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Associated Press Tuesday Ohio Headlines - 1/26/2010
Latest Ohio news, sports, business and entertainment:
STATE OF THE STATE
Ohio governor to focus speech on new energy jobs
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio Governor Ted Strickland plans to focus his State of the State speech on bolstering the advanced energy sector to stem the tide of job losses.
Spokeswoman Amanda Wurst says the Democratic governor's address today will lay out a "forward-looking, creative agenda" that will put state residents back to work without breaking the bank.
Strickland's remarks come as state lawmakers are poised to ask voters in May for a renewal of the successful Third Frontier high-tech job creation program. If voters approve, funds would be available without an unpopular tax hike.
Wurst says Strickland's speech also will highlight the role the state's colleges and universities can play in job creation.
TURNPIKE TOLLS
Ohio Turnpike stops higher tolls for roof racks
BEREA, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Turnpike has stopped charging cars higher tolls when they're carrying bicycles or luggage on the roof.
Toll changes that took effect last year put vehicles with rooftop luggage carriers or bike racks into a higher toll classification meant for taller commercial trucks and moving vans.
Laser scanners that measure the heights of vehicles still cause the toll plazas to spit out the more expensive tickets to cars with items on the roof. But turnpike spokeswoman Lauren Hakos says toll collectors are now making adjustments and taking lower toll amounts from passenger vehicles.
It means a $10 difference for a car traveling the entire length of the toll road.
Hakos says E-ZPass users will have to call customer service to get a refund.
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On the Net: http://www.ohioturnpike.org
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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com
CLEVELAND HOUSE EXPLOSION
Cleveland to raze homes near site of blast
CLEVELAND (AP) - An official in Cleveland say the city will move quickly to demolish nearby residences made unsafe by an explosion that leveled a vacant house.
City Councilman Matt Zone says the home next door and a small, brick apartment building must come down because of severe structural damage from yesterday's blast.
Fire department spokesman Larry Gray says four people who were near the house that blew up were taken to hospitals with injuries not considered life-threatening.
Neighbors say it had been vacant for two years. In recent days, they had complained about a natural gas smell coming from the house.
Gray says authorities suspect but have not confirmed a gas leak.
GOVERNOR'S RESIDENCE-INMATES
Inmates at gov's mansion accused in smuggling plot
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Authorities say they busted up a plot to use the Governor's Residence as a drop point for contraband to be smuggled into an Ohio prison.
Prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn says two inmates who worked at the residence have been taken off that duty. They've been placed in disciplinary segregation at the Pickaway Correctional Institution in central Ohio, along with a third inmate who's accused of playing a role in the alleged scheme from inside the prison.
Walburn says it's not clear if the contraband was drugs or something else, such as cigarettes.
Officials say inmates' phone calls and mail indicated that a woman was supposed to leave the contraband at the mansion around January 9.
The woman has been banned from visiting the prison.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
COLLEGE THREAT
Racial threat stirs 2-year college in Ohio
NELSONVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Security is being bolstered at an Ohio technical college where a threat against blacks was found scrawled on a bathroom wall.
A message found Friday in a residence hall men's bathroom at Hocking College threatened to kill black students on February 2.
The two-year school in Nelsonville in southeast Ohio has increased security patrols and is installing more surveillance cameras in dormitories.
Hocking College spokeswoman Judy Sinnott says some black students have chosen to leave campus temporarily. She says the school also is offering to find new sleeping quarters for students who feel unsafe in a dorm.
The college has about 400 black students out of a total student body of 6,300.
The FBI is investigating the threat as a hate crime.
POLICE-HEAD CAMERAS
Cincy police test ear cams
CINCINNATI (AP) - Cincinnati police are trying out new cameras that officers wear like a cell phone ear piece.
The audio-video product comes from Scottsdale, Arizona-based Taser International, makers of the stun guns Cincinnati police use.
The video shot by the camera gives an officer's-eye view and can be downloaded into a computer, with the camera connecting to a video screen.
It would cost $1.6 million to equip all Cincinnati's 1,107 police officers, but Chief Tom Streicher (STRY'-kur) says the devices are part of the policing of the future. He hopes to land a grant to pay for them.
San Jose, California, police are among other forces testing Taser's Axon cameras.
