There was a split ruling of sorts from the Ohio Supreme Court this week in a case from last summer, over who has standing to sue the state over its decision to allow seven horseracing tracks to become racinos with the installation of electronic slot machines. A Northeast Ohio man who police say shot and killed his wife and then himself had been ordered by a judge to stay away from her after threatening to kill her. Now some Democratic state lawmakers are urging passage of a bill they say would make it harder for people convicted of domestic violence to own guns. While the election may be driving a divide between political parties, there’s still one issue in Ohio that has conservatives and liberals working together - reducing the prison population by reforming the criminal justice system.
The state is launching a new multi-million dollar campaign to lure people planning summer getaways into Ohio – but mostly they’re targeting people who are already here. The campaign comes with a reclaimed website – www.ohio.org – and a new logo and tagline – “Ohio. Find It Here”. Mary Cusick is the director of TourismOhio, and talks about the campaign that launched this week.
Now that the Ohio primary is over, it's time to take a break from political campaign news to talk about the overarching tone of the campaigns – from the presidential contest down the ticket. Last week a group of politicians, activists, journalists and others came together at the Statehouse for a day long “town meeting” on civility in politics – to discuss the current climate for candidates, for reporters, and for voters. The conference was put together by the National Institute for Civil Discourse and the Ohio Civility Consortium, made up of a long list of academic organizations, news outlets, legal institutions, and other civic groups. The sessions sought to build trust among people with disparate views through civil discourse – with the emphasis on how to stay polite while staying on the issues. Highlights included speeches from former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Yvette McGee Brown and former U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce (D-Columbus). Featured panels included discussions with Rep. Mike Duffey (R-Worthington) and Columbus City Councilmember and Democratic former Rep. Mike Stinziano, Sen. Frank LaRose (R-Copley Township) and former Rep. Ted Celeste, who now heads up the NCID's Next Generation training project. The keynote brought together two former Congressmen - former Rep. Mickey Edwards (R-OK) and former Rep. Zach Space (D-OH).