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Associated Press Monday Ohio Headlines - 5/11/2009
Latest Ohio news, sports, business and entertainment:
DEMJANJUK
Demjanjuk offers no clues in Ohio on surrender
SEVEN HILLS, Ohio (AP) - Suspected Nazi guard John Demjanjuk (dem-YAHN'-yuk) and his family have yet to offer clues about the 89-year-old's response to a notice that he surrender to U.S. authorities for deportation to Germany.
Reporters gathered outside Demjanjuk's suburban Cleveland home early Monday morning in anticipation that the retired autoworker could turn himself over to federal authorities.
Immigration officers delivered the notice Friday. Demjanjuk's family hasn't said whether the government set a deadline.
Germany's Justice Ministry said Monday that Demjanjuk could arrive in Munich from the United States as early as Tuesday.
A warrant in Munich accuses the native Ukrainian of 29,000 counts of accessory to murder at Sobibor in Nazi-occupied Poland.
CHRYSLER-TWINSBURG
Ohio officials, union plan rally on Chrysler jobs
TWINSBURG, Ohio (AP) - Elected and union officials have planned a rally in northeast Ohio to try to save 1,200 jobs at the Chrysler stamping plant in Twinsburg.
The factory and four other Chrysler plants are scheduled to close by the end of next year.
United Auto Workers Local 122 President Doug Rice says the rally late Monday afternoon was arranged to protest what he calls corporate greed. Rice says workers were misled and understood the plant would be spared as part of Chrysler's bankruptcy court filing and pending takeover by the Italian car maker Fiat.
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio plans to attend the rally at the union hall in Twinsburg, about 15 miles southeast of Cleveland.
GAS PRICES-OHIO
AAA: Ohio gas prices up 18 cents from last week
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio gasoline prices have jumped 18 cents in the last week as hopes for an economic recovery again had oil prices rising.
A survey from AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express shows regular-grade gas is averaging about $2.25 a gallon statewide, up from $2.07 last Monday.
Last year at this time, Ohio motorists paid an average of around $3.75 for regular.
Oil prices dropped slightly Monday to about $57 per barrel from more than $58 a barrel last week as traders adjusted for weak U.S. oil demand and hefty oversupplies of crude.
The cost of oil had been rising since April as consensus grew among traders that the global economy may have hit its bottom.
CANAL ATTRACTION SURVIVES
Canal boat survives sediment threat in Ohio
CANAL FULTON, Ohio (AP) - A piece of Ohio history has survived a muddy threat along the Ohio-Erie Canal near Canton.
The canal boat tourist attraction St. Helena III began its season last weekend, taking passengers along the 19th century canal in Stark County.
Officials worried in recent months that the May-to-August tourism season was in doubt because a stretch of the canal had too much sediment and other debris. But county parks officials and the city of Canal Fulton cleaned it up in time for the season debut.
More than 3,200 visitors took the nearly one-hour trip last year, which covers more than two miles round trip.
From 1827 to 1861, the 309-mile Ohio-Erie Canal was a bustling waterway, carrying freight from Lake Erie to the Ohio River.
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Information from: The Repository, http://www.cantonrep.com
NEW HOSPITAL
Cincinnati area gets new hospital
WEST CHESTER, Ohio (AP) - Another hospital is opening in a rapidly growing area of southwest Ohio just north of Cincinnati.
Construction of the $220 million West Chester Medical Center has been in the works for three years. It begins accepting patients on Monday.
Officials estimate it will create 800 jobs at the hospital and bring more than 5,000 jobs to the surrounding area.
The facility is considered to be state-of-the-art. It has 160 beds, features flat-screen televisions, wireless Internet, private rooms and patient beds equipped with mattresses that can prevent pressure sores and alert staff of trouble.
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Information from: Journal, http://wwww.middletownjournal.com
STREET PARTY-VIOLENCE
NEW: Police: party near Ohio University turns violent
ATHENS, Ohio (AP) - Police say an annual street party near the main campus of Ohio University became a "near riot" Saturday as people threw beverage containers and set debris on fire.
Officials in Athens said five police horses were cut and bruised as partygoers sitting on the roofs of nearby houses threw bottles and cans and officers in riot gear tried to clear the area.
Athens police Chief Richard Mayer said thousands of people had packed a residential street for the party known as Palmerfest. He said the event was more out-of-control than in past years.
Police said a car also was overturned in a church parking lot around the corner from the main party area.
