Thousands still in the dark after yesterday’s storms
Strong storms rolling through Ohio knocked out power for at least 50,000 customers in central and southwest parts of the state. American Electric Power-Ohio says more than 14,000 customers are still without power. The bulk are in Tuscarawas County, which has nearly 3,000 outages this morning. The utility restored service to 30,000 customers overnight. FirstEnergy reports Pennsylvania were harder hit with more than 70,000 customers in Central and Northern PA still without electricity. The storm temporarily shut down operations at the Ohio State Fair as visitors were asked to take nearby shelter. Utility companies were worried yesterday’s storms could be a repeat of June 29^th’s Derecho storms that knocked out power for more than a week to tens of thousands of homes in Ohio.

Window washers caught on scaffold during storm
It was a close call for four workers in Cleveland caught on a scaffold 10 stories above East 9^th Street cleaning windows at the Federal Building.  The Plain Dealer reports heavy rain and strong winds tangled cables of the scaffold as they were trying to get down from the 32-story building. One end fell two stories injuring the workers.  Rescuers alerted by a passerby’s 911 call smashed a window and helped the men inside.  They were treated at MetroHealth Center. 

Auditor looking into school attendance data
The state auditor says he is expanding an investigation into changes made to student attendance data in several districts to statewide. In a letter sent yesterday to Ohio Board of Education President Debe Terhar, Auditor Dave Yost said the fact that infractions are now under investigation in Columbus, Toledo and suburban Cincinnati suggests the problem may not be local but systemic.

West Nile Virus on the rise in Ohio
Health officials are warning about the risk of West Nile virus to Ohio residents after seeing a 5-fold increase in mosquitoes carrying the virus in pockets of the state. The Ohio Department of Health says the number of mosquito samples testing positive for the sometimes-deadly virus at this point in the year are the highest number since 2002. Health department officials stress that people all over the state should be aware of mosquitoes because of the rising numbers.

Timken earnings fall far short of projections
Canton-based Timken says its earnings will be about 18 percent lower than it projected. The Plain Dealer reports the steelmaker blames the weak global economy for reducing demand for its products. Sales are down 14 percent in Europe and 8 percent in Asia. Timken’s stock price tumbled 16 percent yesterday following the release of the earnings report. There were some bright spots, though, in the company’s second quarter earnings report. Sales in North America were up 7 percent and the company’s earnings were up 50 percent over a year ago.

Teen charged in sleepover shooting
Authorities have charged a 14-year-old Columbus boy in the fatal shooting of his friend during a sleepover earlier this month. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the child was charged Thursday with reckless homicide in the death of 14-year-old Noah McGuire on July 5. Court filings say it happened during a Fourth of July sleepover at the home of the grandparents of the boy charged in the shooting. The boy told police he found an unsecured gun in the house and unintentionally shot his friend, who was pronounced dead shortly after paramedics arrived. The boy's grandmother, who has legal custody of him, was out shopping at the time. The friend's mother said she doesn't believe that the boy should face any charges.

Tribe tops Tigers, wins series
Asdrubal Cabrera singled home the go-ahead run in a four-run seventh inning as the Indians rallied to beat Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander 5-3 last night. Carlos Santana and Travis Hafner tied it at 3 by homering on the first two pitches of the inning by Verlander.