Temporary AG appointed

The Ohio governor announced the temporary appointment of Nancy Rogers as the Ohio Attorney General. She is currently the Dean of the College of Law at Ohio State. According to the list of Ohio Attorneys General past and present, Nancy Rogers is the second woman to serve in this position. Congratulations!

The Great Lakes Compact and Ohio

Ohio is about to officially join the Great Lakes Compact. Hearings have been held by the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, leaving the Ohio Senate to move on the legislation (SB291; HB416 passed by the House). "Who Owns Our Water," a series from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, follows the historic agreement complete with maps and charts. With Wisconsin's governor just signing legislation, Pennsylvania and Michigan are the remaining states left to join the compact. The illustration is from Our Waters at the Great Lakes Water Institute.

A governor's veto power

Stateline Midwest reports on Wisconsin's recent tussle over balancing their governor's veto power (ending the "Frankenstein veto"). The article's illustrative map shows the variations in veto power for each of the Midwest governors. The Ohio governor does not have the power of the line-item veto for any type of legislation except the budget bill. The article, "New veto law latest strike in battle over balance of powers," by Tim Anderson, is on page three of the May issue of the newsletter.

The story behind the gavel

The Supreme Court of Ohio has added the final touch of public art to their refurbished downtown Columbus home. One of the art objects is a 30-foot gavel located on the south side of the building. The artist is Andrew Scott, a foundations and sculpture professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). It took him six years to finish the stainless steel and concrete gavel. For the full story, see District.

On a lighter note

In 1933, the state of Ohio declared the cardinal to be the official state bird. The laws for state symbols and insignia are codified in General Provisions (sec. 5.03 for the state bird). This wonderful drawing was published in 1808 in American ornithology, or, The natural history of the birds of the United States : illustrated with plates, engraved and colored from original drawings taken from nature, by artist Alexander Wilson. The illustration can be found in the Library of Congress digital collection, The First American West, contributed by the Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Documents regarding the state AG

Transcripts concerning the Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann controversy have been posted on Openers, The Plain Dealer politics blog. Today, articles of impeachment were filed against Dann by the Ohio House Democrats. A copy can be found here. He is expected to resign soon.

Some new books on Ohio history

Ohio's rich history brings a flow of interesting books to the table. Ohio Oil and Gas by Jeff Spencer (Arcadia Publishing, Feb. 2008) looks into the history of the discovery of oil in Ohio. Ohio was once the leading oil-producing state (from 1895-1903). Marathon Oil (formerly the Ohio Oil Company) still operates out of some locations in Ohio.

Built to Move Millions: streetcar building in Ohio, by Craig Semsel (Indiana University Press, March 2008). The book "examines the manufacture of streetcars and interurbans within the state of Ohio between 1900 and 1940." It was during this time that Ohio "had more interurban tracks than any other state in the union."

Resource for Ohio economic data

The Cleveland-based Center for Community Solutions provides loads of economic, health and social data for the state of Ohio. The organization issued a new report yesterday on Employment and Productivity in NE Ohio, 2000-2007, Indicators of Industry Sustainability. The web site is a good source for state budgeting information, including a regularly issued publication State Budgeting Matters. Check their Public Policy Blog for updates. Community Solutions is a United Way agency, so it is no surprise to find a useful database of Ohio Nonprofit Financial Data.

Interstate compacts

Looking for a good list of interstate compacts? Try the American Bar Association's book: The Evolving Use and the Changing Role of Interstate Compacts: a practitioner's guide (published in 2006). The appendix contains a list of interstate regulatory compacts. While the list is a few years out of date already, (updated through July 1, 2005), it works as a master research tool to start.

Tracking Great Lakes Legislation

The Great Lakes Legislative Caucus tracks legislation for the states and provinces bordering the lakes. To keep up on the latest actions, federal and state see these pdf lists.