Blackwell endorses Yost for auditor in GOP race

By William Hershey | Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 05:08 PM

Ken Blackwell, a favorite of conservatives in Ohio and across the country, on Wednesday, March 10, endorsed Delaware County Prosecutor for the Republican nomination for auditor over state Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights.

Blackwell was the GOP’s unsuccessful 2006 candidate for governor and also served as secretary of state and treasurer.

A Yost campaign press release called Blackwell “an icon among social conservatives” and said he “has often been the standard-bearer for people dissatisfied with the moderate wing of the Republican Party.”

“Dave Yost is one of us - a man of integrity who shares and lives our values and convictions,” Blackwell said in a press release.

“He knows that the government is reaching too far into our lives and too far into our pockets - and with his record and his experience, he has the tools he needs to fight for us.”

Yost, the state GOP-endorsed candidate, said in the release:

“I’ve known Ken Blackwell for years and he does not speak lightly or for the sake of convenience - he’s always about what he believes to be right. I am humbled and honored to have his strong support.”

Morgan campaign spokesman Rob Scott, who worked for Blackwell’s gubernatorial campaign, said the endorsement was not disappointing.

“Ken has supported Dave Yost for attorney general and Ken is a man of his word,” said Scott. Yost first had run for attorney general before switching to the auditor’s race.

“We’re going to keep going,” said Scott. “We’re plugging away.”

Yost said that Blackwell had not endorsed him for attorney general when Yost still was in that race, running against former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine for the Republican nomination.

If Blackwell had endorsed him, he would have announced it, said Yost.

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Senate committee OKs sale of former Twin Valley psychiatric hospital

By William Hershey | Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 01:35 PM

The Senate Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, March 10, approved the $1.7 million sale of the former Twin Valley state psychiatric hospital in Dayton to Amamata LLC, a private Columbus-area health care company.

Sen. Fred Strahorn, D-Dayton, sponsor of the proposal, said he hoped for approval soon from the full Senate. House approval also would be required.

“I think it’s a great thing,” said Strahorn.

He offered the proposal as an amendment to House Bill 313, legislation that would permit counties to organize land banks to acquire abandoned properties and make plans for reusing them.

The House already passed the bill but if the full Senate approves it, the legislation would return to the House for concurrence with changes made by the Senate.

The state closed Twin Valley in 2008 to cut costs. Officials last month announced plans to sell the hospital to Amamata LLC of New Albany. Dr. John A. Johnson, a psychiatrist and company president-chief executive, said he plans to offer a full range of inpatient services at the site at 2611 Wayne Ave.

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Ohio Supreme Court to hear gun rights case

By William Hershey | Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 11:30 AM

The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to review a gun rights case involving a series of Cleveland firearms ordinances and licensing requirements that are more restrictive than state or federal law, Attorney General Richard Cordray announced on Wednesday, March 10.

“I am pleased that the Ohio Supreme Court accepted our appeal and will clarify the rights of Ohio’s gun owners,” Cordray said in a press release. “The current uncertainty over the legitimacy of these local firearms ordinances creates confusion for our local officials, as well as for thousands of gun owners.”

At issue is action the legislature took in 2006 to prohibit local governments - including Dayton - from enacting firearms regulations stricter than those in state and federal law.

In Dayton, the state law meant that local laws banning the transfer of ownership of assault weapons and that require a firearms owner to complete an identification card would become moot.

What’s at stake, said Cordray, is a “state law designed to protect gun ownership and possession in Ohio.”

Toby Hoover, executive director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, disagrees with the state law. Hoover said local governments should have the right to determine their own gun laws. There’s a “huge difference” between rural areas and small towns that don’t have crime problems and big cities that do, Hoover said.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments in the fall, Cordray said.

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Morgan, Yost tout auditor endorsements

By William Hershey | Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 10:15 AM

State Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, and Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost are touting endorsements in their race for the Republican nomination for state auditor.

Morgan’s campaign said on Tuesday, March 9, that Morgan was endorsed by the Scioto County Republican Party and the Mansfield North Central Tea Party.

Yost’s campaign, meanwhile, said he was endorsed by the Belmont County Republican Party.

The Knox County Republican Party did not make a formal endorsement, both campaigns agreed. Yost’s campaign said the committee voted 2-1 in his favor but the overall vote tall was one short of the supermajority required for a formal endorsement.

Morgan’s campaign seemed satisfied with the non-endorsement, noting that Knox County is a neighbor to Yost’s home base in Delaware County.

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Ohio step closer to outlawing texting while driving

By William Hershey | Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 09:55 AM

The House Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, March 9, approved legislation that bans text messaging while driving and the full House is expected to vote on the measure soon, said Keary McCarthy, spokesman for House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood.

House Bill 415 makes texting-while-driving a primary offense - a motorist can be stopped for this activity alone - and sets a maximum penalty of a $150 fine.

It is the first of several bills pending on the texting-while-driving issue to receive committee approval in the legislature.

Nineteen states, Washington, D.C. and Guam now ban text messaging for all drivers, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

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Dayton CC endorses Third Frontier renewal

By William Hershey | Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 08:10 PM

The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, March 9, officially endorsed State Issue One, renewal of the Third Frontier high tech economic development plan, Chris Kershner, chamber vice president for public policy & economic development, said.

