Much of Southern Ohio still in the dark after weekend storms
Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are still without power in Southern Ohio after weekend storms tore through the state. Columbus-based American Electric Power promises crews will work through the Fourth of July holiday to restore electricity. Ohio's top utility regulator says his agency will review what lessons can be learned from the weekend's massive power outages after people get their service restored. Todd Snitchler, chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, said Monday that AEP is working diligently to restore power to its customers in the state's central and northeastern regions. He said the company had 4,000 employees and contractors devoted to restoring power. Snitchler said once power is back on, the commission would take a look at whether utility companies have been aggressive about keeping trees away from lines and updating utility poles.

Ohio asking for food stamps for counties hit by storm
Ohio is asking the federal government for help providing food assistance for those who lost food during the storm outages. The emergency replacement of funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, would go to people in 45 of the state's hardest-hit counties. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services applied for a waiver from the federal government to issue mass replacement cards for people receiving SNAP who lost food because of the outages. Friday’s storms left many people short on things to eat as food thawed or went bad in refrigerators.

Drought getting worse in key farming areas
The 2012 drought is worsening in parts of Northeast Ohio. The region has seen five straight 90 degrees days, and eleven days above 90 degrees over the last two months. Rainfall for the region is 5 to 7 inches below normal. According to the National Climatic Prediction Center's Drought Index, it will take 10 inches of rain to end the drought. The drought is hitting hardest in the farming regions of Richland, Ashland, Wayne, Holmes, & Coshocton Counties.

Obama coming to Parma Thursday
President Barack Obama will visit Ohio again Thursday. He’ll make remarks at James Day Park in Parma as part of a two-day campaign bus tour through Ohio and Pennsylvania. The President plans to emphasize American workers, manufacturing jobs, and the auto industry in his speech. Republican challenger Mitt Romney has not announced his follow-up visit to the Buckeye state despite coming to Ohio around many of Obama's campaign stops.

Kasich plans Hall of Fame visits
Governor John Kasich will be in Northeast Ohio again this week in what are unlikely settings for changing in how Ohio will try attract businesses to the state. Kasich will sign the bill transforming the state’s Department of Development into the Development Services Agency at the Rock Hall Thursday and will also visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame to talk about the bill.

Kasich: Ohio “probably” won’t set up its own health care exchange
Ohio will likely not be among the states that set up their own health care exchanges as part of the Affordable Care Act, upheld by the US Supreme Court last week. Governor John Kasich tells the Plain Dealer he will probably let the federal government run Ohio’s health insurance marketplace. The federal government has set a November 16 as the cutoff date for states to decide who will run their marketplaces. Kasich won’t say when he will make a final decision.  The governor must also decide whether to expand the state’s Medicaid program to cover people who are within 133 percent of the poverty line. The High Court ruled states won’t lose current Medicaid funding if they don’t take part in the federal expansion.

PUCO settles AEP/FirstEnergy pricing dispute
The PUCO set a new pricing structure for fees that competitors must pay Columbus-based AEP as it transitions to a competitive market. The decision by utility regulators on Monday followed a months-long battle that included dueling television ads between AEP and Akron-based FirstEnergy Solutions, over whether the plan to charge AEP competitors was fair. The commission's order sets the fee at $188.88 per megawatt day, but requires AEP to charge suppliers a lower market-based price, currently $20.01 per megawatt day. Regulators say AEP can recover the difference, and they expect rule in August on how that would work. The charge is not assessed directly to customers.

Columbus bus drivers’ strike to affect 4^th of July festivities
Union bus drivers and mechanics in the state capital rejected a tentative contract agreement last night.  The vote leaves thousands of Columbus area workers, students and visitors without transportation for a second day. The strike interrupts the plan for transporting some of the hundreds of thousands of people who will visit Columbus tonight for the annual "Red, White and Boom" event.

Former Metro RTA executive director dies
Former Metro RTA executive director Robert Pfaff died Monday after a long battle with cancer. He was 61. Pfaff worked for Metro for 38 years, starting as a bus driver before working his way through the ranks. The Beacon Journal reports he’s being remembered as a leader who cared deeply about passengers and their needs. Pfaff was honored by Metro RTA earlier this year when the downtown Akron transit center was renamed in his honor.