TIMES RUNNING OUT--House Finance Committee Chairman Tom Johnson, R-New Concord, checks his watch as he meets with Speaker Jo Ann Davidson, R-Reynoldsburg, at the Ohio Statehouse, in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, Jan. 8, 1998. Johnson hopes to move the latest school funding plan out of committee by week's end. The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that the current method of funding public schools is unconstitutional, and has set a March 24 deadline for the Legislature to enact an more equatable and adaquate system.

TAVARAS ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY--State Rep. Charleta Tavares, D-Columbus, gestures as she waits to announce her candidacy for Secretary of State, at the Ohio Statehouse, in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, Jan. 8, 1998. To the left of Tavares is U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes, D-Ohio, to her right is House Minority Leader Ross Boggs, D-Andover.