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Bolstered by a new poll that shows him leading in Ohio and two other battleground states, President Barack Obama on Wednesday made his ninth campaign trip this year to the Buckeye State to attack Republican rival Mitt Romney's tax plan as unfair to middle-class Americans.

Two people were dead and more than 100,000 homes and businesses in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania were without electricity Friday morning after severe thunderstorms swept through the region late Thursday.

Burger King says three workers were fired after a photo posted online appeared to show an employee stepping on lettuce in bins at a northwest Ohio restaurant.

In a campaign fast growing nasty, the Republican National Committee is trying a gentler approach... Several Republicans who weren't involved in making the ad say a softer approach may be essential to the effort to defeat Obama in November, given polls showing him with strong personal favorability ratings. The ad is airing in Ohio, Virginia, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Colorado and Iowa.

Citing a poll conducted by Global Strategy Group and Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group in the battleground states of Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Florida, Priorities USA claimed that more voters say Romney’s experience at Bain makes them less likely to vote for him, 37% to 27%. Claiming that its own anti-Bain ads are working, Priorities USA pointed out that in the 11 markets they’ve advertised in within those five states, Obama leads Romney by eight points (49% to 41%) compared with a three-point lead in those without the ads (46% to 43%).

A Norfolk Southern freight train derailed and burst into flames in Columbus, Ohio, early on Wednesday, forcing nearby residents to evacuate, authorities said. The 98-car southbound train, with two locomotives, was carrying ethanol, and fire officials were letting the biofuel burn itself out, said Columbus Assistant Fire Chief Dave Whiting. He said 10 cars derailed and about three ruptured.

An Ohio diner owner served breakfast to President Obama Friday morning — and then dropped dead hours later. Josephine “Ann” Harris, the owner of Ann’s Place in Akron, hugged Obama as her staff served the President a meal of eggs, bacon, grits and wheat toast just after 8 a.m. But soon after the President departed to continue on his campaign swing, the 70-year-old Harris complained of fatigue and a tingling feeling, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

Across the Midwest and up and down the East Coast, millions of people are living without power. And they are not happy about it. More than 900,000 households remain without power early Wednesday in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio, the states hardest hit by the storm Friday night that packed 80-mph winds.

While nationally the two rivals are locked in a dead heat, in 12 expected battleground states — Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin — Obama leads by eight points in the survey.

Barely holding back his sobs, a 13-year-old boy makes a heart-rending 911 call to the Grove City Police Department in Ohio. "My dad just killed my mom. He just told me to call you guys," the boy is heard telling a 911 dispatcher.