The Ohio Supreme Court, normally in Columbus, will convene Oct. 10 in Greenville. It's part of the semiannual off-site court program.

The court will hear oral arguments in four cases starting at 9 a.m. at the Darke County Courthouse, 504 S. Broadway in Greenville.

High school students from throughout Darke County will participate in the program, and student journalists will attend a special briefing with the justices, a release said.

The Darke County session will mark the 54th time the court has heard oral arguments outside Columbus during the past 20 years, Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer said.

DeWine spokesman now Thompson's

Jeff Sadosky, who served briefly as former Republican Sen. Mike DeWine's spokesman, is working for former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson's presidential exploratory committee.

Sadosky left DeWine's office shortly before the 2006 campaign heated up to work for the Florida Republican Party. He'll be serving in the press office of Thompson's exploratory committee.

Conservative Group checks out pork

U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, is the, um, least porky of Ohio lawmakers, according to a report by the Club for Growth measuring how lawmakers voted on amendments aimed at stripping so-called "pork" projects from the appropriations bills. The club said more than 50 amendments have been offered so far during this congressional session. Only one has passed.

Jordan got a 98 percent for voting with the club's priorities. Here's how others fared:

• Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, scored a 74 percent.

• Rep. John Boehner, R-West Chester, got a 60 percent for voting with the club 29 of the 50 times.

• Rep. David Hobson, R-Springfield, got a 6 percent score for voting with the club three times.

• Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, got a 2 percent, voting with the club's priorities one time.

Attorneys general think a lot alike

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann had a snappy quote in a recent press release last week about the need for the feds to take a closer look at alcoholic energy drinks:

"Non-alcoholic energy drinks are very popular with today's youth. Beverage companies are unconscionably appealing to young drinkers with claims about the stimulating properties of alcoholic energy drinks," Dann's said.

Coincidentally, Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers had the same quote in his press release.

"Hardy and Marc think a lot alike. They work closely together on these issues," said Chris Geidner, Dann's counsel.

Property tax relief program spreading

Homestead exemption fever appears to be raging across Ohio. With this year's Oct. 1 deadline more than a month away, more than 368,000 senior citizens and disabled homeowners have applied for the newly expanded property tax relief granted as part of the current two-year state budget.

Tax Commissioner Richard Levin estimates that represents about two-thirds of those eligible for the tax break.

Levin urged Ohioans who know of family members who might be eligible to get them to apply with their county auditors.

The tax break permits all senior citizen and disabled homeowners to shield $25,000 of the market value of their home from property taxes.

Here are sign-up numbers for Dayton-area counties: Montgomery, 19,642; Greene, 6,200; Warren, 4,200; Miami, 3,148; Preble, 1,520; and Darke, 2,403.

Brunner sidesteps association with pink

While lobbying against a new state law restricting strip clubs, Dancers for Democracy supporters wore pink T-shirts. The law passed and now the group is pushing for a referendum vote.

The matter landed at the Ohio Ballot Board on Thursday. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said she pulled a jacket with a pink weave out of her closet that morning, then remembered the pink shirts. She quickly opted for a chocolate brown pantsuit — something that couldn't be construed as making a political statement.