Eye on Ohio (https://eyeonohio.com/)
Links include an HB 6 co-sponsor, a lobbyist for FirstEnergy’s former subsidiary, and a former partner who served as an officer for Generation Now
This article is provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism, in partnership with the nonprofit Energy News Network. Please join the free mailing lists for Eye on Ohio or the Energy News Network, as this helps provide more public service reporting. An outside law firm working with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on responses to federal subpoenas and public records requests has multiple ties to the law at the heart of the state’s ongoing corruption scandal. The firm, Dinsmore & Shohl, is headquartered in Cincinnati and has offices in 30 cities across the United States. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office retained the firm as special counsel for the PUCO after it received the first of two federal subpoenas in the spring of 2021 relating to House Bill 6. The law called for more than $1 billion in subsidies for two nuclear plants formerly owned by a FirstEnergy subsidiary. Its other provisions included subsidies to Ohio utilities for two 1950s-era coal plants, as well as a gut of Ohio’s clean energy standards. “Dinsmore was chosen because the firm possesses expertise in federal criminal matters by virtue of having former Assistant U.S. Attorneys on staff,” said Bethany McCorkle, communications director for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. “Additionally Dinsmore is among the very limited number of sufficiently sized and experienced firms that do not practice before the PUCO.”
Beyond its work on the 2021 subpoenas from the Department of Justice, the firm has been assigned to work on a deposition and responses to a subpoena in securities litigation involving FirstEnergy. Other work includes fulfilling public record requests from the Energy News Network and Eye on Ohio, as well as the Ohio Capital Journal. Various materials sought by those requests in February, April and July still have not been produced.
A federal prosecutor’s move to stay PUCO cases would thwart investigations behind FirstEnergy’s spending and other matters related to Ohio’s ongoing House Bill 6 corruption scandal. This article is provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism, in partnership with the nonprofit Energy News Network. Please join the free mailing lists for Eye on Ohio or the Energy News Network, as this helps provide more public service reporting. On Tuesday, a federal prosecutor asked to shut down four Ohio regulatory cases relating to Ohio’s House Bill 6 scandal for at least six months.
Mysterious arson remains unsolved
This article provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism in conjunction with WOSU 89.7 NPR News. Please join Eye on Ohio's free mailing list or download the WOSU Public Media Mobile app as this helps provide more public service reporting to the community. This week the Ohio Civil Rights Commission released a letter of determination finding probable cause of disability discrimination after a Dublin couple was unable to open an assisted living facility in the area. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission says it is “probable” that the city of Dublin broke state law by discriminating against the elderly with recent zoning changes.
Documents produced at the end of July shed light on Sam Randazzo’s role at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. But more documents before and after his tenure still haven’t been produced. This article is provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism, in partnership with the nonprofit Energy News Network. Please join the free mailing lists for Eye on Ohio or the Energy News Network, as this helps provide more public service reporting.
Al Jenkins outside of his Cleveland home. This project was funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center and provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism.