The largest power blackout in American history, believed to have started in Ohio, topped Ohio State winning the national football championship as the state's biggest story of 2003.

Those two stories led the list of the 10 most memorable of the year as ranked by Ohio Associated Press newspaper editors and broadcasters.

Rounding out the top five were the series of highway shootings near Columbus, the end of a court battle to determine how Ohio schools are funded, and the fighting in Iraq that has killed Ohio soldiers.

The Aug. 14 blackout affected 50 million people, darkening homes and businesses in eight states and parts of Canada. At its height, 1.4 million homes and businesses across northern Ohio - from Toledo to Ashtabula - were without power. The outage cost Ohio about $3.6 million, including overtime pay for emergency workers.

In Cleveland, workers in skyscrapers trudged down hundreds of stairs. Key Bank employee Evette Burrucker sat cross-legged on the sidewalk outside the bank's 57-story building after her trek.

"I lost count, I walked down so many stairs," she said.

The other top story of the year occurred Jan. 3 when Ohio State defeated No. 1 Miami 31-24 in the Fiesta Bowl for the Buckeyes' first national championship in 34 years.

The double-overtime, four-hour contest was an emotional roller-coaster ride for the 60,000 Ohio State fans who packed the Tempe, Ariz., stadium, turning it into a home game for the Buckeyes.

There were touchdown runs by quarterback Craig Krenzel and tailback Maurice Clarett; there was Krenzel's 17-yard pass to Michael Jenkins on fourth-and-14 to prolong the first overtime. Add in an incomplete pass from Krenzel to Chris Gamble on fourth down in the first overtime that for 3.5 seconds appeared to give Miami the victory, only to have a pass-interference penalty give Ohio State new life. And finally there was Cie Grant's blitz in the second overtime that forced Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey to throw incomplete, giving Ohio State the win.

"This probably was the best game I've ever seen or been a part of," said Miami defensive lineman Matt Walters.

These are the other top stories of 2003:

3. A series of shootings along a stretch of Interstate 270 south of Columbus frightened motorists and led authorities to offer a reward for information leading to an arrest.

The shootings began in May, but many were not reported until after Nov. 25, when a passenger was killed.

4. The U.S. Supreme Court in October declined to hear an appeal by Ohio school districts over the funding of schools, ending a legal fight that led the state to spend billions of extra dollars on schools over the past decade.

The decision followed the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling in May that ordered state officials to fix the system but blocked any further action in the state court system.

5. Thousands of active-duty soldiers and reservists from Ohio were sent to Iraq after President Bush ordered an attack March 20.

Since major combat ended, U.S. soldiers have been searching for high-ranking members of Saddam Hussein's regime, looking for weapons of mass destruction, working to make the country secure and helping restore electricity and other necessities.

Ohio soldiers have been killed in ambushes by enemy forces, helicopter crashes and traffic accidents.

6.

LeBron James goes from the nation's top high school basketball player and most hyped prep player ever to the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.

The 6-foot-8 guard/forward led Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School to its third state championship in four years. Then the 18-year-old signed a $90 million shoe contract with Nike and was selected by Cleveland in the draft.

"King James" proclaimed his arrival in the NBA with 25 points, nine assists with a blend of flash and fundamentals in his first game, against the Sacramento Kings.

7.

Gov. Bob Taft signed a record $48.8 billion two-year budget into law in June, ending months of debate with lawmakers over tax increases and cuts to schools.

The budget included a penny-per-dollar sales tax increase that lawmakers say will expire in two years. The increase is expected to raise $2.5 billion. The two-year spending plan includes about $3 billion in tax increases overall.

8. A fire in April at a three-story rooming house near the campus of Ohio State University killed two students from Ohio State and three from Ohio University.

As many as 20 people were in the house after a 21st birthday party for one of the victims. Police arrested a suspect in August but later dropped the charges.

9. Ohio's steel industry was buffeted by foreign competition and a sluggish market.

Several steelmakers file for Chapter 11 reorganization, including Warren-based WCI Steel Inc. and Akron-based Republic Engineered Products Holdings LLC. Other companies cut hundreds of salaried jobs.

In November, President Bush lifted tariffs on foreign steel, raising fears among steelmakers that they will have no way to compete with cheaper foreign imports.

10. (tie) Buckeye Egg, the state's largest egg producer, was ordered closed in August by Ohio Agriculture Director Fred Dailey following years of complaints about foul odors, flies and pollution.

Before this year, the company produced 2.6 billion eggs annually, or 4 percent of the nation's supply. It had 14 million birds and operations in Wyandot, Licking and Hardin counties.

10. (tie) After leading Ohio State's football team to a national championship, Clarett ran into off-the-field problems.

In August, he was suspended for his sophomore season for NCAA violations of accepting money from a family friend and lying about it to investigators. Earlier, he was charged with filing a false police report after a dealership's car he was borrowing was broken into.

In September, Clarett sued the NFL, challenging a rule that prevents him from entering the draft until he has been out of high school for three years.