Green residents to vote on racino
Voters in a Summit County community will vote this fall on whether to allow a so-called “racino” to locate there.  Green City Council voted unanimously to place a charter amendment on the November ballot. Residents submitted more than 1-thousand signatures for the issue that stems from Rock Ohio Caeser’s interest in relocating its Thistledown track with new slots-like terminals from North Randall to property owned by the Akron-Canton Airport.

Election's chief tells counties to make no changes yet
Ohio's election chief is ordering county officials not to set any hours during the final days of in-person, early voting. That's because the state is appealing a federal judge's decision that allows all voters the chance to cast a ballot on those days. A judge last week granted a request from President Barack Obama's campaign as part of a lawsuit targeting a state law. The law cuts off early voting for most residents on the Friday evening before a Tuesday election, except military personnel and Ohioans living overseas. Secretary of State Jon Husted told local boards of election Tuesday that they were prohibited from setting hours that a court could later change. He says establishing new times would confuse voters while the legal battle continues.

Accused bridge bombers to change plea
Three of the four remaining defendants charged with plotting to bomb a Northeast Ohio bridge are changing their pleas in a development that usually signals plans by a defendant to plead guilty. Federal judge David Dowd scheduled hearings this afternoon in Akron for the three defendants after meeting with attorneys Tuesday.  A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Cleveland, has confirmed the change-of-plea hearings for Brandon Baxter of Lakewood; Connor Stevens of Berea; and Douglas Wright of Indianapolis. In July, another defendant, Anthony Hayne of Cleveland, pleaded guilty and agreed to testify for the government. They are accused of trying to detonate what turned out to be a dub bomb on the Route 82 Bridge in Brecksville.  

Broadview Heights voters to decide drilling ban
Leaders in a suburban Cleveland community have voted to place an oil and gas drilling ban question on the November ballot. The Broadview Heights City Council voted unanimously Tuesday on an initiative for a city charter amendment prohibiting future drilling as part of a Community Bill of Rights. The amendment also would say city residents have a right to clean air, clean water, clean soil and a sustainable energy future. A citizens' group this summer circulated petitions that contained more than 15-hundred valid signatures. Drilling has been pervasive in Broadview Heights, with 90 active oil and gas wells in its 13 square miles. 

$1.5 billion pipeline planned through northern Ohio
Two major pipeline corporations and an energy company are proposing a new gas line that would run 250 miles across northern Ohio.  The Beacon Journal reports the Nexus Gas Transmission line is a joint project of Houston-based Spectra Energy Corporation, Enbridge Inc. of Canada and Detroit based DTE Energy. The three announced on Tuesday that they had signed an agreement to develop the new transmission line at an estimated one and a half billion dollar cost. The target date for operation is November 2015.

Amish beard-cutting trial resumes
The government is ready to resume its case against 16 defendants on trial in Cleveland in hair-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in eastern Ohio. Some early testimony last week focused on alleged sexual "counseling" of married women by suspected ring leader Samuel Mullet Sr. The testimony was meant to show Mullet's alleged control over members of his community. Testimony is scheduled to resume this morning in Cleveland federal court following a long break for the holiday weekend. The defendants charged in the hair-cutting attacks last fall all lived on Mullet's settlement in eastern Ohio near Steubenville. Mullet says the beard-cutting amounted to internal church discipline.