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Ferguson attorney: Brown family settlement $1.5 million
WDTN News - 4 hours 15 min ago
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The insurance company for the city of Ferguson, Missouri, paid $1.5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Michael Brown’s parents, the city attorney said Friday.
Attorney Apollo Carey disclosed the amount in an email in response to an open records request. The settlement of the federal lawsuit was announced Tuesday, but financial details were not initially released.
Carey declined further comment on the settlement. A phone message seeking comment from the attorney for the family, Anthony Gray, was not immediately returned.
Brown, 18, was black and unarmed when he was fatally shot by white officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, 2014. Wilson was cleared of wrongdoing, but the shooting led to months of protests in the St. Louis suburb.
Wilson resigned in November 2014, soon after a St. Louis County grand jury decided not to indict him. The U.S. Department of Justice found no grounds to prosecute Wilson, but the shooting led to a Justice Department investigation that resulted in a consent agreement requiring Ferguson to make significant changes to address racial bias in its police department and municipal court.
Michael Brown Sr. and Lezley McSpadden sued the city, former Police Chief Tom Jackson and Wilson in 2015, citing a police culture hostile to black residents and claiming Wilson used excessive force.
Ferguson, Jackson and Wilson denied the allegations.
The parents also argued that the death of their son deprived them of financial support through his future potential wages.
U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber approved the settlement but disclosed nothing about the amount, saying only that it was “fair and reasonable compensation for this wrongful death claim and is in the best interests of each Plaintiff,” with the money to be split between the parents.
Webber also wrote that the agreement “shall remain sealed by this Court and shall be considered a closed record” because disclosure of the information “could jeopardize the safety of individuals involved in this matter, whether as witnesses, parties, or investigators.”
Settlements involving public money and public entities like cities are typically open under Missouri law, but Webber wrote that the value of opening the record “is outweighed by the adverse impact to Plaintiffs.” He did not elaborate.
Categories: Local News
Police: Suspect steals cellphone at a park
WDTN News - 4 hours 16 min ago
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – A trip to the park turned into a robbery for a woman.
Police say the woman was with her kids at a park Thursday.
According to the police report, the suspect tapped the woman on her shoulder and punched the woman’s face with her fist.
Police say the suspect grabbed the woman’s phone and took off in a quick manner heading east on Pierce Street.
Police found the suspect on South Findlay Street and Davis Avenue and took the stolen cellphone.
Police say the woman’s right side of her face was red from being hit.
Categories: Local News
I-70 closed after accident in Preble County
WDTN News - 4 hours 21 min ago
PREBLE COUNTY, Ohio (WDTN) – A crash involving a semi-truck has closed the westbound lanes of I-70.
The crash happened on I-70 near Shields Road, about 2 miles east of US-127, shortly before noon Friday.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol tells 2 NEWS a semi is on its side between milepost 12 and 13. There is no word yet on injuries.
2 NEWS is working to learn more about this incident and we will keep you updated when new information is available.
Categories: Local News
Ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio to defend reputation at criminal trial
WDTN News - 4 hours 48 min ago
PHOENIX (AP) — The political career of Joe Arpaio ended last year when the six-term sheriff of metro Phoenix known for cracking down on illegal immigration and housing inmates in tents outside in the desert heat was trounced in an election that focused on his own legal troubles.
Now, the 85-year-old who called himself America’s toughest sheriff will face his day of reckoning in court for defying a judge’s order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants.
Arpaio’s trial starts Monday on a criminal contempt-of-court charge for prolonging the patrols for nearly a year and a half. The judge later found that Arpaio’s officers had racially profiled Latinos.
The former sheriff could face up to six months in jail, though lawyers who have followed his case doubt he would get locked up if convicted.
His critics hope the case will bring a long-awaited comeuppance for the former lawman who led crackdowns that divided immigrant families and escaped accountability when he regularly flouted the rules.
Attorney Mike Manning, who isn’t involved in the case but has sued Arpaio several times over deaths in the jails, said the famously defiant Arpaio deserves his fate because he “saluted the court with his middle finger” when he violated the court order.
Jack Wilenchik, an Arpaio attorney, said the former sheriff is charged with a crime for cooperating with federal immigration authorities, which the Trump administration now is encouraging more police agencies to do.
