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Former U.S. president Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president CLEVELAND, Ohio - Former President Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president and a former U.S. senator,  urged  Ohioans on social media late Thursday afternoon to vote for Issue 1, the proposed abortion rights constitutional amendment on the Nov. 7 ballot that would legalize abortion in Ohio, a pivotal state for presidential elections that Obama won in 2008 and again for reelection in 2012 Early voting is currently underway. “Ohio, there’s an important election happening right now,” the former Democratic president   said on X,  formerly known as Twitter. “If you want to protect abortion rights by making them part of your state Constitution, vote yes on Issue 1.” Women's March Cleveland, a greater Cleveland grassroots activist group for women founded in 2017, was elated, saying Obama, a former constitutional lawyer, has been a longtime advocate for women's rights and Civil Rights. " We ...

Washington, DC – Ohio 11th Congressional District  Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11)  and  Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, (NC-12)  have introduced proposed legislation that, if passed by congress, would improve and expand the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) programs and resources for urban farmers. The  Supporting Urban and Innovative Farming Act (H.R. 5915)  expands access to federal support for urban farmers, improves service delivery for urban farmers, and increases funding for the USDA's Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production.   Rep. Brown is the ranking member of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management and Credit and Congresswoman Adams is a senior member of the Committee on Agriculture.   "Cleveland has been a trailblazing city for urban farming. Supporting urban agriculture is good for our cities, including those I represent, increasing access to nutrition and farming resources....

Ohio 13th Congressional District Congresswoman  Emilia Sykes (D-OH), an Akron Democrat  WASHINGTON, D.C.  — Ohio 13th Congressional District Congresswoman  Emilia Sykes (D-OH), an Akron Democrat and one of three Black federal lawmakers from Ohio, has introduced the  Lower Your Taxes Act. It would  lower costs for Ohio workers and other  workers and families and grow the middle class by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC), and would  pay for those expansions by making large corporations pay their fair share in taxes.   Full bill text can be found  here. "When I ran for Congress, I promised to fight for lower costs and to expand opportunity. The  Lower Your Taxes Act  does exactly that,"  said Congresswoman Sykes, a former minority leader of the Ohio House of Representatives, and the youngest of Ohio's five-member Democratic congregational delegation. "By expanding the Earned Income T...

Ohio GOP Congressman Jim Jordan By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief WASHINGTON, D.C-  Former president Donald Trump's endorsement of Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan as the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives may not be the kiss of death after all, as Jordan has emerged as a viable contender after Rep Steve Scalise, also a Republican, withdrew his bid for the speaker's job on Friday. The House ousted then speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier this month, led by hard-line Republicans who said he was getting too cozy with Democrats and could not be trusted.  A Champaign, Ohio Republican and outspoken conservative, Jordan then decided he wanted to be speaker, "We are at a critical crossroad in our nation's history," the congressman said in a statement announcing his candidacy for the congressional leadership role as Congress remains without a speaker of the House and at a political stalemate on public policy issue...

By  By Fair Fight Action Have you heard the pro-voter news out of Alabama and Florida? In both states, anti-voter extremists had tried to weaken Black political power by manipulating the congressional redistricting process — but courts have now struck down those efforts. Let's back up a little, talk about how we got here, and lay out what comes next. States recently had to launch their once-a-decade process of redrawing district lines, also known as redistricting. And it opened the door for extremists to further obstruct democracy through  racial gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is the process of drawing district boundaries, often in illogical ways, to intentionally advantage one political party. And it's one of the many tactics extremists are using to dilute the voting power of Black, brown, and young voters. How? By packing certain voters into as few districts as possible. Here's what that looked like in four states — and here's where those efforts stand: Alabama Twe...

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher CLEVELAND, Ohio- Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Russo, one of 34 largely White judges on the general division common pleas bench of the county, has died at 68-years-old after an undisclosed illness.  On  the common pleas bench since 2002, Russo died Monday surrounded by family, and funeral arrangements are pending, sources said. Per state law, Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, will appoint his successor until an election for the seat is held, Cuyahoga County the second largest of Ohio's 88 counties, and a Democratic stronghold that includes the majority Black major American city of Cleveland.  Judge Michael Russo was one of three judges  on the bench with the last name Russo and the second Russo to die on the bench since the late judge Joseph Russo. He died in October of 2021, also of an undisclosed illness.  The other two Russo's on the general division bench are for...

Ohio GOP Congressman Jim Jordan  Pictured are minority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives Hakeem Jeffries , a New York Democrat and the first Black to hold the post and to lead a political party in Congress,  and  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican who was ousted from his speaker's post on Tuesday By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief WASHINGTON, D.C- Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan has announced that he will seek the speaker position in the U.S. House of Representatives, the first to make such an announcement since Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Tuesday removed controversial Speaker Kevin McCarthy from the prestigious post. "We are at a critical crossroad in our nation's history," Jordan said in a statement announcing his candidacy for the congressional leadership role as Congress remains at a political stalemate on public policy issues such as additional funding for Ukraine and some dom...