Deadly blaze in Shaker Hts. 
Authorities say two people were killed in a predawn house fire in Shaker Heights.  Five other residents were rescued and taken to a hospital after the two-story home went up in flames.  The cause hasn't been determined and the victims' names have not been released.

Former Gov. Strickland considering rerun
Democratic former Gov. Ted Strickland says he's still weighing whether to run for his old office in 2014.  Strickland, who spoke at the meeting of the Ohio Electoral College yesterday, says he's not certain what he'll do yet, but should decide by the end of January.

Youngstown Congressman Tim Ryan and Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald are also reportedly considering running. The speculation is that a Democratic candidate will have to be in place early in 2013 to raise the money that will be needed to take on incumbent Republican John Kasich.


Convicted financier can't afford lawyer
The owner of an Ohio investment firm and former chief executive of National Lampoon convicted of swindling investors out of $200 million says he can't afford to hire an attorney for his appeal.

Timothy Durham says in federal court documents that his multimillion-dollar home in Indianapolis is in foreclosure and all of his financial assets are tied up in the bankruptcy of Akron-based Fair Finance and other companies he formerly controlled.

Durham was sentenced to 50 years in prison last month on securities fraud and other convictions in the collapse of Fair Finance.


Columbus lures IBM with tax breaks
Columbus officials have signed off on one of the city's largest job-incentive packages this year to IBM — which is expected to bring 500 new jobs over the next three years.

It's part of a partnership with the city, state, Ohio State University and IBM for the company to create high-paying jobs and retain the 671 jobs it has in the area.

The city agreed to credit IBM for 65 percent of the income tax that the 500 new employees will generate in the next six years. The incentive is worth about $4.5 million to IBM.

 
Vintage fighter fueled for decades in museum
Officials at the U.S. Air Force museum in Ohio are checking the gas tanks of all their vintage planes after someone discovered one of them apparently has held 200 gallons of fuel since the 1960s.

Procedures at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton require all aircraft to be defueled before they are exhibited.  Apparently, that never happened when the A-1E Skyraider arrived some 44 years ago.

Restoration crews discovered there was still fuel in the Skyraider, a propeller-powered attack plane used in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

A crew purged the fuel over the weekend.