Dec 3, 2007Dispatch - Strickland revisits campaign promises
"I own this issue," [Strickland] said yesterday. "I am not going to run away from it or walk away from it. I am not crawling away from it either. I think about it every day. It is my strong commitment to get this done."
Columbus Dispatchmore
Dec 1, 2007Dispatch - Ohio Foreclosure Rate Still Highest
A mortgage research company says Ohio continued to have one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country last month. RealtyTrac says Ohio reported one foreclosure filing for every 290 households. The state had more than 17,000 filings in October, up 136 percent from a year ago.
Columbus Dispatchmore
Nov 27, 2007Dispatch - Legislature hasn't been a house afire this year
Ohio lawmakers are on pace to hold fewer sessions and pass fewer bills in 2007 than in any corresponding year for at least a decade. While legislators frequently gather in Columbus for committee hearings and handle a variety of business in their districts, the House will have convened just 37...
Columbus Dispatchmore
Oct 18, 2007The Other Paper - Radioactive
While his campaign was putting finishing touches on one of the most controversial political ads in Columbus history this weekend, Bill Todd was three time zones away and out of breath. He was in Oregon running the Portland Marathon. Although Todd finished the race, he wasn’t pleased with his...
The Other Papermore
Sep 22, 2007Dispatch - Dann seeks to close third charter school
Attorney General Marc Dann yesterday sought to shut down a third tax-funded, privately operated charter school where student performance has been dismal. In a lawsuit filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, Dann alleged that the Moraine Community School of Dayton has failed in its mission...
Columbus Dispatchmore
Sep 22, 2007Dispatch - Ex-BWC official pleads guilty
Prosecutors agreed to the deal with McLean in part because of his "extensive" cooperation in a sweeping investigation of scandals at the bureau, said Lara N. Baker, chief prosecutor in the Columbus city attorney's office.
Columbus Dispatchmore
Jul 19, 2007Dispatch - GOP disputes union order
Many of the state's 7,000 independent home health-care workers -- the ones who look after low-income elderly and disabled Ohioans -- say Strickland's order gives them a long-awaited opportunity to address concerns about pay, benefits and working conditions.
Columbus Dispatchmore
Jun 24, 2007Eagle-Gazette - Education elections open
The Ohio School Board's Association is working to get people involved in public education in November. It's a school board election year, and OSBA wants as many people to get involved as possible. That's why the organization is getting its school board candidate campaign under way. Local boards...
Lancaster Eagle-Gazettemore
Jun 12, 2007Dispatch - Governor vows to veto video wagering games
Hours after Gov. Ted Strickland threatened to veto legislation that would allow Ohioans to wager on archived horse races via a video console, the speaker of the House declared the bill dead. At the same time, Strickland and Attorney General Marc Dann said devices that function like a slot...
Columbus Dispatchmore
Jun 8, 2007Dispatch - 10 mortgage lenders sued; state alleges illegal practices Friday
Accusing 10 mortgage lenders of "unconscionable acts," Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann yesterday sued the companies he said violated the state's 5-month-old predatory-lending law. Dann's lawsuits say the lenders and brokers pressured real-estate appraisers to inflate the value of homes to "make...
Columbus Dispatchmore
Jun 1, 2007Dispatch - Brunner asks auditor to help recoup Blackwell gifts
On his way out of office as secretary of state, J. Kenneth Blackwell gave parting payments totaling $80,186 to 19 top staffers in December. Jennifer Brunner, his Democratic successor, wants the money paid back. Brunner is seeking to recover the payments on grounds they were illegal, after...
Columbus Dispatchmore
May 21, 2007Dispatch - Pickerington schools will place levy on November ballot
Pickerington voters, who turned down a 5-mill replacement levy two weeks ago, should expect to return to the polls in November. School board members announced the plans this morning. The board still has to decide whether to return to voters with a 5-mill replacement levy or another operating...
Columbus Dispatchmore
May 12, 2007Dispatch - Ohio Democratic Party ready for role in 2008
In Columbus tonight, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will find an Ohio Democratic Party that actually appears capable of helping her win the presidency next year. Such a proposition was dubious for the party's last two presidential nominees. And in 1996, Clinton's husband, Bill, won Ohio almost in...
Columbus Dispatchmore
May 6, 2007Dispatch - Ex-official repays state after being confronted
After she was defeated in last year's GOP primary, former state Treasurer Jennette Bradley spent $1,200 in taxpayer money to update her personal resume. Bradley also signed off on spending $5,150 for 23 treasurer's employees to attend a career consulting seminar. The topics included...
Columbus Dispatchmore
Apr 28, 2007Blade - Reports show how BWC workers were tied to scandal
Hundreds of pages of investigative reports released yesterday by prosecutors reveal how three investment department employees with the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation were swept up in the scandal that has gripped the state agency for more than two years.
Toledo Blademore
Apr 28, 2007Pickerington Times-Sun - City Council gives City Manager Gilleland a contract renewal
In a meeting April 17, Pickerington City Council unanimously approved the renewal of City Manager Judy Gilleland's contract and authorized her to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Child Advocacy Center of Fairfield County.
