MARIETTA (Tuesday, January 17, 2012) – District 10 of the Ohio Department of Transportation announces that a project to upgrade Township Road 209 (Monastery Road) to State Route 607 and attract future economic development to the area is scheduled to begin work.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Many state senators plan to return teddy bears given to them by supporters of an Ohio "heartbeat bill" that would give the state the nation's strictest abortion limit.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Wildlife officials say snowy owls are showing up in increasing numbers in Ohio, likely moving south from their Arctic tundra homes in search of prey.

CHARLESTON, W.V. (AP) - More than a dozen companies have agreed to pay civil penalties totaling more than half a million dollars to settle alleged environmental violations.

MARYSVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Members of a central Ohio church lost to what officials say was arson held a weekend service in an elementary school gymnasium.

CINCINNATI (AP) - Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is looking to cut $50 million in an effort to absorb losses from Ohio Medicaid cuts this year and next year.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio residents filing their individual state income tax forms this year will see a new check-off option allowing them to donate all or part of their refunds to the Ohio Historical Society.

"Like all West Virginians, I was saddened to learn that Governor Smith had died..."

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued the following statement today after learning former West Virginia Governor Hulett C. Smith died at the age of 93 in Scottsdale Ariz. on January 15.

MORGANTOWN, W.V. (AP) - A lawyer for the estates of two Upper Big Branch miners says Alpha Natural Resources has settled wrongful death lawsuits with the families of all 29 victims of West Virginia's 2010 disaster.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Tax season has arrived in Ohio, as the state's Department of Taxation is accepting 2011 state returns filed by computer or phone.

CHARLESTON, W.V. (AP) - West Virginia's Legislature should estimate the number of jobs gained or lost from each regulation it passes.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Supporters of an Ohio bill that would impose the nation's strictest abortion limit are delivering stuffed animals containing the sounds of beating hearts to state senators in the latest push to get the bill through that chamber.

CHARLESTON, W.V. (AP) - Freshman U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin has a suggestion for gridlocked Capitol Hill: let Republicans and Democrats sit together during committee meetings.

DELAWARE, Ohio (AP) - Recent northeast Ohio earthquakes linked to drilling wastewater have put Ohio's state seismologist in the spotlight.

ELKINS, W.V. (AP) - The Randolph County Sheriff's Department is investigating the action of an off-duty deputy at the scene of an accident involving a volunteer fire department chief.

AKRON, Ohio (AP) - Some Girl Scouts in northeast Ohio are refusing to sell the organization's familiar cookies, to protest a decision to sell four scout camps.

CHARLESTON, W.V. (AP) - The Capitol Food Court has reopened with a new vendor and new offerings that include a sandwich named in honor of state Secretary of Education and the Arts Kay Goodwin.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - An agency is marking 30 years of reuniting Ohioans with money they didn't know they had.

CHARLESTON, W.V. (AP) - West Virginia glass production has a rich history starting from before the Civil War, and an upcoming seminar will trace the industry from the early 1800s to the present.

LAVALETTE, W.V. (AP) - A note to supporters of House Speaker Rick Thompson: He's not really running for governor, despite what that return address on the invitation to next week's fundraiser says.

HUNTINGTON, W.V. (AP) - Two workers at a state-run psychiatric hospital in Huntington have been suspended following the death of a patient.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The State Highway Patrol says it was a deadlier New Year's weekend on Ohio roads.

CLEVELAND (AP) - Snow has tapered off in Ohio, where a storm left up to 10 inches on the ground and contributed to a highway pileup involving as many as 20 vehicles.

BECKLEY, W.V. (AP) - Three buildings in downtown Beckley have been destroyed by a fire.