Ashland woman’s body found in North Carolina
Police in coastal North Carolina say a body discovered is an Ashland woman missing since her family vacationed there. Lynn Jackenheimer’s body was found Saturday about 30 miles from where the 33-year-old woman disappeared. Jackenheimer was reported missing when she didn't come home from a vacation on the Outer Banks with her two children and her boyfriend, Nate Summerfield. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Gas well blast kills one
A 19-year old man was killed in an explosion at an oil and gas well site in rural Tuscarawas County. The blast happened Monday morning near Bolivar, just south of Canton. An employee at a nearby group home says he felt the ground start to shake and looked toward the oil well. He says the cover of a storage tank shot about 100 feet into the air, and fuel leaked down a driveway and into a field. The name of the victim, who was sent to paint the well, has not yet been released.

Anti-fracking protestors try to block wastewater truck
More than two dozen protestors gathered at the site of an oil and gas well in Trumbull County Monday. The group was attempting to block trucks carrying wastewater from a deep-injection well used in the drilling process known as fracking.  A 22-year old Maryland man was arrested after chaining himself to a gate in Vienna. The group is pushing for more stringent testing and monitoring of brine wastewater.

Canton exploring lease of mineral rights
The city of Canton is considering legislation that would allow the lease of public land for oil and gas drilling. But its service director has concerns. Warren Price told Council last night that he believes drilling is occurring near one of the city’s water well fields and he’s worried about water contamination. Mayor William Healy says the leases could generate as much as $500,000. But one councilman said the city needs more information before making a decision on whether to lease its land.

Ohio GOP reviewing redistricting law petition
The Ohio Republican Party says it’s reviewing thousands of signatures on a petition for a ballot issue that would change the way Ohio’s legislative districts are drawn. The party says it has witnessed cases of signature gatherers engaging in fraudulent activity. Voters First submitted the 450-thousand signatures to Ohio’s Secretary of State. His office is also going over the signatures.

Democrats decry Husted’s vote to cut Cuyahoga County early voting
Democrats are pushing Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to reverse his decision last week to severely curtail early voting in Ohio’s largest Democratic county. Husted, a Republican, broke a party-line tie vote by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections last week. He sided with his fellow Republicans to eliminate two weekends of early, in-person voting and to cut back on weekday hours leading up to the November election. Cleveland Congresswoman Marcia Fudge is calling the move an “attack on voting rights," while State Sen. Nina Turner labels the limits an extension of  “Jim Crow,” referring to attempts to limit minority voters in the South. Cuyahoga County had the two weekends of early voting leading up to the March primary.

Renacci, Kaptur outraise opponents
Incumbent congressional candidates Jim Renacci and Marcy Kaptur both led their opponents in fundraising during the second quarter. Renacci, a Wadsworth Republican, raised around $500,000. 16^th District incumbent Democrat Betty Sutton of Copley Township raised nearly 300-thousand.  In the redrawn 9th district that stretches from Cleveland to Toledo, Kaptur raised over $129,000 while Republican challenger, Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher, raised around $95,000. 

Small business loan program set to invest in Cleveland
A Columbus-based loan program for small businesses is coming to Cleveland. The Plain Dealer reports the Economic and Community Development Institute will offer small loans to low-income entrepreneurs and businesses in areas that need more investment in business. A study released last year showed a need for around $38 million in small business loans in Northeast Ohio. The Institute will work with area banks and the U.S. Small Business Administration to secure funding.

Public pension funds suing JPMorganChase
Ohio’s public pension funds are joining a lawsuit against JPMorganChase. The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and two other funds lost nearly 28 million dollars in JPMorganChase’s nearly 6-billion dollar investment failure. The filings allege JPMorganChase of giving the pension funds false and misleading information.

Cleveland Zoo’s oldest elephant dies
The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo says its oldest African elephant has been euthanized after falling ill. The zoo says keepers found the 45-year-old female elephant named Jo lying down and unable to get up on Monday. Jo was born in Mozambique in 1967 and arrived at the Cleveland zoo 15 years ago from a facility in Oregon.