Cleveland schools to turn to voters this fall
Cleveland voters likely will be asked this fall to raise their school taxes by about 50-percent to help the district overcome a nearly $20 million budget shortfall. Cleveland Schools CEO Eric Gordon has recommended the district put a 15-mill operating levy on the ballot this November that would cost the average homeowner $300 more a year for four years. The Plain Dealer reports no Northeast Ohio district has passed a new tax with that much millage in the 9 years the state has been tracking vote results. Cleveland schools last passed a new operating tax in 1996. Recently, Ohio legislators changed state law to allow the Cleveland school district to implement a sweeping reform plan. The plan includes changes in seniority, teacher evaluations and in the district’s relationship with charter schools.  

Voter group lacks signatures
A voter group has failed to get the thousands of signatures needed in its effort to get a redistricting question on November ballots. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted  says the Voters First coalition was more than 130,000 signatures shy of the roughly 385,000 valid signatures needed to get the proposed constitutional amendment before voters. The group has until next Saturday make up the signature difference. The proposal aims to take away elected officials' power to draw legislative and congressional districts. It would put district mapmaking in the hands of a 12-person citizen commission

Columbus casino has opening date
Ohio's third casino is scheduled to open by early October in Columbus. The Ohio Casino Control Commission on Wednesday decided the Hollywood Casino Columbus should open by Oct. 8, as long as it meets necessary requirements. Ohio's first two casinos opened earlier this year in Cleveland and Toledo. Gamblers bet more than $417 million during those casinos' first full month in business. A fourth casino planned in Cincinnati is expected to open next year.

Some inmates to get driving training
The Ohio prisons agency is entering into a partnership to allow inmates who are fathers to earn a commercial driver's license while behind bars. The program is open to inmates who qualify for a re-entry program and take training through an organization that works with imprisoned fathers. The driving training is funded through  $4 million in federal grants.

Parker Hannifin expands
Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin Corporation has opened a new factory in Columbus. The company says it will assemble new hybrid drive systems that will improve the fuel economy of heavy trucks. Last year the state approved about $2 million in tax credits for the project. Right now, the plant has 66 employees, with plans to expand to about 100.

Biden, Romney stump in Ohio
Vice President Joe Biden will tour a manufacturing facility and speak at a labor union hall in Columbus today to highlight the administration's support for the auto industry and the increase in Ohio manufacturing jobs. Biden will speak at the Plumber & Pipefitters Local after visiting an undisclosed manufacturing plant. Wedesday, about 200 people attended a fundraising event in Canton  with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Prices for the reception, photo session and dinner ranged from $2,500 to $50,000.

Internet cafes swell in one week
The late submission of more than 100 affidavits increases the count of Ohio Internet cafes or "sweepstakes" businesses to more than 770. The state originally estimated there were fewer than 300 of the largely unregulated businesses, which offer games functioning like slot machines. A law that created a one-year moratorium on new Internet cafes required the businesses to submit affidavits confirming they exist. The Attorney General’s office is concerned some are from facilities not currently in operation that may try to skirt the law.

ODOT to pay $1.5 million settlement 
The Ohio Department of Transportation will be paying out $1.5 million to a contractor who sued over an interstate construction project. Ohio’s Court of Claims approved the settlement last week between the state and Zanesville-based Kokosing Construction. KoKosing says the state provided bad information to bidders on a project near Dayton and as a result it ran into higher labor and equipment costs than anticipated.