Republican leaders of the Ohio House scrapped the governor’s plans for expanding the federal-state Medicaid program under President Barack Obama’s health care law.

The Ohio Senate president also has said expansion won’t be in his chamber’s budget.

Supporters of Medicaid expansion are holding rallies, meetings and other events Monday as part of a “day of action.”

They want lawmakers to act by June 30 to extend the Medicaid program. The federal government will fully fund the expansion for the first three years, with the state’s share gradually increasing to 10 percent by 2020.

Neither chambers’ leaders have indicated a timeline for action on Medicaid changes.

More than two dozen family members say in a federal lawsuit filed in Toledo that testing in the attics of homes around the northern Ohio city of Clyde found a chemical compound that is suspected of causing cancer.

The families say in the civil lawsuit that the compound came from a Whirlpool Corp. plant that is within a rural area where 35 children have been diagnosed with cancer and three have died since the mid-1990s.

The suit is seeking damages from Whirlpool.

Michigan-based Whirlpool says in a statement that it will vigorously defend itself against the allegations.

Speaking at the City Club of Cleveland, Keith Faber says the bill would likely be a departure from the Medicaid expansion endorsed by Gov. John Kasich.

The Ohio House has rejected Kasich’s proposal to go along with the federal Medicaid expansion plan, which would cover hundreds of thousands of additional Ohioans.

Faber says senators know there’s a need for coverage among people with disabilities, mental health problems and addiction. And, he says, lawmakers are still open to what he calls Medicaid “reform.”

But he declined give definitive details.

“Will it mean the expansion that the governor proposed, or will it mean something else. My guess is that it will mean something else.

He says lawmakers are looking into getting a waiver from the federal government to depart from the Medicaid expansion as laid out by the Affordable Care Act.

Robin Bachman at Sisters of Charity Health System heard Faber’s remarks, and says she’s glad there’s still a chance the state will offer Medicaid coverage to more people.

He didn’t seem to shut the door on that, so it was hopeful in my mind. I would love to hear that it was going to happen sooner rather than later.

Bachman says she’s still hopeful Ohio will approve a full expansion.

Faber says he’d like to pass a bill by the end of the year.

The March announcement came after a Cleveland judge ruled employers paid unfair premiums for eight years.

The rebates to school and local governments will come from a worker’s comp fund surplus after what the Kasich administration calls solid investments by the agency.

Today’s announcement also includes a tripling of safety grants and a four percent rate reduction for public employers. Schools and local government in Franklin County will get more than $12 million, including $1.8 millino to Columbus City Schools, $1.2 million to the county commissioners, and $5.4 million to the city of Columbus.

Click here for a list of all rebates to local schools and governments around Ohio.

And both she and her husband, Felix DeJesus, had talked about the need for poor, working-class neighborhoods like theirs to band together to raise and protect children.

The Spanish-language Mass at St. Michael the Archangel was packed on Sunday. Weary after a week of media scrutiny, parishioners prayed for the freed women, and for their neighborhood to protect its own.

The church on Scranton Avenue is just three blocks from the house where Ariel Castro allegedly held three women hostage for a decade. The young women – Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight—have all returned home since their rescue a week ago.

Time to heal

On Sunday morning – Mother’s Day—attorneys for the three asked well-wishers and the media to give them time to heal and reconnect with their families.

“There may be a time in the future when Ms. DeJesus, Ms. Berry and Ms. Knight are ready to tell their story. Let me make this very clear: that will not be while the criminal proceeding is pending, and it will not be until they tell us they are ready to do so,” said attorney Jim Wooley.

And overall, the media and crowds seem to be starting to give them that room.

A Return to Normalcy

Just a few cameramen remain perched on Seymour Avenue as police cars allow access to the block for residents. William Johnson used to live nearby, and was attending St. Michael’s with his wife, who grew up in the largely Hispanic neighborhood. Like many in the past week, he’s asking himself how three young women could go undetected for a decade.

“Nowadays, I just notice people are more into themselves and minding their own business,” he says. “They’re not as neighborly as they used to be. We have a lot of foreclosed homes in the city. And this is how things like this happen,” Johnson said.

Prevention

Preventing this from happening again has been a topic of discussion in the neighborhood for the past week. Lillian Lequay says she’s doing her part.

“Now when I see something weird, I say, ‘Oh, let me check that guy.’ I think everybody has opened their eyes. In everybody’s mind, they’re more protective of their kids. I have a 17-year-old and I’m afraid for her to even step out of the house.”

“If you see something, say something.”

During a prayer vigil last week, community leaders like activist Khalid Samad urged residents to be more vigilant in the future.

“Let’s continue to understand: if you see something, say something. It’s not snitching. It’s telling the story. It’s reporting a crime.”

Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight were allegedly abducted by Ariel Castro when they were 14, 16 and 20-years-old. Castro has been charged with three counts of rape and four counts of kidnapping.

One of the kidnapping charges applies to the now 6-year-old daughter he fathered with Amanda Berry. The Cuyahoga County prosecutor plans to file additional charges.

The Department of Natural Resources closed the dog park after getting an anonymous tip. A dog that spent time at the park showed symptons of canine parvovirus. Sometimes parvovirus can be fatal to dogs if they’re not vaccinated. Department spokesman Mark Bruce says the dog park was quickly disinfected.

“Any toys that were left in the park, we threw those away and we disinfected with a spray the fences, the chairs, the areas the dogs could run and jump.” Says Bruce.

State veterinarian Tony Forshey says his investigators found no evidence of parvovirus in feces found on park grounds. But, Forshey praised the Department of Natural Resources for temporarily shuttering the park.

“Certainly this is a very appropriate safeguard that ODNR did in closing that park down until we get all the epidemiological investigation done.” Says Forshey.

