Ohio

WASHINGTON -- You may think the presidential election is over, but a host of Democratic die-hards from Ohio and elsewhere will give you an argument about it. When Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, convened a hearing Wednesday to inquire into various allegations of fraud in the Ohio vote, the Capitol Hill room was jammed to overflowing. The audience came to hear two panels of witnesses allege a host of incompetent and fraudulent practices by Ohio state and county elections officials that they insist wrongfully resulted in President Bush's re-election.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - As Sen. John Edwards energetically and emotionally talked trade and jobs before a packed crowd at the local Teamsters hall here the other day, a huge sign looked down on him and his audience. It said: "Remember the shafta you got from NAFTA ... Remember the people who told you to vote for the man who gave it to you. Vote John Edwards." The "people" weren't identified, but the message by local supporters seemed to refer to Sen. John Kerry, who voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993, a key subject of the current debate between the two Democratic candidates in Tuesday's Ohio presidential primary.

Mary Kemp, a Glen Burnie homemaker, died Wednesday of complications from Alzheimer's disease at Walker Group Assisted Living there. She was 83. Born Mary Kennedy in Akron, Ohio, she moved to Baltimore with her family and lived on Garrison Avenue. She was a 1938 graduate of Seton High School. Her husband of 54 years, Irving B. Kemp Jr., a Glen Burnie automobile dealer, died in 1993. Services will be at 10 a.m. today at Crownsville Veterans Cemetery on Sunrise Beach Road. Survivors include two sons, Irving B. Kemp III of Crossville, Tenn.

ATHENS, Ohio -- Growing up in Columbus, Gary Trent was a football player and diver. He was also a truant, a drug dealer and a thief.A basketball player? Sorry, no time for hoops."I wasn't trying to be a high school basketball player," said Trent, now a standout at Ohio University. "I was trying to do other things."Most of those things were illegal."We'd steal rims off cars," Trent said matter-of-factly. "Not hubcaps, those aren't worth much. We'd go after the rims you see on Blazers or cars you see in Snoop Doggy Dog videos.

WEST MILTON, Ohio -- A 63-year-old man bludgeoned his wife to death yesterday morning with a pair of banjos, deputies said."I've been an officer for 30 years, and that's the first banjo killing I've seen," said Miami County Chief Deputy Charles Price. "It's just kind of bizarre."Edward Benson has been charged with aggravated murder and was being held in the Miami County Jail in lieu of $50,000 cash bond. Mr. Price said Mr. Benson beat his wife, Katie, with the musical instruments in their home about 5 a.m."

CLEVELAND - The carpet is ratty at the Cleveland headquarters of the voter registration group America Coming Together. The place has the dM-icor of a cluttered basement, with open boxes of office supplies, leaflets and forms scattered everywhere. But don't be fooled by the charmless furnishings. This space and dozens of other ACT offices across Ohio are the engine rooms for an innovative campaign that could decide the outcome of the 2004 presidential election. ACT has launched what may be the largest voter mobilization effort in history in 17 swing states.

BRITAIN'S THE GUARDIAN newspaper, formerly of Manchester, now of London, has been a part of my life practically since I was old enough to read. My father subscribed to the newspaper's international airmail edition and would derive great succor from its leftist inclinations. When I joined The Sun as a reporter in 1969, my great dream was to become a foreign correspondent. Coincidentally, The Sun's impressive adventure in reporting from overseas began in London in 1924 with an office next to what was then called The Manchester Guardian at 40 Fleet St. The Guardian had a great influence on The Sun reporting from London.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jim Jackson scored 26 points and keyed a hot start in the second half that led No. 4 Ohio State past Ohio University, 78-62, last night.Jackson also had 11 rebounds and three assists. Mark Baker scored 17 points and added six assists, while Jamaal Brown had 14 points.Dan Aloi led the Bobcats (1-1) with a career-high 28 points, while Lewis Geter added 16.The Buckeyes (3-0), who had scored 116 points in their last game, had only a 29-22 lead at the half despite hitting 64 percent of their shots.

An Ellicott City man reported missing since Sunday was seen late Monday driving in Ohio, apparently lost, Howard County police said yesterday.A Stow, Ohio, resident called local officials about 9 p.m. and said a driver appeared disoriented and lost. Police used his license plate number to determine that Sam Papa, 83, of the 9200 block of Frederick Road was driving his 1997 Lincoln Mark VII in Ohio. Police in Stow took Papa to their station and contacted his family.Papa was last seen about 3 p.m. Sunday, leaving the Castle Harbor Marina in Chester, Queen Anne's County, where he had been boating, said Sgt. Morris Carroll, a county police spokesman.

The Maryland Insurance Administration has issued a second cease-and-desist order against an Ohio religious organization that solicits members through a newsletter and asks them to pay $50 a month toward members' health care costs.State regulators ordered the Christian Brotherhood Newsletter of Baberton, Ohio, to stop soliciting members and cease operations in Maryland, saying the practice amounted to selling insurance without a license. Its first order in January 1993 was overturned by a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge.