Uh oh. Now it’s the teachers unions, vs. Ohio’s Republican state senators on ideas proposed in Columbus for funding schools.

The GOP-majority Ohio Senate wants more money for school district funding. Differing is the Democrat-majority Ohio House of Representatives.

The Democrat-leaning Ohio Education Association, which is teachers unions especially in urban areas, calls the Republican-majority Senate version “a woeful disappointment in many ways.”

Caught between both sides, maybe also in woeful ways, are taxpayers, parents and especially the students.

--David W. Jones

The Lake Hospital System’s new Tri-Point Medical Center, emergency rooms and all, will open in October in Concord Township there off Interstate 90 in central Lake County.

After that, many Madison and some Perry area firefighters will consider Concord a longer drive for them from eastern Lake County to get a patient into ER care as fast as possible.

To read what challenges this may pose and leave your comments, click here.

In a move that seems to defy all logic, common sense and good taste, a condo association in the Canton area has ordered a couple living in one of its homes to take down from their window a Blue Star Flag honoring their son’s more than 30 years of service to the U.S. Army.

Having a flag of any kind hanging from a window apparently violates a rule set up by the condo association to ensure uniformity within the development, and if the couple don't remove the Blue Star Flag, they face being charged a fine of $50 per day, according to the Canton Repository.

To read the rest of this blog and leave your comments, click here.

Now it’s 11th District Court of Appeals Judge Colleen O’Toole, a Concord Township Republican who’s up for re-election next year.

And which Democrat aka attorney might fans and allies want to recruit to run for the seat in Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula, Portage and Trumbull counties?

To read the rest of this blog and leave your comments, click here.

State Auditor Mary Taylor has decided to run for re-election rather than pursue a chance to become a U.S. Senator, the Columbus Dispatch reports.

To read what impact this will have and leave your comment, click here.

Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper has announced that he’s running for Ohio Auditor.

The Democrat elected as a commissioner in Nov. 2006, is a former Cincinnati councilman. He made the decision to run for auditor after Gov. Ted Strickland encouraged him to seek the office.

For more information on the announcement as well as a link to Pepper's Web site, click here.

Get ready for the next Smokedown and Herbal Holiday as pot lovers get ready, again, to urge Ohio voters or lawmakers to legalize marijuana as a medical need.

To read the history of this effort in Ohio and leave your comments, click here.

It's been nearly a year since former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann resigned from office amid scandal.

Dann, a Youngstown-area Democrat, who also was a former state senator for Ashtabula and Trumbull counties, says he has had time to reflect on his mistakes, shortcomings and has offered more insight as to why he decided to resign rather than fight potential calls for impeachment.

To read the rest of this blog as well as link to a recent Dann interview and letter of apology, click here.

So who’ll succeed Mentor City Manager John Konrad when he retires July 10?

It could be anyone from the 50 states.

It could be anyone well versed in the city and village manager form of government, anyone in Ohio, Northeast Ohio, Lake County or Mentor.

To read some possibilities and leave your comment, click here.

It looks as if it will take a few more years and funding to see if Cleveland gets those $78 million to $93 million offshore wind turbines on Lake Erie. That's up from one $60 million initial estimate.

So says the study released as a report, "not conclusive decisions." Final bosses: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Ohio Department of Natural Resources (which was told "no significant barrier" of windmills to migrating or local birds).

To read more of what the report said and to leave your comments, click here.

Former U.S. Rep. John Kasich has formed a committee to explore the possibility of running for Ohio governor, the Dayton Daily News reports.

The Fox News commentator, a Republican from the Columbus area, would potentially look to face state Sen. Kevin Coughlin, R-Cuyahoga Falls, in a Republican primary.

To read the rest of the blog, find out what Kasich is saying and leave your comment, click here.