WKSU News: Noon news headlines for March 22, 2013

Friday, March 22, 2013 Noon news headlines for March 22, 2013 Strongsville students walk out; Sutton not running for Gov; Ohio unemployment holds steady

Strongsville students walk out

Sutton not running for Gov

Ohio unemployment holds steady

Strongsville students walk out
As the Strongsville teachers' strike ends its third week, students walked out of class this morning and headed to a rally in the town square, urging both sides to come to an agreement. The move comes a day after the school board declined Mayor Thomas Perciak's request for a meeting to settle the strike. No new contract talks are scheduled to address issues like pay freezes and restructuring of pension benefits.

Sutton not running
Former Congresswoman Betty Sutton has decided not to run for governor in 2014. She made the announcement and thanked supporters in an email to The Plain Dealer today.
Ohio's new congressional maps pitted Democrat Sutton, of Copley, against Republican and fellow incumbent Jim Renacci of Wadsworth. He won the new district last fall in one of the most expensive races in the country.
Sutton's decision makes Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald the only Democrat formally exploring a run against Kasich.
Former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who once said he'd consider seeking the governorship, has not yet ruled out a 2014 campaign. He currently serves as President Obama's consumer watchdog.

Ohio unemployment holds steady
The latest monthly jobs data shows Ohio's unemployment rate continues to lag behind the national figure.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said Friday today (Friday) the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February was 7 percent, unchanged from January.
A department spokesman says economists would hope to see the labor force growing more than it has at this point in a recovery, but the total number of unemployed is down from a year ago.
The state's leaders have said Ohio's economy and its job market are getting stronger, though the process is slow.
Ohio's unemployment rate has remained about a percentage point below the U.S. rate, which was 7.7 percent in February.

Gambling convictions upheld
A state appeals court has upheld the gambling convictions of three Internet cafes in Cleveland. The Plain Dealer reports the three-judge panel rejected arguments that the cafes exist to sell Internet time and only offered slots-like computerized games as a marketing tool. Two owners and four employees received probation.

Brown backs bus bill
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown is pushing federal transportation officials to speed up changes called for in a bus safety measure that became law last summer.
Brown sent a letter this week to the head of the U.S. Department of Transportation asking to move more quickly on implementing driver training and operator enforcement.
His push comes after last weekend's bus crash involving a Pennsylvania college's lacrosse team that killed two and injured 23.
The Lima News reports that Brown said in the letter that tour bus safety standards are long overdue.
Brown has been pushing for the bus safety law since 2007 when a charter bus carrying Bluffton University's baseball team flipped off a Georgia overpass, killing five players along with the driver and his wife.

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