Severe weekend weather
The National Weather Service is following up on today’s heat advisory with word that severe thunderstorms could move through the region throughout the weekend. The main concern is straight-line winds from Toledo to Youngstown.

Mandel and the tea party
Ohio’s Republican senatorial candidate Josh Mandel is keynoting a gathering of tea party activists in Columbus today. The second annual We the People Convention also includes a session on how to organize for Mandel, who is challenging Democrat Sherrod Brown.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, many Ohioans aligned with the tea party are more keyed into the Senate race than the presidential contest.

So far, independent Superpacs have poured some $10 million into the Brown/Mandel race, with most of that spent on ads attacking Brown.

Special election voting begins next week
While all eyes are on November, a special election is creeping up. Early balloting begins Tuesday for voting in the Aug. 7 election.
Third-five counties have issues on the ballot, including 36 tax issues for schools.
Those who haven’t registered to vote have until July 9^th to do so, and can also cast their ballots during that so-called golden-week.
Ohio allows two special elections a year, one in February and one in August. Only issues, not candidate races, are on those ballots.

Dead ducks and geese investigated
Wildlife officials are doing tests on waterfowl carcasses and water samples to try to figure out what killed more than 50 geese and ducks at a state care facility for veterans in the Sandusky area. According to the Sandusky Register, the birds were collected and buried last weekend.

Star Trek craft sold for $70,000 plus
A prop shuttlecraft from the original "Star Trek" TV series in the 60s has been sold by an Akron-area collector at auction for more than $70,000. The Repository reports the collector had been storing the partially restored 24-foot-long Galileo shuttlecraft for several years before selling it.