Voters to see 5 big issues

COLUMBUS (AP) -- Gambling promoters are putting at least 13 million on the line to see if Ohio voters will welcome slot machines Nov. 7, the third proposal since 1990 to expand gambling.
Voters that year and in 1996 refused almost 2-to-1 to allow casino gambling in some Ohio cities.
Backers are optimistic they will fare better this year. Despite the opposition of statewide officeholders and the two candidates for governor, they point to the money that's left the state since casinos opened in Indiana and Michigan and slots debuted in West Virginia since the mid-1990s.
Two other issues on the statewide ballot would regulate where people could smoke, and one would raise the state's minimum wage by 1.70 to 6.85 an hour. A fifth issue would stop changes in Ohio's workers' compensation law from taking effect, but it was in a court battle to stay on the ballot.
The minimum wage increase and the slots proposal also would amend the Constitution, meaning more ballot issues would be required to undo them.