Some of Today's State News Headlines
Today is Monday March 3, 2008
Brunner checks Cuyahoga's vote operation
CLEVELAND (AP) - Ohio's top election official, who overhauled the troubled operation in the state's most populous county, expressed confidence Sunday in preparations for a new system that has been put in place for Tuesday's crucial presidential primary.
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, toured the county's vote-counting center in a six-story warehouse and said she was impressed. She stopped short of predicting when the results of Tuesday's voting would be known.
"I believe we'll have a good idea (Wednesday morning)," said Brunner, adding: "I'm not even going to try to predict when we're going to have a good sense of where Ohio is."
Election watchdogs are worried that votes in Cuyahoga County, with more than 250,000 Democrats among its 1 million registered voters, will be lost because of the switch from electronic touch-screen voting to paper ballots and a new vote counting system.
(Refer to page 6 of today's Daily Chief-Union)
After presidential campaigns, Rep. Kucinich faces tough challenge
CLEVELAND (AP) - Two failed White House campaigns have left Dennis Kucinich fighting for his political life against the toughest, best-financed challenge in his 12-year congressional career.
City Councilman Joe Cimperman, once a Kucinich admirer, has raised nearly $500,000 and landed high-profile endorsements from the mayor and the city's daily newspaper in a feisty campaign heading into Tuesday's Democratic primary.
"Mr. Kucinich is not a congressman, he's a showman," said Cimperman, 37, who has belittled Kucinich's Hollywood ties and criticized congressional votes Kucinich missed during his presidential campaigns.
Kucinich, 61, a liberal with a political resume stretching over four decades, sensed early that the Cimperman challenge was real. He abandoned his presidential campaign on Jan. 25, months earlier in the race than he did in 2004 when he also was polling in low one-digit numbers.
Known simply as Dennis to most people in his Rust Belt hometown, Kucinich has returned to his familiar fighting-for-you mantra to win renomination. He landed a quick $700,000 in contributions.
(Refer to page 6 of today's Daily Chief-Union)
Students at Ohio's private colleges miss out on tuition freeze
COLUMBUS (AP) - Families whose children attend private colleges in Ohio are watching tuition increase while those with children in public colleges will not see an increase until at least the fall of 2009.
It is hitting those private-school parents in the pocketbook, with tuition and fees at area colleges going up by an average of almost 5 percent this fall. Wealthy schools such as Harvard are helping ease the crunch with financial aid for low- and middle-class families, but Ohio colleges are less able to help.
"Harvard has a multibillion endowment," said Margaret Drugovich, vice president for university enrollment at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware. "We're not them yet."
Ohio Wesleyan plans to raise tuition and fees for the fall by nearly 6 percent, to $33,700. However, some of that money will be used for aid packages, particularly for the neediest students.
Ohio Wesleyan distributes $29 million a year in financial aid to about 95 percent of its 1,850 students. More than 40 colleges nationwide have pledged to make school more affordable since Harvard set off the wave.
(Refer to page 6 of today's Daily Chief-Union)
Pickup Your Copy Of The Daily Chief-Union Today For The Rest Of The Stories....