Karen Kasler (Ohio Public Radio)

The state has pushed back execution dates for a dozen condemned killers, because of a problem that’s no surprise to anyone in law enforcement or criminal justice – a lack of drugs for lethal injections.

This delay for the 141 people on death row in Ohio comes more than a year after the state had to push back executions when it switched to a single-drug lethal injection after the death of Dennis McGuire.

Students around the Tristate are heading back to school (some are already back in session) and Ohio retailers are hoping this weekend's sales tax holiday will have Black Friday-style results.

Now that Ohio Gov. John Kasich has announced he will officially launch his presidential campaign in a few weeks, there may be new attention on another Republican statewide officeholder.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, after months of organizing and stumping in early primary and caucus states – will make it official on July 21 at Ohio State University: He is a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

  Once again, an increase in the state’s tax on oil and natural gas drillers will not be a part of the budget.

But Republican lawmakers are talking up what they say is a new step forward for the discussion – a method that’s has been used time and again in state government.

It looked like it was going to be a big deal.

  Two state lawmakers are banding together to present something they are suggesting is an encore to the state’s film industry tax credit, which has brought $119 million to Ohio in its first two years.

Giving a 25 percent tax credit to musicians, producers and others in Ohio is a key way to create a major number of jobs with a minor investment, says Republican Sarah LaTourette of northeast Ohio.

And her co-sponsor, Democrat Rep. Kent Smith of Euclid, says the OhioSounds tax credit is similar to ones in Louisiana and New York.

Tax cuts are the big feature in the Ohio Senate’s newly proposed two year budget, along with more than a billion in new funding for higher education and K-12 schools.

President Keith Faber says the proposed Republican Senate budget is smaller than the plans proposed by Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio House. But he says his chamber’s plan has one key goal.

“We are continuing today to build on our commitment to fund what matters and return to the taxpayers what’s not essential,” Faber says.

Two Ohio lawmakers are backing a package of bills they say will help crack down on drug overdoses – especially involving heroin, which state stats show is responsible for nearly half of all overdose deaths.