Catching Our Eye News Roundup, April 20, 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

• Ohio State. The New York Times reports, “A Football School Striving to Be More Keeps Dropping the Ball.”

Universities of all stripes have encountered challenges as political debates rock campuses and public trust in higher education wobbles, including at the School Up North — as the Ohio State rival Michigan is referred to in Columbus. Many have faced attacks from the Trump administration, political strife and their own scandals over Epstein ties. In some places, campuses have rallied around their leadership as they battle outside forces.

But the mounting troubles at Ohio State — often of its own making — are as outsize as its 67,000-student enrollment. The steady drip has led to frustration among students, faculty and alumni, and even concern about lasting reputational damage.

“This is a national embarrassment,” said Tristan Rader, a state representative who is among an increasing number of Ohio politicians who have been critical of the school’s leadership. “It puts a black mark on the entire state.”

• Property taxes. The Statehouse News Bureau’s Karen Kasler reports, “Ohio police, teachers, local officials join forces to push back on property tax abolishment.”

More than 65 groups of local elected officials, libraries, businesses and trade groups, and unions representing first responders and teachers have united against a possible amendment to abolish property taxes in Ohio. It’s likely just the beginning of a massive effort that voters would see if the group backing the amendment gets it to voters this fall.

The formation of this group comes as the all-volunteer group collecting signatures for the abolishment amendment plans an announcement next week.

• ICE. WVXU’s Nick Swartsell reports, “Data reveals how many people ICE deported in Ohio this year.”

Recently obtained data from the Department of Homeland Security sheds light on the scope of recent federal immigration enforcement efforts in the Tri-State.

A team of academics and legal professionals called the Deportation Data Project obtained the data via federal Freedom of Information Act requests.

The data comes as the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts remain an intense point of political debate.

• Reproductive rights amendment. Cleveland.com‘s Mary Frances McGowan reports, “Republican Trumbull County judge challenges Ohio reproductive rights amendment.”

A Republican judge for a county juvenile court is challenging the voter‑approved reproductive rights amendment in the Ohio Supreme Court, arguing that it is being interpreted in a way that eliminates Ohio’s parental consent and judicial bypass requirements for minors seeking abortions.

Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas Domestic Relations and Juvenile Division Judge David Engler filed suit in the Ohio Supreme Court this week, contending that the amendment conflicts with Article IV of the Ohio Constitution, which establishes the authority and jurisdiction of the state’s courts.

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