Catching Our Eye News Roundup, Sept. 23, 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

• Public corruption running rampant. ProPublica reports, “The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way.”

Probe: In 2024, the FBI sought to launch a sweeping pay-to-play investigation examining interactions between Sen. Susan Collins and a top donor, records and emails show.

Confession: The donor, an ex-defense contractor, told agents his company won millions in federal contracts by bankrolling campaigns of powerful politicians.

Shutdown: After Donald Trump returned to office, the investigation died, a casualty of his purge of the FBI. Its closure shut a potential window into how Washington works.

• Gas tax holiday? The Statehouse News Bureau’s Jo Ingles and Karen Kasler report, “Lawmakers could suspend Ohio’s gas tax soon, in plan announced by GOP candidate for governor.”

State lawmakers are apparently planning to interrupt their election-season recess to come back to Columbus and pass a bill to suspend Ohio’s gas tax. The announcement came from Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy, whose running mate is the president of the Ohio Senate.

News of this plan came a few hours after Democratic candidate Amy Acton issued a call for a gas tax holiday on social media. The state’s current tax is 38.5 cents on gas and 47 cents on diesel. AAA reports the average price in Ohio is $4.49 for a gallon of regular gasoline and $6.82 for a gallon of diesel.

• JD Vance kicks 750,000 people off their health insurance. The New York Times reports, “Trump Officials Eject 750,000 From Obamacare Markets, Claiming Fraud.”

The Trump administration has ejected more than 750,000 enrollees from the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces, Vice President JD Vance announced on Tuesday, claiming that many were receiving premium subsidies they did not qualify for and that some were not even real people.

• Failing to understand Ohio education policy. In a Columbus Dispatch opinion column, Mike Curtin writes, “Vivek Ramaswamy gets no more than an ‘F’ when it comes to education. Here’s why.”

Any candidate who proclaims “a world-class education is your birthright as an Ohioan” is mouthing worthless platitudes absent a promise and a plan for fully funding high-quality, universal pre-K.

• The Paper. The Ohio Newsroom’s Erin Gottsacker reports, “In a landscape of local news loss, the Toledo Blade is looking for a buyer.”

If the Toledo Blade isn’t sold by the end of this year, the 190-year-old newspaper will stop publishing.

Block Communications, the paper’s owner, announced the decision to staff in an email earlier this month, according to the newspaper.

“Unfortunately, an extremely difficult decision has been made,” wrote Block Communications’ president and chief operating officer Jodi Miehls. “The Block Family’s continued investment to keep the Blade open is no longer an option. The financial losses the Blade has endured for years are simply not sustainable.”

• HIV decriminalization. The Buckeye Flame’s Ken Schneck reports, “HIV decriminalization supporters to hold first-ever Advocacy Day at Ohio Statehouse.”

Ohio still has six laws on the books that criminalize living with HIV. And the laws are actively enforced.