Ohio: Columbus

Example: The slot machine fight. Contrary to folklore, that's no more about morals than is personal marijuana use (de facto legal in Ohio) and, among consenting adults, anything-goes sexual conduct (legal in Ohio since the mid-1970s).

The slots fight is really over (1) who gets richer, thanks to General Assembly decisions and (2) whether schools, if slots became legal, ever again could pass property-tax levies. Schools can't want levies to become harder to pass. And levies aren't going away. But legalizing slots might make levies a tougher sell - as the Ohio Lottery might have done.

As everyone "knows," the Ohio Lottery was "supposed to take care of" schools.

House Speaker Armond Budish, a Beachwood Democrat who is more receptive to gamb-ling, has said he backs a referendum on the issue.

Yesterday, fans rallied for a proposal that would allow 14,000 video slot machines at the state's seven racetracks. Two of the tracks are in Franklin County: Scioto Downs south of Columbus and Beulah Park in Grove City.

The Ohio State Racing Commission, which endorses the proposal, estimates that it could provide as much as $625 million a year for public education by 2013.

The state is confronting a budget shortfall that could reach $3 billion in 2010-11. Backers of the slots-at-racetracks plan say gambling revenue won't fix the state budget but would provide a more attractive alternative to large tax increases or broad cuts in state services.

But Strickland, who said he wasn't personally told about Barbash's tax problems until last week, said Barbash needs to settle his tax issues before returning to his state job as chief economic-development officer as planned.

"It will depend upon whether or not these matters are appropriately resolved," Strickland said when asked about Barbash's status yesterday. "There needs to be a resolution that is viewed by the IRS as acceptable."

Barbash stepped down as interim director Friday after public disclosure that the IRS and Ohio Department of Taxation have filed liens against him totaling $146,314 and $12,462, respectively. A foreclosure action against his Bexley home also has been filed.

Barbash, 60, a former Columbus development director, said last week that he is taking a month of accrued paid leave "to straighten out some personal financial matters.

Gutierrez pleaded not guilty to 10 charges that he used state computers and time for his private construction business, lied on workers'-compensation and financial-disclosure forms, and tapped Dann's campaign account to cover personal expenses.

Gutierrez, 51, could face a maximum of eight years in prison and $20,000 in fines.

He spoke in a firm voice when Judge Timothy S. Horton of Franklin County Common Pleas Court asked him to enter his plea to all the charges: "Not guilty."

Shortly after taking office in 2007, Dann hired Gutierrez, a Youngstown-area neighbor and family friend, to supervise his office's vehicle fleet, purchasing, mailroom, telecommunication and other support services.

Dann, Gutierrez and Dann's spokesman Leo Jennings III maintained their Youngstown-area homes while sharing a condo near Dublin that figured into the scandal that cut short Dann's career and led to the charges against Gutierrez.