Fairfield County Democratic Partymore
Apr 5, 2007Dispatch - Strickland extends freeze on state's food spending
Gov. Ted Strickland today extended his temporary freeze on certain state meal-related expenditures until May 4. It was to have expired today. After learning that the state spent nearly $8.2 million on food and related purchases since July 2003, Strickland last month issued an order temporarily...
Columbus Dispatchmore
Apr 1, 2007Buckeye Lake Beacon - Jobs Coming to Buckeye Lake
The Beacon learned this week that the Ohio Department of Development plans to announce within days a joint venture with Vanashree Agrotech of Pune, Maharashtra in India. The company is a leader in the conversion of biomass into fuels. The announcement could be made by Ohio Governor Ted...
Buckeye Lake Beaconmore...
Apr 1, 2007Eagle-Gazette - Sewer fees may triple by 2020
Lancaster residents will pay higher sewer fees starting next year. The question for city officials is how much and from what source the money will come. The fee hike comes from the Ohio EPA officials telling Lancaster officials they must complete seven projects to meet the agency's requirement...
Lancaster Eagle-Gazettemore
Apr 1, 2007Blade - Ohio seeks limelight as next corridor of energy innovation
New York had its Silicon Alley, Michigan its Automation Alley and Illinois its Silicon Prairie. Now comes Ohio in the parade of Silicon Valley wannabes. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and Gov. Ted Strickland, both Democrats, pledged during their 2006 campaigns to join forces in Washington and Columbus...
Toledo Blademore
Apr 1, 2007AP - Governor signs transportation budget
Governor Strickland this morning signed the state's 7.8 billion-dollar transportation budget for the next two years.
The Democrat used his line-item veto on a provision that would have allowed charter schools to create their own transportation districts.
Ohio News Networkmore
Mar 27, 2007Third member of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections resigns
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner received notice Tuesday from Cuyahoga County Board of Elections member Sally Florkiewicz that she has resigned from the board. The resignation by Florkiewicz, a Republican, leaves fellow Republican Robert T. Bennett as the sole member of the Cuyahoga...
Ohio Secretary of Statemore
Feb 6, 2007Dispatch - Audit of Blackwell office requested
The shredding of documents before J. Kenneth Blackwell left office as secretary of state is one reason his successor wants a complete audit of the office. The new secretary of state, Jennifer L. Brunner, hand-delivered a letter yesterday to Auditor Mary Taylor seeking a top-tobottom review of...
Columbus Dispatchmore
Jan 30, 2007Dispatch - Cordray says state owns thousands of pieces of unused property
Cordray, who has been in office since Jan. 8, has already done a preliminary inventory of state property in 20 counties. He found 7,364 parcels of state property. He estimated 446 of those could be sold for private development or use for community projects. The McKinley Avenue plot, 12 acres...
Columbus Dispatchmore
Jan 25, 2007Eagle-Gazette - Several candidates want Pickerington Schools' top job
The Pickerington Local School District released a list of candidates who have submitted resumes for the superintendent position. Bob Thiede, the district's current superintendent, announced his retirement late last year. Thiede will retire in July. The person will lead the Fairfield County's...
Lancaster Eagle-Gazettemore
Jan 16, 2007Blade - Blackwell handed out $80,000 in bonuses as he left office
On his way out the door, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell handed 19 of his key employees more than $80,000 in bonuses, even as his replacement, Democrat Jennifer Brunner, said he left her some $1 million short to meet her office’s obligations for this fiscal year.
Toledo Blademore
Jan 12, 2007Eagle-Gazette - Access management plan jammed with disagreements
It doesn't appear a countywide access management plan will be implemented anytime soon. A two-hour meeting involving the committee designated to draft the plan and township trustees from throughout the county ended with a postponement Thursday. Some Fairfield County trustees said the county...
Lancaster Eagle-Gazettemore
Jan 12, 2007Lancaster Eagle-Gazette - McCain Defends Bush's Iraq Strategy
Despite pointed questions from Levin and other Democrats, the testimony of the two top officials drew considerably less consternation than Thursday's testimony from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., told Rice that he feared Bush's plan would be the worst foreign...
Lancaster Eagle-Gazettemore
Dec 29, 2006New York Times - Ohio Ruling Denying Pay in Job Injury Draws Debate
The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld a KFC franchise’s petition to deny workers’ compensation payments to a teenage boy who was severely burned while cleaning a pressure cooker, raising questions from lawyers and the dissenting judges about the basic no-fault tenet of the state’s workers’ compensation.
New York Timesmore...
Dec 24, 2006Dispatch - Issue 2 Backers Want Veto
The coalition that backed Issue 2, the minimum-wage constitutional amendment on the November ballot, is now asking Governor Bob Taft to veto the law that would put the amendment into action.
Columbus Dispatchmore
Dec 24, 2006Associated Press - Strickland Names Two New Cabinet Officers
Governor elect Ted Strickland named two new cabinet officers Thursday, including the state's first openly gay agency director. The appointment of Columbus city councilwoman Mary Jo Hudson as insurance director follows a 2004 election in which religious conservatives in the state successfully...
