May 7

Revision hinges on final days of early voting

By Jim Siegel

The Columbus Dispatch

Saturday May 5, 2012 5:36 AM

As a handful of area church leaders advocated yesterday for the restoration of increased access to early voting, Republicans and Democrats headed into the final few days of trying to work out an agreement on how to repeal a broad election-law overhaul known as House Bill 194.

The bill faces a referendum on the November ballot, after a coalition of Democrats and progressive groups known as Fair Elections Ohio gathered more than a half-million signatures to attempt to kill it. Republican lawmakers have since moved to repeal the law — but there is a dispute over what that means.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/05/05/revision-hinges-on-final-days-of-early-voting.html

Mayor Jackson's transformation plan poses no threat to charter schools that will offer high academic quality: editorial

Published: Saturday, May 05, 2012, 1:00 PM

By The Plain Dealer Editorial BoardThe Plain Dealer

Ohio's charter schools have existed since 1997 -- yet the state continues to lack needed oversight laws to address recurring problems of low academic performance, a creaky closure mechanism and poor fiscal management.

So Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's proposal to empower a Transformation Alliance to vet charter schools that want to open in Cleveland is welcome.

Unfortunately, greased by copious lobbying dollars and political campaign expenditures, some charter school supporters are working overtime to persuade Ohio lawmakers to strip Jackson's charter gatekeeping panel from two Cleveland school reform bills.
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/05/mayor_jacksons_transformation.html

Niehaus says enough

Published: May 5, 2012 - 09:43 PM

Akron Beacon Journal

Niehaus says enoughMay 06,2012 01:43 AM GMTBeacon Journal Publishing Co. Copyright � 2012 Beacon Journal Publishing Co. Inc and Black Press. All Rights Reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the express written consent of the Akron Beacon Journal is expressly prohibited.

Tom Niehaus has had enough of the pressure tactics of a faction of Ohio’s anti-abortion lobby and said so, in so many words, in an open letter to “fellow pro-life Ohioan[s]” last week. With it, the president of the state Senate shut the door, none too soon, on further legislative action on House Bill 125, the so-called heartbeat bill.

The bill aims to ban abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected, which may be as early as five to six weeks into a pregnancy. The bill also would require a woman to sign an informed-consent form if a heartbeat is detected at least 24 hours before an abortion. Promoters of the legislation have been very clear in their intent. They seek to end abortions in the state, their strategy to push legislation so restrictive as to make it a test case for the U.S. Supreme Court to review Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion.
http://www.ohio.com/editorial/editorials/niehaus-says-enough-1.305173