Tagged: Ohio

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is planning a more aggressive schedule of campaign events in Ohio and Colorado.

The outbreak of swine flu among several dozen people who attended the Butler County Fair last week has been linked to a similar outbreak in Indiana. Health officials say up to 41 people, nearly all of them children, have become sick with symptoms similar to those of a swine flu strain. The southwest Ohio cases are linked to the Butler County Fair, which ended last weekend. 

Ohio's leading education official has issued a public apology after a state watchdog found that he lobbied for a Texas-based standardized testing firm last year while on the company's payroll. Superintendent Stan Heffner said he had shown bad judgment and would accept whatever punishment the Ohio Board of Education deems necessary. 

The US Agriculture Department has classified an additional 218 counties and a dozen states as disaster areas due to the nation's drought. That brings this year's total to nearly 1600 counties in Ohio and 31 other states. More than 90% of them because of the drought. A national monitor map by the University of Nebraska shows Ohio is in a moderate drought. Ohio State University agricultural economist Matt Roberts tells statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen recent rainfall cannot reverse much of the damaged crop yields.

Residents living near the Ohio Turnpike aren't convinced about the benefits state officials say would come by privatizing the toll road. The first public meeting about the plan came last night in Elyria, where Lorain County Commissioner Ted Kalo expressed concerns about increased tolls and sloppy maintenance. 

Ohio's largest police union has thrown its support behind democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in the state's closely watched campaign for U.S. Senate. It marks the first time in 24 years the fraternal order of police has endorsed a democrat for senate. In a statement, president Jay McDonald cited Brown's opposition to the governor's collective bargaining overhaul as a key factor in its endorsement. The FOP chose brown over republican opponent and state treasurer Josh Mandel. The race continues to draw attention in and outside of The Buckeye State. And as Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports, it's already setting records.

Death is an issue few people want to talk about. One central Ohio woman wants to change that. Lizzy Miles is hosting what's believed to be the first "Death Cafe" in the United States tomorrow night in Westerville. Spaces for the event have already been closed so miles is taking reservations for another cafe August 23rd in Columbus. She talks about them with the Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles.

Civil disobedience is a tactic that's starting to be adopted in Ohio by at least some environmentalists protesting the oil and gas drilling method often called fracking.