Here are your morning headlines for Monday, March 22:
- About 22,000 vaccinated so far at Wolstein Center
- DeWine signs bill easing standardized testing
- FirstEnergy refusing to return subsidy cash to customers
- Police contacted after Ohio State's Liddell receives threats
About 22,000 vaccinated so far at Wolstein Center
A mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland is up and running smoothly. Fox 8 reports The Ohio National Guard has administered more than 22,000 vaccinations at the site as of Sunday afternoon. That’s about 6,000 people a day. Most appointments are full for the first two weeks and slots can open at gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov. Meanwhile, today Gov. Mike DeWine will be in the Mahoning Valley to visit a COVID-19 vaccination site at the Eugenia Atkinson Recreation Center.
DeWine signs bill easing standardized testing
High school students will have the ability to earn a diploma in Ohio based on course grades rather than final exams, under a bill signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine over the weekend. The new law will ease guidelines for high school graduation in response to the challenges students and schools have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of basing grades on final exams, a student's work during the span of each course can determine if they can graduate. Republicans and Democrats originally planned to call on the U.S. Department of Education to cancel federal standardized tests. But the Biden Administration said those tests must happen. The law takes effect immediately so the state can seek a waiver of federal accountability measures based on the results of those tests.
FirstEnergy refusing to return subsidy cash to customers
Akron-based FirstEnergy said in a regulatory filing it shouldn't have to refund customers $30 million collected from a revenue guarantee provision in a tainted energy bill. The Ohio Consumers' Counsel earlier this month asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to order the utility to refund $30 million in collections paid to its three Ohio electric utilities. FirstEnergy stopped collecting the revenue guarantee in February to settle a lawsuit with Ohio Attorney General David Yost. The company is under scrutiny for its role in what federal authorities say is a $60 million bribery and corruption scheme
Police contacted after Ohio State's Liddell receives threats
Ohio State officials have reached out to police about threatening and insulting social media messages sophomore E.J. Liddell received following the Buckeyes’ NCAA Tournament loss. Ohio State associate athletic director for communications Dan Wallenberg told The Associated Press he contacted police on Saturday morning about the threats Liddell received after the second-seeded Buckeyes were upset by No. 15 seed Oral Roberts in overtime. Liddell, who had 23 points and 14 rebounds in the game, revealed on his Twitter feed he received threatening messages. He posted images of the messages, including one that said “I hope you die I really do.” Other messages included racist insults.
