THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

From the Toledo Blade:

One month after Gov. Bob Taft won re-election in 2002, Tom Noe used $10,000 from his personal business to contribute to the governor's inaugural committee - money the governor is considering whether to return.

The Dec. 4, 2002, check to Mr. Taft's inaugural committee from Mr. Noe's Vintage Coins and Collectibles was included in records that Attorney General Jim Petro submitted yesterday to bolster his argument that Mr. Noe used money from Ohio's rare-coin venture to buy his former Catawba Island home, landscape his property in the Florida Keys, and show an imaginary profit to the state.

Mr. Petro, a Republican who is seeking his party's nomination for governor next year, has alleged that Vintage Coins and Collectibles was the conduit Mr. Noe used to steal millions of dollars that the coin dealer managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

Orest Holubec, Mr. Taft's communications director, said Mr. Taft is "concerned about the source of any contributions from Noe or his corporations."
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Bank records do not directly link the $10,000 donation to the rare-coin funds.

Instead, they show that the same account receiving state money for coin purchases was also the source of contributions to Mr. Taft.

Gee! You think? It's a good thing that appearences don't count in Republican Ohio. Like this:

Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro has declined to sue the Lucas County Republican Party in order to recover $63,000 in loans made by Tom Noe, according to a letter from his office.
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The disclosures show that Mr. Noe extended a $40,000 loan on Oct. 22, 2002, and a $25,000 loan on Oct. 21, 2004, to the county party's candidates' fund. On Aug. 28, 2003, the party repaid $2,000 on the 2002 loan, county GOP records show.