Medical Mart expected to open early
The new Cleveland Convention Center and Medical Mart is expected to open early. The Plain Dealer reports Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald will announce today that it will open July 1, 2013 in time for next summer’s National Senior Games in Cleveland. The new opening date is two months ahead of schedule. The change won’t increase the cost of the project. Fitzgerald expects the construction to stay on budget.

Obama, Romney coming to Ohio next week
President Barack Obama's campaign says he will swing by the Buckeye state once again next week. This time he will visit Cincinnati. Details about the Monday visit are not available. The President sent his condolences to the family of Josephine "Ann" Harris of Copley whose funeral was yesterday. The seventy-year-old Harris died hours after hosting the president at her Akron-area restaurant during his visit to the region last week. GOP challenger Mitt Romney will be in Toledo Wednesday for a fundraiser.

Portman downplaying New England trip
Ohio Senator Rob Portman is downplaying running mate speculation after meeting with Mitt Romney campaign officials in Boston this week. Portman says he was there on Monday to help with fundraising and to discuss strategy in the Republican presidential candidate's campaign.

Nationwide won’t cover fracking damages
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. has become the first major insurance company to say it won't cover damage related to a gas drilling process that blasts chemical-laden water deep into the ground. Nationwide spokeswoman Nancy Smeltzer said Thursday the Columbus-based company's personal and commercial policies "were not designed to cover" risk from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Health and environmental groups claim fracking can contaminate drinking water. The gas industry says it's safe if done properly. Nationwide says risks involved in fracking operations "are too great to ignore" and apply to policies of commercial contractors and landowners who lease property to gas companies.

Gas drilling companies planning large Ohio investments
Nearly 3 billion dollars of natural gas processing investments are coming to Northeast Ohio as part of the shale gas drilling boom. The Youngstown Business Journal reports Caiman Energy will spend $800 million on a gathering and processing network in the Utica Shale of Eastern Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania. Caiman’s announcement comes on the heels of Indiana-based NiSource’s announcement Monday that it will spend half a billion dollars on infrastructure. NiSource is the parent company of Columbia Gas. NiSource will build 50 miles of new pipeline and a processing plant in Northeast Ohio, and replace over 450 miles of existing pipeline.  The company says the project will create 1000 construction jobs. The Ohio Department of Transportation says it will expedite approval of permits for the projects. These new projects are in addition to Chesapeake Energy’s $900 million processing complex in Columbiana and Harrison counties, and Denver-based MarkWest Energy’s $500 million processing plants in Harrison and Noble counties.

Ohio rolling out Medicaid improvements
Ohio officials are moving forward with plans to better coordinate care for Medicaid beneficiaries who have severe mental illnesses and also chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes. Under the proposal, behavioral health providers would partner with doctors, pharmacists and others to better address the patients' mental and physical health needs. State health officials said Thursday the service is slated to begin Oct. 1 in five counties: Butler, Adams, Scioto, Lawrence and Lucas counties. Other counties will be phased in later. The state expects some savings from the new benefit, but it's not yet known how much. Officials anticipate the model of care will lead to fewer emergency room visits and nursing home and hospital stays. Roughly 177,000 Ohioans would be eligible, but not all are expected to choose the service.

Investigators still unsure of cause of Columbus derailment
Federal investigators are stymied in the search for the cause of this week’s train derailment in Columbus. The Columbus Dispatch reports the National Transportation Safety Board is focusing on the track itself in the sharp curve where the accident occurred. 17 rail cars jumped the track early Wednesday morning.  Five cars carrying 30,000 gallons of ethanol each caught fire.  It burned for more than 24 hours, there were no injuries. Investigators say scrutiny of the crew’s actions and the train itself revealed no glaring problems.  The tracks had been inspected on Monday. 22 trains run each day on the tracks where the derailment occurred, with no problems reported. The NTSB team will be in Columbus for another week. Their preliminary report will be issued in 30 days; a final ruling on a cause is a year or more away.

Ohio sweepstakes café count doubles original estimate
Attorney General Mike DeWine says Ohio has 667 Internet cafes - more than twice the state's earlier estimate for the "sweepstakes" businesses. The new count is based on affidavits submitted by businesses under a law that created a one-year moratorium on new Internet cafes. The games function like slot machines with cash prizes. Customers pay for Internet time or phone cards and use them to bet points on computers loaded with games such as poker. DeWine is pushing lawmakers to enact more regulations for such facilities. He says the cafes could be generating hundreds of millions of dollars and there's no way to track where that money goes. He says the cafes are primarily found in the northern half of the state.