“This is really just a fight about immigration law and what it means,” Wilenchik said. “And Arpaio is trying to do what a good cop does, which is to enforce the law.”
Arpaio, reached by phone last week, declined to comment.
He rode to national prominence by launching highly publicized immigration crackdowns, landing him in court when Hispanic immigrants sued. He was ousted from office last year in the same election that sent Donald Trump to the White House after using some of the same immigration rhetoric that made Arpaio a national name a decade earlier.
The key issue in the trial will be whether Arpaio intentionally violated a judge’s 2011 order to stop the patrols. Arpaio acknowledges that he kept up the immigration enforcement but says it was not on purpose. For a conviction, prosecutors must prove he intended to disobey the judge.
The judge found Arpaio ignored the order because he believed his immigration enforcement efforts would help his 2012 re-election campaign. His legal troubles likely contributed to his crushing defeat in November to retired Phoenix police Sgt. Paul Penzone.
The things that Arpaio used over the years to boost his popularity — TV interviews, news releases and tough talk about America’s border woes — are now being used against him in court.
Arpaio said in a news release a week after the judge told him to stop the patrols that he would continue to enforce immigration laws. A few weeks later, he told a TV interviewer that deputies were still detaining immigrants in the country illegally.
It’s not clear if Arpaio will testify, but two people who were illegally detained plan to take the witness stand to describe their traffic stops.
Arpaio has brought several longshot legal efforts. He tried unsuccessfully to bar prosecutors from mentioning his comments about immigration during his last three campaigns. And he subpoenaed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions as a witness.
Attorney Andy Jacob, who isn’t involved in the case but has watched much of it as a court spectator, said the criminal charge will ensure that the sheriff’s office will comply the next time a judge hands down an order.
“This is to vindicate the power of the court,” he said.
Tom Morrissey, a retired chief U.S. marshal who has been a friend of Arpaio’s for more than two decades, said the former sheriff’s supporters are furious about how he’s being treated in the courts and in news coverage.
“That fury is growing. Joe is just one of the victims of a corrupt process and a corrupt system,” said Morrissey, a former state GOP chairman.
Lydia Guzman, a Latino civil rights advocate and longtime Arpaio critic, said a criminal conviction would help hold the former sheriff accountable for breaking the rules and tarnish his reputation.
“This will be his legacy, that he abused his power,” Guzman said. “It will end in a mugshot. I don’t think he is afraid of jail. I think he is afraid of what this will do to his image and the legacy he leaves behind.”
Categories: Local News
Indiana crackdown on opioids sparks more pharmacy robberies
WDTN News - 4 hours 53 min ago
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — As the nation’s opioid epidemic intensified, Indiana cracked down on over-prescribing doctors and “pill mills” catering to people with addictions. The state also took aim at doctor-shopping — the practice of visiting multiple physicians to score more painkillers.
The measures had an impact, but not what officials hoped for.
While making opioid prescriptions harder to get, the crackdown also helped spur a twofold increase in robberies of pharmacies that exacerbated the state’s standing as No. 1 in the nation for those crimes. Between 2009 and 2016, Indiana had 651 pharmacy robberies — the most in the U.S. and more than the 597 recorded by No. 2 California, which has six times the population, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration records show.
The frequent holdups reflect a grim reality: With each regulation or law enforcement tactic, the opioid crisis quickly shape-shifts to evade new obstacles. Dealers and those struggling with addictions adapt, and the epidemic continues with little interruption.
“They’re always looking for wherever they can get their foothold. And once they do, they’re going to take advantage,” said Tom Prevoznik, a deputy chief of pharmaceutical investigations with the DEA in Arlington, Virginia.
Pharmacies and law enforcement agencies in Indianapolis, where most of the robberies have occurred, are fighting back. Pharmacy chains have installed time-release safes that won’t open for several minutes, forcing robbers to risk arrest by waiting. Signs so far are positive. Robberies in Indianapolis numbered only eight through early June, compared with 55 for all of 2016.
