NEW YORK, New York– U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took to the stage Tuesday evening for the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate at the CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan, New York. Both nominees were vice presidential, media pundits said after the debate, and they clashed on almost every issue.

Walz is a Democrat, and Vance is a Republican.

It was an informative but lacklustre debate that focused on policy issues but lacked the chaos that often surrounded presidential debates featuring former President Donald Trump, aside from this year's CNN debate between Trump and then-presidential nominee President Joe Biden. That debate proceeded with established rules designed to minimize outbursts.

Trump faces Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, for the  Nov. 5, 2024  presidential election that is predicted by pundits to be contentious at best.

The debate issues addressed by CBS moderators ranged in scope from the Middle Eastern conflict, foreign and domestic policy, gun control and inflation, to healthcare, abortion, and reproductive rights.

Noticeably, Vance backtracked on his previous stance for a national abortion ban since polls show Republicans remain under fire following the June 24, 2022, 5-4 Roe v Wade reversal decision by a Supreme Court stacked with conservative Trump appointees.

Ohio voters passed ballot Issue 1 last November, a constitutional amendment that gives women in Ohio access to abortion and other reproductive rights and a ballot issue that brought destain from state Republican operatives, including Vance himself.

Also at issue during the debate was the conflict over racist activity regarding Haitians in Springfield, Ohio. Vance and Trump amplified unsubstantiated claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield were eating their neighbor’s pets, upsetting Ohio GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, who has publicly denounced both of them for perpetuating the conflict and spreading lies.

Another matter that stood out was Vance's refusal to say if he believed that Trump lost his reelection bid to President Joe Biden in 2020, an election that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol Bldg. It was fueled by Trump's rhetoric that the election was stolen from him and was later coupled with a still pending federal elections subversion criminal case against him.

AKRON, Ohio – U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes (OH-13), an Akron Democrat who leads Ohio's 13th congressional district, announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women has awarded $479,706 to the University of Akron to conduct evaluations of promising practices for combatting domestic/dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and to research issues emerging in the field.

“Every American deserves to live a life that is safe, secure, and free from abuse and violence, but too many Americans from all backgrounds and ages face domestic violence. This funding will allow our community to develop strategies to better support and care for victims of domestic violence,” said Rep. Sykes, one of three Black women in Congress from Ohio and the youngest of the trio at 38-years-old.

The congresswoman added "I am so excited to collaborate with community partners, Minority Behavioral Health Group and the Hope & Healing Survivor Resource Center on this important project."

Congresswoman Skyes says the primary goal is to develop and evaluate the benefits of a yoga program tailored to the unique needs of women of color who have experienced intimate partner violence.

"If successful, the yoga program is primed to be a national model program that can be disseminated more widely to settings where women of color commonly gather and seek support,” said Dr. Suzanne Bausch, University of Akron Vice President of Research & Business Engagement.

With this funding, the University of Akron will conduct a study that will aim to develop and evaluate a culturally tailored, trauma-informed yoga (CT-TIY) program to explore how body-oriented interventions may aid in trauma recovery for women of color who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). The study will utilize a researcher-practitioner partnership involving a culturally specific community agency serving racial and ethnic minorities and an IPV victim services provider.

Using a community-based research approach, the study will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, safety, and initial efficacy of CT-TIY across three phases:

-Creating CT-TIY through consultation with a Community Advisory Board and focus groups;

-Piloting CT-TIY with up to 10 participants to refine the program; and;

-Conducting a randomized trial comparing CT-TIY to care as usual with 40 participants over three months