Panel to vote on new Ohio statue for U.S. Capitol

COLUMBUS (AP) — It’s time for a panel of state lawmakers to decide whether to accept the people’s choice of Thomas Edison for a new Ohio statue in the U.S. Capitol building.

The inventor was picked in a vote taken at state historic sites and through a ballot offered online. Other famous Ohioans who were possible choices included aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright and athlete Jesse Owens.

The committee was to meet today to make its recommendation to the Ohio Legislature.

While Edison would appear to be the favorite, the Wright brothers still have their fans. The head of the Dayton Development Coalition wrote the committee’s chairman on Wednesday saying that a statue of the Wrights would cement the state’s link with the lucrative aerospace industry.