Catching Our Eye News Roundup, May 22, 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

• From keg to farm. The Ohio Newsroom’s Kendall Crawford is reporting, “A rural Ohio brewery is turning beer waste into farm fuel.”A crowd of regulars were getting restless outside a small craft brewery in rural Coshocton County earlier this month.

  A small herd of German Mangalitsa pigs, covered in curls, jostled one another as a tractor dropped a giant mushy pile of grain into their pasture. Their anxious snorts quickly subsided as they dove snout-first into barley mash, still warm from brewing.

  Wooly Pig Farm Brewery owner Kevin Ely says this is more than just mealtime for the brewery’s namesakes. It’s a vital part of the business.

  “The pigs help us process all of our brewery waste,” Ely said.

• Gas prices. WVXU’s Bill Rinehart is reporting, “Fuel prices, economic uncertainty affecting Memorial Day travel plans, survey shows.”Gas prices are high, but not high enough to discourage a lot of people from traveling this holiday weekend.

  Morgan Dean with AAA says the agency’s usual survey finds 45 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles for Memorial Day. He says that’s a slight increase over last year.

  “Those gas prices scream at us every time we’re driving down the roadway, because of the way it’s marketed,” he says. “But [travelers are] willing to do things to balance the budget to get that downtime. That work-life balance is very, very important to them. We’re saying travel demand remains strong, but economic uncertainty is maybe keeping some of that growth in check this year.”

• DeWine and Medicaid. The Statehouse News Bureau’s Jo Ingles is reporting, “DeWine answers criticism from his fellow Republicans about Ohio Medicaid.”Gov. Mike DeWine has been taking some blame following reports of fraud in Ohio’s Medicaid program, specifically related to home health providers. But he said when he is criticized by his fellow Republican legislative leaders and the party’s candidate to succeed him, they are missing some key points.
  GOP candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy, House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima), and Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) have criticized DeWine for vetoing budget provisions they say would have prevented Medicaid fraud. But DeWine said he had a reason.
• Vaccine policy. The Atlantic’s Katherine J. Wu is reporting, “The U.S.’s most concerning anti-vaccine policy.”Midway into 2026, the most overt attacks on vaccines in the United States have stopped. With the midterm elections looming, the White House reportedly asked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to quiet his anti-vaccine rhetoric—publicly, at least. But protections against infectious disease are continuing to falter, both domestically and abroad, through sheer neglect. Although the full impact of the U.S.’s disinterest has only started to play out, one effect is already clear: When vaccines’ reach is eroded, the poorest, least well-served people feel the brunt of that loss first.