But some criminals responded to those efforts by traveling from Indianapolis to small suburban towns to rob pharmacies, including one in January in Elwood, about 40 miles from Indianapolis, where two robbers herded frantic employees into a bathroom after threatening them with a handgun.
Indiana’s economic makeup has made it a likely breeding ground for opioid addiction for years.
The 2008 financial crisis hit the state’s manufacturing economy hard, causing waves of layoffs. And physically demanding jobs in heavy industry have long left workers prone to injuries that could lead to prescriptions for painkillers.
“They get a legit medical prescription — and then all of a sudden it gets out of control,” said Jason Hockenberry, an Emory University professor of health policy who has studied opioid addiction. He said the state already had outsized opioid woes, related in part to its location along Interstates 65 and 70 — two major corridors for illicit drugs.
Opioid addiction was behind the state’s worst-ever HIV outbreak, in 2015, an epidemic that infected more than 200 people in a rural county north of Louisville, Kentucky. Most had shared needles while injecting a prescription painkiller. That year, Indiana ranked 17th in the nation in heroin and prescription opioid overdose deaths, with 1,245 deaths per 100,000 people.
Four years ago, the Legislature directed the state’s Medical Licensing Board to draft rules requiring patients to visit their doctors periodically to keep getting prescription refills. The changes included requiring doctors to use an online database to check patients’ use of controlled substances.
But stemming easy access to opioids probably contributed to the binge of 168 robberies in 2015, more than twice the previous year’s total, as more people addicted to prescription opioids robbed stores seeking painkillers and other potent drugs, said Greg Zoeller, who was Indiana’s attorney general at the time.
The holdups — sometimes more than five a day in Indianapolis — flooded the black market with nearly 200,000 pills, primarily painkillers.
“We knew full well that if you reduce easy access, you’re going to have these kinds of consequences,” Zoeller said.
Lt. Craig McCartt, who oversees robbery investigations for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, said 85 percent of Indianapolis’ pharmacy robberies in 2015 were committed by juveniles enlisted by adult dealers offering cash and gifts to rob the stores.
Amid that crime spree, Indianapolis police teamed up with the DEA, FBI and federal prosecutors for a multi-agency approach that’s led to the indictments of 35 people, including six juveniles, in 62 of the robberies.
The state’s two largest drugstore operators, Walgreens and CVS, have also installed time-release safes at their roughly 180 Indianapolis pharmacies and added armed guards at some stores in recent years.
Indiana’s pharmacy robberies dropped to 78 in 2016, but the state still ranked second in the U.S., behind California. The latest effort targeting the robberies is a law taking effect in July that will lead to longer sentences for people who threaten violence or injure anyone during pharmacy robberies.
Ken Fagerman, a former South Bend pharmacist who wrote a book about the robberies, said the pharmacy industry should not have tolerated the heists for years and shares some blame.
“It’s regrettable that more wasn’t done sooner,” he said.
Categories: Local News
Ohio County Claims Top Spot In America's Opioid Death Spiral - HuffPost
Local News - 4 hours 55 min ago
HuffPostOhio County Claims Top Spot In America's Opioid Death Spiral
HuffPost
An estimated 800 people in Montgomery County will die this year from drug overdose, more than double the 370 overdose deaths the county recorded last year, giving it the unfortunate distinction of logging the most overdose deaths in the country per ...
and more »
Categories: Local News
Governors wary of Medicaid cost shift in Senate health bill
WDTN News - 4 hours 58 min ago
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Governors in several states that opted to expand Medicaid under former President Barack Obama’s health care law are wary of the Senate Republican plan to end the added federal funding for it within seven years.
The proposal released Thursday calls for a slower phase-out of the Medicaid expansion than a bill adopted earlier by the House. Yet it still would force those states to figure out what to do about the millions of lower-income Americans who used it to gain health coverage.
The doubts about the latest plan from Washington came from Republicans, Democrats and the nation’s one independent governor.
“I have deep concerns with details in the U.S. Senate’s plan to fix America’s health care system and the resources needed to help our most vulnerable, including those who are dealing with drug addiction, mental illness and chronic health problems and have nowhere else to turn,” Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, said in a Twitter message.
Kasich was part of a group of Republican and Democratic governors who wrote a letter last week to Senate leaders calling for them to work in a bipartisan way to revamp the nation’s complex health insurance policies.
