Ohio is pulling out all the stops for Monday’s total solar eclipse, as it braces for potentially hundreds of thousands of visitors. “I have to say, we don’t always get a lot of time leading up to events,” Ohio Emergency Management Agency Director Sima Merick said at a news conference Friday. “Right? So having 200 years in the making has been very beneficial.” Gov. Mike DeWine has activated...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland lawmakers headed toward a final vote Friday on the state’s $63 billion budget legislation, which includes tax and fee increases to help pay for transportation and education, though not as much as some lawmakers wanted. The General Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, mostly kept intact Gov. Wes Moore’s $63 billion proposal for the budget year starting July 1. Moore, a Democrat, submitted...

Congressional Democrats are seeking to rename a federal prison in South Florida after former President Trump in response to a Republican effort to rename Washington, D.C.’s main international airport after the ex-commander-in-chief.  Reps. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, Jared Moskowitz of Florida and John Garamendi of California, introduced a two-page measure Friday to redesignate the Miami Federal Correctional Institution — a low-security facility that male inmates — to the...