Associated Press Wednesday Morning Ohio Headlines - 7/28/2010

Latest Ohio news, sports, business and entertainment:

GOVERNOR'S RACE-LEHMAN

GOP says Strickland took money from Wall Street

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Republicans say Ohio's Democratic governor has taken nearly $1.5 million in campaign money from those with ties to the financial industry while attacking the Wall Street ties of his Republican rival.

State GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine and Republican legislative leaders called Gov. Ted Strickland a hypocrite. Strickland has made Republican challenger John Kasich's (KAY'-sihks) time as a high-salaried managing director at failed Lehman Brothers investment bank a theme of his campaign.

The GOP totaled Strickland contributions from banking and insurance firms, their lobbyists, PACs and employees.

The Strickland campaign says that figure is misleading and says it includes small-town insurance agents, bank tellers and software developers across the state who have nothing to do with Wall Street.

OHIO SENATE

Dems nervously eye Fisher's troubles in Ohio

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Democratic nominee for Ohio's open Senate seat has gone through campaign staff and cash, forcing national Democrats to weigh whether to invest heavily to help his candidacy.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher's campaign is on its third manager. His spokesman and researcher both quit. The campaign faces a 9-to-1 fundraising disadvantage. Ohio is one of Democrats' top chances to win a Republican-held seat but has become a headache for Democrats who fear it could take millions just to get Fisher caught up with his GOP rival, Rob Portman.

Democrats insist Fisher still has a shot at defeating Portman, who has $8.9 million in his campaign account. The state Democratic party says it raised $3 million in the last 40 days to help Fisher and other statewide candidates.

EDUCATION GRANTS

APNewsBreak: Ohio named finalist for school grant

ATLANTA (AP) - Ohio is one of 19 finalists in the second round of the federal "Race to the Top" school reform grant competition, providing a chance to win a share of $3 billion.

The competition rewards ambitious reforms aimed at improving struggling schools and closing the achievement gap.

Two states, Tennessee and Delaware, were awarded a total of $600 million in the first round.

POLICE CRUISER-DEATH

Police: Ohio woman dies after hit by police car

CINCINNATI (AP) - Authorities are investigating the death of a woman who was struck by a police cruiser in a Cincinnati park.

State Highway Police Sgt. Matt Hamilton says a city police officer was patrolling Washington Park when he hit 48-year-old Joann Burton, who was lying under some blankets on the grass. She was taken to a local hospital, where police say she was pronounced dead less than an hour after the officer called for help.

Dozens of people gathered in the park for a memorial service last night.

Hamilton says the officer is cooperating with authorities. His name has not been released and no charges had been filed as of last night. Cincinnati Police did not return a message seeking comment.

Authorities say an autopsy will be conducted today.

THREATS-INMATE DEATH

Ohio man convicted of harassing neighbor dies

CINCINNATI (AP) - An Ohio man who was convicted of harassing his 83-year-old neighbor has died in jail hours before his sentencing.

A Hamilton County judge told the neighbor in court yesterday that 54-year-old Steve Merkle died of a heart attack in jail overnight, a few hours before the Cincinnati man was to be sentenced on charges of menacing by stalking and violating a protection order.

Court records show Merkle called Virginia Ritter names, made obscene gestures and threatened to kill her and bury her in the yard. Merkle pleaded guilty to the charges.

Ritter could not be reached for comment.

Merkle's lawyer, Jerome Grogran, said his client "felt terrible" about his actions and never intended to harm anyone.

MOTHER'S SLAYING

Ohio marriage counselor killed, husband arrested

CLEVELAND (AP) - Court records show a marriage counselor from Cleveland who was stabbed to death had filed two restraining orders against her husband in the past four months.

Forty-two-year-old Tonya Hunter accused her husband, 38-year-old Maurice Lyons, of hitting her just 10 days after he got off parole in March. He served three years in prison for burglary, theft and attempted burglary in Ohio and has served time in Illinois and Missouri.

Hunter filed a second restraining order against him two weeks ago. Lyons has been arrested as a suspect in her death.

Hunter was found stabbed to death in her home Sunday night. Her 4-year-old son, who was found abandoned on a street corner, led police to her body.

Records show the victim filed for bankruptcy last year with nearly $500,000 in debt. She was also on the brink of losing two homes to foreclosure.

METRO TRAIN DERAILMENT-RECOMMENDATIONS

NTSB asks transit agencies to remove signals

WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended that transit agencies remove faulty signaling equipment that led to a deadly crash on Washington, D.C.'s metro service last year.

Nine people were killed and dozens injured in the June 2009 collision between a Metro train and another train that was stopped near a station in Washington. The NTSB says an electronic signal should have triggered the approaching train to slow down and stop, but the signal failed.

The board urged Metro and other transit systems that use the same signaling components to identify and remove them. Those systems include Cleveland and five other major cities.

Alstom Transport, the company that now owns the supplier of the components, says it is working with the agencies to ensure they use the 1970s-era equipment as safely as possible.

STATE FAIR-BUTTER SCULPTURES

Ohio fair features NFL players sculpted of butter

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio State Fair's traditional butter cow and calf made are getting company this year.

When the fair opens today, visitors to the dairy exhibit also will see butter sculptures of Joe Thomas of the Cleveland Browns and Chinedum Ndukwe (CHIN'-uh-doom ehn-DOOK'-way) of the Cincinnati Bengals, along with a giant butter football.

A team of Cincinnati artists worked nearly 400 hours to craft this year's display out of one ton of butter. The figures are housed behind glass and kept refrigerated at 45 degrees.

Last year's fair featured three generations of a dairy family and a veterinarian made of butter.

Butter sculptures have been part of the fair for more than 100 years.

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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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