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• U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown advises Senate hopeful Jennifer Brunner to attack Republican Rob Portman rather than her primary opponent, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher. [Cincinnati Enquirer]
• The Controlling Board approved some funds for Ohio’s 3C rail project on a party-line, 4-3 vote.  Going forward, the Board must get 5 votes for approval, which may be difficult. [Columbus Dispatch]
• Retired Military officers have called for making school lunches healthier, citing childhood obesity as a serious national security threat. [Cleveland  Plain Dealer]
• A new study suggests that mandating nurse-to-patient ratios in Ohio would lead to higher quality of care, and reduced death rates amongst hospital patients. [Columbus Dispatch]
• Recession adds to the appeal of short-term jobs. [New York Times]

Yesterday President Obama reported $5.5 million in 2009 household income, mostly coming from sales of his two books, and paid nearly $1.8 million in taxes.  The first family also reported over $300,000 in charitable contributions, in addition to the $1.4 million Nobel Prize which the President diverted to charity.   Here’s what’s going on in Ohio and the rest of the country.

• A new report from Community Research Partners suggests the Strickland Administration appoint an official whose sole focus is creating jobs for those currently out of work. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
• Gov. Strickland will ask the Controlling Board to approve $25 million for a new passenger rail study, which may have political consequences going forward. [Columbus Dispatch]
• The Cleveland School Board may lay off as many as 650 teachers and school-related personnel. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
• The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil suit against Goldman Sachs, alleging fraud. [New York Times]
• The Obama Administration issued new rules allowing same-sex partners hospital visitation rights. [Washington Post]
• A new analysis of census data suggests that for the first time, first-generation immigrants in the United States are more likely to be working in white-collar jobs than blue-collar, manufacturing, or agricultural fields. [New York Times]

Today is Tax Day.  The State of Ohio will have a much better idea of where it stands fiscally at the end of this month, with most tax revenue for the year arriving this week.

• Governor Ted Strickland announced Eric Brown as his replacement for Chief Justice Thomas Moyer.  Mr. Brown is currently a Franklin County Probate Judge, and was the Democratic nominee to replace Mr. Moyer this fall. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
• The Ohio Liberty Council has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn the Ohio Ballot Board’s decision to split a healthcare reform opt-out ballot issue into two separate issues. [Columbus Dispatch]
• GOP leaders try to predict the impact of the Tea Party movement on upcoming elections. [Cincinnati Enquirer]
• AEP may cut as much as 10% of its workforce in cost-cutting measures.  The could mean hundreds of Ohio jobs lost. [Columbus Dispatch]

• Democratic U.S. Senate hopefuls Lee Fisher and Jennifer Brunner participated in a debate hosted by the Cleveland City Club. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
• Governor Strickland said he believes the Ohio Supreme Court is “too white” and “too male” and that those factors may influence his decision on who he will appoint to fulfill the remainder of Chief Justice Thomas Moyer’s term. [Toledo Blade]
• Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has refused to establish a state health insurance pool, part of the recent Health Care Reform Package, because he believes the bill to be unconstitutional. [New York Times]
• A new federal tax on gasoline is being considered by members of the U.S. Senate in order to offset costs of energy and climate bills. [Columbus Dispatch]

The legislature will return with a limited committee schedule today after a two-week spring recess.  Committee Schedules for the House can be found here, and the Senate can be found here.

• Democratic Candidate for Senate Lee Fisher will begin running television ads for his primary candidacy. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
• Meanwhile, Republican Senate Candidate Rob Portman announced more than $7.6 million cash-on-hand. [Cincinnati Enquirer]
• Republican Secretary of State Candidate Jon Husted will also be on the air with tv spots this week. [Dayton Daily News]
• The Ohio Lottery announced Ohio will join 41 other states in the Powerball drawing. [Columbus Dispatch]

• Justice John Paul Stevens announced he will retire after the Supreme Court’s current session. [New York Times]
• Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI) who played a central role in the passage of the health care reform bill last month, will not seek re-election. [Washington Post]
• Leaders in the Ohio General Assembly have proposed doing away with a number of state boards and task forces. [Columbus Dispatch]
• House Democrats have introduced enabling legislation for last fall’s Casino issue, which would prevent 24-hour liquor service and free drinks. [Columbus Dispatch]

• In a reversal of the trend started in 2008, the GOP in Ohio is now seeing many registered Democrats change their affiliation to Republican [Columbus Dispatch]
• Strickland Administration officials announced that a record $2 billion will be spent on road construction projects this year. [Columbus Dispatch]
• Ohio will receive $9 million settlement from insurance giant AIG. [Columbus Dispatch]

• Hospitals hope the recently-passed Health Care Reform Bill will lower costs for treating the poor. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
• Gov. Strickland campaigns on behalf of Third Frontier bond issue. [Dayton Daily News]
• State tax revenues for March were slightly ahead of predictions, year-to-date revenues still fall slightly below estimates.
• Former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan testified before a Federal Financial Crisis Task Force on the events that led to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. [New York Times]
• Pension plans at GM and Chrysler are underfunded by nearly $17 billion. [New York Times]

• Cedar Fair, the group that owns Ohio’s major theme parks, has cancelled a scheduled sale to Apollo Global Management. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
• Governor Strickland proposes naming the Ohio Judicial Center after Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, who passed away last week. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
• Ohio has the worst backlog of Social Security disability cases in the country. [Columbus Dispatch]
• Columbus City Council has passed a ban on texting while driving. [C0lumbus Dispatch]
• The federal government will seek a $16.4 million fine against Toyota for delaying their recall of cars with malfunctioning accelerators for four months. [Washington Post]

The Ohio General Assembly will be in recess this week, and will re-convene the week of April 12th.

• Chief Justice Thomas Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court passed away unexpectedly Friday at the age of 70.  Governor Ted Strickland has asked that flags be flown at half-staff in observance of his passing. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
• Obama Administration officials warn that U.S. unemployment rate may increase in the coming months. [Washington Post]
• Critics of Governor Strickland’s 3C passenger rail proposal cite speed as one of their chief concerns. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
• Republican Gubernatorial Candidate John Kasich released his 2008 tax returns Friday, including a large bonus from former Wall Street giant Lehman Bros. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
• An unexpected jump in home sales has bolstered a stock surge that has the Dow Jones Industrial Average inching up to 11,000, a level it last reached over 18 months ago. [Wall Street Journal]