Catching Our Eye News Roundup, March 18, 2026

Every morning in the Ohio Capital Journal’s free newsletter, The Eye-Opener, we round up the news and commentary from across Ohio and around the country and world that is catching our attention. We call this feature Catching Our Eye, republished here.

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Catching Our Eye

Making out, in more ways than one… The Columbus Dispatch’s Emma Wozniak reports, “OSU’s Carter sat on over 20 boards, including Bitcoin miner that paid him $400K.”

During his roughly two years as president of Ohio State University, Ted Carter held more than 20 board and advisory roles – some tied to the university, others with outside organizations ranging from a Bitcoin-mining company to a music hall of fame.

And one alone paid him a total of nearly $400,000 in 2023 and 2024, according to Carter’s financial disclosures.

Too many universities? The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Jessie Balmert reports, “Vivek Ramaswamy wants to consolidate Ohio universities. ‘We have too many.’”

The Republican running to replace Gov. Mike DeWine, floated the idea of consolidating Ohio universities to pay for eliminating the state’s income tax.

Polls. Newsweek reports, “Vivek Ramaswamy Dealt Double Polling Blow in Ohio Governor Race.”

A Quantus Insights poll released Monday gave Acton a slight lead over Ramaswamy. She received 45.9 percent support in the poll, compared to Ramaswamy’s 44.9 percent. It surveyed 809 likely voters from March 13-14 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points…

Just last week, a poll from the Ohio Environmental Council showed Ramaswamy trailing Acton by 10 points. In that poll, Acton received support from 53 percent of respondents, while Ramaswamy received support from 43 percent. It surveyed 1,343 likely voters from February 10-22 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.

And boom goes the meteor. Ideastream’s Stephanie Metzger-Lawrence, Gabriel Kramer report, “What was that boom? National Weather Service says meteor likely traversed Northeast Ohio.”

Northeast Ohioans started their St. Patrick’s Day with a literal boom. It was heard around 9 a.m. Tuesday, with many witnesses reporting the sound of a sonic boom and shaking ground from both the east and west sides of Cleveland and its surrounding suburbs.

Early speculation included earthquakes and explosions, but the National Weather Service in Cleveland said imagery suggests that a meteor may have been the cause.

Oil and gas. Notus reports, “Trump’s DOGE Cuts Slashed Staff That Handled Middle Eastern Oil and Gas Crises.”

Six months before the Trump administration started bombing Iran, the Department of State fired its oil and gas experts.

As the war in Iran stretches into its third week, and the Strait of Hormuz — through which 20% of the world’s oil supply usually flows — remains effectively closed, the U.S. government is without the resources it once had to handle such crises, former State Department employees tell NOTUS.