Associated Press Wednesday Ohio Headlines - 11/4/2009

Latest Ohio news, sports, business and entertainment:

ELECTION RDP

Ohio lawmaker wants more taxes from casinos

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A day after voters approved Ohio casinos, a lawmaker says he will pursue a constitutional amendment to give the state a greater share of the proceeds.

In a news conference today, Republican state Rep. Clyde Evans said he does not seek to undo yesterday's vote approving gambling venues for Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo.

But Evans says the ballot issue's 33 percent tax rate on casinos amounts to a raw deal for Ohio at a time of economic distress. The state would receive only a small percentage of the revenue.

Evans wants a 60 percent tax rate.

Officials from Penn National Gaming, which will build the casinos, have scheduled a news conference for this afternoon.

MICHIGAN CASINOS

Detroit, Michigan watch as Ohio OKs Toledo casino

DETROIT (AP) - Ohio voters have given their blessing to the opening of casinos in Toledo and three other cities, and that has Michigan officials and gambling interests paying close attention.

They're asking if Detroit's lucrative $1.3 billion annual casino cash cow is at risk.

Detroit's casinos draw on thousands of Ohio visitors, and parts of Michigan are closer to Toledo than Detroit.

Detroit and Michigan draw get hundreds of millions of dollars from casino taxes, and any loss of customers could hurt their already depressed revenues.

The Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau says the area's hotels, sports and entertainment attractions will continue making Detroit a big gambling draw.

INDIANA GAMBLING

Ohio casinos could take big hit on Indiana casinos

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A new report says Indiana could lose $100 million in gambling taxes in the first year after four Ohio casinos authorized in a Tuesday referendum open.

Ohio voters approved casinos for Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo.

An analysis by the Indiana Legislative Services Agency predicts that hardest hit in Indiana will be three casinos in the southeastern part of the state downstream from Cincinnati.

Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Grand Victoria Casino in Rising Sun and Belterra Casino near Vevay would lose $260 million in gambling revenues in the first year after the Ohio casinos open. That would cut their taxes paid by $93 million.

The report says Hoosier Park's casino in Anderson would lose gambling customers to a new Toledo casino, costing the state another $9 million.

VOTER TURNOUT

More than 40 percent turn out for Ohio election

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Unofficial results show that 40.31 percent of Ohio's voters cast ballots for this year's general election, nearly 10 percent higher than 2007 and roughly the same as 2005, when the state had its highest odd-year turnout since 1997.

Secretary of state numbers show that roughly 3.2 million voters turned out for Tuesday's election following a statewide campaign dominated by a successful proposal to allow casinos in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo.

Voters this year also considered two other statewide issues, approving the creation of a board to oversee livestock care and the funding of bonuses for modern-day veterans.

Turnout in 2007, when there were no statewide issues, was 30.98 percent. In 2005, 40.26 percent turned out to vote on five statewide issues.

VOTING INVESTIGATION

Ohio prosecutor checks alleged cash-for-votes plan

ATHENS, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio prosecutor is investigating whether Democratic Party officials in Athens County illegally offered a $5 bounty for bringing Ohio University students to the polls.

Keller Blackburn, assistant Athens County prosecutor, says the office is looking into the allegation that surfaced last week.

Susan Gwinn, the Athens County Democratic Party chairwoman, says there was an agreement to pay students for a get-out-the-vote effort but the idea of paying for votes is ridiculous.

The Ohio University College Democratic Party says no member has ever paid someone to vote or accepted money to cast a vote.

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern had urged Gwinn to suspend the program immediately and not issue any payments that may have been planned.

STREETCAR DESIRED-VOTE RESULTS

Streetcar advocates win, critics lose elections

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A U.S. streetcar revival fared well on election night Tuesday, with pro-trolley mayoral candidates in Cincinnati and Charlotte, N.C. winning and a critic of a proposal in Boise going down to defeat.

Cincinnati voters also rejected an initiative aimed at scuttling its streetcar plans by requiring a vote, not just city council approval.

Streetcars are being considered by as many as 80 U.S. cities, as federal grants are available and President Obama's administration has given urban rail favorable reviews.

In Charlotte, streetcar advocate Anthony Foxx beat John Lassiter.

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory won against Brad Wenstrup, a streetcar critic.

And in Boise, voters in a city council race chose TJ Thomson, still undecided on a plan in Idaho's capital to build a 2.3-mile trolley loop, over David Litster, who is trying to kill the project.

DEATH PENALTY-OHIO

Ohio Supreme Court sets 2 new execution dates

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Supreme Court has set two new execution dates even as the state continues to rework its procedures for putting condemned inmates to death by injection.

The court on Wednesday set a May 13 execution date for Michael Beuke (BYOO'-kee), convicted of the 1983 murder of a man he met while hitchhiking on Interstate 275 in southwest Ohio.

The court set a June 10 execution date for Richard Nields, sentenced to die for the 1997 murder of his girlfriend in Finneytown in southwest Ohio.

