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The State of Ohio - Execution Postponed
 
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A conservative state lawmaker who was arrested on Easter weekend in Indiana on a drunken driving charge says he's resigning August 2. Rep. Robert Mecklenborg is scheduled to appear in court on July 26.

Gov. John Kasich is postponing till next year the execution of an inmate set to die next month, though the state parole board had unanimously recommended against clemency for 37 year old Brett Hartman of Akron.

The governor also says Ohio is working to create a state insurance market, or exchange, under the federal health care law, though his lieutenant governor had suggested otherwise earlier in the week.

The latest Quinnipiac poll showed 50% of registered voters disapprove of Gov. Kasich, virtually unchanged from May.

Ohio voters are likely to see two very different issues on the fall ballot. One will be the attempt to repeal the controversial collective bargaining reform law known as Senate Bill 5. The other is expected to be a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow Ohio to opt out of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the federal law requiring everyone to purchase health insurance. Backers say the mandate in the federal health care law is a violation of personal freedoms. But opponents say the law is essential to health care reform because it gets everyone in the system. Discussing the amendment are Jeff Longstreth, campaign manager for Ohioans for Health Care Reform, and Dale Butland, spokesperson for the think-tank Innovation Ohio.

If the temperature is reaching the triple digits, it must be time for the Ohio State Fair. The 158th Fair opens July 27 at the state fairgrounds in Columbus. General manager Virgil Strickler talks about nightly fireworks, a food-finder app, and the first-time-ever sale of Ohio-made beer and wine. The fair runs through August 7.
July 22, 2011