Police did not say Sunday how many people had been arrested.
SWINE FLU COST-OHIO
Response to swine flu costs Ohio $44,000 a day
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Health officials in Ohio say responding to the swine flu outbreak is costing the state about $44,000 a day, in addition to the money spent by local governments.
The costs add up as officials set up emergency management centers, communicate with the public, meet and interview patients and alert people who may have contracted the virus.
Experts estimate it costs local health departments about $1 per resident to respond to the outbreak. That would amount to nearly $750,000 in the state capital of Columbus.
Franklin County, which surrounds Columbus, has 29 employees dedicated to its swine flu response and has spent $37,000 on staffing expenses. The county has three confirmed cases.
At the state level, 121 people are working on the response.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
ATTORNEY GENERAL SCANDAL
Ohio AG who resigned says he's sought counseling
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) - Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann says he's had professional counseling since he resigned from office a year ago.
In an interview published Sunday by The (Youngstown) Vindicator, Dann says he believes he could have fought off efforts to impeach and remove him from office.
He says he resigned because a fight would have taken too much time away from effectively managing the attorney general's office and from repairing his relationships with his wife and children.
The Youngstown-area Democrat resigned in May 2008 amid a sexual harassment scandal in his office. He acknowledged having an affair with an employee and was accused of fostering an unprofessional work environment.
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Information from: The Vindicator, http://www.vindy.com
GM-INEVITABLE BANKRUPTCY
Experts say GM bankruptcy almost inevitable
DETROIT (AP) - The road ahead for General Motors is so difficult that experts say a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is all but inevitable.
To remake itself outside of court, GM must persuade bondholders to swap $27 billion in debt for 10 percent of its risky stock.
GM also must work out deals with its union, announce factory closures, cut or sell brands and force hundreds of dealers out of business. And that has to happen in the next three weeks.
The automaker employs thousands of people in Ohio at several plants.
GM received $15.4 billion in federal aid and faces a June 1 government deadline to complete its restructuring plan. If it can't finish in time, the company will follow Detroit competitor Chrysler LLC into bankruptcy protection.
PEOPLE-JAY LENO
UPDATE: Leno takes comedy show to jobless Ohio residents
WILMINGTON, Ohio (AP) - Comedian Jay Leno's stand-up routine has drawn laughs from thousands of southwest Ohio residents whose lives have been affected by the recession and the pullout of a major employer.
Leno delivered jokes Sunday to 4,000 people in Wilmington during the first of two shows at the Roberts Centre as part of his free "Comedy Stimulus" tour.
The host of "The Tonight Show" drew cheers from the crowd as he wrapped up, saying he was just trying to get a few laughs and cheer people up. He says, "We're all brothers and sisters."
Wilmington has about 12,000 residents. It has drawn national attention as an example of the economic struggles of small communities.
About 8,000 workers were employed at the Wilmington Air Park a year ago when delivery company DHL Express announced it was pulling out, and about 3,500 remain.
SCHOOL DANCE FLAP
Ohio teen expects to be suspended for trip to prom
FINDLAY, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio teenager says he expects to be suspended from a Christian school for attending a public school prom with his girlfriend.
Officials at Heritage Christian School in Findlay had warned 17-year-old Tyler Frost that he would be suspended and prohibited from attending graduation if he went to the dance yesterday. The fundamentalist Baptist school in northwest Ohio forbids dancing, rock music and hand-holding.
Frost says he went to the dance because he wanted to experience prom and didn't think it was wrong.
School officials say he could complete his final exams separately to receive a diploma.
Frost's stepfather says the rules shouldn't apply outside of school and he may take legal action if Frost is suspended.
BABY ELEPHANT-NAME
Ohio zoo says 'Beco' wins baby elephant name vote
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Beco (BEE'-koh) is the name that's been chosen by online voters for the baby elephant born at an Ohio zoo.
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium officials announced on Sunday that the name received more than 6,000 votes, almost half of the votes cast on the zoo's Web site (www.columbuszoo.org).
Four finalists were narrowed down from the more than 11,000 entries received by the zoo in its name-the-baby contest. Damai (duh-MY'), Sattva (SUHT'-vuh) and Siddharth (si-DAHR'-tuh) lost out to Beco, which is a combination of the names of the baby's parents: Phoebe and Coco.
The baby male elephant was born in late March and is drawing big crowds during late morning and early afternoon viewings.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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