Simon Kenton Council spokeswoman, Jen Koma, says local leaders were given guidance prior to the vote.

“Simon Kenton Council’s board directed its local delegates to cast all of our votes in favor of the proposed resolution that would remove reference to sexual orientation of its membership standards for our youth.”

The vote was conducted at the Scout’s annual meeting in Texas. Of the 14-hundred members who cast ballots, 61 percent supported the proposal to allow openly gay scouts. The scouts’ ban on gay adults remains in force.

The new policy of allowing openly gay scouts takes effect on January 14th, 2014

The Simon Kenton Council represents 22-thousand boy scouts in 17 Ohio counties and one county in Kentucky.

DeWine released the details of the 2012 Missing Children Clearinghouse annual report that shows more than 19,000 reports of missing children were made last year. Franklin County had the most with nearly 4,000 incidents. Of the total amount, almost 99% were recovered safely.

The federal Department of Labor has expanded the number of former Battelle workers eligible for compensation and medical benefits after being exposed to radiation during and shortly after the Second World War. Labor Department spokeswoman, Rachel Leiton, says in 2001 congress approved payments to thousands of eligible workers in the nuclear weapons industry, including more than 60 former employees at Battelle Labs on King Avenue.

“The activities that were performed there were processing and machining enriched natural and depleted uranium and thorium. Fabricating fuel elements, analyzing radio chemicals and studying power metallurgy.” Says Leiton.

Federal health officials identified 22 types of cancer linked to radiation exposure among eligible workers and their survivors. Battelle spokesman T.R. Massey estimates the King Avenue labs employed about 400 workers when nuclear weapons research began in 1943.

“We have been cooperating and helping in identifying and providing records of people from that time.” Massey says.

Leiton says so far, the Department of Labor has paid $7,300,000 for claims from Battelle workers and their survivors. But, she anticipates more claims now that the pool of eligible workers has been expanded to include employees that worked at Battelle as late as 1956.

“Employees would be eligible for $150,000 plus medical benefits….and if the employee is deceased then the survivor would be entitled to $150,000 as well.” Leiton says.

Leiton says the compensation program was created because the federal government put people “in harm’s way” during wartime. Both she and Massey at Battelle say it’s uncertain whether the workers knew at the time the potential workplace health risks.

“I don’t know, I don’t have personal knowledge of whether people knew the dangers of exposure to radiological elements at the time. I do know that in April of 1943 we had an initial contract with the Manhattan Engineering District to perform atomic energy research and development activities for the government.” Says Massey.

Battelle Labs is one of four Ohio facilities included in the compensation program. In total, more than $900-million dollars in claims have been paid to more than 6,000 former workers and their survivors at three other nuclear weapons plants in Piketon, Hamilton, and Miamisburg.

The panel’s approval Thursday sends the issue into its signature-gathering phase, with a 2014 vote most likely. The deadline for this fall’s ballot is July 6.

Proponents of the Ohio Cannibis Rights Amendment must first collect roughly 385,000 signatures in 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties to get the issue before voters.

Three previous marijuana-related issues have been cleared by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine since 2011 but stalled.

The most recently cleared measure would establish a commission to regulate the use of medical marijuana and permit Ohioans to grow hemp for uses including paper, clothing, food and as a building material.

Husted said investigators found 135 cases of possible fraud out of 5.6 million votes cast.  That means two one-thousandths of a percent of last November’s vote was possibly fraudulent.

“This report demonstrates that voter fraud does exist; but it is not an epidemic,” Husted said.

The cases of possible fraud were referred to law enforcement for further investigation.

Husted says 20 people who are registered to vote in Ohio and another state will be referred to the Ohio Attorney General’s office.

The secretary of state also said his office found no cases of possible voter suppression in last year’s presidential election.

President Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney by more than 166-thousand votes in Ohio in 2012.

A judge in Columbus sentenced 56-year-old Christopher Mark Skeen on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property.

Skeen told the judge he was “strung out on heroin” when he took the pieces from a display case in a university library. A prosecutor said he sold them Oct. 16 to an antiques dealer for $300.

A large vase Skeen took was valued at $10,000 to $15,000. Two smaller pieces were each valued at $3,000 to $5,000.

The antiques shop resold the pieces, but they were returned to OSU and Skeen was ordered to pay restitution.

Next Wednesday, Franklin County Board of Elections officials will examine results from randomly selected precincts with paper ballots recounted at the board offices in downtown Columbus.

Both sides agree on one thing – the act that Ben Lupo is accused of is a bad deed. Michael Cyphert is the attorney for Lupo’s company, D&L Energy of Mahoning County.

Ben Lupo’s a bad person. He intentionally directed someone to put brine down a sewer. He shouldn’t have done that. He shouldn’t have done that. But are those actions to be imputed to D&L Energy simply because he’s an officer of the company or was an officer at the time?

Cyphert claims that Lupo runs several companies, including Hardrock Excavating, which does brine transport, storage and disposal, and D&L Energy, which develops and drills injection wells. And Cyphert says isn’t in the brine business. Cyphert says Lupo ordered an employee of Hardrock Excavating, not D&L Energy, to dump the brine – an act he describes as “reprehensible”.

“We don’t know why he did it. Perhaps we will not know until his trial on the federal level and he is able to put forth any defenses that he has and a jury of his peers may decide whether he’s actually guilty or not.”

Cyphert says D&L didn’t benefit from the act but Hardrock might have, since it would have saved that company money on brine storage. And he also argued that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ oil and gas division chief Rick Simmers didn’t have the authority to revoke D&L’s injection well operating permit over what he called “a silly, stupid, intentional act” done by an officer of another company.

“If the chief wishes to issue an order against those who are responsible, it’s certainly within his prerogative to do so. But don’t punish D&L Energy for something it didn’t do.”

Brian Ball is the attorney for the state, and said D&L Energy entered into contracts with companies that were not registered and not maintaining compliance with state law – and therefore the company violated the terms of its own permit. And he says there were three companies working together on this operation – and Lupo was in charge of all of them.

I know the witnesses that the state will present will show that in many times they knew they were talking to Ben because he was the heart and soul and the commonality between the consortium of companies located at this address – companies that were often at least in the three considered – Mohawk, Hardrock and D&L Energy – conspiring and causing unlawful activity with systematic routine practice.

And Ball says it’s clear why Lupo made the choice he did – Ball says Lupo’s company was paid to handle fracking wastewater, and so he ordered the dumping of that fluid into the storm sewer to make money.

“Some of it wasn’t going to go in the ground. Some of it was going to go on the ground. And routinely at night with his direction. And that is strictly the business they were in.”

Bottom line, says Ball, is that the chief of the oil and gas division is allowed to issue orders to enforce the terms and conditions of permits. And Ball says as the head of all three companies is responsible for the actions of any one of them.

“While Mr. Lupo’s acts present personal liability for him. Liability for violations of Chapter 1509 is strict, joint and several. Therefore, as persons, D&L Energy, Hardrock and Mohawk are also all liable.”

Testimony continues in the hearing – a decision on D&L Energy’s continued operations could happen this week.

The Ohio Senate passed the measure on 27-6 vote Wednesday, less than a year after blocking passage of a similar bill. Testimony by owners and employees of sweepstakes parlors failed to persuade legislators that the more than 620 cafes should continue.

Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign the measure.

Senate Republicans announced a change of heart on the legality of the cafes last month after a briefing by top state law enforcers, including Attorney General Mike DeWine.

Proponents contend the cafes are legal.

Also Wednesday, the Ohio House was set to vote on a bill extending Ohio’s moratorium on the cafes and imposing a new reporting requirement.