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Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Rally for autism insurance coverage set for Wednesday
Representatives from the Dayton area are expected to be among hundreds of advocates rallying at the Statehouse in Columbus on Wednesday, April 14, to push for final action on legislation prohibiting insurers from excluding coverage for autism services.
“I think we’re finally getting the message out,” said Mindy Poist of Dayton, who has a son, Jeff, 12, with autism.
Here in Columbus, however, the effort appears stuck in the Republican-controlled Senate where President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, is cool to the proposal.
“He’s concerned about placing additional mandates and costs on businesses when we’re trying to create jobs,” said Maggie Ostrowski, Harris’ spokeswoman.
House Bill 8 moved to the Senate after the House, controlled by Democrats, approved it on Dec. 8.
Poist said the push is on to get a bill passed before the current legislature finishes up at the end of the year.
“What happens if we meander to the end of the year? Then we start all over again,” said Poist, secretary of Dayton Area Families for Effective Autism Treatment.
Currently, 15 other states, including Pennsylvania and Indiana, require coverage for autism, according to advocates.
The rally on the south lawn of the Statehouse is set to start at 11 a.m. with Stanley Jackson, a former Ohio State University quarterback, as special guest speaker.
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Gag order shut down by supreme court
A judge’s gag order to ban the Toledo Blade from publishing stories about a manslaughter trial in Henry County is unconstitutional and unenforceable, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, April 13, in a 6-0 decision.
Henry County Common Pleas Court Judge Keith Muehlfeld banned news media from publishing or broadcasting stories about a mother’s trial until after a jury in her boyfriend’s trial had been seated. The couple faced charges of manslaughter and child endangering for the same incident but each were to be tried two months apart in separate trials.
Muehlfeld said the ban was needed because of the small jury pool in Henry County, local interest in the case and the brief time between the two trials.
The Toledo Blade fought the gag order, saying it was unconstitutional.
In its decision, the court noted that it is difficult to balance a defendant’s right to a fair trial and a newspaper’s right to free speech and press but Muehlfeld’s refusal to accord both equal weight was erroneous.
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Ohio AFL-CIO backs plan to move casino
The Ohio AFL-CIO, the state’s largest labor federation, has endorsed the proposal on the May 4 ballot to change the location of a proposed Columbus casino.
Issue 2 would permit changing the location of the casino from the Arena District near downtown to the former site of a Delphi auto plan on the city’s west side.
In a press release on Tuesday, April 13, Tim Burga, AFL-CIO chief of staff, said passage would be the fastest way to begin generating casino jobs.
Voters statewide last November approved a constitutional amendment permitting casinos at specific sites in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo. In Franklin County, which includes Columbus, voters rejected the casino plan. The legislature put Issue 2 on the ballot at the request of a coalition of Columbus-area leaders.
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Morgan adds Shelby County endorsement in GOP auditor’s race
The Shelby County Republican Party has endorsed state Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, in the state auditor’s race, Morgan’s campaign announced on Monday, April 12.
Morgan is running for the GOP nomination for auditor against Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost. The Ohio Republican Party has endorsed Yost. The Shelby County endorsement required a two-thirds vote of support, a press release said.
“At the end of the day, members voted for the candidate who in their view had the best chance of winning the seat in November. We were happy to trust Seth with our greater than 2/3rds majority vote to endorse,” Christopher R. Gibbs, Shelby County Republican chairman, said in the release.
The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat David Pepper, a Hamilton County commissioner, in the general election.