Another was Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, also a Republican. His decision to expand Medicaid has provided health coverage to more than 210,000 Nevada residents.
“It appears that the proposed bill will dramatically reduce coverage and will negatively impact our future state budgets,” he said in an emailed statement.
Part of the Obama law was an offer to the states: If they would expand Medicaid, a joint federal-state insurance program for low-income people, to able-bodied adults without children at home, the federal government would pick up the entire tab in the initial years. The federal share drops to 90 percent after 2020.
The expansion has provided coverage to 11 million people in the 31 states that accepted it.
The Senate bill calls for phasing out the enhanced federal support for the expansion by 2024. The House calls for doing it by 2020.
In both plans, states could keep coverage for the newly eligible adults, but federal taxpayers would not continue to pay a larger share of the bill. The Senate bill also calls for a tighter cap on federal spending in Medicaid overall than the House bill did. Currently, there is no limit on how much the program will pay for care for those enrolled.
In addition, it calls for extra federal funding to be awarded to states for addiction and mental health treatment, services covered by Medicaid. Both chambers would have to agree on details for the bill to be sent to President Donald Trump.
Trying to keep the expansion without added federal help could blow a hole in state budgets.
In Oregon, lawmakers this week passed a health care tax intended to fix a $1.4 billion, two-year budget deficit attributed largely to Medicaid expansion costs. Those costs are rising there and elsewhere even with the federal government paying for most of the expansion, largely because more people signed up than originally expected.
“We anticipate it will be hundreds of thousands of Oregonians that will be stripped of health care under this proposal in order to get a tax break for wealthy Americans,” said Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat.
That was a reference to other provisions of the Republican plan that would cut taxes by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade, mostly for corporations and America’s wealthiest families.
In Montana, 20 percent of residents didn’t have medical insurance in 2013. By last year, that was down to 7 percent. Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, attributes the higher coverage rates to the Medicaid expansion and said the Senate bill would undo that.
Charlie Baker, the Republican governor in heavily Democratic Massachusetts, and Tom Wolf, a Democratic governor in Pennsylvania, had similar concerns. Governors also said the bill could hurt rural hospitals and senior citizens who have nursing home care covered by Medicaid.
Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican who surprised her party when she decided to expand Medicaid four years ago, is urging Congress to save the expansion, which has provided coverage to 400,000 Arizonans.
Brewer said cutting Medicaid eventually will cause private insurance premiums to rise because people losing coverage will seek treatment in hospital emergency rooms.
“We’re going to pay for it one way or another; there are no free lunches,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press.
A spokesman for Arizona’s current governor, Republican Doug Ducey, said the governor was studying the GOP bill.
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, a Republican-turned-independent, said in a statement Thursday that he is still reviewing the Senate plan, but had some worries about how it might affect his vast and sparsely populated state, where health care costs are high.
“I am deeply concerned about the potential effects of a one-size-fits-all approach,” he said.
Categories: Local News
Sobriety checkpoints planned Friday, Saturday
WDTN News - 5 hours 26 min ago
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – The Combined Agency OVI Task Force of Montgomery County is holding a sobriety checkpoint Friday in Dayton.
The checkpoint will begin at 9;00 pm in the area of North Gettysburg Avenue and Kings Highway. Dayton police officers, along with officers from the task force, will conduct a roadside check of drivers for alcohol and drug impairment.
The task force will also hold a checkpoint in the Trotwood area Saturday. The specific location of that will not be announced until Saturday morning.
According to the task force, in 2016 there were 596 alcohol-related crashes in Montgomery County alone. Those crashes killed 14 people and injured another 273. The majority of the deadliest crashes occur on weekends, the task force said.
Categories: Local News
Social media misunderstanding causes panic in Ohio
WDTN News - 5 hours 33 min ago
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A misunderstanding on social media caused panic in Ohio when restaurant-goers thought an iconic pizza and spaghetti restaurant was closing.
While it is true that Luigi’s Restaurant is closing, it is not the location in Akron. The Facebook post announcing the closing came from a store in Fife, Scotland.
Facebook users in Ohio quickly shared the post however, commenting with messages of disbelief and sadness.
