Diebold earnings skyrocket
Another Northeast Ohio company is reporting record earnings for the first quarter of 2012.

ATM-maker Diebold says its earnings climbed from 2.5 million dollars for the first three months of last year to 45 million dollars this quarter.  North American revenues that shot up nearly 31 percent. The Summit County company says it saw stronger than expected sales of ATM that are accessible to people with disabilities.

Other Northeast Ohio companies that reported really strong first-quarter revenues over the past two weeks include Eaton, Timken, Lincoln Electric and Goodyear.

Another Cleveland murder conviction set aside
A federal judge has ordered a retrial for the Cleveland man who was convicted with Joe D'Ambrosio of murder more than two decades ago. D’Ambrosio had been on death row in 2006 when his conviction in the 1988 death of Tony Klann was set aside. The Plain Dealer says a federal judge said prosecutors withheld evidence that could have led to his acquittal. Now another judge says co-defendant Michael Keenan should be retried, or his conviction should be set aside altogether.

Ohio set to vote on Great Lakes compact
The Ohio House is expected to vote as early as today on new rules for businesses to draw millions of gallons daily out of Lake Erie and its tributaries.

Gov. John Kasich vetoed an earlier version of the bill last year after neighboring Great Lakes states, environmentalists and two of his Republican predecessors argued that it allowed too much water to the drawn with too little oversight.

Kasich is backing this version, which cuts in half the amount of water that can be taken from Lake Erie.

But environmentalists and recreational users are still concerned, saying that allowing draws from some lakes and rivers to be averaged over weeks and months means devastating amounts could be used one day and still fall within the overall limits. They’re also concerned that it would not allow recreational users to sue if the companies damage the watersheds.

Governor's budget, minus drilling tax, moves ahead 
The Ohio House is moving forward with a sweeping package of spending and policy initiatives spearheaded by Gov. Kasich. But the bill does not include an increase in taxes on oil and gas drilling that the governor had hoped to use to fund an income tax cut for everyone in the state. Kasich's fellow Republicans pulled the tax plan for more study after driller protested.

Ohio bill would change how old criminal records play in today's job searches 
The Ohio House is also considering a bill that would allow people with old criminal records get state licenses to be everything from cosmetologists to junk-yard dealers.

The bill also would make it easier from people with old records -- who can demonstrate they’ve been rehabilitated -- to find other jobs by protecting employers from legal liability for hiring them.

The bill was introduced by Republican Rep. Ross McGregor of Springfield and Democrat Tracy Maxwell Heard of Columbus. It’s one of several attempts to help people with old criminal records find work.  The state is eliminating questions about criminal records from its initial job applications, but will do background checks before someone is offered a job.

Old burial records saved from the trash provide important clues 

The names and burial locations of soldiers from the Cincinnati area who served in conflicts from the Revolutionary War to World War I are being made available online thanks to a genealogist who rescued records that were headed for the trash.

A Works Progress Administration project in the 1930s catalogued the information in five books. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the county recorder's office had the documents on microfilm and planned to scrap the 2-by-3-foot volumes until Mary Remler asked to take them home in 1979. The recorder's office recently learned the books still existed and could be scanned to preserve grave information better than the fading and out-of-focus microfilm.