Some matters you may be troubled to find in Ohio

We spent a few moments following up on the state's new motto, "Ohio, find it here."

Our curiosity was  aroused by Tourism Director Mary Cusick's  comment that the
Buckeye State was not reaching as many adventurous far-flung tourists as,  we'd add, Virginia's boast of "lovers".   So now we will  have a $6 million blitz of TV and other advertising channeling  the things you would find within our borders if you only looked.

We figured that might include the Ohio legislature, a rather medieval rural oriented body centrally located between Circleville and Sunbury, that clearly needs  rebranding if it is what President Scott Scarborough is trying to shoulder at the University of Akron to attract more students.

So as a public service we set out to find something that you may have missed while the plan to lure out-of- state tourists and college students took shape in the pre-Black Friday days  that began last spring:

Republican State Rep. Barbara Sears (Monclova Twp.) introduced a measure to "reform" the insolvent unemployment compensation fund on the backs of the unemployed despite its already Draconian restrictions.

Rep. Nino Vitale, the Urbana Republican, is fully supportive of a "Pastors Protection Act" to protect the cloth from retaliation for not adhering to the U.S. Supreme Court's
ruling that same-sex marriages are constitutional. Opines Vitale: "It is an issue of  protection; protection  for those who have committed their lives to the service of God and their community."

The Ohio House, by a party-line tally of 62-30, voted to defund Planned Parenthood, one of the GOP's favorite pinatas.

And Rep. Ron  Maag,  Lebanon Republican, introduced a measure to broaden the number of  "unarmed victim zones"  for people who carry concealed weapons.  That includes school zones, places of worship and day care centers.  But not the legislative chambers. Maag said he merely wants to protect folks who exercise their Second Amendment rights.

If you still want to visit the state, we could invite you to some of our wonderful parklands, including the Cuyahoga Valley national park.   But a word of caution:  25 pct. of the state's more than 27,000 bridges are in disrepair,  even if you ignore the ones that have fallen down.  We doubt that those figures are of top priority with the Columbus hoofbeat pols  so dedicated to guns , assaults on Planned Parenthood and resisting gay marriage.