Potential veep candidate Portman is joining Romney in Utah

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman is heading to Utah this weekend, where GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is vetting his potential running mates.

Portman didn’t mention the trip while he was talking about his weekend plans with Ohio reporters on a conference call this morning – until he was asked if he’ll be making the trip to Park City, Utah, where Romney is holding a three-day gathering of wealthy donors, vice presidential prospects and Republican pundits.

Portman on his role at the Utah gathering

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Portman has repeatedly said the vice presidential choice is up to the Romney campaign, not him, and that he’d be content to remain an Ohio senator.

Ohioans' economic security suffered big in the Great Recession
A new state-by-state study shows Ohioans dug deep into their savings during the great recession.

The Rockefeller Foundation’s study on economic insecurity takes a look at how much money American households had left over after paying their financial debts and for medical care. It shows Ohio experienced a record level of instability in 2010, though it still falls in the middle when it comes to state-by-state comparisons.

Overall, the sudy says Americans saw their “available household income” cut by 25 percent, and that one in five people saw big economic losses. And even after the recession ended, the study says Ohioans face a lot greater economic insecurity than they did a generation ago.  

But housing market shows recovery
New numbers from the Ohio Association of Realtors says the housing market in the state is showing signs of recovery.

Sales for the first five months of this year are up more than 13 percent over the same period of last year. Average prices are also up by more than 3 percent.

The president of the association, Robert Miller, credits continued low interest rates and says sales have been up for 11 straight months.

Ohio's senators split on mercury bill
Ohio’s two U.S. senators split in a vote on a bill that would have killed tighter restrictions on mercury emissions from coal-fired utility plants.

The bill failed, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, was among the votes against it. He supports the restrictions, citing the health and environmental costs of the mercury emissions.

Republican Sen. Rob Portman sides with the coal industry, which says the higher standards will force utilities to shut down older plants and that will cost Ohio jobs.

The new standards have been 20 years in the making and require utilities to install the best available technology to reduce emissions.

Kent State plays rain-delayed game in College World Series
Kent State’s baseball team is beginning play in Omaha against defending College World Series champion South Carolina. If it wins this afternoon’s game, Kent will go on to play Arkansas at 9 tonight.

Kent is the Cinderella team in the series, and knocked off No. 1 seed Florida earlier this week. It was to have played last night, but rain delayed the game.