Ohio

Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted are pressuring state lawmakers to adopt new rules requiring kids younger than 16 to obtain parental permission before signing up for a social-media account.

Plus, Ohio launches a workforce program to support broadband deployment, New York aims to improve digital literacy for older adults, and more.

After stopping the use of facial recognition software for more than a year amid civil liberties concerns, the Ohio attorney general’s office is once again using the technology.

As the opioid epidemic continues to impact communities nationwide, New Jersey and Ohio are using data to understand how overdoses impact constituents as well as to inform their ongoing responses.

Ohio digital inclusion advocates are working hard to make sure that rural communities in the state have the best weapon for getting high-speed Internet — communities that know Internet matters.

While the vast majority of the transportation $3.7B budget covers roads and bridges, it also includes smaller pots of funding for public transit, electric vehicle infrastructure and drone development, among others.

The Lima NAACP continues to call for the Allen County Sheriff's Office to equip deputies with body cameras, saying it has now reached out to the office of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for assistance.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted this week announced $12 million in funding for two programs meant to bolster the telecommunications workforce in the state. The funding is part of a larger strategy released in September 2021.

State of Ohio employees are no longer allowed to download or use TikTok or a number of other Chinese-owned apps on state-owned devices for security reasons, under an executive order issued by Gov. Mike DeWine.

More Dayton-area cities have installed new automated license plate reading devices in the past several months and at least one other local police department said it wants to add them next year.

The technology is part of the snow removal plan Mayor Justin Bibb introduced after Winter Storm Landon in January, and it includes a tablet, mapping software and location trackers for snowplows.

Ohio and 39 other states have reached a $391.5 million settlement with Google over the company's deceptive location-tracking practices — the largest multistate privacy settlement in U.S. history.

Expecting its first group of graduates in spring 2024, a new bachelor of science in engineering technology program at Ohio State University at Lima could improve the talent pipeline for area manufacturers.

The Ohio Tax Credit Authority agreed this week to a new tax credit that has an estimated value of $71.3 million, and it is aimed at boosting a new Honda electric vehicle battery plant located near Dayton.

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish’s second request to use $10 million in opioid settlement money to help develop innovative ideas for addressing addiction again met resistance on Monday.

Students of the new program will go through an approximately 12-week interactive learning course that includes the design, installation and service of broadband networks. The program will serve as an industry talent pipeline.

More than 40 state agencies in Ohio will begin using fleet management technology by Geotab to improve operational efficiencies in areas like fuel consumption, route design, idling and the application of materials like sand and salt.

The Ohio Department of Transportation has determined where a number of federally funded charging stations should be deployed across the state as part of a plan to spend more than $100 million in infrastructure funding.