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Associated Press Wednesday Morning Headlines - 3/3/2010
Latest Ohio news, sports, business and entertainment:
TEEN SLAYINGS
Ohio jurors to see sites where bodies found
CINCINNATI (AP) - Jurors in the Cincinnati trial of a man accused of killing two teenage girls and two women are expected tour the areas where the four burned bodies were found.
Kirkland is a registered sex offender who was released from a halfway house early last year. Weeks later, he was arrested and accused of strangling 13-year-old Esme (EHS'-mee) Kenney and trying to burn her body.
He's also charged in the 2006 killings of another Cincinnati teen and two women. He has pleaded not guilty in all cases.
The newly selected jury will board a bus today to see the crime scenes. Opening statements are expected tomorrow.
The judge has ordered Kirkland to wear an electronic stun belt during the trial because of concerns he could be a danger in the courtroom.
FOOD SAFETY
Study: Food-borne illnesses cost US $152 billion
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) - A new report authored by an Ohio State University professor estimates food-borne illnesses cost the U.S. $152 billion each year in health care and other losses.
The report released today by the Produce Safety Project, a food safety group, examined government data on all food-borne illnesses with a known cause, such as E. coli and salmonella, as well as illnesses with no known cause.
The study also looked at a broad set of costs that included medical care and quality of life losses, such as pain and suffering and death. Its author is Ohio State assistant professor of consumer sciences Robert Scharff, a former economist for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
STIMULUS-FOREIGN JOBS
Senators seek to block stimulus money for overseas
WASHINGTON (AP) - A group of Democratic senators wants the Obama administration to suspend an economic stimulus program aimed at financing renewable energy because of concerns that it's creating jobs in foreign countries.
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and three others made the request in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
An Energy Department spokesman responded that the stimulus program has helped generate foreign investment in the U.S. wind industry. He called it the "opposite of outsourcing" and said it should be encouraged.
The Treasury Department declined to comment.
Senators Chuck Schumer of New York, Robert Casey of Pennsylvania and Jon Tester of Montana also signed the letter to Geithner.
OHIO DEAD HORSES
Ohio man sentenced in horse deaths on farm
BATAVIA, Ohio (AP) - An man has been sentenced to 180 days in jail in the discovery of dead horses on his family's farm in southwest Ohio.
Thirty-nine-year-old Chad Moore pleaded guilty yesterday to six charges of abandoning animals and was sentenced by a Clermont County Municipal Court judge, who told Moore to choose a new profession other than caring for animals.
Moore trained and looked after race horses for their owners. He was arrested in late December after animal control officers said 10 dead horses were found on the farm in Bethel, about 25 miles southeast of Cincinnati.
Six animal cruelty counts against Moore were dropped as part of a deal with prosecutors.
COLUMBUS SCHOOLS-CONTRACT
Columbus schools' non-teachers OK new contract
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The "lunch ladies" and other non-teaching employees of Ohio's largest school district won't be going on strike.
The union for 3,500 Columbus school cafeteria workers, janitors, mechanics and teaching assistants gave their overwhelming approval yesterday to a new two-year contract.
Earlier this year, union members voted in favor of walking out. District officials vowed they would keep schools open if there was a strike.
The contract includes a 1.7 percent pay increase in the first year and 1.85 percent increase in the second, slightly better than the raises in a proposal the union voted down in January when it authorized a strike.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
DUELING PARADES
Cleveland area gets dueling ethnic parades
CLEVELAND (AP) - Anyone who loves a parade will be treated to a pair of dueling ones May 2 in the Cleveland area.
Rival parades marking Polish Constitution Day will be held in the city and its biggest suburb, Parma.
Polish-Americans in Cleveland's Slavic Village are upset that the annual parade was moved to Parma, so they're planning they're own celebration.
The Cleveland parade gets the blessing of the mother church of the Polish Catholic community, the Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus.
The Parma parade two hours later will feature the Parma, Valley Forge and Normandy high school bands and TV personality "Big Chuck" Schodowski.
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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com
CRIME CRACKDOWN
Dayton police step up patrols
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - Police have increased patrols of some Dayton neighborhoods that are plagued by a wave of home and car break-ins.
Police in the southwest Ohio city say home burglaries in one part of town are up 45 percent this year after a five-year high of 732 burglaries in 2009r. And police say car break-ins are soaring even faster, as thieves target GPS units and other mobile electronics left in vehicles.
Officers have been pulled from other districts to help form a task force that began sweeping neighborhoods on the city's southeast side this week. They're also urging residents to remove valuables from their vehicles and to communicate about strangers in their neighborhoods.
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Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com
TV-AMERICAN IDOL-MEN
'Idol' judges give male semifinalists praise
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A contestant from Toledo (Ohio) is expected to be well enough to sing tonight on "American Idol."
Twenty-four-year-old Crystal Bowersox was hospitalized yesterday and unable to take the stage, causing the show to make a switch and have the 10 male semifinalists perform instead of the 10 women, as scheduled.
Host Ryan Seacrest said on the program: "Crystal, if you're watching, we hope you feel better very, very soon."
The two male and two female semifinalists who receive the fewest viewer votes are slated to be sent home Thursday, leaving 16 contestants in the competition.
MEGA MILLIONS ROLLOVER
Mega Millions jackpot rises to $133 million
CLEVELAND (AP) - The Mega Millions jackpot has been rising and will be up to an estimated $133 million for the next drawing in the multistate lottery game.
The grand prize amount has been rolled over because no player matched all the winning numbers to take the $112 million jackpot up for grabs last night. Mega Millions will be played again on Friday.
While the big prize had no winner, eight tickets were worth second prizes of $250,000 each, though none was sold in Ohio. Another 37 players, including six who bought tickets in Ohio, won third prizes of $10,000 each.
The winning numbers from yesterday were: 9, 12, 47, 48 and 56. The Mega Ball number was 25.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-03-03-10 0914EST
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