Ohio Public Radio

The Ohio Republican Party is challenging petition signatures brought forward by a group called “Voters First” that would put a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

President Obama’s campaign is suing Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to try to re-instate the three days of early, in person voting before Election day in November.

Many Ohioans are focused on the oil and natural gas boom happening in the eastern part of the state, but businesses in the alternative energy industry say the jobs they’re creating deserve some attention too .

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.

Officials say a three-day sweep turned up no Asian carp in Chicago's Lake Calumet, where DNA had been found repeatedly in recent months. 

The Ohio Secretary of State's office reports fillings for new businesses are up.  

President Obama's visit to Ohio today and Republican Mitt Romney's appearance later in the week represent just the latest campaign activity in the Buckeye State. 

Ohio legislators haven't held any hearings on a proposal from Governor John Kasich to tax oil and gas drillers more and use the revenue to cut the state income tax. Still, Kasich continues to push his plan.

Attorney General Mike DeWine says Ohio has 667 Internet cafes - more than twice the state's earlier estimate. 

Ohio governor John Kasich this week issued an executive order banning oil and gas drilling in or under Lake Erie.  Congress banned drilling in the Great Lakes 7 years ago. Environmentalists say the Governor's order is important because Congress could someday repeal the national ban. But Tom Stewart, the statehouse lobbyist for Ohio gas drillers, tells Statehouse Correspondent Bill Cohen the Governor's order sends the wrong message.  

The state is giving extra assistance to low income Ohioans receiving food stamps because of the recent storms that cut power to nearly a million households and businesses.  Ben Johnson of the Ohio department of Job and Family Services says recipients in the hardest hit counties are getting the extra stamps whether or not they had to dispose of their food.
 

Senior White House and Cabinet officials will hold a summit in Columbus today focusing on issues facing Ohio's Asian-American population. The summit is part of an effort to expand an existing program. Jerry Kenny of member station WYSO in Yellow Springs reports. 

Federal investigators are searching for clues to the cause of a train derailment and subsequent explosion on Columbus' North Side early Wednesday. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles has the latest. 

Ohio Governor John Kasich Wednesday signed an executive order banning oil and gas drilling in Lake Erie. Statehouse Correspondent Bill Cohen reports. 

Last year the state paid 30-million dollars to people who fraudulently claimed eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits. The state has a new way to crack down and get the money back. Ben Johnson of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says some of the scam artists collect benefits even though they are working, while others collect them without obeying a rule that requires them to actively seek a job.
 

Columbus authorities are continuing to deal with the early morning train derailment near the Ohio State Fairgrounds. 

A report that examined the possible impact of changes that the state’s five public pension funds wanted lawmakers to make is out.

Ohio has been cracking down on shady doctors and pharmacists who’ve run pill mills and improperly distribute addictive pain medicine. With that source of illegal prescription medicine drying up, Ohio’s attorney general believes that addicts and profiteers will now turn to another setting to get their meds - nursing homes.

A freight train derailment and explosion in Columbus near the Ohio State Fairgrounds forced authorities to evacuate a mile-wide area of the city to contain the blaze and determine what's burning.

Environmental activists in Athens County say dangerous chemicals are being injected deep into the earth in the southwest region of the state.