Ohio will begin staggering distribution of food-stamp benefits next month. The change comes at the request of grocers who say stores are swamped at the beginning of each month, creating long lines, shortages of produce and other items, and the need for additional staff.

By this time next year, high schools across the state might be pining for the simplicity of the good old Ohio Graduation Test. The one that just takes a week. The one that starts on Monday in most districts. Yes, schools have to perform some logistical gymnastics for the test as it exists now.

We plan our careers, retirement and what happens to our worldly possessions after we die. What most Americans don’t plan for is how we die. Most of us — an estimated 70 to 80 percent — have not taken that step.

Ohio colleges are bolstering efforts to recruit students as the state braces for a sharp drop in the number of college-age students. Schools are spreading their reach into new areas while competing for fewer students in Ohio.

GRANVILLE, Ohio — Eva Revesz, a visiting assistant professor at Denison University, settled in to an evening of grading papers as she had so many evenings before. The assignment was a short, getting-to-know-you, in-class paper.

Charlie Earl was near the end of his keynote speech to about 50 people at the Libertarian Party of Ohio’s convention yesterday when he said, “I really am the equivalent of a book in Boston. “Yeah, I’ve been banned,” Earl said.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Attorney General Mike DeWine went home yesterday after spending the night in a Cincinnati hospital where he was taken because he felt ill while at a speaking engagement.

WARREN, Ohio (AP) — A northeastern Ohio school district says it won’t use a man as a substitute teacher again after he allegedly spanked two young students.

DAYTON (AP) — A southwestern Ohio university is offering intensive training for nursing in flight and disasters. Wright State University’s program is sanctioned by the Air Force surgeon general, so students from the nearby Air Force Institute of Technology have been among early participants.

After 12 years of work, archaeologists from the Ohio Historical Society are still trying to put together all the pieces of an epic drama that played out in 1752 near what is now Piqua in western Ohio.

Gov. John Kasich is expected to roll out his latest proposal for an income-tax cut on Tuesday, and again he is expected to face opposition over how he intends to pay for it, along with questions about whether Ohio should focus on this type of tax change.

An Ohio court has rejected the appeal of a southeastern Ohio man who was convicted of killing his daughter-in-law, who was found strangled at the bottom of a septic tank in 2011.

YOUNGSTOWN — A northeastern Ohio couple was found guilty yesterday of enslaving a mentally disabled woman for two years through intimidation, abuse and threats that they would harm her young child.

CINCINNATI (AP) — A southwestern Ohio lawmaker charged with fraud and theft for allegedly misleading investors about a company’s financial status and using their money for personal gain won’t go on trial next month.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine will remain overnight at The Christ Hospital for observation after becoming ill prior to a speaking engagement in Cincinnati earlier today.

In good news for Gov. John Kasich, a Libertarian gubernatorial candidate was ruled off the ballot today.

It’s back to three meals a day — except on weekends — for 20,000 inmates in Ohio jails. That was one of just three changes, including continuing to allow inmates to shower daily, made to dozens of revised rules for operation of Ohio’s 349 jails. Overall, the new standards would greatly improve treatment of mentally ill inmates while dramatically reduce mandatory training for jail employees. The changes are designed to allow sheriffs to better fend off potential prisoner lawsuits.

Two people in Ohio, have been found guilty of enslaving a mentally disabled woman for two years with her young child. Jurors in a Youngstown federal court handed down guilty verdicts today on charges including forced labor conspiracy against 27-year-old Jordie Callahan and 32-year-old Jessica Hunt.

WOOSTER, Ohio — On Tuesday, two weeks and a day after speaking broadly about his policy agenda for 2014 in his State of the State speech, Gov. John Kasich will begin to talk details with legislators as his proposals are formally introduced.

NEWARK, Ohio — The lawyer for a Newark band director indicted yesterday on 13 counts stemming from sexual relationships with three students said he hopes to quickly work out a plea deal for his client.

YOUNGSTOWN — A man and his girlfriend used threats, intimidation and physical abuse to keep a mentally disabled woman enslaved for two years along with her young daughter, a prosecutor told jurors who began considering the charges yesterday.

The Columbus Fire Division will introduce potential fire recruits to the job of fighting fires and responding to medical emergencies beginning this weekend.

Akron police reported yesterday that a Barberton man broke into Akron’s STEM middle school at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, stole equipment and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old female student.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a potential GOP presidential candidate in 2016, has been announced as keynote speaker for the annual Lincoln-Reagan fundraiser dinner of the Hamilton County Republican Party.

WASHINGTON — Despite opposition from Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, the Senate yesterday confirmed Rose Gottemoeller — a 1971 graduate of Upper Arlington High School — as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.