WKSU News: Headline News for Thursday, September 9, 2010

Thursday, September 09, 2010 Headline News for Thursday, September 9, 2010 President Obama proposes tax credits in speech Wednesday; Akron reaches tentative deal with police union; Former investment advisor defrauds clients out of millions by WKSU's AMANDA RABINOWITZ	Reporter Amanda Rabinowitz

President Obama proposes tax credits to boost economy in speech at Tri-C Wednesday
Akron reaches two-year tentative deal, heads off layoffs with police union
Former investment advisor and owner of Rico Latte defrauds clients out of $30 million

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09/09/10 HEADLINE NEWS …

In a speech at Cuyahoga Community College’s Parma campus, President Barack Obama leveled an unusually direct attack against House Minority Leader John Boehner in the Republican's home state. Speaking in the same area where Boehner recently unveiled Republican economic proposals, Mr. Obama accused Boehner of holding middle-class tax cuts hostage in favor of also extending tax cuts for the rich.

Euclid-based Lincoln Electric got a victory in federal appeals court Wednesday. The 6^th Circuit court overturned a more than $20 million jury verdict against the Cleveland company and four other welding manufacturers accused of making a San Francisco welder sick. The company argued that a 2007 jury verdict determining that the defendants gave little warning about the health dangers was speculative and not based on science.

Akron has a two-year tentative deal with its police union, heading off – for now – 40 layoffs that were to take effect this weekend. In exchange for concessions, the contract promises no layoffs of police officers for two years.

More than 440 Fraternal Order of Police members began voting on the contract today. But its success ultimately rests with Akron voters in November. That’s because the city plans to ask voters to shift 12 million dollars from an income tax that has been designated for schools. Instead, the money will help pay for safety forces. Mayor Don Plusquellic said the solution isn’t perfect, but the city had to adjust to drastic shortfalls in revenue.

The police union is the last of five Akron labor unions to agree to contract concessions with the city. The deal with the firefighters did not include a no-layoff clause, but the mayor says he now is extending that to firefighters as well.

A former Beachwood-based investment advisor will spend more than 8 years in prison for defrauding investors out of $30 million. Enrique Villalba, 47, admitted last April that he made risky, unauthorized investments with his clients' money. He also used some of it to operate his Rico Latte coffee shops and to buy property.

Ohio health officials said at least seven illnesses are likely related to polluted water at the state's largest inland lake -- Grand Lake St. Marys in western Ohio. The Ohio Department of Health says that four other reports of water-related illnesses from this summer are still under investigation. Toxic algae found in the lake has led state officials to warn people to avoid direct contact with the water in the lake, which sits between Toledo and Dayton.

Stark County Republicans have picked a candidate to run in the November election for the scandal-plagued county treasurer’s position. Alexander Zumbar is North Canton’s chief fiscal officer. He will face former state banking regular Ken Koher in November. Koher was picked by Democrats Tuesday as interim treasurer. The candidate who wins will fill out the nearly three years left on the term of Gary Zeigler, who was booted out of office after his hand-picked chief deputy admitted he stole about $2.5 million to cover gambling debts.

A new report shows Cuyahoga County needs double the number of boards of revision originally thought to handle 16,000 extra tax appeals. The report says the county needs four additional boards instead of two. The county is offering new hearings after a legal opinion showed the office had been doing things wrong for years. Thousands of cases were decided without hearings as required by law and sometimes by a single board member.

Cuyahoga County Recorder Lillian Greene is arguing in court that she should keep her job even after it’s eliminated in January. Last November, voters did away with the office of recorder – along with sevem other offices in favor of a county executive and council. Green has more than two years left on her term, and argues that putting her out of work early thwarts the will of the voters who elected her two years ago.

Ohio's emerald ash borer quarantine has become statewide. That makes it illegal to remove ash trees, ash materials, or hardwood firewood from any of Ohio's 88 counties into a non-quarantined area. The state was already under a federal ban on out-of-state movement.

Congressman Tim Ryan, Gov. Ted Strickland, car dealers and line workers were on hand to celebrate the official rollout of the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze at GM’s Lordstown Assembly plant. GM has staked much of its future on sales of the new fuel-efficient subcompact, which is being built in Northeast Ohio’s Lordstown.

A company that puts protective armor on military vehicles has said it will cut about 300 more jobs in southwest Ohio due partly to the loss of a key U.S. Army contract. BAE Systems said leaner defense budgets and the global economy also contributed to the need for cuts at its plant near the northern Cincinnati suburb of Fairfield.

Authorities say no injuries were reported in a gas leak yesterday from a DuPont plant just outside Cincinnati. A county park and golf course were evacuated as a precaution.

A top official with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it's unlikely Asian carp are getting past electrical barriers by swimming under barges. Gen. John Peabody testified in federal court in Chicago Wednesday during a hearing in a five-state lawsuit regarding the invasive fish. Peabody says metal-hulled ships can disrupt a small part of a barrier's electrical field. But he says fish don't like to swim under moving ships. The hearing is set to continue Friday.

The Columbus Dispatch says Ohio's five public retirement systems spent more than $1 million on conference travel over a one-year period, while the economy continued to squeeze their pension investments. The Dispatch reports that records showed at least one hotel stay costing more than $400 per night, and foreign trips by officials with the State Teachers Retirement System cost more than $10,000.

Listener Comments:

They convicted Enrique Villalba a couple of days ago. I hope the victims are able to recover some losses from the third parties complicit with this guy http://www.investorclaims.com/news/villalba-sentenced-to-jail-today-law-firm-continues-investigation20100908.cfm

Posted by: cole (ohio) on September 10, 2010 2:09AM

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