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Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com
COLUMBUS SCHOOLS-CONTRACT
Columbus school union nixes contract, OKs strike
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The union that represents more than 3,000 Columbus school bus drivers, cooks and other non-teaching employees has voted down a two-year contract and authorized a strike.
Union president Betty Simmons-Talley says the Columbus School Employees Association voted 937-654 yesterday against a proposal that would have increased health-care costs. She says the vote also authorizes a walkout.
The contract offered pay raises of 1.65 percent in the first year and 1.75 percent in the second year.
The union must file a notice with the State Employment Relations Board at least 10 days before going on strike.
A school district spokesman declined comment.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
RADIOACTIVE TOWPATH
Radioactive soil stalls Ohio hiking trail plans
CLEVELAND (AP) - Plans for a 101-mile hiking trail along the Ohio & Erie Canal leading to Lake Erie have run into a radioactive roadblock.
A final leg of the trail in Cleveland has been stalled by radioactive soil at a location that refined uranium for atomic bombs during World War II.
Officials say a cleanup of the 55-acre property won't be completed for four or five years. A study says the location is no imminent threat to health or the environment.
The Towpath Trail along the historic Ohio & Erie Canal eventually will link New Philadelphia in eastern Ohio with Cleveland.
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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com
EX-POLICE CHIEF ACQUITTED
Ex-Ohio police chief acquitted at theft trial
CLEVELAND (AP) - A former police chief in Ohio has been acquitted of charges that he had his officers handle political chores.
A jury in Cleveland returned a not guilty verdict yesterday in the theft case against former Bratenahl (BRAT'-ih-nahl) Police Chief Paul Falzone. Before the jury got the case, the judge threw out one other charge, obstructing official business.
Falzone had been accused of having on-duty officers work on his unsuccessful campaign for Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH'-guh) County sheriff in 2008.
Defense attorney Roger Synenberg (SIHN'-ehn-burg) says his client is relieved by the verdict.
The case was a byproduct of an investigation into allegations of evidence mishandling by the police department.
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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com
ROAD RAGE CHARGES-MAYOR
Ohio mayor's road rage case dismissed
FRANKLIN, Ohio (AP) - The case has been dismissed against a southwest Ohio mayor accused of road rage, because a police officer failed to show up in court.
Charges including obstructing official business and aggravated menacing were dropped yesterday against 41-year-old Mayor Tim Humphries of Carlisle, 32 miles north of Cincinnati. Humphries had been accused of getting out of his car December 1 and threatening another motorist with a souvenir Cincinnati Reds baseball bat for following too close behind him.
Defense attorney Jon Paul Rion (RY'-uhn) calls the dismissal a "complete vindication" of Humphries.
Carlisle police Chief Tim Boggess says the officer who didn't show on Monday got confused about the court date. Boggess says he'll ask prosecutors if there are any further options.
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Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com
NAVY SEALS-KILLING
Court reviewing former SEAL trainee's case
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The case of a former Navy SEAL trainee convicted of abducting and murdering a Georgia college student in Virginia Beach is getting another look in court.
The full Virginia Court of Appeals is considering whether Dustin Turner of Bloomington, Ind., should be cleared in the 1995 slaying of 21-year-old Jennifer Evans. Oral arguments are set for Tuesday morning.
Evans was killed after getting into a car with Turner and another SEAL trainee, Billy Joe Brown of Dayton, Ohio. Both men were convicted, but Brown now says he alone killed Evans.
A circuit court judge and a three-judge panel of the appeals court have ruled that Brown's confession is credible. The state attorney general's office is appealing that ruling.
JOB LOSSES-PITNEY BOWES
SW Ohio city to lose 75 Pitney Bowes jobs
MIAMISBURG, Ohio (AP) - Pitney Bowes is closing operations in the southwest Ohio city of Miamisburg, costing 75 jobs.
The Stamford, Connecticut-based mail and document-management company says the move is part of an effort to consolidate operations and become more efficient. The workers' positions will be cut in phases over this year.
City Manager Keith Johnson says he is disappointed but not surprised. Company spokesman Matt Broder says some operations will move to Indianapolis, and others will be outsourced to the freight-forwarding company CEVA Logistics.
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Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-01-26-10 0915EST
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