1. Frank Page is new, nicer SBC president

"I'm just a normal pastor of a somewhat normal church," said Frank Page upon being elected as president of the country's largest Protestant denomination. It was the first contested election in years, writes the Associated Press.

Johnny Hunt, a pastor from Woodstock, Ga., was the leadership's choice for president but unexpectedly dropped out of the race in late April. He was replaced by [Ronnie] Floyd, head of the First Baptist Church in Springdale, Ark., and the nearby Church at Pinnacle Hills.

Then Page entered the race, leading a group that criticized the low levels of cooperative program giving at Floyd's churches. Page's church, by contrast, gives 12 percent of its undesignated offerings to the program.

Page says he'll show a gentler face of Southern Baptists. "I believe in the Word of God," he said. "I am just not mad about it. Too long Baptists have been known for what we are against. Please let us tell you what we are for," he told The New York Times.

2. Ohio considers abortion ban

"By the time it gets to the Supreme Court, we may have a friendly court," John Willke, president of the Cincinnati-based Life Issues Institute and past president of the National Right to Life, told lawmakers at a hearing on a bill that would ban all abortions in Ohio. "The time has come."

Ohio's pro-life community hopes to join South Dakota in its effort to overturn Roe v. Wade. But it looks like they'll have to wait until after the November elections. The Dayton Daily News reports:

The bill has little chance of passing any time soon since House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, has said it would get only one hearing for now. State Rep. Chris Redfern, who is also Ohio Democratic Party Chairman, ...