Environmentalists who blasted Gov. John Kasich for allowing oil and gas drilling in state parks are cheering him this week - for an order he issued that they say makes Lake Erie a "frack-free zone". The governor also issued an order immediately imposing new regulations on deep-injection wells used to dispose of chemically-laced frackwater. The governor also spared the life of condemned killer John Eley, after the prosecutor who initially pushed for a death sentence and the judge who handed it down both opposed the execution. Three years after it ruled on a case involving the commercial activities tax and Ohio's grocers, the Ohio Supreme Court will again decide whether the CAT can apply to a specific product - gasoline sales. An independent study on the fiscal health of Ohio's five public retirement funds says they are structurally solid but would be improved by legislative action.
Election day is a little over four months away, but there's already been a lot of political activity in Ohio. Talking about that are two well-known and highly respected experts in political strategy in Ohio. David Leland is the former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party and was an official with the Democratic National Committee, and ran Ted Strickland's successful campaign for governor in 2006, which set a record for fundraising. He's now with the law firm Carpenter Lipps and Leland. Mark Weaver is a former assistant Ohio Attorney General and has run or consulted on several successful campaigns in Ohio and nationwide. He teaches law at Ohio State University and the University of Akron, and is the president of the media relations and advertising firm Communications Counsel.
