Catching Our Eye News Roundup, Sept. 4, 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

• Profiteering off the presidency, part infinity. ProPublica reports, “The White House Intervened to Get a $620 Million Deal for a Company Tied to Donald Trump Jr.”

When the Pentagon announced a $620 million loan last year to a small North Carolina startup linked to Donald Trump Jr., defense officials and the company tried to tamp down suspicions of cronyism. The president’s eldest son said through a spokesperson that he wasn’t involved. The Pentagon said Trump Jr. played no role in the record-setting deal. And the startup’s founder told reporters that his company, Vulcan Elements, received no political favoritism.

But interviews and Defense Department records reviewed by ProPublica show that the request to loan hundreds of millions of dollars to the firm linked to Trump Jr. was made by Peter Navarro, a White House adviser to President Donald Trump and a friend of Trump Jr.’s. Of the dozens of companies the Pentagon was considering funding at the time, Vulcan’s was the only deal initiated by a top aide to the president, said an official at the Pentagon who was not authorized to speak publicly.

After defense officials got the White House request, they asked Pentagon staff to move at an unusually rapid pace, said another person who was involved in the deal at the Pentagon but not authorized to speak about it. The staff worked late nights and with little sleep to get the loan through in a matter of weeks, the source said.

• Flock of Seagulls. The Statehouse News Bureau’s Jo Ingles reports, “Bipartisan group of lawmakers asks for limits on Flock cameras throughout Ohio.”

A group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers is asking the Ohio Department of Transportation to pump the brakes when it comes to Flock automatic license plate readers and other AI-activated cameras.

Rep. Tristan Rader (D-Lakewood) said the letter asks ODOT to “stop issuing new permits for license plate reading technology in the state’s rights of way, places they control along highways, mainly, and that they review applications for existing license plate readers.”

The letter comes from Rader and Reps. Darnell Brewer (D-Cleveland), Levi Dean (R-Xenia) and Justin Pizzulli (R-Scioto Cty.).

• Flock down. WOSU’s George Shillcock reports, “Ginther suspends Columbus’ use of Flock license plate cameras, citing officer’s alleged misuse.”

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced Thursday the city is suspending its use of Flock automatic license plate readers and is investigating a police officer for potentially misusing the cameras.

Ginther and Police Chief Elaine Bryant said Officer Melvin Tellis has been relieved of duty, but not fired, as the city investigates his use of the cameras. A USA Today investigation found Tellis searched for a single vehicle’s location more than 200 times using the city’s cameras.

• Ballot access. Cleveland.com’s Anna Staver reports, “Ohio Supreme Court sides with voters in fight over local ballot access.”

The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously rejected an attempt to raise the number of signatures needed to put local issues before voters.

The case began in Trenton, a small Butler County city where residents collected 336 valid signatures for a proposed charter amendment restricting data centers. The Ohio Constitution required 128 signatures or 10% of voters from the last election.

Trenton City Council denied their petition and said residents needed 820 signatures — more than six times the constitutional threshold — because the requirement should be based on the number of registered voters rather than the number of people who voted.

The Ohio Supreme Court rejected that interpretation, preserving the signature standard used by residents seeking to amend local charters across the state.