A Pickaway County woman died this morning after her car crashed northeast of Circleville. Ann M. Immel, 33, of Circleville, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 6:10 a.m. crash on Rt. 188 west of Winchester Road, according to the sheriff’s office.

Fairfield County Clerk of Courts Deborah K. Smalley, charged with theft in office, has resigned effective immediately. County Commissioner Steve Davis said commissioners received Smalley’s letter this morning. He said that the board of commissioners will meet Friday morning to appoint an acting clerk of courts.

Two Delaware city police officers are being investigated by the department after they each struck pedestrians in crosswalks with their cruisers. The two separate incidents occurred in the past week and both involved Ohio Wesleyan University students.

A portrait of Jesus and prayer could return to public schools if two state representatives persuade fellow lawmakers to pass the Ohio Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Rep. Tim Derickson, a Republican from Oxford and one of the co-sponsors, called the bill introduced yesterday “a preventive attempt” to block further encroachment on expression of religious freedom.

Toward the end of about 95 minutes of grilling from reporters about his company’s unpaid taxes yesterday, Sen. Eric H. Kearney was asked if those debts could become too much of a distraction for him to remain on the party’s 2014 ticket with Democratic governor candidate Ed FitzGerald.

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati’s city council halted spending on a $133 million streetcar project yesterday, citing concerns about the price tag despite already spending millions on construction that has been underway for months.

SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) — Police in northern Ohio say an 86-year-old man found dead in the basement of a burning home had been stabbed.

CINCINNATI (AP) — The University of Cincinnati is pumping more money into efforts to increase diversity, as some black students raise concerns about race relations on the urban main campus.

ASHTABULA, Ohio (AP) — A county judge’s wife of 45 years has been charged with poisoning him with antifreeze. Carla Hague, the 71-year-old wife of Ashtabula County Common Pleas Juvenile-Probate Judge Charles Hague, was charged on Monday with felonious assault, according to Municipal Court records.

DAYTON — Ohio’s largest military base is expected to privatize more energy and utility operations as it tries to offset steep cuts in the federal defense budget.

The Cincinnati Archdiocese has reached two out-of-court settlements stemming from federal civil lawsuits brought by teachers who became pregnant while employed by Roman Catholic schools.

ATHENS, Ohio (AP) — A prosecutor says the wife of a man charged with killing his father in southeastern Ohio has agreed to testify against her husband.

One by one, well-connected lobbyists urged an Ohio Senate subcommittee yesterday to reject a long-sought bill to require health policies to cover cancer-treatment pills the same as traditional intravenous chemotherapy. Republicans and Democrats listened intently and then blasted the lobbyists for their arrogance and indifference, before unanimously recommending passage of Senate Bill 99 — legislation that has been introduced in each of the past three legislative sessions but failed to win passage.

A 16-year-old Pickerington Central High School student is in a juvenile-detention facility, accused last month of threatening to bring a gun to school to hurt a classmate.

An effort to better protect victims from cyberstalking and other technology-based harassment got overwhelming support yesterday in the Ohio House. Rep. Marlene Anielski, R-Walton Hills, said a constituent from Broadview Heights highlighted the problem, when sharing her story of being a victim of cyberstalking and harassment in 2005 and 2006.

Two top Senate Democratic seeking statewide office next year were replaced yesterday on the minority party’s leadership team. Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman replaces Eric Kearney as minority leader. The Cincinnati senator is running for lieutenant governor.

A bill allowing debt-settlement companies to charge higher rates in Ohio passed the House yesterday over objections from a variety of consumer advocates.

WASHINGTON — In a move to keep alive the idea of a uranium-enrichment plant in southern Ohio, the state’s congressional delegation is urging the Obama administration “to move forward” on long-term plans to “preserve our domestic enrichment supply."

House Republican leaders have proposed a new severance tax on fracking in Ohio, months after rejecting a more robust proposal from Gov. John Kasich. The bill includes an increase in the “severance” tax on drilling but at a lower rate than what Kasich proposed.

An ethane processing plant near Parkersburg, W.Va., proposed in an area near both Utica and Marcellus shale formations, would be so big that the jobs and investment would likely spill into southeastern Ohio. That is, if the plant gets built, a prospect that is years away and will depend on the developers obtaining financing and environmental permits.

A controversial energy proposal will not come up for a vote this year in the Ohio Senate, though its lead sponsor vows to continue his attempt to roll back what he calls “enviro-socialist mandates.” The Senate Public Utilities Committee canceled a planned vote yesterday on Senate Bill 58, which would rewrite rules for energy efficiency and renewable energy, creating a series of exceptions that would make it easier for utilities to meet the requirements of a 2008 law.

CINCINNATI — Regional bank Fifth Third Bancorp is paying $6.5 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges of improper accounting during the financial crisis.

A State Highway Patrol investigation into Ariel Castro’s death released today reached the same conclusion as state consultants: unassisted suicide by hanging. However, the report included some new details, including handwritten notes by Castro about his love for his children, grandchildren and God.

Requiring every teacher in Ohio to undergo a thorough annual evaluation might sound good in theory, but in practice many districts are finding that the cost and administrative burden outweigh the benefits.

The suicide of Ariel Castro — who blamed his female victims and addiction to pornography for his shocking crimes — was “not surprising and perhaps inevitable,” two consultants hired by the state said. The report released yesterday by Lindsay M. Hayes and Fred Cohen concluded that prison staffers made mistakes but were not responsible for Castro’s death and the suicide of Billy Slagle, who took his life three days before he was to be executed.