Kasich joins Obama trade event in support of trade agreement
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Gov. John Kasich has visited the White House in support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.
The Republican was among guests of President Barack Obama at a bipartisan meeting of political and business leaders on Friday. Other guests include former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
During his presidential campaign, Kasich was a vocal supporter of the TPP, a key Obama priority. Eventual GOP nominee Donald Trump described it as a catastrophe. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton also opposes the 12-country pact.
Ohio is the 8th largest exporting state in the U.S., with nearly $51 billion in goods and services sold last year. Kasich says the TPP would open new markets for products and services made by American and Ohio workers and companies.
Akron will notify homeless before taking their belongings
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Akron officials have agreed to give homeless people two days’ notice before city officials remove their belongings from public property and give them a chance to reclaim those items, under a settlement in a federal lawsuit.
People who lost their belongings during sweeps of homeless camps sued city officials with help from law students and a professor from Case Western Reserve University. The lawsuit said city officials and police unfairly seized tents, sleeping bags, clothing and personal items, including photographs, identification and other documents in a series of raids.
The settlement was approved this week by a federal judge.
Under the agreement, Akron must store any sized items for a month so they have a chance to be reclaimed.
“This is an important victory for the homeless community — people all too often marginalized and abused,” Case Western law professor Avidan Cover said. “The court-enforced agreement makes clear that all homeless people have constitutionally protected property rights mandating notice and the opportunity to challenge government seizures.”
The mayor’s chief of staff, James Hardy, told the Akron Beacon Journal the city will benefit from the agreement.
“In our view, having a written protocol in place will help us to serve all residents who are homeless and not homeless,” Hardy said.
The damages paid by the city aren’t disclosed in the settlement, but Hardy said the city will pay $20,000 in damages and court costs.
Ohio unemployment rate drops again in August to 4.7 percent
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The state says Ohio’s unemployment rate dropped again in August to 4.7 percent.
That’s down from 4.8 percent the previous month but up slightly from 4.6 percent in August 2015. The national unemployment rate for last month held steady at 4.9 percent.
The state Department of Job and Family Services said Friday that Ohio had 272,000 unemployed workers last month. That’s 6,000 less than in July but 9,000 more than a year earlier.
The sectors that reported job gains in Ohio compared with a year ago included educational and health services, government employment, leisure and hospitality, construction and goods-producing industries. Losses were reported in mining and logging and information jobs.
High school senior dies in fire at her central Ohio house
DELAWARE, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say a high school senior has died after her central Ohio home caught fire.
Delaware Hayes High School Principal Ric Stranges says 17-year-old student Aaliyah Wilson was killed early Thursday when her suburban Columbus home burst into flames.
Fire officials say the flames quickly spread throughout the two-story home. Wilson was found on the second floor. WSYX-TV reports her father escaped and wasn’t hurt.
The state fire marshal’s office, city police and local fire investigators are working to determine what caused the blaze.
The Columbus Dispatch reports flowers, cards and chalk messages were left in a parking spot reserved for Wilson outside her school. A second memorial lines the hood of a car near the charred home.
Clinton campaign surrogates to court Ohio millennials
CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Hillary Clinton’s Democratic presidential campaign will get help this weekend in swing state Ohio from two surrogates aiming to appeal to younger voters.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont will open a weekend organizing push in Canton on Saturday morning before speaking to campus audiences in the Kent and Akron areas. No other details have been released.
Millennials concerned about college debt and their futures provided Sanders with strong support during his presidential primary bid.
Clinton’s campaign says Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren will emphasize Clinton’s plans for community college and in-state public university tuition breaks this weekend. Warren will campaign at Ohio State University on Saturday and in Cleveland on Sunday.
Republican Donald Trump’s latest Ohio campaign stop was in Canton on Wednesday.
Ohio Highway Patrol trooper struck, killed near Cleveland
CLEVELAND (AP) — An Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper has been struck and killed on an interstate near Cleveland.
The trooper has been identified as 48-year-old Kenneth Velez. The Highway Patrol says Velez was standing outside his patrol car “conducting traffic enforcement” when he was struck just before 1 p.m. Thursday on Interstate 90 in Lakewood.
The Highway Patrol hasn’t released any details about how Velez was killed.
Velez had been a trooper since November 1989. A statement says he’s survived by three children.
