TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — State lawmakers are looking at giving Ohio farmers a break on their real estate taxes that have skyrocketed over the last few years. The Blade reports that taxes for farmland are rising. Republican state Rep. Kirk Schuring estimates that property values have gone up 300 percent in recent years. However, prices for crops that farmers produce …

CLEVELAND (AP) — A mayor has upped the ante in the fight over a proposed high-pressure natural gas pipeline by hiring attorneys to file a lawsuit aimed at stopping the pipeline from being built or stopping the project altogether. The Green City Council authorized spending $100,000 at a special meeting Tuesday to hire a Cleveland firm specializing in environmental law. …

NEWTON FALLS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio family says they learned just 20 minutes before dinner this week that a planned mystery guest would be Facebook founder and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg. The Vindicator of Youngstown reports Zuckerberg dined Friday with the Moore family in Newton Falls, about 55 miles southeast of Cleveland. The newspaper reports Zuckerberg had asked his staff …

MOUNT VICTORY — As auditor for the State of Ohio, Dave Yost has had success fighting corruption and he hopes to continue that life-long theme as the next Ohio attorney general. Current Attorney General Mike DeWine is running for governor, leaving the office open for the auditor to make a bid for the position.

MOUNT VICTORY — The state is facing an $800 million deficit in the coming budget, two local legislators reported Friday, and since no added taxes are being considered, cuts will need to be made. School funding is the largest part of the state’s budget, noted Rep. Robert Sprague and Sen. Cliff Hite, both Republicans from Findlay, during the Legislative Breakfast …

GAHANNA – Scammers are at it again. They are hitting up AEP Ohio customers this week, demanding immediate payment. AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power, says beware and be suspicious of these demands. “We’ve had numerous reports throughout our service territory,” said Katie Grayem, director of AEP Ohio Customer Experience and Communications. “We never demand immediate payment or …

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A year after the mysterious killings of eight family members in Ohio, investigators are concerned that more reward money hasn’t been offered and fear that some victims’ involvement in drug crime may be the reason. The amount for information leading to a conviction remains at $10,000, much less than similar recent offers. In Cleveland, for instance, …

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Residents of a rural southern Ohio county are holding back information on the unsolved massacre of eight family members based on fear, authorities said Thursday as the anniversary of the crime approaches. Some are worried about retaliation by the killers. Others fear incriminating themselves over their own criminal activity — likely involving drugs — unrelated to …

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Investigators plan to take questions about the massacre of eight family members in southern Ohio as the one-year anniversary of the still-unsolved killings approaches. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, whose office is leading the investigation, is scheduled to hold a news conference on Thursday with Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader. On April 22, 2016, investigators found …

URBANA, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say a 14-year-old Ohio boy told a 9-1-1 dispatcher that an alternate personality was responsible for killing his father’s girlfriend. The Springfield News-Sun reports the 8th-grader told a dispatcher last week after the slaying that “another person inside of me” was responsible for stabbing and shooting 40-year-old Heidi Taylor at the home she shared with …