There are a lot of differences that lawmakers are working out in the House and Senate versions of the two-year state budget. But one thing that’s in both – a lot more funding to pay for defense of very low-income defendants in county courts.

A gun safety group that wants to convince Ohio lawmakers to require background checks on nearly all gun sales is not giving up on its effort, though Attorney General Dave Yost rejected its first attempt.  

Yost said the summary of the petition Ohioans for Gun Safety would use to gather signatures was misleading. The group’s Dennis Willard said it will be resubmitted soon. 

During a visit to Ohio, prominent national historian and author Doris Kearns Goodwin said political divisiveness may be waning. Kearns Goodwin kicked off a new lecture series at the Statehouse by discussing her new book, "Leadership in Turbulent Times," which looks back at the leadership of Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon Johnson and both Teddy and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Doris Kearns Goodwin told reporters at the Ohio Statehouse the current political climate reminds her of the one former President Teddy Roosevelt faced more than a hundred years ago. 

Two Ohio newspapers have made the list of the most endangered buildings in the state this year.

Preservation Ohio’s list takes nominations from residents in considering the most endangered historic sites. This year’s list includes 13 sites. Among them are the soon to be vacated Akron Beacon Journal building and the Dayton Daily News building.

Thomas Palmer, the executive director of Preservation Ohio, said he expects future lists to include additional unused newspaper buildings.

Summit County is taking a new approach to flood mitigation in the Barberton area. The county is proposing a ballot initiative this year that would ask voters to approve creating a department to oversee flooding county-wide.

Barberton Mayor William Judge said the previous idea had been to focus just on the Wolf Creek watershed, but he now believes a more regional approach would be better.

Ohio’s urban waterways were once seen as common sewers for industry and growing populations.

But a fire in 1969 on the Cuyahoga River sparked new ideas of how a river can serve its region.

In kicking off our series, Watershed, WKSU is examining three Northeast Ohio rivers, and the relationships they have with the communities that rely on them.

WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair explores the ongoing transformation of the Black River.

The Black River is wide at its mouth, with parallel banks encased by metal bulkheads.

One of the many things that will have to be worked out this week with competing versions of the state budget is the future of the commissions that have managed the state takeovers of the Youngstown, Lorain, and East Cleveland school districts which are some of the state’s largest districts.