WKSU News: Noon news headlines for August 17, 2012

Friday, August 17, 2012 Noon news headlines for August 17, 2012 FirstEnergy overspent on renewable energy credits; Kucinich questions Davis-Besse re-opening; Obama to campaign in Ohio

FirstEnergy overspent on renewable energy credits

Kucinich questions Davis-Besse re-opening

Obama to campaign in Ohio

FirstEnergy overspent on renewable energy credits
Audits have found that Akron-based FirstEnergy spent millions more than it should have to comply with state renewable-energy mandates — and passed the cost onto customers.
The Plain Dealer reports that the increase works out to about $5 a month for the average customer.
The law requires that a percentage of the power every electric company sells be generated with renewable technologies such as wind and solar. Companies can buy "renewable-energy credits" instead of the power itself or pay the state a fine.The audits called FirstEnergy's decisions "seriously flawed." But the company said it had no choice but to the buy the credits.

Kucinich questions Davis-Besse re-opening
Congressman Dennis Kucinich is questioning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision to let the Davis-Besse nuclear plant reopen despite cracks found in its concrete shell.
The plant on Lake Erie reopened in December after a shutdown last fall due to the cracks.
In a letter sent this week, Kucinich asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to review its decision. The commission accepted FirstEnergy's findings that a lack of exterior weatherproofing coating caused the cracks and approved its plan for continuing safety that involves applying a new coating and performing tests.

Obama to campaign in Ohio
President Barack Obama will campaign next Tuesday in the Columbus area. The president also had stops earlier this month in Mansfield and Akron, while Republican challenger Mitt Romney was in southeast Ohio earlier this week.

Celebrezze Building hit with bed bugs
It's no sleeping-on-the-job joke for employees in a Cleveland federal office building treated for bed buds.Two floors of the Celebrezze building were treated for bed bugs last week.The government's real-estate management agency says the infestation was confined to a small area.
Ohio State University's Susan Jones tells The Plain Dealer that bedbugs in the office are common.
Bed bugs can commute to the office in shoes, laptop cases, clothes and purses. In the office, the bugs will hide in the fabric of chairs, in carpets or in boxes.
A national trade groups says that in 2011 almost 40 percent of pest management professionals in the U.S. treated office buildings for bedbugs. That's more than double the rate one year earlier.

Mexican drug cartel linked to Southern Ohio growers
Law enforcement officials say they think a marijuana growing operation discovered in rural southern Ohio could be connected to a Mexican drug cartel.
The Ohio Attorney General's Office said the 1,200 plants were discovered this week during a routine helicopter search to eradicate growing marijuana in Pike County, east of Cincinnati.
During the ground raid, officers found two abandoned camps where they believe Mexican nationals had stayed.
Officers from 13 area law-enforcement agencies worked all day Thursday to remove the plants and burn them. They believe the marijuana produced by each plant could have been worth $1,000 to $1,500 on the street.
There were no arrests, but officers are looking for the people who abandoned the camps.

Browns win second pre-season game
Cleveland Browns' rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden helped the team win its second preseason game, beating the Packers 35-10 in Green Bay last night.

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