Kasich unveils budget
Gov. John Kasich proposed a sweeping state budget yesterday that includes an income tax cut of 50 percent for small businesses and a 20 percent income across the board income tax cut for all Ohioans over the next three years. The budget unveiled Monday also calls for a drop in the state sales tax from 5.5 percent to 5 percent. Those cuts would be paid for in part with an increase in the severance tax on bigger oil and natural gas drillers. The $63 billion budget also includes an expansion of Medicaid under President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The expansion would include people making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. That would cover hundreds of thousands of additional Ohioans, and the federal government would pay most of the cost. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have said they will participate in Medicaid expansion.

Judge rejects bid to move T.J. Lane’s trial
A Geauga County judge has rejected a renewed defense bid to move the aggravated murder trial of the 18-year old charged in the Chardon high school shooting deaths of three students. Judge David Fuhry says many people having preconceived notions about the case against T.J. Lane doesn't mean an unbiased jury cannot be seated. The judge could decide later to move the trial based on what he hears from prospective jurors. Prosecutors say Lane fired 10 shots at a group of students in the Chardon High School cafeteria last February. The trial has been postponed indefinitely amid new evidence that hasn't been publicly specified.

DeWine set to reveal findings in Cleveland police shooting
Ohio's attorney general has completed an outside investigation of a Cleveland police chase that ended with 13 officers firing nearly 140 bullets, killing two people. Attorney General Mike DeWine's office says he will report findings this morning at the state crime laboratory in Richfield. Recent final autopsy results show there was cocaine in the blood of the driver and his passenger. The driver was shot 23 times, the passenger 24 times. Some community leaders called the Nov. 29 shootings a racially motivated execution. The police union says the shootings were justified because the driver tried to ram an officer. Some officers also thought the two were armed, but no weapon was found. It's unclear why the driver didn't stop. About 61 officers and 30 patrol cars were involved in the 25-minute chase.

Youngstown Catholic bishop asks for information about alleged sexual abuse
A Roman Catholic bishop in Northeast Ohio has appealed for information from former students about alleged sexual abuse by a Franciscan brother who killed himself after the allegations emerged. Bishop George Murry of Youngstown says he has sent letters to about 1,200 adults who attended John F. Kennedy High School in Warren in 1978 and from 1985 to 1992, while Brother Stephen Baker taught and coached there. The 62-year-old Baker committed suicide at a monastery in Pennsylvania late last month, 10 days after the disclosure of financial settlements in 11 alleged abuse cases at Kennedy. Since then, claims also have emerged at a Pennsylvania high school where Baker also taught and coached.

Michigan businessman pleads guilty in point-shaving probe
A Detroit-area businessman has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a point-shaving investigation involving football and basketball at the University of Toledo in 2004-06. Mitchell "Ed" Karam's plea Monday in Detroit federal court comes nearly four years after he was indicted in the Toledo probe along with another Detroit businessman, "Gary" Manni. The government says they paid players to get inside information or affect performance while placing bets on the Rockets, betting more than 300-thosuand dollars on games. At least four former Toledo athletes have pleaded guilty.

Aggravated murder charges dropped after DNA can’t link man to crime
Aggravated murder charges against a northeast Ohio man in a 2011 case have been dropped because authorities say DNA evidence failed to link him to the crime. Prosecutors in Summit County asked for the charges to be dismissed against 21-year-old Terrell Nurse, who was indicted with a co-defendant in March. They now say that none of the DNA evidence on the victim's body and wallet belonged to Nurse. The Akron Beacon Journal reports that the charges were dropped without prejudice — meaning they could be refiled if new evidence comes to light. Nurse is currently serving a prison sentence in an unrelated case.

Missing Florida woman found dead in Youngstown identified after more than 20 years
Investigators have identified a missing Florida woman who was found dead near Youngstown in 1992 and was considered a "Jane Doe" for more than two decades. The Mahoning County coroner's office says a system providing free DNA analysis for missing people's relatives helped determine the homicide victim was Sharon Lynn Kedzierski. A coroner's investigator focusing on cold cases had added DNA from unidentified victims to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Kedzierski's daughters also submitted DNA samples, and analysis confirmed her identity.