Dems’ takeover of 4 state offices chosen Ohio’s top story
Gov. Strickland’s first veto was later overturned by the Ohio Supreme Court.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democrats wresting 16 years of control over the governor's mansion from the GOP and gaining three other statewide offices topped the list of the state's most noteworthy stories of 2007, beating out the bus crash that killed several university baseball players.
The takeover by Democrats of the governor's mansion as well as the attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer posts in January also trumped the sentencing of U.S. Rep. Bob Ney for his role in a congressional bribery scandal, which was ranked third by Ohio Associated Press newspaper editors and broadcasters.
After Gov. Ted Strickland and his fellow party members took their seats, the only statewide post left to the GOP was the auditor's office.
Voters angry over national and statewide corruption scandals, including former Gov. Bob Taft's no contest plea to ethics violations, had put the Democrats in office and took seven House seats and one Senate seat from the Republicans.
Strickland, 65, defeated fiscally and morally conservative Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who gained national attention for his handling of the 2004 election that clinched President Bush's victory that year.
On his first day in office, Strickland vetoed a bill passed by the previous legislative session that would have placed a $5,000 limit on certain court damages and created new protections for companies that once sold lead-based paint.
Armed with legal opinions from a new Democratic attorney general and secretary of state, Strickland said the Ohio Constitution allows him to veto the bill passed despite Taft’s having signaled that he would allow it to become law without his signature. The veto was ultimately overturned by the Ohio Supreme Court.
Strickland later passed a $52.3 billion, two-year state budget with near-unanimous support of both Democrats and Republicans. The budget included expanded health coverage for uninsured children, pregnant women and low-income families, tax breaks for senior citizens and a two-year freeze in college tuitions.
As representatives returned to their chamber where Democrats had been shunned by the Republican majority for the past 12 years, the mood among Democrats — whose minority was narrowed to 53-46 — was euphoric.
"I'm really excited about it, because of the change of numbers," said state Rep. Lorraine Fende of Willowick. "We as Democrats had, and still have, terrific ideas but they never listened. Now they have to talk to us."
The state's other top stories of 2007:
(2) A charter bus carrying Bluffton University's baseball team tumbled over the side of a Georgia highway overpass in March, killing five players along with the driver and his wife.
The team from the close-knit, Mennonite-affiliated 1,150-student college about 50 miles south of Toledo was making its annual spring training trip to Florida before dawn when the driver apparently mistook an exit ramp for a lane and plunged over the side of Interstate 75, slamming onto the pavement 30 feet below.
(3) Former U.S. Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio was sentenced in September to 30 months in federal prison for his role in a congressional bribery scandal. Ney, a six-term Republican from Heath in central Ohio, resigned his office amid the probe and is serving the prison sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy and making false statements. He acknowledged trading his influence for golf trips, gifts and campaign donations arranged by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates.
(4) Historic flooding in August swamped an 80-mile swath through the northwest and north central parts of the state, prompting President Bush to declare the region a major disaster. The recovery process for some towns, such as Bucyrus and Findlay, which was hit by the worst flooding in nearly a century, continues months later.
(5) A computer device containing data on Ohioans was stolen in June from the car of an intern who worked at the state's Office of Management and Budget. The device had records on about 1.3 million Ohio taxpayers, state employees, companies and government agencies. The tape also contained personal information of more than 500 county workers from Minnesota and 57 Connecticut residents. Inspector General Tom Charles later released a report concluding officials took too long after the theft to inform police and top-level administrators.
(6) A troubled 14-year-old student wounded four in an October school shooting in Cleveland, then killed himself. The new student at the alternative downtown high school SuccessTech Academy had a history of behavior and psychological problems. After the shooting, in which he was able to walk into the building armed with two revolvers, ammunition and three knives, Cleveland school officials added additional security measures for all district schools.
(7) (tie) A northern Ohio couple who was convicted of forcing some of their adopted, special-needs children to sleep in cages was sentenced in February to two years in prison. The couple's 11 children ranged in age from 1 to 14 when authorities removed them from the home of Michael and Sharen Gravelle in rural Wakeman in September 2005. The Gravelles said they made the small wood-and-wire enclosures to protect the troubled children. The Ohio Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal by the couple, now free on bond, for custody of the children.
(7) (tie) A pregnant woman was found dead in Northeast Ohio in June after a nine-day search that drew national attention, and her boyfriend, a police officer, was charged with her murder. Jessie Davis' toddler son, found home alone and crying a day after she disappeared, provided authorities with the first clues, saying: "Mommy was crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy's in rug." The child's father, Bobby Cutts Jr., will be tried on aggravated murder and other charges in a trial scheduled for early February. Cutts is also the father of Davis' unborn daughter. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
(9) The foster parents of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy who was left bound in a closet were both convicted of murder in his death and are serving life sentences. Marcus Fiesel died after being left in the closet in his Cincinnati-area home for two days in August 2006 while the couple attended a family reunion in Kentucky. After Fiesel's death, Ohio officials ramped up efforts to improve safeguards for children in the state's foster care system.
(10) The Ohio State Buckeyes, first in the Bowl Championship Series standings all last season, lost the national title game, 41-14, to Florida in January.