Jen Mock tells the Akron Beacon Journal the Akron restaurant manager received several calls from customers concerned about the store closing. Mock says she “about died” when she found the original post was from Scotland.
Fans of the unaffiliated restaurant in Scotland were sad about their restaurant closing.
Luigi’s Restaurant has been an Akron staple since 1949.
Categories: Local News
Supreme Court could reveal action on travel ban at any time
WDTN News - 7 hours 30 min ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has almost certainly decided what to do about President Donald Trump’s travel ban affecting citizens of six mostly Muslim countries.
The country is waiting for the court to make its decision public about the biggest legal controversy in the first five months of Trump’s presidency. The issue has been tied up in the courts since Trump’s original order in January sparked widespread protests just days after he took office.
The justices met Thursday morning for their last regularly scheduled private conference in June and probably took a vote about whether to let the Trump administration immediately enforce the ban and hear the administration’s appeal of lower court rulings blocking the ban.
The court’s decision could come any time and is expected no later than late next week, after which the justices will scatter for speeches, teaching gigs and vacations.
Exactly when could depend on whether there are justices who disagree with the outcome and want to say so publicly. It might take time for such an opinion to be written — and perhaps responded to by someone in the majority.
It takes five votes to reinstate the ban, but only four to set the case for argument. Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s nominee who was confirmed in April, is taking part in the highest-profile issue yet in his three months on the court.
The case is at the Supreme Court because two federal appellate courts have ruled against the Trump travel policy, which would impose a 90-day pause in travel from citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, said the ban was “rooted in religious animus” toward Muslims and pointed to Trump’s campaign promise to impose a ban on Muslims entering the country as well as tweets and remarks he has made since becoming president.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the travel policy does not comply with federal immigration law, including a prohibition on nationality-based discrimination. That court also put a hold on separate aspects of the policy that would keep all refugees out of the United States for 120 days and cut by more than half, from 110,000 to 50,000, the cap on refugees in the current government spending year that ends Sept. 30.
Trump’s first executive order on travel applied to travelers from the six countries as well as Iraq, and took effect immediately, causing chaos and panic at airports over the last weekend in January as the Homeland Security Department scrambled to figure out who the order covered and how it was to be implemented.
A federal judge blocked it eight days later, an order that was upheld by a 9th circuit panel. Rather than pursue an appeal, the administration said it would revise the policy.
In March, Trump issued a narrower order, but it too has been blocked.
The justices have a range of options. They could immediately allow the administration to stop travel from the six countries and hear arguments on the administration’s broader appeal in October. That’s the path the administration has urged.
But the 90-day ban will have run its course by then, and there might be little left for the court to rule on.
The government has said the ban was needed to allow for an internal review of the screening procedures for visa applicants from the six countries.
That too should be complete before the Supreme Court reconvenes for its new term on October 2.
The administration also could issue a new ban that includes more countries or is permanent, or both. That might make the current case go away and also could give rise to new legal challenges.
The high court also might keep the ban on hold, but set the case for argument in October. This course might be palatable both to justices who object to the ban and those who don’t like the breadth of the lower court rulings against the president.
But it also could mean that a new policy is in effect before the court ever hears the case.
The justices also could keep the ban from being reinstated and, at the same time, decline to review the lower court rulings. That outcome would essentially end the case.
One barrier to that option could be that the court usually likes to have the last word when a lower court strikes down a federal law or presidential action.
Categories: Local News
Deadlocked jury told to try again at cop’s trial
WDTN News - 7 hours 40 min ago
CINCINNATI (AP) — Jurors in the murder retrial of an Ohio police officer charged in the fatal traffic stop shooting of an unarmed motorist say they are deadlocked, but a judge told them to keep deliberating.
The Hamilton County jury announced that it couldn’t reach a verdict Friday on the fifth day of deliberations.
Prosecutors and the defense agree that Officer Ray Tensing shot 43-year-old Sam DuBose in the head after pulling him over for a missing front license plate on July 19, 2015.
The 27-year-old Tensing testified he feared he was going to be killed. Prosecutors said repeatedly the evidence contradicted Tensing’s story.
His first trial ended in a mistrial when the jury deadlocked.