The issue is on the May 4 primary ballot.

The ballot proposal calls for the state to issue $700 million in bonds over four years to provide money to universities and businesses for high tech research with the goal of creating jobs.

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President Obama to discuss health insurance reform in Ohio

By William Hershey | Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 07:59 PM

President Barack 0bama will travel to northeastern Ohio on Monday, March 15, to discuss health insurance reform, the White House announced on Tuesday, March 9.

The trip will be the President’s third in the span of a week to discuss health insurance reform, the White House said. On Monday he traveled to the Philadelphia area and on Wednesday he will speak in St. Charles, Mo., the White House added.

The trio of visits come as Obama and his fellow Democrats who control Congress try to win approval of an overhaul of the health care insurance system.

Details of the trip to Ohio are expected to be released later.

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Brunner fires back in AG ballot signature flap

By William Hershey | Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 05:00 PM

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on Tuesday, March 9, denied that her office “lost or mishandled” any signatures submitted by Hardin County attorney Steve Christopher in Christopher’s effort to run for the Republican nomination for attorney general.

Brunner’s office last week said that Christopher submitted petitions with just 788 signatures and that only 638 were validated, short of the 1,000 needed to qualify for the ballot.

Christopher’s campaign said he turned in petitions with about 2,750 signatures.

“Mr. Christopher is an attorney,” Brunner said in the press release. “Most attorneys I know keep a copy for their file when they file a document with a court or a public office. It’s what we’re taught to do in law school to keep good records for our clients, even when we may be our own client.”

Christopher’s campaign has said he has copies of a majority but not all of the petitions he submitted to Brunner’s office.

Meanwhile, Phil Herzing of Washington Township said that he gathered about 100 signatures on his own for Christopher’s campaign, most of which came from Montgomery County. Some came from Warren and Greene counties. Including the 100 he gathered himself, he and acquaintances gathered about 400 signatures from Montgomery, Greene, Miami and neighboring counties.

Herzing said he collected 60 signatures gathered by a woman from Mercer County. Brunner’s log showed no signatures from Mercer County.

Brunner’s office released a log that her office sent only four signatures from Montgomery County voters to the Montgomery County Board of Elections for validation and that all four were validated.

Christopher’s campaign has said he is working on a legal challenge to Brunner’s decision keeping him off the primary ballot, a decision that leaves former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine of Cedarville unopposed for the Republican nomination for attorney general.

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Ohio Senate OKs bill to combat dating violence

By William Hershey | Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 03:13 PM

In a rare display of unanimity, the Ohio Senate on Tuesday, March 9, voted 33-0 for legislation aimed at preventing dating violence that could escalate to physical injury or even death.

The Senate made some changes in House Bill 10, approved earlier by the House. Rep. Edna Brown, D-Toledo, the bill’s sponsor, said she hopes the House will concur with the Senate version on Wednesday and send it to Gov. Ted Strickland. Strickland would sign the bill, said Amanda Wurst, his spokeswoman.

The bill would permit juvenile courts to issue protection orders against juveniles similar to the orders adult courts already can issue. A juvenile could seek the order against someone accused of assaulting or stalking the juvenile.

Brown has been working on the bill for five years, driven by the 2005 murder of Shynerra Grant, 17, from her district who was killed by a former boy friend when she broke off the relationship after a year of intimidation and inflicting serious injuries.

“I’m very, very happy,” said Brown, who was in the Senate for the vote.

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Kasich opens double-digit lead over Strickland

By William Hershey | Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 11:03 AM

Republican John Kasich leads incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, 49-38 percent among likely voters in a Rasmussen Reports poll released on Monday, March 8.

The lead shows an increase in support for Kasich, a former Columbus-area congressman, from a poll last month in which he led, 47-41 percent.

However, the results differ from a Quinnipiac University poll released Feb. 23 that showed Strickland leading Kasich, 44-39 percent.

Political scientist John Green said in an e-mail that the difference “could be the volatility of the electorate—or volatility of polls. After all, any given poll may be in error—we just can’t tell which one.”

Also, the polls use different methodologies, said Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.

“Rasmussen may be more accurate for a low turnout anti-incumbent election—which we may see this November,” said Green. “But Quinnipiac may be more accurate for a higher turnout partisan election—and we may get that as well.”

In the new Rasmussen poll, voters not affiliated with either major party favor Kasich, 60-22 percent.

A Rasmussen analysis of the poll results says that the declining state economy and “general frustration” with incumbents seems to be making the campaign a referendum on Strickland, to some degree. It also says that incumbents who get less than 50 percent of the vote at this stage are “considered potentially vulnerable.”

In the new poll, 56 percent have a very favorable or somewhat favorable impression of Strickland while 48 percent view Kasich that way.

However, 48 percent view Strickland somewhat or very unfavorably while 39 percent view Kasich that way.

Just 6 percent are unsure of how they view Strickland while 23 percent - nearly one in four - are not sure what impression they have of Kasich.

The poll was taken on Thursday, March 4 with 500 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

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