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Associated Press Ohio Afternoon Headlines - 3/9/2010
Latest Ohio news, sports, business and entertainment:
TRIPLE SHOOTING-OSU
Ohio St.: Employee kills co-worker, then self
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio State University says an employee shot two co-workers in a campus maintenance building, killing one of them, and then fatally shot himself.
University Police Chief Paul Denton identify the suspect as 51-year-old Nathaniel Brown, a custodial employee. Denton says Brown recently received a poor performance evaluation, but he declined to say if that was a motive for the shooting.
No students were hurt.
Denton says Brown was pronounced dead at Ohio State University Medical Center several hours after the shooting, which was first reported at 3:30 a.m. today.
One of the victims, 48-year-old building services manager Larry Wallington, died at the scene. The other is hospitalized in stable condition.
DEATH PENALTY-OHIO
Death row inmate who overdosed back in Ohio prison
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Officials say an Ohio inmate who intentionally overdosed on pills hours before his scheduled execution has returned to prison and is on suicide watch.
Prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn says 43-year-old Lawrence Reynolds Jr., who admitted taking an overdose, arrived at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown at 12:20 p.m. Tuesday.
Walburn says Reynolds is isolated from other inmates and under constant observation by staff.
Reynolds was treated at a Youngstown hospital after he was found unconscious in his death row cell Sunday night.
The type of drug he used and why it was prescribed aren't being disclosed. How he accumulated the pills is under investigation.
Reynolds' execution for the 1994 murder of his neighbor near Akron has been rescheduled to next week.
EARNS-KROGER
Kroger 4Q profit down 27 percent
CINCINNATI (AP) - The Kroger Co.'s profit fell 27 percent in the fourth quarter, even as sales rose with a boost from the grocer's gasoline incentives for regular customers.
The nation's largest traditional grocery chain Tuesday reported profit of $255.4 million, or 39 cents per share, down from $349.2 million or 53 cents, a year ago.
Sales rose 7 percent to $18.6 billion. Excluding fuel, sales were up 2 percent.
Analysts expected 34 cents per share on $17.73 billion of revenue.
In the heated competition for recession-strapped households, Kroger has expanded discounts at its gas stations for regular customers, who can get at least 10 cents off a gallon for every $100 in grocery store purchases.
CARDINAL HEALTH-PHARMACIES
Franchisees suing Cardinal Health over agreements
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Medicine Shoppe and Medicap pharmacists are suing Cardinal Health, alleging the health care company failed to make good on promises it made when it asked them to switch to a new franchise agreement.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus says franchise holders who agreed to the change are paying lower fees than others, while all are getting fewer supports and services from Cardinal. It says many who have the lower fees were charged exorbitant penalties to switch.
Attorney David Harris says pharmacists want a return of penalties paid and for all franchisees to be charged the lower fees or be allowed to cancel their franchise agreements. He says the suit could include more than 600 franchises.
A message seeking comment was left for a Cardinal health spokesman.
US SENATE-OHIO
Senate candidate challenges signature handling
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A longshot Ohio U.S. Senate candidate says she'll challenge the rejection of hundreds of her petition signatures by the office of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (BROO'-nuhr), who's also running for the Senate seat.
Democrat Traci "TJ" Johnson alleges foul play and conflict of interest by Brunner, whose office certified 834 of the nearly 2,000 signatures Johnson submitted - 166 short of qualification for the ballot.
A spokesman says Brunner has handed over decision-making on May primary issues to an assistant, to avoid conflicts of interest.
Johnson is seeking to make Senate history as a black woman. Her 11th hour entrance into the race drew attention in part because she was a former employee of yet another Democratic contender, Lee Fisher.
QUAKE MOVE
As Chile shook, cities rolled to the west a bit
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Earth really did move during the massive Chile quake: Researchers say cities and islands physically shifted west a bit.
Thanks to GPS, scientists at Ohio State University and the University of Hawaii found that the city of Concepcion moved at least 10 feet to the west. It is the nearest major city to last month's quake,
Chile's capital, Santiago, moved just shy of a foot, and even Buenos Aires, in Argentina, moved an inch. The Falkland Islands also went a tad west.
Researcher Ben Brooks said this happens with every quake, but usually it is too small to notice. This time with an 8.8 magnitude whopper, the scientists saw a great deal of shifting.
PROCTER & GAMBLE-OLYMPICS
P&G extends mom aid, ad campaign to Paralympics
CINCINNATI (AP) - The Procter & Gamble Co. is extending its Winter Olympics "Thanks, Mom" campaign to include mothers of Paralympic athletes and to raise funds for the U.S. Olympic Team.
The Cincinnati-based consumer products company has offered to help with costs for travel to the Paralympic events that begin this weekend in Vancouver.
P&G gave financial aid to more than 200 mothers of U.S. athletes in the Winter Games that ended Feb. 28, while sentimental television commercials highlighted mothers' dedication to their athlete children.
A Team USA sponsor, the maker of Pampers diapers and Tide detergent, said Tuesday it would donate up to $100,000 for athlete training through a "thankyoumom" Web site in which it will match each free online "thanks" with a $1 donation.
HUSBAND'S AIDS
Ohio man gets 5 years for giving wife AIDS
CLEVELAND (AP) - An Ohio man has been sentenced in Cleveland to five years in prison for infecting his wife with the AIDS virus.
Authorities say the unsuspecting woman had a 14-year relationship with Fernando Castro. Her treatment was delayed because he never told her about his AIDS condition. Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH'-guh) County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty sentenced 51-year-old Castro yesterday on his guilty plea to felonious assault.
Health officials said in court that had they known he was sexually active, they would have helped him tell his wife. But he claimed on hospital forms that he was single.
Castro apologized to his wife in court and asked for her forgiveness. She wants a divorce.
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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com
BRIDGE BICYCLE LANE
Ohio gov. wants review of bridge bike lane idea
CLEVELAND (AP) - Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has ordered a review of a proposed bicycle lane on the replacement bridge for Interstate 90 heading into downtown Cleveland.
The Ohio Department of Transportation, which has balked at the idea as too expensive and risky for cyclists and pedestrians, says it will take another look.
Environmentalists had complained that the lack of a bike lane in bridge plans conflicted with the governor's green-jobs initiative.
The highway department will soon choose three design teams to bid on the project.
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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com
OHIO LOTTERY-KENO
Ohio Lottery says Keno sales strengthening
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio lottery says its Keno game appears to be catching on after a sluggish first year and a half.
Lottery Director Kathleen Burke says the game similar to bingo set a sales record on Friday, and three of the last four weeks have been among Keno's most profitable.
Burke told the editorial board of The Columbus Dispatch on Monday that the turnaround has resulted from better marketing and education of players and employees at establishments offering the game. She says the introduction of automated Keno machines also has helped.
Keno was launched in August 2008 and made $30 million in its first year, far less than the $73 million profit that Gov. Ted Strickland and other state officials were expecting. It's played in about 1,100 bars statewide.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-03-09-10 1516EST
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