The execution dates are the first in four and a half months set by the court, which had been scheduling executions about once a month.

The death penalty is temporarily on hold in Ohio while the state develops the new policies.

REMAKING CHRYSLER

Chrysler: cash up more than $1B from June

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says the automaker is on firmer financial footing as it attempts to revive the company's sagging fortunes.

Chrysler is announcing a new business plan at a daylong event Wednesday, including the introduction of three new Dodge cars by 2013 and new exteriors, interiors and engines on most of its current lineup.

A key component of the plan is a midsize sedan based on a bulked up Fiat design. Chrysler hopes the car will make it more competitive in midsize sedans, the largest segment of the U.S. car market.

Marchione says Chrysler had $5.7 billion in cash at the end of September, up more than a billion dollars since the company emerged from bankruptcy protection in June. He also says Chrysler was breaking even for the month of September.

WRONG EMBRYO

Woman in wrong-embryo case hopes to see child soon

NEW YORK (AP) - An Ohio woman who was implanted with the wrong embryo says she hopes to visit soon with the baby boy she delivered and turned over to his biological parents.

Carolyn Savage of the Toledo suburb of Sylvania told NBC's "Today" show Wednesday that she has been waiting for her family to finish a run of colds. She says she hopes in a couple weeks she'll be able to see the child for the first time since the hospital.

On Sept. 24, Savage gave birth to the 5 pound, 3 ounce biological son of Paul and Shannon Morell of the Detroit suburb of Troy, Mich. The families say a fertility clinic outside Ohio made a mix-up with frozen embryos in February.

Savage had a complicated delivery and bled heavily. She says she wants another child but will use a surrogate.

CATHOLIC MARRIAGE MEETING

Ohio Catholic priests to meet on marriage issues

CLEVELAND (AP) - An unprecedented gathering of Ohio Roman Catholic priests this week will focus on an institution of marriage that the church believes is under attack.

Dan Andriacco, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, says the meeting Thursday and Friday in Columbus will address increases in divorce rates and people living out of wedlock, as well as the growth of same-sex unions.

The state's bishops and nearly 700 priests are expected to attend. Church officials believe it will be Ohio's first-ever statewide gathering of priests.

Clergy members will listen to speakers and hold discussions, the results of which will be sent on to the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops. It's working on a pastoral letter on marriage and family life.

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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com

OHIO TRAFFIC CAMERAS

Ohios vote to lose traffic enforcement cameras

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Voters have elected to dump traffic enforcement cameras that have been keeping an eye on motorists in two Ohio communities.

A city charter amendment approved Tuesday in Heath bars further use of 10 cameras installed earlier this year to nab speeders and red-light runners in the central Ohio community.

Camera opponents said the picture-taking was causing some motorists to avoid the city 30 miles east of Columbus.

Traffic cameras also were rejected in the southern Ohio city of Chillicothe (chil-ih-KAH'-thee), by 72 percent of Tuesday's voters. A group that put the measure on the ballot called the ticketing by camera unfair.

BREATHALYZER-HALLOWEEN

Breathalyzer-costumed man tested for alcohol

OXFORD, Ohio (AP) - A 20-year-old man in a breathalyzer costume found himself blowing into one after southwest Ohio police stopped him for allegedly driving the wrong way with no headlights on a one-way street Halloween night.

Oxford police say they found an open container and a partial case of beer in the front seat and beer in the trunk when they stopped James P. Miller, of Cincinnati.

Police say Miller was arrested and blew a 0.158 percent blood alcohol level on a breathalyzer test. The legal limit for driving is .08.

Police say Miller was cited on charges including operating a vehicle while intoxicated, underage possession of alcohol, having an open container and a fake ID and a one-way street violation.

Miller had no comment when reached at home Wednesday.

UNITED BANK

United Bank reports $5M loss on investment

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The parent company of United Bank says it's rewriting third-quarter financial results to include a $5.04 million loss on an investment in a failed Chicago bank.

Charleston-based United Bankshares says in a regulatory filing Wednesday the loss stems from the shutdown of Park National Bank. Federal regulators took over Park and eight related banks owned by Oak Park, Ill.-based FBOP Corp. on Friday.

United says its investment in Park was worth $8.47 million as of September.

The shutdown occurred four days after United had released its third-quarter results, which the bank says it's going to change in its next quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

United has approximately $8 billion in assets and branches in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and Washington, D.C.

DALLAS BOWL

Ready for another bowl game?

DALLAS (AP) - The replacement for the Cotton Bowl game has been lined up.

Dallas city leaders say the Dallas Football Classic is planned for New Year's Day 2011. The plan calls for using teams from the Big 12, Big Ten and perhaps Conference USA.

The first game will likely pit the seventh-ranked team from the Big 12 against the sixth-ranked team from the Big Ten, should those teams be excluded from Bowl Championship Season consideration.

The plan needs NCAA approval. It would run through the 2013 season.

The Cotton Bowl game is moving to the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington this season. That prompted officials to come up with a replacement game for the 77-year-old Fair Park venue.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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