|
Associated Press Monday Morning Ohio Headlines - 3/8/2010
Latest Ohio news, sports, business and entertainment:
DEATH PENALTY-OHIO
Inmate to be executed Tues. found unconscious
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Prison officials in Ohio say an inmate scheduled to be executed Tuesday has been found unconscious in prison.
Prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn says Lawrence Reynolds Jr. was found unconscious about 11:30 p.m. Sunday at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown. Walburn says it appears Reynolds injured himself and that authorities are investigating a possible attempted overdose of pills. She did not know what kind.
Reynolds is hospitalized in serious condition.
Walburn says the state has a constitutional duty to care for Reynolds. It was unclear Monday whether his execution would go forward.
He was sentenced to die for the 1994 killing of a 67-year-old neighbor woman.
A message for comment was left with the Ohio Public Defender's office, which is representing Reynolds.
OHIO FATAL FIRE
Ohio dad jailed after sons killed in fire
GREENFIELD, Ohio (AP) - Authorities say a father has been jailed after a house fire killed his two young sons in southern Ohio.
Highland County Jail records show 42-year-old Wesley Coonrod was arrested yesterday on two counts of child endangerment. He was being held without bond Monday pending a court appearance.
The fire was reported about 12:30 a.m. Sunday in Greenfield, about 50 miles southwest of Columbus. Police said the boys were ages 3 and 4. No other details about the family were released immediately.
Shane Cartmill, a spokesman for the State Fire Marshal's office, says it's unclear who else might have been inside the home, which he described as a single-story duplex.
GAS PRICES-OHIO
AAA: Ohio gas prices rise for 3rd straight week
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio gasoline prices are up 8 cents from last week and are higher for the third week in a row.
A survey from auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express puts the statewide average for regular-grade gasoline at about $2.68 per gallon, compared to $2.60 last Monday.
Prices at Ohio pumps are 10 cents higher than they were a month ago but are 7 cents below the current national average of $2.75.
Fuel prices have been on the rise amid signs that the global economy may be improving, which could help boost demand for oil and gasoline.
Gas was much cheaper in Ohio a year ago, when the state's motorists paid $1.96 for regular, on average.
TEEN SLAYINGS
Testimony to focus on 13-year-old's slaying
CINCINNATI (AP) - Family members of a dead 13-year-old girl are expected to testify as the trial continues of an Ohio man charged with killing the teen and another girl.
Court officials say family members of Esme (EHS'-mee) Kenney are expected to take the stand at the trial of 41-year-old Anthony Kirkland. Kenney was strangled and her body burned last year, weeks after Kirkland left a halfway house.
Police found Kirkland near the site where the girl's body was found.
He pleaded guilty last week to murdering two women. He was to have been tried in all four killings.
Kirkland remains charged with aggravated murder and attempted rape in the deaths of Kenney and 14-year-old Casonya Crawford. He could receive the death penalty if convicted.
ARNOLD-FITNESS
Schwarzenegger: Adults should help kids get fit
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has told an Ohio audience that adults who enjoy staying fit need to inspire young people, to help fight childhood obesity.
The body builder and former movie star spoke yesterday to people attending an annual sports festival in Columbus that bears his name.
Schwarzenegger said childhood obesity leads to high health care costs, which are best brought down through "prevention, prevention, prevention," as he put it. He added that that's what the Arnold Sports Festival is all about.
The three-day fitness event that ended Sunday has grown out of a relatively small bodybuilding contest in Columbus that Schwarzenegger won 40 years ago.
---
Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
PEOPLE-DREW CAREY
Comedian Drew Carey gets serious about Cleveland
CLEVELAND (AP) - "The Price Is Right" host Drew Carey showcases his hometown of Cleveland in an upcoming series of online videos suggesting remedies to the city's problems.
The comedian argues for less government, more competition and less taxes to revitalize Cleveland in 10-minute segments that are scheduled to begin appearing next week on the Web site reason.tv. It's affiliated with the Reason Foundation, a nonpartisan, libertarian-leaning organization which has Carey has a board member.
In an introduction to the six-part series, Carey says he loves Cleveland and says the city is going through "tough times" with a troubled economy, troubled schools and ongoing population losses.
The Web site says the series explores how Cleveland can learn from other places, like Houston.
---
Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com
SUSPENSION BRIDGE
Historic suspension bridge being repainted
COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A multimillion-dollar paint job is getting under way on the historic suspension bridge that links Covington with Cincinnati over the Ohio River.
Crews are setting up equipment to begin work on the Roebling Suspension Bridge. The project will cost $16.2 million.
A nonprofit group continues to raise funds to replace lights on the bridge, which was opened in 1866 and was a model for the Brooklyn Bridge, designed later by the same architect, John Roebling.
The bridge will be painted in 100-foot sections. Each section will be totally enclosed while it is sandblasted and given three coats of blue paint.
Tom Schomaker, chief engineer for the Northern Kentucky transportation district, says the bridge carries an average of 10,000 vehicles a day.
---
Information from: The Kentucky Enquirer, http://www.nky.com
OSCARS-AUTOWORKERS
Displaced Ohio autoworkers cheer film at Oscars
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - Four displaced autoworkers attended the Academy Awards to support a documentary that chronicled the closing of a General Motors sport utility vehicle plant in Ohio.
HBO's "The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant" was nominated for best documentary short. But it lost to "The Cove," an investigation into grisly dolphin-fishing operations in Japan.
The 40-minute film about the GM plant in Dayton was produced by Ohio filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, who say HBO paid for the former autoworkers' trip.
Kim Clay is one of the former GM workers who went on the trip. He still hasn't found a new job in the 15 months since GM closed the factory in Moraine, south of Dayton.
Clay said he hoped the HBO film won an Oscar to help draw attention to the joblessness situation in the Dayton area.
---
Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com
T25-B10-IOWA-OHIO ST
Lavender leads No. 10 Ohio St. past Iowa 66-64
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Jantel Lavender made two free throws with 1.9 seconds left yesterday, giving Number 10 Ohio State a 66-64 victory over third-seeded Iowa in the Big Ten title game.
It was a huge day for Lavender, who led the Buckeyes back from a 16-point second-half deficit. She finished with 35 points and 10 rebounds and made the decisive free throws in the final seconds of the title game for the second straight year.
She also joined the 2,000-point club and had her 100th consecutive double-figure scoring day.
Ohio State (30-4) tied the school record for victories by winning its second straight tourney title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Iowa (19-13) was led by Kamille Wahlin with 20 points and Kelly Krei with 18 points. The Hawkeyes had a chance to win it after Lavender's free throws, but Wahlin's shot from near half-court missed the rim.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-03-08-10 0918EST
|
