COLUMBUS—During the media gaggle following House session on June 1st, Speaker Batchelder explained that in moving forward on the legislature’s election reform bills, the House and Senate must cooperatively discuss each chamber’s version of the election reform bill and examine the differences between the two. “So generally speaking, we would have the primary sponsor from each house go in a quiet room and work out the differences between the two houses,” Batchelder had said, indicating to members of the media that a discussion between Representative Bob Mecklenborg and Senator Mark Wagoner is necessary in order to determine which bill should be the vehicle for comprehensive election reform.

The Toledo Fire & Rescue Department will accept applications for the next fire civil service exam beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at the Fire Administration building located at 545 N. Huron St. in downtown Toledo. The department is expecting to hire a class of at least 25 probationary firefighters in late 2011.

The CSX Toledo Terminal is a recently-abandoned corridor that stretches eleven miles from Laskey Rd. to Rossford. Take a look at the corridor map. Naturally, a big chunk of that runs through this council district. I attended a meeting May 2nd for public officials to get a first look at the potential use of this corridor. The 1,700 property owners within 300 feet of the corridor will be receiving letters shortly discussing in greater detail so me of the history of this corridor and its purchase (It's been appraised at $6.5 million). This will include residents near Start, Close Park, and Ottawa Park. Your input is necessary for this corridor's success. It will become a major north-south trail. I'll keep you posted on any upcoming public meetings.

May 6, 2011-COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions today released Local Salary data from 2008-2010 for Montgomery County and the City of Dayton, and Higher Education Salary data from 2010 for Wright State University.