Canine parvovirus is highly contagious for dogs. It cannot be transferred from dogs to people.

As he sets up his food truck appropriately named Pattywagon, Zach James says he’s skeptical about the city program that, for the first time, allows food trucks to park on public streets. He doesn’t like the size limit of 25 feet, which disqualifies him and many others. He’s also skeptical about the city limiting the number of street-front parking spots for trucks.

“And there’s going to be a lot of inter-industry fighting as a result of this, where you’ll see spot poaching,” James says.

“You’ll see people parking cars there the night before just to allocate that spot for themselves for the rest of the day.”

The spot are open to more than just food trucks: hot dog carts, trailers, ice cream trucks, even regular cars can use them. That’s a problem for Neil Hertenstein, owner of the gourmet burger truck Hungry Monkey.

“Right now for it to be carts, trailers and trucks, there’s like 700 people. So, at the end of the day, it’s not enough, but it’s a start,” Hertenstein says.

700 vendors compared to 16 designated parking areas. The pilot program runs June 1 through the end of the year, when the city says it will revisit the rules.

In a police report that NPR has been shown, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight are quoted as saying that suspect Ariel Castro’s approach was simple. On Morning Edition, NPR’s Cheryl Corley said it’s alleged that:

“Nearly 10 years ago, [Castro] told then 14-year-old DeJesus he’d drop her off at his house so she could meet with his daughter. … He lured Amanda Berry [in 2003] by telling her his son worked at the same restaurant she did. He offered Michelle Knight a ride home [in 2002].”

As Cheryl adds, all three — according to their accounts — “would end up chained in the basement of the house before living later on the second floor. They were allegedly forced to have sex with Castro. One victim told police she became pregnant several times but Castro punched her in the stomach so she would miscarry. Amanda Berry give birth to a daughter who is now six. Authorities will give the child a paternity test to confirm Castro is the father.”

The women say they were almost never allowed outside. Martin Flask, Cleveland’s public safety director, said Wednesday that “in the last decade, they’ve only known themselves to be outside of the home on two separate occasions and that was only briefly.”

The Cleveland Plain Dealer says that the police report also states “that Berry’s 6-year-old daughter was born in a small inflatable swimming pool during the time the three women were held in captivity, [a Cleveland police] source said. The initial report says Castro forced Knight to deliver Berry’s baby. He threatened to kill Knight if the baby did not survive the birth, the source said.”

As we reported Wednesday, prosecutors say Castro is being charged with four counts of kidnapping (one for each of the three women and another for Berry’s daughter) and three counts of rape. Castro, 52, is due in court later today.

The suspect’s brothers Pedro and Onil, who were taken into custody with him on Monday, will not face any criminal charges, as WCPN reports. According to the Plain Dealer, “Victor Perez, the chief assistant city prosecutor, said there was no evidence linking Onil and Pedro Castro to the [alleged] torture that took place at their brother’s home.”

Berry and DeJesus are now at relatives’ homes in Cleveland. Knight remains in a hospital, where she’s said to be in good condition.

We’ll watch for more news and update as warranted.

Update at 8:40 a.m. ET. Castro Arraigned, Bond Set At $8 Million:

Ariel Castro, the 52-year-old former bus driver accused of holding three women captive in his home for about a decade, just stood silent and with his head bowed as Cleveland Municipal Court Lauren C. Moore set his bond at $2 million per case against him. He’s accused of kidnapping and raping the three women, and kidnapping the child that one of them bore while in captivity. It appeared Moore was saying that the total for the bonds was $8 million, given that Castro is accused of crimes against four individuals.

Castro’s brothers Onil and Pedro, who were taken into custody along with him on Monday, also appeared. Authorities have said they now do not think the brothers were involved in the alleged kidnappings, rapes and captivity. Both brothers had outstanding misdemeanor charges (for drinking in public from open containers), however, and were assessed small fines.

Update at 8:25 a.m. ET. Arraignment About To Begin:

Ariel Castro’s arraignment is about to get started. Cleveland’s NewsNet5 is among the stations streaming the hearing.

Related NPR posts and stories:

– Another Neighbor Of Rescued Cleveland Women Says He Helped

– Specially Trained FBI Agents Will Help Kidnapped Women Heal

– The Missing Women Were Seemingly In Plain Sight

Note: As happens when stories such as this are developing, there will likely be reports that turn out to be mistaken. We will focus on news being reported by NPR, other news outlets with expertise, and statements from authorities who are in a position to know what’s going on. And if some of that information turns out to be wrong, we’ll explain.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

That’s according to a new report from the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee released Wednesday. It shows a 15.2-percent reduction in prison medical expenses last year.

A $2 inmate co-pay, mail-order drugs, requiring prisoners to buy their own aspirin, and other measures allowed the savings.

The state paid $188.3 million for prison medical expenses last year, compared with 211.5 million in 2011, and $222.8 million in 2010.

The report also showed that the number of inmate patient visits to nurses and doctors dropped by 25 percent last year from 2009.

Correctional Institution Inspection Committee is a legislative agency that monitors and reports on state prisons.

The Republican governor told reporters Wednesday that he’s being patient with state lawmakers as they continue to review the federal-state health care program for the poor and disabled.

House Republicans dropped Medicaid expansion from the state’s two-year budget before sending it to the state Senate last month. The Senate’s leader has said his chamber’s version of the spending plan won’t include expansion.

Still, a group of lawmakers is studying possible changes to the Medicaid program.

Supporters of extending Medicaid coverage are exploring whether the issue could be put to a statewide vote.

Kasich says he’s for “whatever it takes” to get Medicaid expansion in Ohio.