By Laura A. Bischoff
lbischoff@DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS | State Sen. Jeff Jacobson is in a strong position to become Senate president in January 2005, with the next legislative session, three well-placed Republican sources said.

Jacobson, R-Butler Twp., is up against state Sen. Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green, for the presidency, one of the most powerful elected positions in state government. The Senate president has the ability to block legislation, craft policy and shape the state budget.

Current President Doug White, R-Manchester, will hold the post through 2004.

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Saturday, July 19, 2003
By Jon Craig
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

State Highway Patrol officers dodged legislative scrutiny when they bought a 1938 Ford Cabriolet two years ago for display at their training academy, a newly reported investigation found.

Buying the rare convertible with $41,000 in drug-forfeiture money did not violate Ohio's purchasing laws, Inspector General Thomas P. Charles said. "Nonetheless, in our view, these actions appear contrary to the intent of these laws,'' he said.

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The election of the speaker of the Ohio House is 17 months away, but several state legislators have already begun meeting with fellow Republican House members seeking their support for a run at the seat. Each of the potential speaker candidates who have stepped forward thus far are 2002 OFCC PAC Endorsees.

Current Speaker Larry Householder cannot run for re-election next year because of the state's term limits law, leaving the seat vacant beginning January 2005.

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A federal judge threw out the NAACP's case against the gun industry yesterday, despite finding that the manufacturers have put the public at risk with careless marketing practices.

Affirming a jury verdict in favor of the gun makers, U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein ruled that the NAACP failed to show, as required by law, that its members were uniquely harmed.

A gun industry spokesman, Lawrence Keane, welcomed the outcome.

"It's regrettable that the industry ever had to defend itself against such a frivolous lawsuit," said Keane, general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

He estimated that the manufacturers spent $10 million on their defense.

NAACP lawyer Elisa Barnes called the decision a "moral victory" that could open the way for the city or state to pursue similar lawsuits demanding reforms by firearms manufacturers.

John Renzulli, a lawyer for Browning Arms Co., predicted the ruling would discourage further litigation.

The NAACP "failed twice - once before a jury that said it didn't have a case and once with a judge who said the same thing," Renzulli said.

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The NAACP sued Browning Arms, Smith & Wesson, Glock and other major gun makers in 1999, saying they knew corrupt dealers were supplying products to criminals in black and Hispanic neighborhoods and did nothing to stop it. Rather than asking for monetary damages, the NAACP sought sweeping restrictions on buyers and sellers of handguns.

Weinstein's decision follows a two-month trial that concluded in May with an advisory jury ruling that cleared 45 gun manufacturers and distributors of negligence.

Click here to read the entire story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.