The shooting is among those across the nation that have raised attention to how police deal with blacks.
Categories: Local News
World’s Ugliest Dog Contest awards underdogs’ inner beauty
WDTN News - 7 hours 44 min ago
PETALUMA, Calif. (AP) — The World’s Ugliest Dog Contest is celebrating man’s best friend’s perfect imperfections in California on Friday.
FILE – In this June 26, 2015, file photo, Quasi Modo wins top honors in the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, Calif. The annual World’s Ugliest Dog Contest celebrates homely pooches for their inner beauty in Petaluma. Organizers say the pooches will face off in a red carpet walk and “Faux Paw Fashion Show” during Friday’s events. It’s intended to show that all dogs, regardless of physical appearance, can be lovable additions to any family. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
The pooches — many of which are adoptable or previously adopted — will face off in a red carpet walk and “Faux Paw Fashion Show,” organizers said. The contestants are judged on first impressions, unusual attributes, personality and audience reaction.
A blind Chihuahua-Chinese Crested mix named Sweepee Rambo bested 16 other homely hounds in last year’s competition and waddled away with $1,500, a trophy and a flight to New York with her owner, Jason Wurtz, for media appearances. The then-17-year-old champion proved that third time’s the charm after falling short in the competition twice before.
By celebrating inner beauty, organizers said they hope to showcase that all dogs, regardless of physical appearance, can be lovable additions to any family.
Contest rules prevent owners from intentionally altering their animals to enhance appearance for the purpose of the contest. These pooches are celebrated for their natural ugliness, organizers said.
Besides the main crown, the Spirit Award is presented to a dog and owner who have overcome obstacles or provide service to their community, organizers said.
The competition has been held in Petaluma for more than 50 years but is in its 29th year at the Sonoma-Marin Fair.
Categories: Local News
Police: Man faces charges after stealing more than 500 signs
WDTN News - 7 hours 51 min ago
AVON LAKE, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man is facing charges after police say he stole more than 500 signs, claiming they were an eyesore and a distraction to drivers.
John Hoelzl, of Avon Lake, was charged Wednesday with a felony count of receiving stolen property.
Police say the signs, valued at more than $5,500, were taken over a period of several months.
The Avon Lake Police Department began investigating the thefts after receiving several complaints. Police say some of the signs were illegally posted, but most had been granted city approval.
Hoelzl tells WJW-TV in Cleveland that he “probably shouldn’t have” taken the signs and he expresses his apologies.
Court records show he faces a preliminary hearing June 29.
Categories: Local News
Police: Ex-doctor who ran pill mill shot in home invasion
WDTN News - 7 hours 54 min ago
WESTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Police say a former doctor and Ohio University trustee who pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion and running a pill mill in Columbus has been shot in an apparent home invasion.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office says 51-year-old Kevin Lake was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Maj. Steve Tucker says Lake’s son called 911 Thursday morning and reported hearing gunshots after someone tried to break into the home. The officer says the family had recently received a written threat.
Lake pleaded guilty in January to evading $3.5 million in taxes and serving hundreds of patients daily at Columbus Southern Medical Center for prescriptions of oxycodone, hydrocodone and Xanax.
Lake resigned as a university trustee Jan. 21.
The shooting is under investigation.
Categories: Local News
Ohio village officials’ thefts lead to fiscal emergency
WDTN News - 8 hours 1 min ago
MOUNT STERLING, Ohio (AP) — The state auditor has declared a fiscal emergency in a central Ohio village where he says thefts by former officials have taken a “heavy financial blow.”
The Columbus Dispatch reports Mount Sterling’s budget deficit was $270,000 deficit at the end of April. Auditor Dave Yost says financial problems were “inflicted by corrupt former officials and employees.”
The current mayor of this Madison County village 25 miles southwest of Columbus says daily operations haven’t been affected.
The former village administrator received 10 years in prison in March for stealing around $725,000 between 2012 and 2016. The former mayor and a former administrative assistant were indicted in April on theft in office charges.
The fiscal emergency means a commission appointed by Yost will oversee financial planning for the village.
