There are around 650 payday lenders in Ohio. They're charging the highest interest rates in the nation. And none of them are licensed under the Short Term Loan Act law that state lawmakers passed in 2008, a law that voters upheld when the industry tried to get them to overturn it. There's another ballot issue that could go to voters this fall if a bill in the Statehouse that seeks to cap payday lending interest rates, doesn't move. And though a survey last year showed 7 in 10 people want payday lending reform, that measure hasn't gone forward. Statehouse correspondent Andy Chow reports.

This was a busy week for Gov. John Kasich - he started it on Monday a forum convened by the national news website Axios at Ohio State. Under questioning from one of the co-founders of Axios, Kasich said a lot of the same things he's said on national cable news shows. Kasich then went on to a speaking engagement in the very important presidential state of New Hampshire, where he said all his options are on the table but that he's unlikely to run as an independent. And then he was back in Ohio to sign a dating violence bill and appear on NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me - recorded at the Palace Theatre in Columbus.

Events were held around the country this week to remember the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, including at the Statehouse. That event featured Rev. Joel King of Gahanna, a cousin of the iconic civil rights leader.

The May primary is a little over a month away. And along with a statewide ballot issue changing the way Ohio's controversial Congressional district map is drawn, there are three big contests on the spring ballot. Over the last two months, all six major candidates for governor on the Democratic and Republican sides have appeared on the show - those interviews are in our archives at statenews.org. Last week and this week, the two major candidates in the Republican primary for US Senate have sat down for interviews - both heavyweights when it comes to personal wealth, and both aligning themselves strongly with President Trump. This week - Jim Renacci. (There are three other Republicans besides Renacci and Mike Gibbons in this race: business owner Melissa Ackinson of Marysville, retiree Don Elijah Eckhart of Columbus and financial advisor Dan Kiley of Cincinnati. But they each polling in the single digits against Renacci.)