Morning News and Stuff

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.