Headline News 07/05/11... 

Officials are trying to figure out what to do with a shuttered General Motors’ stamping plant near Mansfield after plans for a solar products plant suddenly fell through. California-based Calisolar says it’s unable to meet a September construction deadline to qualify for a $275-million federal loan it was recently awarded and has called off the project.  Calisolar had also received state and local incentives to take over the GM plant to produce silicon for solar cells.  The company expected to employ about 1,000 in the Richland County city of Ontario….Officials there said they are stunned by the news.

Two Akron-area churches that are being forced to move could be a precursor of what’s to come for congregations around the country. The Church of the Holy Spirit and St. Luke’s were among a handful of churches that broke away from the Episcopal Diocese in Ohio earlier this decade over issues including the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy. The split led to a dispute over who actually owns the church properties: the local congregations or the diocese. The Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court sided with the Diocese, and the churches are moving to new homes. Church law expert Archibald Wallace says similar disputes have gone the other way in courts. Wallace says other denominational churches such as the Presbyterian Church are going through similar struggles as the position on social issues change.

The U.S. EPA is trying to raise awareness about the dangers of radon and to increase testing. Radon is an invisible and odorless gas found in an estimated one in every fifteen homes. The concentration is even greater in Ohio, and long-term exposure can cause lung cancer.  Mike Hanson is a senior geologist for Ohio’s Geological Survey. He says once radon has been discovered in a home, it can be an expensive problem to fix.  Hanson says areas of Ohio with shale and limestone may have higher concentrations of radon. He adds home testing kits are available.

A fixture on the Cleveland rock music scene has died. Plain Dealer music critic Jane Scott died Monday at the age of 92. She began covering bands likes the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in the mid-1960s for the Plain Dealer.  She retired in 2002, earning the nickname, the World’s Oldest Teenager.  In 2003, Scott was a guest on NPR’s game show, Wait, Wait Don’t Tell me at Akron’s Civic Theater and she talked about how her career began. Funeral services for Scott will be held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a memorial service is Cleveland is being planned.

Governor John Kasich is looking to follow the lead of a handful of states and cities by leasing its toll road to a private operator.   Ohio's new budget allows the state to lease the 241-mile Ohio Turnpike.    Indiana last week marked the five-year anniversary of its lease of the Indiana Toll Road. The state has spent much of the money gained on highway projects.  A plan to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike fell through in recent years.

The state of Ohio is hiring the world’s largest independent research company to combat toxic algae blooms that are plaguing lakes for a third year. Columbus-based Battelle will conduct a $50,000 study to find the best treatment methods for Ohio’s largest inland lake – Grand Lake St. Mary’s.  Last year, the state was forced to warn people not to touch the water at the western Ohio lake and at nearly two dozen others statewide.  Battelle spokesman T.R. Massey says researchers will spend six months evaluating more than 60 algae-fighting technologies. The Ohio EPA began spraying Grand Lake St. Mary’s with alum last month.  Officials say they won't advise against boating and fishing at affected lakes this summer, but are warning visitors not to touch the algae blooms or swallow water.

A CSX freight train has leaked about 1,700 gallons of diesel fuel along the tracks and into a river through downtown Columbus. The spill was discovered Monday as the train, headed from Cleveland to Cincinnati, stopped in Columbus. There were two small spills into the Scioto River. The other fuel spilled along the train tracks.

Authorities in Stark County are searching for a loose mountain lion. Police in Canton say sightings of the animal were reported Monday in Canton and nearby Louisville after it escaped from a nearby exotic animal farm. Police are being helped in the search by sheriff's deputies, county park rangers and state troopers using a Highway Patrol helicopter.

The U.S. Forest Service is conducting an experiment in the Summit County Metro Parks to find a way to replace Ohio’s ash trees. Many of the state’s ash trees have been wiped out by the Emerald Ash Borer – a green beetle from China that first invaded the U.S. in 2002.  Kathleen Knight is the research ecologist conducting the experiment. She says that the dying ash trees have left a gap in forests that must to be filled. So, she’s looking to discover the ideal time to plant those replacement trees.  Knight says she hopes to see some results within the next five years, but the trees will be monitored for the next 20 years.

Jurors return from a long holiday weekend in the Cleveland trial of a man charged with killing 11 women and dumping their remains around his house.  Testimony broke off Thursday in the case of Anthony Sowell. Last week was the first week of testimony, highlighted by three women who said Sowell choked and tried to kill them.  Sowell has pleaded not guilty.