Gas prices rising in Ohio, nationally as summer nears
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Gas prices around Ohio continue to climb as summer nears.
The average for a gallon of regular fuel in Ohio was about $2.39 in Monday’s survey from auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX Inc. That’s up 7 cents from last week. At this time last year, it was just $2.17.
The national average was slightly higher than the state average Monday at $2.42, up a penny from a week ago. The national average was much lower a year ago at $2.13.
AAA says prices at the pump have been rising as the switch is made to more expensive summer-blend gasoline and driving demand increases.
Police: Boy, 10, set fire at Ohio store with people inside
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) — Police say a 10-year-old boy has been charged as a juvenile with aggravated arson after a fire at an Ohio discount store caused damage estimated at more than $200,000.
Middletown police Lt. Jim Cunningham says about 10 people were inside the Family Dollar store when the fire began Sunday afternoon. No one was hurt.
Investigators suspect the fire was set intentionally.
Police say the boy’s mother helped officers track him down after they determined he was a suspect. There was no immediate information about why or how the fire was set.
Police didn’t publicly identify the boy. He was released to his mother and is scheduled to appear in Butler County Juvenile Court on May 16. It wasn’t clear whether he has an attorney.
Girl, 14, finds man dead of overdose while mowing grass
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Police in Ohio say a 14-year-old girl was mowing the grass at her grandfather’s apartment building when she stumbled upon a man dead of an apparent overdose.
The Dayton Daily News reports the girl found the body Saturday morning. It was in bushes near the rear of the Dayton apartment building managed by her grandfather.
Medics arrived and pronounced the man dead. He was identified as 25-year-old Cody Robert Couch.
Couch was one of two people to die of apparent overdoses in the city in a 24-hour span. Two others were revived by medics using naloxone, a drug used to counteract overdoses.
Ohio governor, ex-GOP presidential candidate, publishes book
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A new book by Ohio Gov. John Kasich looks at what Kasich calls the positivity of his presidential campaign compared with the election cycle’s negativity.
Kasich’s “Two Paths: America Divided or United” is being published Tuesday. The book reflects on Kasich’s career, his run for the presidency and his views on a wide range of issues, from media coverage of politics to voting rights.
The 64-year-old Kasich was President Donald Trump’s longest-lasting competitor in the GOP primary race and declined to endorse Trump after he clinched the nomination.
The two have continued to feud, with Kasich calling Trump’s recent immigration executive order “ham-handed.” Trump supported a contender for state party chair in Ohio who defeated a Kasich backer for the job.
Ex-US Rep. Dennis Kucinich stages anti-charter school tour
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is making a series of appearances across Ohio to describe what he says are the failings of the state’s charter school system.
The 70-year-old Cleveland Democrat, who served 16 years in Congress, plans the town hall-style forums in Centerville, Columbus, Parma and Elyria Monday through Thursday. He’ll kick off the week with a news conference at the Ohio Statehouse.
Charter schools long have been a political talking point for Democrats in the state, who point to cases of poor academic performance alongside the money diverted to such programs from traditional public schools.
The state’s Republican-led state Legislature passed legislation last session aimed at improving accountability and cracking down on charter schools that are persistently failing.
Kucinich will hold question-and-answer sessions at each stop.
$5M donation to enable Native American museum in Ohio
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A $5 million donation to a university in northeast Ohio will enable construction of a museum centering on Native American artifacts and research.
University of Akron President Matthew Wilson said the donation from Jim and Vanita Oelschlager will be used to construct The Oak Native American Museum, as part of the Institute for Human Science and Culture at the school’s Cummings Center for the History of Psychology.
The new museum will provide research opportunities and community access to the Oelschlagers’ collection of 800 Native American artifacts.
No opening date has been set for the museum, which will feature galleries, a reading room, classrooms and a workshop.
Vanita Oelschlager says the museum will make a private collection available to students and the general public.
