Internet Caf Supporters Abandon Repeal Effort

Opponents of a state law that effectively bans storefront sweepstakes parlors say they've dropped their effort to place a repeal request on the November 2014 ballot. "The Committee to Protect Ohio Jobs" said Thursday it was unable to collect the needed signatures to put the issue on the ballot. The group needed to submit roughly 71,000 additional valid signatures by Thursday to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted after falling short last month. The committee said in a statement that it was the first to operate under Ohio's new, more stringent signature gathering rules and that the restrictions hampered its effort. Without the needed signatures, the effective ban goes into effect Friday.