A federal judge ruled that in-person early voting in Ohio must be extended to include the weekend and Monday before Election Day for all voters. The ruling is a result of President Barack Obama’s campaign team and the Democrats filing a lawsuit against Secretary of State Jon Husted to extend early voting. Attorney General Mike DeWine has vowed to appeal the ruling. Republicans have consistently blocked all attempts to expand early voting in Ohio, citing costs and racial politics.

Cincinnati manufacturing is on a big rebound, according to a new survey. The Cincinnati Purchasing Management Index, which is used to measure manufacturing in the area, showed some decline in July, but it is now bouncing back. The news could indicate a wider economic recovery.

Some Democrats are calling for Husted to resign. Dennis Lieberman and Tom Ritchie, both who were fired for attempting to expand in-person early voting to include weekends despite Husted’s uniform rules demanding no weekend hours, said in a press release Husted should resign for missing a critical deadline. The deadline was to establish the ballot language and argument against Issue 2, a ballot initiative supported by Ohio Voters First that would place redistricting in the hands of an independent citizens committee. If Issue 2 is not passed, politicians will continue drawing district boundaries, which typically leads to a process known as “gerrymandering” that politicians use to redraw districts in politically beneficial ways. In Cincinnati, gerrymandering has been used to de-emphasize the urban vote — or African-American vote, according to Doug Preisse, adviser to Gov. John Kasich — by redrawing district boundaries to include Warren County. CityBeat previously covered the redistricting issue here.

The Obama campaign will open its offices in Cincinnati tomorrow. The Obama team promises to use the offices for a large ground game.

The Ohio Board of Regents is calling on some Ohio colleges to continue enrolling military veterans despite a temporary disruption in federal benefits, which was caused by a loss of records.

Former Gov. Ted Strickland might run again to knock Gov. John Kasich out of the spot. Strickland is expected to speak at the Democratic National Convention today.

U.S. home prices rose in July by the most in six years. The news could indicate a recovery in the housing market. The housing crash is generally attributed as the primary cause of the Great Recession.

A cure for baldness could be in stores as soon as five years from now.

An April 19 Quinnipiac University poll found a plurality of Ohioans now support same-sex marriage, continuing a trend first noted by a Washington Post poll in September.

With a margin of error of 2.9 percent, the Quinnipiac poll found 48 percent of Ohio voters now support gay marriage, with 44 percent still in opposition. That's an improvement from a Dec. 12 poll, which found 47 percent of Ohio voters were against same-sex marriage and 45 percent favored it.

The latest results varied greatly depending on the respondent's sex. Women supported same-sex marriage 52-40, while men opposed it 49-43.

The poll also found Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican, lost support after coming out in favor of same-sex marriage, but Quinnipiac's statement says the drop was likely attributable to a drop in overall Republican support. Portman's approval rating dropped to 40 percent, down from 44 percent in Feb. 28. Respondents had mixed feelings about Portman's same-sex marriage shift: 20 percent said they think more favorably of him, 25 percent said they think less favorably of him and 53 percent said it made no difference.

Even if the small drop is attributable to Portman's new views on same-sex marriage, the shift could be a net gain for the senator through increased campaign funds. After President Barack Obama came out in favor of same-sex marriage last year, his campaign raised $1.5 million in just 90 minutes even as some political pundits criticized the president's move as politically dangerous.

The legalization of same-sex marriage could be on the ballot this year following Freedom Ohio's efforts ("Evolution of Equality," issue of Nov. 28). If approved by voters, Freedom Ohio's proposed amendment would repeal Ohio's ban on same-sex marriage and legalize it while retaining some protections for religious institutions.

A Washington Post poll conducted in September found Ohioans were supportive of same-sex marriage for the very first time, with 52 percent in favor and 37 percent against.

President Obama came to town yesterday, rolled up his sleeves and told a group of 1,500 supporters to tell Congress to get to work on passing his jobs bill. John Boehner and Mitch McConnell reportedly stayed in Washington, called the speech “political theater” and then ate some steaks. These mopes fact-checked the speech, finding that the major points were accurate, including the fact that all McConnell and Boehner really want to do is defeat Obama and eat steaks.

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The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority is making a move to buy up the city’s parking services. Cincinnati is pursuing parking privatization as a way of balancing the budget. If it accepts the Port Authority’s deal, the city will get $40 million upfront, and $21 million of that will be used to help plug the $34 million deficit in the 2013 budget. Port Authority also promised 50 percent of future profits. The Port Authority proposal is only one of nine Cincinnati’s government has received since it announced its plan. CityBeat criticized the city’s budget plan in this week’s commentary.

