Democrat Ed FitzGerald has launched his rebuttal to opponent Gov. John Kasich’s first TV ad of the 2014 campaign, a less-expensive but more pointed radio ad running statewide.

A replica of one of the train engines that carried the body of Abraham Lincoln to Columbus and then to his resting spot in Illinois will not be displayed as scheduled at the Ohio Statehouse on Thursday.

CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio teacher has been fired after allegedly telling a student who said he wanted to become president that the nation didn’t need another black commander-in-chief. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the Fairfield Board of Education voted 4-0 to fire science teacher Gil Voigt yesterday.

Accidental drug-overdose deaths hit a record 1,914 in Ohio in 2012, as deadly abuse shifted dramatically toward heroin from prescription drugs. An Ohioan died from a drug overdose every five hours as total deaths rose 8.4 percent in 2012 compared with 2011.

Attorneys for Arthur Tyler, scheduled to be executed next month for the 1983 murder of a Cleveland produce vendor, claim in a clemency petition filed yesterday that the man is innocent and his life should be spared.

TOLEDO (AP) — The bodies of two missing boaters were recovered in western Lake Erie yesterday, a day after a group of four people left for an afternoon of fishing and sent pictures to relatives.

The adult son of Larry Ealy, who is running for Ohio governor in the Democratic primary in May, was indicted this week by a federal grand jury on 42 counts alleging he bought hundreds of stolen identities online and used them to fraudulently file for federal income-tax refunds.

MARYSVILLE, Ohio — The co-founder of one of central Ohio’s largest organic farms and a leader in the farm-to-table movement here lowered his head in court yesterday and told a judge that he had damaged his reputation and hurt the causes he loves by growing hundreds of marijuana plants in Union County. “I gave up a lot of the good I’ve done,” said Adam Welly, co-founder of Wayward Seed Farm.

DELAWARE, Ohio — The head of the Delaware County Republican Party has asked one of the county’s commissioners, who filed to run for an open seat on that board even though his term hasn’t expired, to withdraw from the May primary election.

House Democrats called on Secretary of State Jon Husted yesterday to enforce a rule that sets reporting requirements and limits on corporate and union political spending.

American Electric Power plans to build offices in New Albany for its division that manages the interstate flow of electricity.

The state has received an additional $18.1 million in federal money from a program meant to spur lending to small businesses.

After a year on the job, Scotts Miracle-Gro’s chief financial officer, Larry Hilsheimer, has left the Marysville-based lawn and garden company.

Trina Wiater’s heart sank as she read the Facebook message last week. A body had been found in Athens County, it said. She called the Athens Police Department. “I heard that a body was found. Is it my son?” No, she was told, it was not.

A group advocating the separation of church and state is protesting a pair of crosses displayed for Easter on an eastern Ohio village’s municipal building.

An Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation employee improperly accessed her son-in-law’s case file as he sought benefits for an on-the-job injury, according to an investigation by the state inspector general.

Ohio’s utility regulatory agency has a new leader for what Gov. John Kasich says is “a challenging time.” The governor issued the oath of office yesterday to Thomas Johnson, the new chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, and made comments critical of electricity deregulation.

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman’s expertise has fallen more into the areas of budgets and tax policy in the past. But when he dropped his opposition to gay marriage a little more than a year ago, the Ohio Republican became a lightning rod for the issue.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Black has stayed his order forcing Ohio to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed out of state. However, the judge said the state must recognize the marriages of four same-sex couples who filed a lawsuit against the state. “The federal appeals courts need to rule, as does the United States Supreme Court,” Black added.

PARMA — An attorney says video footage could help show that a substitute teacher isn’t guilty of a child-endangering charge stemming from allegations that a developmentally disabled teenager was struck and bullied in gym class at a suburban Cleveland school.

MANSFIELD — Police say an Ohio man suspected of breaking into a restaurant overnight became stuck in a ventilation duct, triggered a fire alarm and had to be rescued by emergency responders.

A 22-month-old Licking County boy died on Monday, three days after he was pulled from the family’s pond.

NEWARK, Ohio — City officials say they plan to try to recoup some of the cost of demolishing a century-old building downtown from the building’s owner. Manuel Vela, owner of the three-story brick building that was deemed unsafe and ordered demolished by the city, responded, “I’ll see you in court.”

More than 70 percent of Ohioans support the state’s renewable-energy requirements, according to a poll paid for by a clean-energy business group. The poll results were released this week as the Ohio Senate is considering a proposal that would rewrite the requirements.

STRATTON, Ohio (AP) — A group advocating the separation of church and state is protesting a pair of crosses displayed for Easter at an eastern Ohio village’s municipal building. The Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation is challenging the claim by the mayor of Stratton that it’s constitutional to display the crosses during holidays.