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Campaign contributions pay off for Ohio utilities and coal interests
Nuclear and coal bailout is the latest in a line of favorable policy actions that shield noncompetitive plants from competition. By Kathiann M. Kowalski Utility, nuclear and coal interests are big players in Ohio politics, giving about $3 million to Ohio political campaigns in 2018, according to data from the National Institute on Money in…
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Taxpayers Lose Out on at Least $11.25 Million, Homeowners and Banks Lose up to $80 Million in Little-known Foreclosure Process That Skips Sheriff’s Sales
This story was funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting By Ashton Nichols, Samantha Raudins, Lukas Udstuen and Lucia Walinchus For years, Elliot Feltner’s father-in-law operated an auto body shop in Cleveland. Later in life, a stroke debilitated the old mechanic, and his care proved a heavy burden for Feltner’s wife,…
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What is disconnection? What is digital inequity?
Ohio’s digital divide hurts those who can’t afford high-speed internet By Afi Scruggs Computer trainer and former library aide Shenee King has a bird’s eye view when it comes to digital inequity. She’s seen students fail assignments because they lack a home computer — and the assignment is in Google classroom. She’s seen middle schoolers…
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Utilities’ affiliate files to compete as a broker as an Ohio bill aims to reduce corporate separation requirements
FirstEnergy foray into energy brokering raises issues of fair competition By Kathiann M. Kowalski A FirstEnergy subsidiary is seeking permission from Ohio regulators to advise customers on which electricity suppliers they should choose. The company’s application to operate as an energy broker and aggregator is an apparent reversal for FirstEnergy, which spent years legally separating…
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Fighting for the Ohio River watershed’s mussels: Experts are working to get to the bottom of their mysterious disappearances
By Carrie Blackmore Smith “Will one of these fit?” Wendell R. Haag asks, holding out a couple pairs of well-worn creeking shoes he’s pulled from the back of his pickup. Haag is going to see an aquatic wonder, and even tall waterproof rubber boots are sure to fill with water in the sometimes knee-deep stretch…
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Ohio River Flooding Crosses Boundaries
By Oliver Morrison Anthony Wolkiewicz had his picture taken with Fred Rogers while working at WQED in 1977. Rogers made a special point to ask about Wolkiewicz’s youngest son. “Who is this? I don’t remember him in my neighborhood,” Wolkiewicz remembers him saying in the same voice he used on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. It’s sheer…
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Toxic Mercury Remediation in the Ohio River Hampered by Complicated Cleanup
By Jeff Brooks-Gillies Mercury flows through industrial wastewater into the Ohio River, and damages young brains. But the multi-state agency tasked with keeping the waterway clean hasn’t tightened controls on this pollution because it doesn’t have the authority to do so. While coal-fired power plants, chemical manufacturers and other facilities along the Ohio River are…
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Analysis of state contracts to plug orphaned wells reveals that cleanup costs might creep into the billions
By Mark Olalde Plugging the myriad orphaned oil and gas wells around Ohio costs, on average, more than $110,000 per well, according to a new analysis of Department of Natural Resources data. The research was pulled from contracts the state awarded in 2019 by the ARO Working Group, a network that studies the decommissioning of…
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Toxic Discharge Data Shows Where Pollutants Leach into the Ohio River, but Enforcement Remains an Issue (With Interactive Map)
By Bonnie Jean Feldkamp All Tim Guilfoile wants to do is fish. Before his retirement, he had two careers: one in business and one in water quality activism. Now, he serves as the director of marketing and communications for Northern Kentucky Fly Fishers. “We fly fish for bass, blue gill, striped bass and others. Not…
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Ohio River rises: The minds behind Louisville’s riverfront revival
By Ryan Van Velzer In Louisville, Kentucky, the Ohio River has something of an image problem. It seems like everything imaginable has ended up in the river at one time or another. There are the usual suspects like plastic bottles, Styrofoam coolers and tires. There are the byproducts of cities and industries: sewage, landfill juice…