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Feb 9, 2019
Meigs County, Ohio, residents join six other communities in a federal Civil Rights lawsuit. The suit alleges Ohio government officials have routinely blocked valid citizen initiatives from the ballot.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsFeb 4, 2019
Communities from across Ohio file a federal lawsuit against local Boards of Elections and the Ohio Secretary of State for multiple rights violations – including the right to vote.
Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs, Success StoryOct 21, 2016
In Ohio and elsewhere, when democracy threatens the oil and gas industry, those occupying our legal and governing structures take liberty in interpreting the law on industry’s behalf. The result: democratic suppression and an open door to frack.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsSep 16, 2016
Athens, Meigs, and Portage County, OH, residents decry the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision blocking their county charter initiatives from the ballot. Residents face fracking harms and government officials intent on blocking them from protecting themselves.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsSep 15, 2016
While the Ohio Supreme Court blocks the right to initiative in three counties, one judge dissents, calling the court’s action “a usurpation of power from the people that we should not indulge.” Residents declare their commitment to protect their communities’ land, air, and water from fracking.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsSep 15, 2016
Residents in three Ohio counties find no justice in the courts as the state and oil/gas industry succeed in blocking their County Charter initiatives from the ballot this fall.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsSep 14, 2016
OHCRN members from across Ohio staged street theater and spoke out in support of the Standing Rock Sioux in front of the state house. Residents are fighting fracking, pipelines, and other infrastructure, to protect air, land, and water, as the corporate state tries to block them.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsSep 13, 2016
The Ohio Supreme Court refuses to place Athens, Meigs, and Portage Counties’ rights-based Charters on the November ballot. County residents are working to protect their communities from fracking and its infrastructure through their right to local community self-government.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsSep 13, 2016
The Ohio Supreme Court finds on behalf of the oil and gas industry and the colluding state government. The people’s duly qualified rights-based county charter measures are again blocked from the ballot. One Justice dissents, defending the right to local self-government.
Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & BlogsSep 1, 2016
Athens, Meigs, and Portage County, OH, residents make their case for their constitutional right to vote on qualified County Charter initiatives this fall. The measures include bans on fracking activities. County Boards of Elections and Secretary of State Husted are blocking the measures.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 20, 2016
The right to local democratic self-governance becomes a political debate as Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, county boards of elections, and the oil and gas industry block citizen initiatives banning fracking. Ohio residents refuse to surrender their fight for their rights or their communities.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 19, 2016
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted demonstrates his loyalty to the oil and gas industry by trying to block citizen initiatives. The initiatives propose county charters that ban fracking activities. Residents are fighting back, appealing Husted’s decision to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & BlogsAug 7, 2016
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted – an oil and gas industry ally – will decide whether or not to place three rights-based county charter measures on the November ballot. Residents are prepared to appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJul 17, 2016
Ohio Gas Association President JImmy Stewart sees no conflict of interest in his appointment to the Meigs County Board of Elections, as he leads the charge to block a rights-based County Charter measure banning fracking. Residents disagree; consider next steps.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsJul 15, 2016
Efforts in Ohio by local Boards of Elections to block rights-based County Charter initiatives banning fracking fail to disempower We the People.
Read More | Press Releases & BlogsJun 30, 2016
Last summer, the corporate state led efforts to keep Ohioans from voting on fracking bans. Ohio communities are back in action, refusing to be deterred, and committed to protecting their communities. Five ballot measures are submitted this week for November.
Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & Blogs, Success StoryMay 11, 2016
Today residents in Meigs County and the City of Waterville, OH, launched their petition campaigns to place rights-based initiatives before voters this November. Residents are organizing to stop fracking projects and protect rights to clean air and water.
Read More | Community Wires, Press Releases & BlogsOct 17, 2015
Reporter Simon Davis-Cohen provides in-depth reporting on state and industry efforts to keep fracking and pipeline initiatives off the ballot in Ohio – including the state’s use of oil and gas industry law firms.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsSep 12, 2015
An Ohio appellate court refuses to place a community rights county charter initiative on the ballot for residents of Meigs County. Residents are appealing.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 19, 2015
A state constitution is the governing document of a U.S. state, like as the United States Constitution is the governing document of the United States. Then, a county charter can rightly be compared to a constitution at the local level. It spells out the powers, duties and structures of government and the rights of county citizens.
Read More | Community WiresAug 13, 2015
MEIGS COUNTY, OH: Frustrated by the efforts of the Meigs County Commissioners to keep residents’ community rights county charter initiative off the November ballot, the Meigs County Home Rule Committee (MCHRC) has sued the Commissioners to force the measure on to the ballot. On July 20, they filed a lawsuit in the Fourth District Court of Appeals in Chillicothe, claiming the Commissioners have illegally refused to take action on the measure in order to block a vote by the people.
Read More | Community Wires, News from the GrassrootsAug 12, 2015
MEIGS COUNTY, OH: Frustrated by the efforts of the Meigs County Commissioners to keep residents’ community rights county charter initiative off the November ballot, the Meigs County Home Rule Committee (MCHRC) has sued the Commissioners to force the measure on to the ballot.
Read More | Community Wires