An anti-smoking group is appealing to the Ohio Supreme Court to stop the state from diverting tens of millions of dollars set aside to prevent tobacco use.

The state can use about $230 million set aside for tobacco prevention for other purposes, an Ohio appeals court ruled Thursday in overturning a trial court’s decision.

Ohioans will pay more in 2009 taxes than expected because a budget compromise that cleared the Legislature on Thursday night delays the last in a series of tax cuts begun four years ago.

Gov. Ted Strickland says he’ll order state senators back to Columbus if they break this week without a solution to an $850 million gap in the budget for funding schools.

Without passage of a House bill, Ohio’s schools and libraries could lose millions.

Ohio lawmakers were deadlocked once again on how to fix Ohio’s budget Wednesday, as a Senate Republican proposal blending most of Gov. Ted Strickland’s tax cut delay with a slew of other funding sources met with swift Democratic opposition.

House Speaker Armond Budish said Friday he agrees with the governor’s plan to suspend the final year of a planned 4.2 percent income tax cut, a move that would help fill a $850 million budget hole.

The Ohio Lottery says its newest game fell far short of revenue projects in its first full year, another blow to Gov. Ted Strickland’s plan to balance the state budget.

A judge has permanently barred Ohio authorities from spending roughly $250 million in anti-tobacco funds on other programs and balancing the state budget.

The new state budget is raising the cost of dumping garbage in Ohio.

The Columbus Metropolitan Library system’s board of trustees take action to make up a 31 percent reduction in state funding.

Ohio’s next operating budget is now law.

A tuition freeze at public universities and a program to put Ohio college students to work at local businesses have fallen prey to budget cuts.

A group of gambling opponents says it will file a lawsuit to keep the governor and General Assembly from using slot machines to plug the state’s budget gaps.

School districts across Ohio are evaluating how they’ll fare in the state’s transition to a new school funding policy, a major initiative in the two-year budget lawmakers passed this week.