The Hamilton County Board of Commissioners might raise the sales tax instead of doing away with the property tax rebate to stabilize the stadium fund. Democratic Commissioner Todd Portune suggested the idea, and Board President Greg Hartmann says it might be the only solution. Republican Chris Monzel is against it. Sales taxes are notoriously regressive, while the property tax rebate disproportionately favors the wealthy. Portune claims the 0.25-percent sales tax hike would be more spread out than a property tax rollback, essentially impacting low-income families less than the alternative. CityBeat previously covered the stadium fund and its problems here.

While Cincinnati has made great strides in LGBT rights in the past year, it still has ways to go. The Municipal Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign scored Cincinnati a 77 out of 100 on city services, laws and policies and how they affect LGBT individuals. Cleveland tied with Cincinnati, and Columbus beat out both with an 83. It's clear Ohio is making progress on same-sex issues, but will Ohioans approve same-sex marriage in 2013?

Some conservatives just don’t know when to quit. Even though Ohio Senate President Tom Niehaus pronounced the heartbeat bill dead, Janet Porter, president of the anti-abortion Faith2Action, wants to force a vote in the Ohio legislature. CityBeat previously wrote about Republicans’ renewed anti-abortion agenda.

Some people are not liking the idea of new fracking waste wells. About 100 protesters in Athens were escorted out of an information session from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for loudly disputing a proposal to build more waste wells. Fracking, which is also called hydraulic fracturing, is a drilling technique that pumps water underground to draw out oil and gas. Waste wells are used to dispose of the excess water.

One reason Ohio's online schools are so costly is advertising. CityBeat previously looked into online schools, their costs and their problems.

Divorce in Ohio might soon get easier to finalize, as long as it’s mutual and civil.

A new bill would give Ohio schools more flexibility in making up snow days and other sudden disruptions in the school year. The bill changes school year requirements from day measurements to hour measurements.

A new study found 60 percent of youth with HIV don’t know they have the deadly disease. CityBeat covered a new University of Cincinnati push meant to clamp down on rising HIV rates among youth in this week’s news story.

Tech jobs are seeing a boom due to Obamacare, according to Bloomberg.

Scientists have discovered a quasar that glows brighter than our entire galaxy.

They’ve also invented a chocolate that doesn’t melt at 104 degrees.

In an ad accusing Josh Mandel, a Republican, of lying, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s campaign team may have lied, according to PolitiFact. The U.S. senatorial campaign for Ohio’s senate seat has been filled with dishonesty, but it usually comes from Mandel. The dishonesty seems to be hurting Mandel more than Brown; Mandel is currently down 7.5 points in aggregate polling numbers.

Preliminary data for Ohio schools was released yesterday. Some data is still being held back while an investigation into fraudulent reporting from some schools is finished, but the data gives some insight into how schools performed during the 2011-2012 school year. The data can be found here. From a local angle, the data shows Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) did not meet “adequate yearly progress,” a federal standard that measures progress in student subgroups, such as minority groups; but CPS did meet standards for “value-added growth,” which measures the expected progress in state testing for all students between the third and eighth grades.

City Council approved the $29 million financing plan for the streetcar yesterday. The plan will use $15 million from the Blue Ash airport deal to move utility lines and pipes. The city claims the $15 million, which was originally promised to neighborhood projects, will be reimbursed by Duke Energy once the city settles a conflict with the energy company. Duke and the city are currently arguing over who has to pay to move the utility lines and pipes.

An Ohio state representative is asking the federal government to monitor the election more closely. Rep. Alicia Reece, a Cincinnati Democrat, is asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to send monitors to the state to ensure no funny business goes on in voting booths on Nov. 6. The request is partly in response to a recent court ruling that forces Ohio to count provisional ballots if the ballots were brought around by poll worker errors.

Ohio’s ability to stop political lies was upheld yesterday. The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) tried to put an end to the government power, which COAST claimed was censorship, by taking it to court, but a U.S. judge upheld the ability. The judge, who is a former chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party, said COAST did not properly display that its speech was held down by the law. Considering some of COAST’s tweets, the judge is probably right.

E.W. Scripps Co. will host a job fair in Cincinnati Oct. 10 to fill 100 digital jobs.

The Ohio Supreme Court upheld the rights of lesbian ex-couples to set visitation times. The court said non-parents are allowed to participate in visitations during child custody proceedings.

Ohio might expand Medicaid, but not to the extent asked for by Obamacare. That’s what the state’s Medicaid director said yesterday, anyway. A previous study found Medicaid expansions improved and might have saved lives in other states, and other studies have found Medicaid expansions may save the state money by cutting uncompensated costs.

Pundits really dug into Mitt Romney the past few days over his poor poll numbers in Ohio. The Business Courier asked if Romney has already lost Ohio. Politico said Romney’s biggest hurdle to the White House is Ohio. The New Republic ran an article with six theories as to what led to Romney’s losses in the state. The Cleveland Plain Dealer pointed out both presidential candidates were stumping at a pivotal time in northern Ohio yesterday. Aggregate polling paints a consistently bad picture for Romney in Ohio; he is currently down four points.

