Vet scammer identity unveiled
Federal officials have unveiled the identity of the accused veteran’s scammer known as Bobby Thompson. The U.S. Marshall’s service says Thompson’s real name is John Donald Cody, a 1972 Harvard Law grad who was an FBI fugitive. Cody had wanted by the FBI on espionage charges since the 1980s. He had been indicted, but never charged, so his fingerprints were not registered in an FBI database. U.S. Marshall Peter Elliot said during a press conference today in Cleveland that he had been doing Google searches for fugitives and came across an old FBI wanted poster for Cody and noticed a resemblance. Cody was captured in Portland, Oregon in April and is accused of running a charity scam that collected $100 million for veterans, including about $2 million from Ohioans. Authorities had not been able to identify him through fingerprints and had filed a motion to get his palm prints and samples of his handwriting and DNA.

Presidential visits this week
President Barack Obama's campaign has rescheduled his planned Columbus visit to Oct. 9. The campaign had earlier said he would come to Columbus this Thursday from Colorado, and then campaign in Cleveland on Friday. Instead, he will work in stops in Wisconsin and Virginia before coming to Ohio for the Cleveland rally. The Democrat and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, will debate Wednesday night at the University of Denver. Meanwhile, First Lady Michelle Obama will campaign for her husband in Cincinnati on Tuesday as early voting begins in the battleground state of Ohio.

Ohio problem-gamblers top 280,000
A baseline study of problem gambling shows Ohio is at the national average. The study from the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services shows Ohio’s at-risk problem gambling rate is estimated at 2.8 percent or 280,000 Ohioans. Hamilton County has the most problem gamblers and Cuyahoga has the most gamblers in general. Franklin County has about 2,100 problem gamblers. The Cleveland and Toledo casinos opened earlier this year and the Columbus casino will open in a week. The Cincinnati casino will open next year.