For the second time in a year, a former state representative is headed from the Statehouse to state prison. Rep. Clayton Luckie (D-Dayton) pleaded guilty to eight charges and will serve three years for skimming as much as $150,000 from his campaign fund for personal uses. Gov. John Kasich wants to bring his State of the State speech west this year – he’s asking lawmakers for permission to move the annual address before a joint session of the House and Senate to downtown Lima at 6:30pm on Tuesday, Feb. 19. The governor spent this week in Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum in Davos. And there was one more swearing in ceremony this week, as appellate judge Judith French was publicly sworn in as the newest justice on the Ohio Supreme Court.
It was 40 years ago this week that the US Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision legalizing abortion, Roe v. Wade. Activists on both sides of the issue marked that anniversary by vowing to continue their respective fights for and against a woman’s right to have an abortion. Ohio has been a major player among state legislatures on the issue – most notably with the introduction of the so-called Heartbeat Bill in 2011, which passed the House and but didn’t make it to the Senate floor before the end of the last legislative session in December. Discussing what might be ahead on the abortion issue in Ohio are Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life and Jamie Miracle, policy director of NARAL-Pro Choice Ohio.