Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Finding medical professionals willing to advise Ohio on the best way to put condemned inmates to death is proving difficult because of ethical and professional rules, the state's top attorney said.

The rules – which generally prohibit doctors, nurses and others from involvement in capital punishment – are deterring those professionals from speaking publicly or privately about alternatives to the state's lethal injection process, Attorney General Richard Cordray said.

"A small number of promising leads have emerged, but identifying qualified medical personnel willing and able to provide advice to the State regarding lethal injection options continues to be challenging and time-consuming," Cordray said in the Friday filing in U.S. District Court.

Executions are on hold in Ohio while the state develops new injection policies following a Sept. 15 execution that was stopped because the inmate had no usable veins.

The state has reached out to judges, police and lawmakers for help trying to find medical professionals willing to talk to the state, according to the filing written on Cordray's behalf by Charles Wille, head of Cordray's death penalty unit.

KENT, Ohio — The majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers is defending a plan to put casinos in four Ohio cities.

Dan Gilbert is a chief investor in the proposal. He will face an opponent during a televised debate Monday at Kent State University.

Rob Walgate, vice president of the Ohio Roundtable policy group, will represent opponents of Issue 3, a ballot issue that if approved would change Ohio's Constitution and allow one casino in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.

The debate will be taped at 4 p.m. and will air at 10 p.m. on ONN-TV, a news station that is available on cable systems in most Ohio counties.

Supporters of the November ballot amendment say casinos will create 34,000 jobs, while opponents say it will also cause jobs to be lost and would establish a lower tax rate than other states have for their casinos.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Rick Nash stretched his streak of multipoint games to four with a pair of assists 2:04 apart in the second period, and the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.

The Blue Jackets (4-1), off to the best start in franchise history, made the most of a two-man advantage when former Flames Anton Stralman and Kristian Huselius scored.

Stralman netted his goal with a slap shot following a faceoff, and Huselius scored from in-close off a slick pass from Nash immediately after the second penalty expired.

Curtis Glencross scored for Calgary, which has lost three straight after opening the season with four wins. It was the second defeat in two nights for the Flames, who blew a five-goal lead at Chicago on Monday and lost 6-5 in overtime.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The teenager who ran away from Ohio to Florida because she feared physical harm for converting from Islam to Christianity has been ordered back to Ohio.

A Florida judge said Tuesday that 17-year-old Rifqa Bary (RIFF'-kuh BEAR'-ee), who has been staying in Orlando, should return to her family, who live outside Columbus.

Bary has been in foster care in Florida while her case was being reviewed. The judge says he will turn over the case to an Ohio court in the next few weeks, but no order has been signed yet.

Bary ran away from her parents' home in July, saying she feared being killed for changing religions. But a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation found no credible threats to Bary.

NEW YORK — Treating even mild diabetes that develops during pregnancy helps keep moms and babies from gaining too much weight and makes for easier deliveries, new research shows.

Pregnant women in the U.S. are routinely tested and treated for high blood sugar levels, although it hasn't been clear whether treating the mildest cases really benefited them and their infants.

In a study of 950 women, those with mild gestational diabetes who were treated had fewer overly large babies, fewer cesarean sections and fewer pregnancy complications, compared to women who didn't have their diabetes treated.

"There is every reason to fully treat women with even the mildest (gestational diabetes) based on our results," said the study's leader, Dr. Mark Landon of Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus.

Gestational diabetes begins during pregnancy and usually goes away after childbirth. It affects as many as one in seven pregnant women, depending on the population. The mother's elevated blood sugar can cause the fetus to grow too large, sometimes requiring a C-section and can bring on other health problems for the mother and baby.

[Horine] Upper West Side: Earlier this month Missy Robbins and the A Voce team doubled the size of their New York empire by opening A Voce Columbus...

[Horine] Upper West Side: Earlier this month Missy Robbins and the A Voce team doubled the size of their New York empire by opening A Voce Columbus...

Power company Duke Energy Corp. said Wednesday that it has struck its second deal in just over a month with a large Chinese power company to develop sources of low-carbon energy.

Duke and ENN Group say ideas for potential development between the two include commercial solar projects, coal-based clean energy, biofuels, natural gas, smart grid, energy efficiency and carbon-capturing algae.

The two made the announcement in New York while at the annual meeting of President Bill Clinton's global initiative to address global problems.

The companies have signed agreements to share information and also are evaluating a partnership to pursue commercial development of utility-scale solar photovoltaic projects in the U.S.

Duke signed a similar deal in August in Beijing with China Huaneng Group, China's largest electric utility.

COLUMBUS, OH—With its membership swelling in recent months, the mysterious organization that secretly pulls the levers of American power was......