Associated Press

The national Air Force museum in southwest Ohio will close some galleries starting next month due to federal budget cuts.

The director of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force says the presidential and research and development galleries will be closed until further notice beginning May 1.

Museum Director Jack Hudson says popular exhibits in the affected galleries include President John F. Kennedy's Air Force One and the XB-70 Valkyrie. He says museum officials hope to reopen those galleries as soon as possible.

More good news for the Ohio economy: The state's per-capita income rose at one of the fastest rates in the nation last year.

That's according to an analysis by The Dayton Daily News, which says the statistic is a sign that the state's economy is recovering more quickly than that most of the country.

Per-capita personal income includes all earnings such as wages, dividends, interest income and rents. In Ohio, it rose by 1.7 percent to $39,289 between 2011 and 2012. That was a larger increase than all but two other states.

The leader of the Ohio Senate says he could have chosen his words more carefully when arguing that the federal government has put the state in a difficult position as it decides whether to expand Medicaid.

Senate President Keith Faber said Monday it was "probably inartful" of him to liken the choice to the government loading a revolver, pointing it at states and saying "do this or else." 

Faber, a Celina Republican, had described Medicaid expansion as an ultimatum to the Lima News in an article posted online Saturday. 

An Ohio-based gun rights group says two dozen Ohio educators have been trained in firearms use in a pilot program developed after the slayings of children and staff members at a Connecticut school.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that participants in the three-day course used model guns with plastic pellets while learning tactical maneuvers for reacting to school shooters. The Armed Teacher Training Program conducted by the Tactical Defense Institute in southern Ohio's West Union included simulated gunman scenarios based on real-life situations.

Gov. John Kasich plans to sign a transportation bill that boosts Ohio's speed limit to 70 mph on rural interstate highways.

The governor is slated to ink the bill during an event Monday in Warrensville Heights, near Cleveland. He's also expected to highlight the legislation at a later stop in Columbus.

The two-year transportation budget measure sets in motion a $1.5 billion Ohio Turnpike bond sale. It guarantees 90 percent of bond proceeds will go to northern Ohio projects. Toll rates would be capped on E-ZPass users' car trips of 30 miles or less for 10 years.