But Romney probably isn’t helping matters. In an Ohio rally Tuesday, he admitted President Barack Obama didn’t raise taxes in his first term.

Gov. John Kasich signed a series of bills shoring up Ohio’s public pension system yesterday. The laws will cut benefits and raise eligibility requirements, but state officials insist the new laws will mostly affect future retirees.

NASA wants samples from Mars, and it has a plan. The new plan may require a robot-to-human hand-off in space.

With the prospects for repealing the U.S. military's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy looking ever dimmer, two local groups will hold a vigil to remember the men and women discharged due to the policy.

The Greater Cincinnati Human Rights Campaign and the Alliance, a student group at Xavier University, will hold the vigil Nov. 15 at the greenspace area on Xavier's campus.

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Mitt Romney won a sizable victory in Tuesday’s Florida primary, capturing 46.4 percent of the vote to Newt Gingrich’s 31.9 percent. In all, Romney got 240,548 more votes than the ex-House Speaker.

“The size and breadth of Romney’s win provide the first real evidence that he has the potential to coalesce a party that has been deeply split …” wrote Karen Tumulty in an analysis for The Washington Post.

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The military’s infamous “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has been repealed for over four months, outlawing exclusion and discrimination against LGBT populations in the military service. When seeking housing, however, LGBT populations across the country still face arbitrary prejudices and inequality.

That’s why on Jan. 28, Shaun Donovan, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary, spoke to nearly 3,000 LGBT rights advocates at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change in Baltimore, Md., announcing a new policy to combat discrimination against LGBT people in federally supported housing programs.

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With a government shutdown looming if Congress can't figure out a spending plan, some say the mopes aren't even close to agreeing on the smaller details.

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Ohio’s unemployment rate remained at 7 percent in February, unchanged from January but down from 7.5 percent in February 2012. The stagnant rate comes despite a generally positive national unemployment report in February — a sign that Ohio may be falling behind national growth rates. Both the amount of employed and unemployed grew, but growth in employment wasn’t enough to completely outweigh rises in unemployment. The job losses were mainly in construction, state government, trade, transportation and utilities, while professional and business services, educational and health services and financial activities had particularly strong growth.

A state transportation budget that will raise rural speed limits to 70 mph and leverage the Ohio Turnpike for statewide transportation projects cleared the legislature. The bill received bipartisan support and opposition as it moved through the Ohio House and Senate. Supporters say the bill will create jobs and address the state’s infrastructure needs without raising taxes, but opponents are worried potential toll hikes at the Ohio Turnpike will hurt northern Ohio to subsidize projects for the rest of the state.

Earlier in the day, Gov. John Kasich seemed to support same-sex civil unions, but his spokesperson walked back the comments to clarify the governor is still against changing the Ohio Constitution to support same-sex marriage and civil unions. The initial comments from Kasich sparked a response from Ian James, co-founder of FreedomOhio, which is pushing an amendment that would legalize same-sex marriage in Ohio for 2013: “I hope Gov. Kasich understands civil unions are banned by the Ohio Constitution as well and they are a cruel substitute for legal marriage.” The Republican Party is currently undergoing some soul-searching on the gay marriage issue, with a Republican National Committee report recently pointing out a generational divide on the issue and Sen. Rob Portman coming out in favor of marriage equality last week.

Tea party leaders are threatening the Republican Party for recent moves supporting LGBT rights, including Portman’s acceptance of same-sex marriage. The group also opposes the expected appointment of Matt Borges to chairman of the Ohio Republican Party because of a 2004 misdemeanor ethics conviction that was later expunged and Borges’ work as a lobbyist for Equality Ohio, an LGBT group.

Cincinnati’s year-over-year home sales were up in February, but growth wasn’t as quick as January. There were 1,662 homes sold in February, up 11.9 percent from February 2012 and more than the 1,600 homes sold in January. But January year-over-year sales were up 27 percent from 2012.

Kasich’s sales tax plan, which was criticized for raising taxes across the board, may be dead, but Ohio legislators are still planning to carry out changes to the income tax with the 2014-2015 budget. In the past week, Policy Matters Ohio has pushed for the earned income tax credit, which CityBeat found could be a progressive alternative to an across-the-board cut to the income tax. CityBeat covered Kasich’s budget proposal in further detail here.

The Ohio Development Services Agency says state tourism reaped $15 for every $1 put into marketing. In 2009 and 2010, the returns were $13. In 2011, the return was $14.

Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Gmoser indicted Punxsutawney Phil, a famous groundhog, for the ongoing bout of cold weather. The groundhog predicted an early spring.

The universe’s estimated age has been bumped up to 13.8 billion years.