Data Centers Head to November Ballots

Voters in 18 Ohio cities and townships will decide on Nov. 3 whether to block or restrict data centers in their communities.

Nine petitions would ban centers drawing more than 25 megawatts a month, in Conneaut, Defiance, Granville, Oregon, Pataskala, Piqua, Sunbury, Trenton, and Upper Sandusky. Urbana’s threshold is 7.5 megawatts, and Hubbard is the only city voting on an outright ban.

Fourteen of the 18 communities already have formal proposals in hand, including a $4 billion Amazon Web Services campus beside a Wilmington subdivision. Organizers cite rising utility bills, environmental effects, and farmland loss.

Industry backers cite an Ohio Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation study crediting data centers with more than $1 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2024. Gov. Mike DeWine overruled lawmakers who tried to end the sales tax break on construction materials.

Parole Board Backs Clemency for Noling

The Ohio Parole Board has recommended that Gov. Mike DeWine commute Tyrone Noling’s death sentence to life with parole eligibility in 2029.

Noling, 54, was convicted in 1996 of shooting Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig, both 81, in their Atwater Township home in 1990. Five of the eight board members backed commutation, one urged a full pardon, and two opposed any relief.

The board cited recanted testimony from three teenagers who implicated Noling and the fact that alternative suspects were never investigated. Attorney Brian Howe of the Ohio Innocence Project said the board recognized the “gross injustice” Noling has endured.

Portage County prosecutors urged the board to deny clemency, telling members that all roads led to Noling as the shooter. Two board members agreed the evidence wasn’t enough to overturn the jury’s verdict.

DeWine, who in June called for Ohio to abolish the death penalty, has no deadline to decide.

Nationwide Arena Renovation Still Lacks Funding

Nationwide Arena’s owner is planning a five-year, $400 million overhaul without the $100 million state grant it is counting on to start.

The Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority wants $100 million from a new state sports facilities fund, plus about $110 million in bonds and $25 million each from Columbus and Franklin County. Blue Jackets ownership and arena vendors would cover the rest of a building that opened in 2000 on about $175 million in private money.

That state fund draws on Ohio’s unclaimed funds account, and a Franklin County judge has halted transfers while a class-action suit by former Attorney General Marc Dann proceeds. Dann calls the diversion an unconstitutional taking of private property.

Authority director Ken Paul calls the arena a public asset worth reinvesting in. Then-Attorney General Dave Yost warned DeWine in 2025 that spending unclaimed money this way shortchanges the Ohioans owed it.

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➤ Columbus: Nine of 12 veterans no longer had PTSD a month after taking psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms, paired with therapy at Ohio State. Researchers say a larger, controlled trial is needed to confirm it. (See Details)

➤ Guernsey County: The National Weather Service confirmed an EF0 tornado touched down near New Concord on Sept. 9, packing peak winds of 85 mph along a 1.14-mile path. It damaged homes, tore into a small business through the roof, and knocked down an old steeple. (See Report)

➤ Vienna Township: Crews break ground Friday on a $5.5 million Aviation Education Center at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. The 18,000-square-foot building will house an expanded Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics campus and a new YNG Flight School, with completion set for next August. (More)

➤ Huber Heights: The planning commission meets Tuesday on a request from Sweet Living Capital to replat a 2.87-acre lot at 5611 Merily Way, next to Texas Roadhouse, for a hotel. (More)

➤ Austintown: Township trustees are set to accept a $600 donation from the Austintown Junior Women’s League to cover a Safe Haven Baby Box at Fire Station No. 1 on North Canfield-Niles Road. The box opens in October and will be the Mahoning Valley’s first. (See Details)

➤ Cleveland: Cleveland Metroparks and the Ohio Division of Wildlife will hold the second annual Sturgeon Fest on Saturday at Rivergate Park, where the public can help release juvenile lake sturgeon into the Cuyahoga River. Wildlife officials plan to stock the river annually for 20 years. (See Video)

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➤ The Cleveland Guardians lost the first of a three-game series at home against the White Sox on Monday. (See Score)

➤ The Cincinnati Reds fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-4 at the Great American Ball Park on Monday. (See Score)

➤ Joey Cantillo, the Guardians left-hander, is the club’s 2026 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, MLB’s honor for community service, cited for his work with Ronald McDonald House and Cleveland Guardians Charities. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: NFL | MLB | Soccer

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➤ Coffee vs Hot Cacao vs Green Tea:  Which of these hot drinks was proven in a study boost stem cells by 220% in 30 days?  Billionaires drop 6 figures on stem cell therapy, but this hot drink costs 50 cents a day and boosts anti-aging stem cells improving heart health, blood pressure, and longevity.

➤ Thirteen Domino’s stores in north-central Ohio closed abruptly, all run by the same former franchisee. The chain says it’s working to move them to new owners and hasn’t set a reopening timeline. The list includes Mansfield, Akron, Barberton, Ashland, and Wadsworth. (See List)

➤ Hometown Pharmacy, a Youngstown-area chain, opened a store at 3516 S. Meridian Road in Cornersburg. It replaces the pharmacy the company ran inside the Western Reserve Road Sparkle Market, which closed in March. (More)

➤ Anthropologie will open a 9,000-square-foot store next spring at The Shops on Lane Avenue in Upper Arlington, a year after closing its Short North location. The new store will include an Anthropologie Weddings section, one of a handful nationwide. (See Details)

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➤ Rickenbacker Home, the Columbus boyhood home of World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker, is set for renovation as a museum after receiving state funding. Efforts to convert the National Historic Landmark have stalled repeatedly since the city bought it in 1998. (Read Story)

➤ Grandview Heights is electing its first dog mayor, a ceremonial post officially titled Head Pup in Charge. Nominations close Wednesday. (See Details)

➤ Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s first Amur leopard cub in its 144-year history needs a name, and the public picks it. Voting runs through midnight Sept. 28, with ballots cast as donations to the zoo’s conservation fund. The choices are Boris, Nikolai, and Igor. (See Details)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. 

➤ These 10 ways to save money could put thousands back in your pocket. (Hear List)

➤ Owning a car now costs thousands a year beyond the loan payment, and one expense is climbing fastest. (Hear Details)

➤ Celine Dion returned to the stage after years of silence forced by an incurable neurological disorder. (Listen Now)

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s first Amur leopard cub needs a name. Which one would you pick?

1. Boris
2. Nikolai
3. Igor
4. None of these

Yesterday’s Results:

Do you hunt?

1. No: 70%
2. I used to: 23%
3. Every season: 4%
4. Once in a while: 3%

What distinction does William Howard Taft hold in U.S. history?

Show me the answer