08/23/10 HEADLINE NEWS…

Residents near Oberlin College in Lorain County soon may be seeing an end to their complaints about a nearby landfill.  State environmental officials and lawyers say the operator of the Lorain County landfill have agreed to negotiate a settlement to stay out of court. The settlement could include fines. Republic Services Inc., the landfill operator, says it is committed to doing the right thing and will cooperate. Republic also owns Countywide Landfill in Stark County that has been the target of years of complaints and EPA orders to control a fire burning under the landfill’s surface.

The pastor of a breakaway Catholic church in Cleveland says he’s still deciding if he’ll meet with the bishop about returning to the fold. The new church was formed after the original St. Peter’s was closed earlier this year in a Diocese downsizing plan. As WKSU’s Kevin Niedermier reports, Father Robert Marrone perfomed his second Sunday Mass yesterday in a rented factory building called the Community of St. Peter.

Following the deaths of two domestic violence victims, A Cleveland judge is revamping a committee responsible for studying domestic violence-related deaths. The municipal judge says he is overhauling the Cuyahoga County committee and has replaced the social worker who led the panel for years. The committee is 15 years old, and the judge says its reports have contained only broad suggestions, not specific recommendations. The panel's new leader, a probation officer, says it will make specific and realistic recommendations and that progress will be monitored.

The father of a 24-year-old Ohio man who was killed by a captive bear in Lorain County last week says the animal is dead. John Kandra requested the animal be euthanized after the bear attacked and killed his son Brent Kandra of Elyria when he opened the cage to feed the animal. There were up to nine bears on the property in Columbia Township. The owner used to offer the chance to wrestle a black bear at a Cleveland expo.

Ohio vineyards are expanding beyond the wine-growing hub of Ashtabula County with the help of a government program. The Vineyard Expansion Assistance Program has given $2,000 each to 19 wineries. Ohio government leaders say the small investment in wine grapes will lead to big dividends. The state's industry is evolving from a few mass producers of mainly sweet wines to a large number of small producers who cater to a range of tastes.

The Plain Dealer reports the troubled Cuyahoga County boards of revision may have used an illegal, secretive process to hear property value cases. The newspaper reports that 26-thousand cases were decided by a process called administrative review…where board members decide the appeals behind closed doors without ever meeting with taxpayers.  Anyone who challenges the value of his property is supposed to get a hearing. Cuyahoga County recently reassigned the administrator and two staffers for its boards of revision after a review that found the office is mismanaged.

Nearly 5-million dollars will go to help preserve coastal land in the Great Lakes region, funded by the federal EPA’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Two of the projects are in Ohio – one on Kelleys Island, and the other along the Lake Erie shore. They will be receiving a total of more than 1-million dollars, which will be matched by state and local agencies. Liz Mountz is a coastal management specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She says that when these areas are acquired by public agencies, they are protected from development and generally available for public access. She explains why these two areas in Ohio were selected. Mountz says the Kelleys Island acquisition, which includes 18 acres of rare red cedar forest, will be adjacent to Kelleys Island State Park, creating a larger, connected system of protected property on the island.

The first hearing is today in a multi-state lawsuit that demands tougher federal and municipal action to prevent Asian carp from overrunning the Great Lakes and decimating their fishing industry. Ohio and four other states have filed a lawsuit in northern Illinois’. The lawsuit calls for the closing of locks, addition of screens and netting to block movement, and poisoning areas where the carp is suspected to be present. It also calls for further study of permanently cutting off the Great Lakes from the Chicago Area Waterway System. The U.S. Supreme Court has rebuffed the complaining states twice.

A heavily traveled stretch of Interstate 76 near Akron is being closed for more than a week for construction. The Ohio Department of Transportation says the work begins tomorrow on the east bound lanes at the Kenmore leg. The westbound lanes will follow through September 3. The stretch connects with Interstates 77 and 277, and U.S. 224.

Vice President Joe Biden makes a stop in Toledo today. He’ll visit the Chrysler Jeep Wrangler Assembly complex to talk about efforts to strengthen Ohio’s auto industry. The visit is also aimed to raise money for Governor Ted Strickland’s re-election campaign.

A woman was hit by a car and killed while police were breaking up huge brawl near the University of Akron over the weekend. Police say the 21-year old Bellaire woman was hit by a 17-year old driver suspected of drunk driving. The victim was standing on the sidewalk while police were controlling a crowd nearby.

14 Ohio counties are working to limit the spread of rabies in raccoons using bait that contains vaccinations. Counties will begin spreading nearly 800-thousand baits Tuesday through the end of next month. It will be spread counties, including Cuyahoga, Summit, Portage counties.

The Indians lost to the Tigers 8-1 on Sunday, and were swept in the weekend series. The Indians finished a six-game road trip to Kansas City and Detroit with just one win and are a season-worst 24 games under .500. The highlight of the game was an acrobatic catch by Jayson Nix. Nix hit the rail on the photographer’s pit, made the catch and tumbled head-first about six feet into the pit. He stuck up his glove holding the ball.