DaytonDailyNews.com

Gov. Ted Strickland has learned that when the governor of Ohio speaks, the country listens, even editorial writers at USA Today.

An editorial in that newspaper on Monday blasted as "thoughtless" and "heartless" comments the Democratic governor made last week about President Bush's plan to relocate to the United States about 7,000 Iraqi refugees made homeless by the war. Editorials in several Ohio newspapers also blistered Strickland.

Strickland said that the Associated Press had quoted him correctly but that "I didn't say it as I probably should have said it." The quote: "I think Ohio and Ohioans have contributed a lot to Iraq in terms of blood, sweat and too many tears. I am sympathetic to the plight of the innocent Iraqi people who have fled the country. However, I would not want to ask Ohioans to accept a greater burden than they already have borne for the Bush administration's failed policies."

Strickland said that he spoke just after reading that the total number of refugees from the war is 2½ to 3 million people and growing, and that accepting just 7,000 seemed to be "political cover" for President Bush and his failed policies.

Strickland's new position: If some Iraqi refugees come to Ohio, they would be welcome.

Sawyer replaces Zurz in Ohio Senate

Former Congressman Tom Sawyer, a Democrat from Akron, just won election to the State Board of Education but he's jumping ship for a seat in the Ohio Senate. Senate Democrats picked Sawyer to replace Kim Zurz, who left to become director of the Ohio Department of Commerce.

Democrats plan Legacy Dinner

Ohio Democrats will honor former U.S. Sen. John Glenn and his wife Annie and former governors Richard F. Celeste and John J. Gilligan at a March 10 Legacy Dinner at the Columbus Convention Center, party Chairman Chris Redfern and Gov. Ted Strickland announced.

With tickets at $500 a person, the dinner, set for 7 p.m., also is expected to raise money for the party, said Randy Borntrager, party spokesman. Borntrager said from 500 to 1,000 people are expected.

The dinner will be a good way for Democrats to "unite with their past" as they look forward to the future and Strickland's "Turn Around Ohio" plan, said Borntrager.

Pension fund assets top $77 billion

Thanks to robust investment returns in 2006, the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System said recently that it now has a $77.6 billion portfolio for pension and health care costs. OPERS earned a 15 percent return on its pension fund and a 12.8 percent return on its health care fund last year. OPERS is the eleventh largest public pension system and fourteenth largest retirement system in the country.