Ohio News Networkmore
Dec 18, 2006Associated Press - Lawmakers grapple with will of the people
After voters convincingly approved a minimum-wage increase on the November ballot, lawmakers wrote a bill containing rules that cut a long list of worker categories out of the raise - drawing ire from the ballot issue's backers. "By attempting to insert certain exemptions, this bill is...
Ohio News Networkmore
Dec 17, 2006Dispatch - Analysis of election
Thanks to the state’s new no-excuse absentee voting law, Ohioans cast a record number of absentee ballots in last month’s general election, a Dispatch analysis of official returns shows. The analysis also shows that the percentage of provisional ballots cast in the Nov. 7 election increased only...
Columbus Dispatchmore
Dec 15, 2006Dispatch - Noe trail leads to Voinovich associate
Quarterly payments of $2,500 from convicted coin dealer Thomas W. Noe to a company run by the wife of U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich’s former campaign treasurer are part of an ongoing investigation. The payments were made to an obscure company incorporated in Florida that names as the only...
Columbus Dispatchmore
Dec 15, 2006Dispatch - When it comes to bill stuffing, legislators are fruitful
During their lame-duck session, lawmakers stuffed 64 provisions into Goodman’s bill, honoring children’s author Robert McCloskey, homeless people, Germans, black people, veterans, farmers, police killed in the line of duty, nurses and, in a compromise, two fruits.
Columbus Dispatchmore
Dec 11, 2006Dispatch - Strickland says he won’t cozy up to coal interests
When Strickland takes office next month, he might have to deal with a threatened federal takeover of Ohio’s coal programs. But the governor-elect says that if Ohio needs to raise more money to clean up bankrupt mines, he will present coal companies with the bill.
Columbus Dispatchmore
Dec 7, 2006ThisWeek Pickerington - Diebold taking blame for invalid election results
The Fairfield County Board of Elections recertified official election results last week after an error attributed to the voting machines' manufacturer produced inaccurate final vote counts. According to elections board director Deborah Henderly, Diebold Election Systems failed to notify the...
This Week - Pickeringtonmore
Dec 3, 2006Toledo Blade - Strickland vows fix in school funding
In an interview after his speech to the Ohio Education Association, Mr. Strickland said his plan would grow out of a consensus from teachers, parents, businessmen, and the Republican-controlled General Assembly.
Toledo Blademore
Nov 30, 2006Lancaster Eagle-Gazette - Councilman plans to resign in December
One of the councilmen whose election was key to Democrats taking control of Lancaster City Council in 2005 is resigning. John Smith, D-1st Ward, said he was moving to a new home in Perry County after the first of the year. He plans to resign his council seat sometime in December.
Lancaster Eagle-Gazettemore
Nov 16, 2006The Other Paper - Did we need so many provisional ballots?
“The overuse of provisional ballots is an under-the-radar-screen issue right now,” said Sean Greene, research director of Electionline.org, an election-issues think tank. “But any election decided by less than 5 percent of the vote may well ride on how provisional ballots are handled.”
The Other Papermore...
Nov 13, 2006Bush says he's ready to listen on Iraq
Monday, November 13,
2006.
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer
Responding to a humbling election, White House aides said
Sunday that President Bush welcomes new ideas about the war
in Iraq.
Bush will meet today with the 10-member bipartisan Iraq
Study Group, led...
Ohio Democratic Partymore...
Nov 13, 2006Noe found guilty of theft, forgery, money laundering
By Mark Niquette
The Columbus Dispatch
Monday, November 13, 2006 3:32 PM
AP
Noe, right, with his lawyer Bill Wilkinson, listens to the jury instructions in court last week.
TOLEDO - Coin...
Ohio Democratic Partymore...
Nov 3, 2006Columbus Dispatch - Rep. Ney resigns seat
Ney pleaded guilty Oct. 13 to conspiracy and making false statements, acknowledging taking trips, tickets, meals and campaign donations from disgraced lobbyist Abramoff in return for official actions on behalf of Abramoff clients.
Columbus Dispatchmore
Oct 31, 2006Lancaster Eagle-Gazette - Endorsement of candidacy: Ted Strickland
We need a governor who judges issues on their merits, not his political agenda. We need a leader who can work with both parties and all political perspectives. There's only one man who meets those tests. That man gets our endorsement and should get your vote: Ted Strickland.
Lancaster Eagle-Gazettemore
Oct 27, 2006Associated Press - Candidate’s property transfer attracts federal attention
A federal bankruptcy trustee is investigating whether a congressional candidate gave property to her family last year to keep it from her creditors. Court files show that state Sen. Joy Padgett transferred her one-third share of her family farm less than a month before she and her husband sought...
Columbus Dispatchmore
Oct 17, 2006Columbus Dispatch - Polls: Brown widens lead over DeWine in Senate race
Two polls released today show GOP Sen. Mike DeWine trailing his Democratic rival in a Senate race once considered among the closest in the country. U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown was favored by 53 percent of likely Ohio voters surveyed by The Quinnipiac University Poll, compared to 41 percent who...
Columbus Dispatchmore