Categories: Local News
Flash Flood Warning issued in Logan County
WDTN News - 8 hours 15 min ago
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – A Flash Flood Warning has been issued for Logan County until 2:00 pm Friday.
Flash Flood Warning including Richwood OH, West Mansfield OH, East Liberty OH until 2:00 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/fyuE7VQcHK
— NWS Wilmington OH (@NWSILN) June 23, 2017
The National Weather Service issued the warning just after 11:00 am. Radar showed heavy rain over the area and up to 2.5 inches of rain had already fallen.
Heavy rain continues with another one to two inches possible.
A Flash Flood Watch is in effect for eveyone else in the Miami Valley until late Friday night. The National Weather Service says rain will slowly move to the southeast Friday afternoon and could bring between one and three inches of rain.
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Categories: Local News
Police consider manslaughter charges over London fire
WDTN News - 10 hours 1 min ago
LONDON (AP) — The Latest on the Grenfell Tower fire (all times local):
London Police say manslaughter charges are among moves being considered over the Grenfell Tower fire that killed at least 79 people.
Metropolitan Police Detective Supt. Fiona McCormack says authorities are “looking at every health and safety and fire safety offense and we are reviewing every company at the moment involved in the building and refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.”
McCormack also repeated calls for anyone with information on who might have been in the tower to come forward. The call comes after London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s pledge to seek an amnesty for people who may have been living in the tower illegally.
McCormack says: “What we haven’t got is a picture of how many people might have been in there. That’s the number I’m really worried about.”
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10:50 a.m.
British police investigating the fire at Grenfell Tower in west London in which 79 people are believed to have died say the blaze started in a fridge freezer. They added that insulation and tiles recovered from the building have failed fire safety tests.
Detective Superintendent Fiona McCormack says officers have seized documents in the investigation into the fire.
“What we are being told at the moment by the Building Research Establishment is that the cladding and insulation failed all safety tests,” she told reporters Friday.
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8:55 a.m.
British authorities are studying samples of similar to that used on the west London apartment building that caught fire, killing at least 79 people.
Eleven buildings have now been identified as having combustible cladding such as that used on the Grenfell Tower. The cladding is being studied amid fears that the panels fueled the fire in the 24-story building that was engulfed in less than an hour.
Buildings in London, Manchester and Plymouth are among those where problem cladding has been identified.
Fears about cladding is not limited to apartment buildings, and at least one hotel chain is calling in experts to make certain it meets safety regulations. Premier Inn said Friday it had “concerns” about the material on some of its buildings, though it is different to the type used on Grenfell.
Categories: Local News
Ann McFeatters: Montgomery County is reeling from opioid epidemic - The Columbus Dispatch
Local News - 10 hours 51 min ago
Ann McFeatters: Montgomery County is reeling from opioid epidemic
The Columbus Dispatch
It's true. Montgomery County, Ohio, feels like the center of the opioid crisis in America. But so do West Virginia and Maryland and Massachusetts and hamlets with such names as Pleasantville, Welch and Delray Beach. It is foolish to deny this is a ...
and more »
Categories: Local News
Column: Montgomery County is reeling from opioid epidemic - The Columbus Dispatch
Local News - 10 hours 51 min ago
Column: Montgomery County is reeling from opioid epidemic
The Columbus Dispatch
It's true. Montgomery County, Ohio, feels like the center of the opioid crisis in America. But so do West Virginia and Maryland and Massachusetts and hamlets with such names as Pleasantville, Welch and Delray Beach. It is foolish to deny this is a ...
and more »
Categories: Local News
North Korea denies torturing American detainee Otto Warmbier
WDTN News - 11 hours 21 min ago
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has denied it cruelly treated or tortured an American student who was detained for more than year and died days after being released in a coma.
The article published by the official Korean Central News Agency on Friday was Pyongyang’s first reaction to the death of Otto Warmbier. North Korea released him last week for what it described as humanitarian reasons and he died Monday in a U.S. hospital. His family and others have blamed North Korea for his condition.
KCNA says the North dealt with Warmbier according to domestic law and international standards. He had been accused of stealing a propaganda poster and was serving a sentence of hard labor.
The article also criticized South Korea for using Warmbier’s case to seek the release of other detainees.
Categories: Local News