09/07/10 HEADLINE NEWS …

Today is Election Day in Cuyahoga County. Voters will be picking their party’s candidates for the first-ever county council and executive.  And the winners will go up against each other – and some independent candidates in November. These are the people who in January will replace the scandal-plagued government that’s been the subject of a massive fraud investigation for more than two years. Polls open at 6:30 and stay open until 7:30.

Nine Cleveland-area doctors have filed a lawsuit in response to an Ohio law that says they can't make political contributions to candidates for attorney general or county prosecutor if they treat Medicaid patients. The group, led by Beachwood pediatrician Arthur Lavin said the law violates its constitutional rights. The law is in place because the attorney general and county prosecutors oversee Medicaid fraud cases. The lawsuit filed in Cleveland claims the law is overbroad.

State officials and athletic organizations say it's time to think about regulating non-school sports programs. The change in attitude comes after The Dispatch published a series of stories that explored the largely unregulated world of youth sports.

The newspaper said children are more susceptible to injuries than ever before and families spend thousands of dollars chasing athletic scholarships.

Ohio High School Athletic Association officials are trying to draft a set of standards for kids' sports programs.

President Obama comes to Cleveland Wednesday, where he is expected to propose a permanent extension of tax credits for business owners who invest in research and development. Mr. Obama will ask lawmakers to close tax breaks for oil and gas companies and multinational corporations to pay for the $100 billion plan. It follows an announcement Monday calling for a $50 billion investment in infrastructure.

Vice President Joe Biden campaigned with Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland at a Labor Day parade in Toledo yesterday morning - his second visit to the city in two weeks.

Biden darted across the parade route and greeted people holding political signs in a state where Democrats are trailing Republicans by double digits in races for governor and U.S. Senate.

A poll by The Columbus Dispatch says Republican candidates have double-digit leads in the Ohio races for governor and U.S. Senate. The Dispatch's poll found that GOP governor hopeful John Kasich leads Governor Ted Strickland by 12 points, and Republican Senate candidate Rob Portman has a 13-point advantage over his Democratic opponent Lee Fisher.

An Ohio-based company has been packing major league sports stadiums around the country with veterans who are looking for work and companies that need employees. Drew Myers is the president of Recruit Military, headquartered in Cincinnati. He said his company helps veterans understand how the skills they're building in the military can translate to corporate America.

Myers said 300 unemployed veterans are registering on the company’s job boards every day. Recruit Military’s last big job fair was in the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Other job fairs are planned for the next few weeks in Denver, Dallas and San Diego.

Experts are set to testify in a federal lawsuit in Chicago, where five states including Ohio are asking a judge to close Illinois shipping locks to prevent invasive Asian carp from overrunning the Great Lakes.

In two days of hearings starting today, scientists will discuss environmental DNA testing that found genetic material from carp in Illinois waterways near Lake Michigan. The lawsuit seeks to temporarily close the O'Brien and Chicago locks and barriers to be installed to stop the fish.

Candidates running in the November election are rolling out ads as the fall campaign season gets underway. The Dispatch reports that candidates including Ted Strickland and John Kasich have reserved more than $11.5 million in commercial time so far at the four broadcast stations in Columbus from Labor Day through the election. The campaigns already have aired $2 million in ads since the May primary election.

Private colleges have launched a new website to help students in a dozen states find private loans for school. The president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio said the site, called The Marketplace, helps students find loans to fill the gap between government grants or scholarships and the cost of attending college.

Stark County Democrats are picking an interim treasurer today and their candidate for the job in the November election. And they could be the same person.

Whoever wins in November will be filling out the job until September of 2013. That’s when the unexpired term of Gary Zeigler runs out. Stark County commissioners removed Zeigler from office last month after the county sued him over the theft of nearly $3 million from his office. Most of that money was taken by Zeigler’s former chief deputy to cover gambling debts, but the county said the law makes Zeigler personally responsible.

Zeigler fought his removal, but gave up his fight after a judge refused to grant him an injunction.

Election days usually don’t come on the heels of Labor day – or any other holiday, for that matter. And that’s why the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections is pushing hard to ratchet up awareness of today’s countywide election.

U.S. House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio is dismissing President Barack Obama's latest jobs plan. In Milwaukee yesterday, the president pitched a program to rebuild roads, rails and runways, but Boehner said the nation doesn't need more government stimulus spending. Mr. Obama comes to Cleveland Wednesday to call for new tax breaks to allow businesses to write off 100 percent of their new capital investments through 2011.

The Coast Guard suspended a search of Lake Erie late Monday night after receiving a distress call behind Cleveland Browns Stadium. The search was launched Monday afternoon a call came in saying that a man had fallen into the lake. 

Browns nose tackle Shaun Rogers has returned to practice after missing training camp and Cleveland's exhibition season while recovering from a leg injury. Rogers missed the final five games last season after breaking his leg. Rogers could play in the season opener on Sunday at Tampa Bay.