If you didn't hit the $252 Million Mega Million Lottery jackpot don't feel too bad. You will get another crack at it on Friday evening. The multi-state lottery, which Ohio participates in, failed to get claimed yesterday. The jackpot will now grow to a year high of $325 million which amounts to $204 cash option. Virginia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Georgia , Texas, California and Washington participate in the lottery. The odds of matching 5 numbers and the power ball are 175 million-1.

Looking for a quick fix for the financial blues? The Mega Millions Lottery could solve all your problems. Ohio gas stations and convenient stores will be buzzing tomorrow as the biggest lottery of the jackpot of the year, at $252 Million, is up for the taking. The odds of hitting the Mega Millions is an astounding 175 Million to 1. That being said, I think everyone could use another couple extra million in their pockets. The multi-state drawing is set for 11 pm Eastern Standard Time if you want to get into the action.

Ohio is seeking federal stimulus money to bring passenger train service back to the state to connect three major cities - Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. Transportation officials said that Akron and a stop at the U.S. Air Force museum near Dayton will be left out. However, there are several other cities, such as Berea, that are likely to be added as additional stops on the start up rail line.

Stu Nicholson, a spokesman for the Ohio Rail Development Commission, said that the state is racing to develop an operational plan and apply for stimulus money by the October 2 deadline.

While the line will connect major cities like Cleveland, Dayton, Columbus and Cincinnati, other stops will also be included. Some potential stops have been removed from consideration to keep travel time on the 250-mile route down to about six hours, which is competitive with highway driving times along the same corridor.

Akron and Riverside (home of the Air Force Museum) have been dropped because that would add an additional hour and thirty minutes to the travel time. They could be added to the route as operations expand, but for now they do not fit in.

Ohio is adding to its long list of professional sports teams by adding another professional football team. The United National Gridiron League announced earlier this summer that Ohio would be fielding a team in the league, and will be based out of Massillon.

The league, which is designed to be a professional developmental league for those college players hoping to make the transition to the National Football League, consists of eight teams from around the country. Six of the teams have been announced so far, with two left to be revealed. The announced teams so far include:

• North Carolina Comets
• Georgia Slashers
• Alabama Blackbirds
• Miami Scorchers
• Ohio Marauders
• Virginia Swarm

Two more teams in Texas and Louisiana will soon be announced.

Last Saturday, more than 140 players participated in the league's first regional mini-camp at the Sperling Sports Complex in DeLand, Florida. Talent from major college football programs, including Ohio State, Florida State, Syracuse, and Iowa, participated. Additional mini-camps will soon be announced.

Slots are coming to Ohio's race tracks, but with a slightly different twist than those found in neighboring states like Michigan, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. The Ohio Lottery Commission met today and voted on the rules for slots in the state, making it legal for those 18 and up to play and for the slots to be in operation 24 hours a day.

Even allowing slots at Ohio's race tracks has been a hot-button issue. Many are opposed to the measure. But the rules approved today have proven to be even more controversial. Some would argue that by making it legal for those as young as 18, as opposed to 21 like in other states, to play the slot machines, and at any time of the day they choose, we are simply promoting gambling, feeding potential addictions, and corrupting our youth.

However, I would argue that those who wish to gamble will find a way to do it. Under-21s could easily hop the northern border and gamble in Canada beginning at age 19, the same age that drinking is legal there as well. There's also online gambling, which is illegal in the U.S., but that's not stopping anyone and the business continues to boom. Those who will partake in the slot machines in Ohio would find an outlet to gamble regardless of what is legal in the state.

The following editorial is written by Barbara Starr who is attempting to save the Crowell/Hilaka Girls Scout camp in Summit County.

There is a Girl Scout Camp in Summit County that a group of us, a rather large group, don’t want to be mothballed October 1, 2009. We fear that this will mean it will never reopen. If you google/bing/yahoo Crowell/Hilaka you will find out many interesting things about the camp.

Girl Scouts Of Northeast Ohio (GSNEO) is the owner of this camp. GSNEO was formed when 5 councils merged. From the day the councils merged, no repairs besides the bare minimum were done to Crowell/Hilaka.

The Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, the state's largest police union, is supporting backers of a controversial proposal to build four casinos in Ohio's biggest cities. On Tuesday, the FOP of Ohio said that it supports a proposed casino-related constitutional amendment that will be brought to voters in November. Penn National Gaming Inc. along with Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert are behind the $1 billion plan to develop casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, and Cincinnati.

The FOP has 24,000 members in Ohio. In 2008 they opposed a plan to build a casino in Wilmington, a ballot proposition that ultimately failed. They said that the Wilmington proposal was "fraught with loopholes", but believe that tax revenue allocations in the latest plan will provide money that could fund municipal government services, including police and fire protection.

FOP treasurer Mark Drum said in a statement:

“These are tough economic times for Ohio’s cities and counties. We are seeing communities all over the state struggle with declining revenues that have forced them to face cuts in their public safety forces.”

The union is planning to form a coalition to air its support, dubbed "Cops for Casinos".

This is not a summer reading list but a list of reading for anyone who wants to know more about Cleveland, its people - the good and bad - and its history.

Some may want to add to this list. Please feel free with your comments.

BOOKS DEALING IN SOME WAY WITH CLEVELAND IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

My Story, autobiography of Tom Johnson, 1901 progressive mayor of Cleveland.

Confessions of a Reformer by Frederick C. Howe, part of the Johnson era.

The Silent Syndicate by Hank Messick – on Cleveland organized crime.

Promises of Power by Carl Stokes about his political life.

Shoot-out in Cleveland by Louis Masotti (on 1968 Glenville riot/rebellion).

Mobbed Up by James Neff (on Jackie Presser and Teamsters).

City Beat also by James Neff (Columns on Cleveland from his Plain Dealer days).

They Call it a Game by Bernie Parrish (former Browns football player but Cleveland Browns & Art Modell stuff in it).

Black Victory by Kenneth Weinberg (On Stokes first election victory).

Blacktown, U. S. A. by Frank Keegan (CSU) (Chapters on African-Americans, including a number of Clevelanders).

Rebuilding Cleveland by Diana Tittle (on Cleveland Foundation & “evolving urban strategy.”)

Ronald Fifthen, a former police officer with the city of Gahanna, Ohio, has filed a lawsuit against the Gahanna Police Department, stating that he was "defamed and harassed" after his wife Beth appeared in Playboy Magazine.

Fifthen claims that he was the target of an "invasive, non-criminal investigation" after his wife appeared in a 2008 Playboy article. The Fifthens have named the City of Gahanna, its police department, and its police chief and deputy police chief as defendant in the lawsuit.

He alleges that the chief and deputy chief of police requested autographed copies of the nude photo spread on numerous occasions. Fifthen says he provided the autographed copies because he feared retaliation if he did not.

Ohio currently has a backlog of executions due to a temporary stay by a US Supreme Court case from Kentucky that challenged lethal injections. When the court upheld the process in April 2008, Kentucky and Ohio, amongst other states, resumed executions. With such a backlog now, the state has ramped up its rate of executions and will continue to do so until they are caught up.

Since June, the state has executed three people, and has at least one lethal injection scheduled for each month through the end of the year. Many of the 168 people currently on Ohio's death row were sentenced in the 1980's and early 1990's before life without parole was an option for sentencing.

Ohio public defender Tim Young said:

"This should never become ordinary, it should never become run-of-the-mill, it should never be a normal happening like the turning of a calendar page."

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, however, said that his office is prepared despite the burden that the accelerated rate of executions has placed on the judicial system.