State & regional digest

OHIO

Former U.S. Sen. DeWine makes campaign filing

COLUMBUS — Former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine of Ohio appears ready to re-enter politics.

DeWine, a Republican, has filed paperwork designating a treasurer for a state campaign fund, which he’ll need if he seeks elective office in 2010.

But the filing didn’t identify which one. DeWine has been rumored to be a candidate for Ohio attorney general.

Ann O’Donnell, a spokeswoman for DeWine, said the former senator looks forward to serving the people of Ohio, but she didn’t say what DeWine’s plans are.

Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost already has announced plans to seek the GOP’s nomination for attorney general. Incumbent Richard Cordray, a Democrat, has said he plans to seek re-election.

DeWine lost his bid for a third U.S. Senate term in 2006 to Democrat Sherrod Brown.

ACLU of Ohio decries Pledge of Allegiance plan

COLUMBUS — A proposed law that strips Ohio school districts of the authority to decide whether students should say the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional, a civil liberties group said Friday.

State Sen. Gary Cates, a Republican from West Chester, made the proposal by inserting an amendment to the state’s budget bill.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio is calling on other lawmakers to remove the provision.

Under the amendment, teachers would decide if students in their classrooms will say the pledge. The amendment still would allow individual students to choose not to recite the pledge, but the proposal would prohibit anyone from altering it, such as adding or removing words.

Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU in Ohio, said the amendment violates free speech rights. School boards should retain the authority to decide if the pledge is appropriate, she said.

“This is a transparent attempt to force all school districts into mandating the pledge to be recited in all classrooms,” Link said.

Cates disagrees with Link.

“I’m just trying to make sure that the rights of students are not infringed upon,” he said.

A message seeking comment from Cates was not immediately returned.

State budget gap at $3.2B

COLUMBUS — The job for state lawmakers tackling the two-year budget has become even tougher.

Gov. Ted Strickland and lawmakers said Friday they now agree that the budget gap for the next two years is $3.2 billion. Officials said Thursday that the difference between expected revenues and the current budget plan was about $2.5 billion.

The bigger gap is a result of different revenue assumptions made by the Senate compared with Strickland’s administration. For example, the Senate believed it would be able to use $220 million from the state’s rainy-day fund the administration doesn’t think will be available.

Having spoken out against a tax increase, Strickland and lawmakers are focusing on using cuts to make up the gap between the state’s $54 billion budget plan and expected tax revenue.

Killer seeks execution delay

COLUMBUS — A man sentenced to die next month for the fatal shooting of an Ohio man during a 1991 multistate killing spree is seeking a six-day reprieve.

John Fautenberry asked the Ohio Supreme Court Friday to allow his attorney time to prepare for a clemency hearing.

The U.S. Supreme Court said in April that the government should pay federally appointed lawyers for work on state clemency requests for death row inmates.

Fautenberry says the decision affects him because his attorney had stopped representing him prior to the April ruling but has since asked a federal judge for funding to prepare for clemency.

Fautenberry, 45, was also convicted of the stabbing death of an Alaska miner and the slaying of a New Jersey truck driver, and was linked to the deaths of two people in Oregon.

PENNSYLVANIA

Feds probe tampering at chocolate plant

LITITZ, Pa. — Cargill Inc. suspended manufacturing at one of its chocolate factories and called in federal investigators after finding “foreign material” in products inside the plant, a company spokesman said Friday.

The suspected case of tampering at the Wilbur Chocolate plant in Lititz arose when inspectors found “unusual pieces of foreign material” on three occasions, Cargill spokesman Bill Brady said. He would not say what was found, citing the ongoing investigation. No tampered product was shipped out to customers, he said.

The plant is currently the focus of a labor dispute, but Chocolate Workers Local 464 business agent Bruce Hummel said he did not think the contract fight and the potential tampering were related. The union has been without a contract for more than two years, and last week the company cut pay to its hourly workers.

FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver confirmed the investigation, which also involves the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but declined to go into specifics.

The plant may not reopen for several weeks, but some workers are on duty, cleaning the facility. Brady said the Wayazata, Minn.-based company has taken additional anti-tampering measures.

Associated Press