national, Peng allegedly entered the United States illegally during the Biden administration...

Twenty college football players and two head coaches were suspended when a chaotic brawl broke out between opposing teams after a homecoming game in Georgia. Fort Valley State University (FVSU) had just lost to Central State University (CSU) in a close 18-14 loss in front of its fans at Wildcat Stadium on Saturday when tensions boiled over after the final whistle. Players from both teams ignited the massive brawl when they were captured tackling each other to the turf on the sideline, according to a viral video shared on X. VIDEO AT LINK......................

Fake News CNN cut off House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday as he attacked the Democrats for shutting down the government over healthcare funding for illegal aliens. Earlier this week, Vice President JD Vance made it clear that Democrats are refusing to keep the government open because they are prioritizing illegal aliens. “Democrats want a $1.5 trillion spending package that funded free health care for illegals. We told them that was absurd, and now they’re willing to shut down the government over it. It’s unacceptable,” Vance said earlier this week after a meeting with top Democrats Schumer and Jeffries.

One of the nation's largest neo-Nazi groups appears to have an unlikely new leader: a black activist who has vowed to dismantle it. Court documents filed Thursday suggest James Hart Stern wants to use his new position as director and president of the National Socialist Movement to undermine the Detroit-based group's defense against a lawsuit. The NSM is one of several extremist groups sued over bloodshed at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Stern's filing asks a federal court in Virginia to issue a judgment against the group before one of the lawsuits goes to trial. Stern replaced...