09/03/10 HEADLINE NEWS …
The Democratic Governors Association has filed an elections complaint alleging Fox News Network illegally helped Ohio Republican governor candidate John Kasich solicit funds. In the filing, the association says Fox improperly allowed Kasich to request contributions from viewers during an Aug. 18 broadcast and displayed the address of his campaign website.
The group that won the bid to bring the Gay Games to Cleveland/Akron in 2014 is suing the city of Cleveland. Cleveland Synergy Foundation claims that the city conspired with the Federation of Gay Games to revoke the group’s license to produce the games last month. The decision to revoke the license was made at about the time that the city of Cleveland was raising questions about Synergy’s lagging fundraising and documentation of some of its expenses. The lawsuit also names Mayor Frank Jackson’s chief of government affairs, Valerie McCall, who says the city and the Federation of Gay Games did not compare notes.
Earlier this week, the Federation demanded that Synergy stop representing itself as the host of the games.
Less than two weeks before he was to be executed, Canton native Kevin Keith has gotten a reprieve.
Keith was convicted of killing two women and a child – and shooting three other people in Bucyrus in 1994. But he’s always maintained he’s innocent, and questions have arisen about the eyewitness testimony that convicted him. Even some death penalty proponents asked the governor to commute his sentence, but the parole board recommended the execution proceed Sept. 15th.
Thursday Gov. Strickland commuted Keith’s sentence to life in prison. Keith’s brother, Charles, has championed his brother’s cause. He said today’s decision is a relief, but not enough.
Keith insists another man did the shooting to try to quiet a drug witness. Prosecutors and the victims’ families insist Kevin Keith is the killer.
One of Akron’s five unions has ratified a new contract with the city in a vote of nearly three to one. The Civil Service Personnel Association represents more than 340 of Akron’s clerical and administrative workers. The union has agreed to concessions in order to avoid the layoffs of 31 of its members. Union President Chuck Victor said he’s still concerned that Akron’s long-term budget issues are not fully resolved.
With this vote, Akron has reached contract agreements with four of its five unions. The fifth, the city’s police union, is awaiting a fact-finder’s report before continuing negotiations.
Next week, President Barack Obama will make his ninth visit to Ohio since his inauguration. Mr. Obama will talk about the economy in Cleveland on Wednesday, but the White House is releasing few details about the visit.
The Youngstown School district appears ready to name its new superintendent. A citizen’s group has recommended Pamela Brown for the job. Brown is interim chief academic officer at the Philadelphia School District.
Ohio has received more than a half billion dollars from the federal government for reimbursement of its Medicaid program. Gov. Strickland’s spokeswoman, Amanda Wurst, said Ohio’s hospitals, in particular, will receive 150-million from the funds now.
Wurst said the governor is holding more than $243 million of the money back for now, because he wants to gather input from the legislature before designating where that pot of money should be spent.
The owners of a cement company, and engineers in two Northeast Ohio cities were indicted Thursday on charges of theft and bribery. A Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted family construction company owners Mario, Massimo and Marco Leone for overbilling the city of Solon two-million dollars. Assistant Prosecutor Dan Kasarus said the company used lower grade concrete for street projects. He said the company could do that by bribing Solon construction supervisor Dominic Bisesi. Bisesi has been charged with taking about $80 thousand in bribes. Kasarus said the extent of the damage to Solon’s sidewalks and streets is not yet clear.
Kasarus said the Leones also overbilled the village of Valley View by nearly $160 thousand. Valley View Engineer Paul Day is charged with theft for allegedly creating false bid documents for the company.
A former Cleveland schools chief who is serving five years in prison for making fake equipment purchases has pleaded not guilty to similar charges in Toledo. Daniel Burns is accused of making fake copy machine purchases totaling nearly 700 thousand dollars when he headed business operations for Toledo public schools. He was sentenced in July for orchestrating a similar scheme in the Cleveland district.
A former Cuyahoga Falls doctor injured in an explosion in his apartment admitted he kept an arsenal of pipe bombs. 57-year-old Mark Campano pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of possessing unregistered weapons. Federal agents found 37 pipe bombs in his apartment after two explosions last year.
A panel of judges has dismissed a complaint by the Ohio Democratic Party that accused Supreme Court Justice Maureen O'Connor of making improper campaign endorsements. Democrats claimed O'Connor violated rules of judicial conduct by publicly backing fellow Republican Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger for re-election.
Regulators will decide whether American Electric Power made so much money in parts of Ohio that it should pay partial refunds to customers. A 2008 Ohio law that made it easier for utilities to raise rates
also says their profits must not be "significantly excessive." A state watchdog says that description fits last year's 21 percent return on investment for AEP's Columbus Southern Power operating company in central and southern Ohio.
The Browns beat Chicago 13-10 last night, but may have lost rookie Montario Hardesty who hurt his knee. Fellow rookie Colt McCoy got his first pro start and went a perfect 13 of 13 for 131 yards in two-plus quarters.
No. 2 Ohio State rolled over Marshall 45-7 last night. The Buckeyes next opponent is No. 13 Miami, which coasted past Florida A&M 45-0. | 
Headline News for Monday, May 23, 2011
