State gets 370 applications for medical marijuana licenses
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — State officials say they’ve received more than 300 applications to operate 60 dispensaries that will sell medical marijuana.
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy said on Monday that it had received 370 applications to operate the dispensaries the state expects to have up and running in about a year. The deadline for applications was Friday.
A board spokesman says no deadline has been set for determining which businesses will get licenses to operate the dispensaries. The state application fee was $5,000.
No single company will be allowed to own more than five dispensaries.
Ohioans with one of 21 medical conditions can legally buy and use medical marijuana if it’s recommended to them by a physician.
State patrol warns holiday travelers to observe traffic laws
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio State Highway Patrol is warning motorists heading into the Thanksgiving holiday period to follow all traffic laws, including buckling seat belts and never driving impaired.
The patrol says nine people were killed in nine crashes on Ohio roads during the long holiday weekend last year. Five of those fatalities resulted from impaired drivers and six did not use seat belts.
Troopers say they will have an increased presence on Ohio’s roadways in an effort to remove impaired drivers.
AAA projects 50.9 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more away from home this Thanksgiving. That’s a 3.3 percent increase over last year.
The 2017 Thanksgiving holiday reporting period begins Wednesday at 12 a.m. and ends Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
2 more men indicted in slayings of couple at used car lot
CLEVELAND (AP) — Two alleged accomplices indicted in the slayings of a couple at their used car lot in Cleveland are accused of helping the suspected shooter, who already was charged.
Cleveland.com reports that authorities accuse the newly indicted suspects of helping to rob the business in April as victims Trina Tomola and Michael Kuznik were closing for the day.
The charges against those suspects, 23-yer-old Jerome Diggs Jr. and 24-year-old Andrew Keener, include aggravated murder and aggravated robbery.
The suspected shooter, Joseph McAlpin, was indicted on those and other charges, including some that could lead to a death sentence if he is convicted.
Court records listed no attorneys for the three defendants ahead of their arraignments, which are scheduled for Monday in Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) County court.
Ohio officer shot in face is recovering from initial surgery
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Police say a narcotics detective who was shot in the face during a drug raid at an Ohio home can’t speak as he recovers from surgery but is communicating using a whiteboard.
Toledo police say Detective Jason Picking was hurt when SWAT officers knocked and tried to enter a home last week and a man repeatedly shot through a door. One bullet shattered Picking’s jaw.
A police spokesman tells The Blade newspaper that the 36-year-old Picking was treated at a hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and likely faces more surgeries.
The suspect, 38-year-old Jamaine Hill, is jailed on $3 million bond.
Hill’s relatives say he thought someone was breaking into the home and he regrets what happened.
Police say SWAT team members identified themselves when they knocked on the door.
Review clears police who shot ‘Buckeye Bandit’ bank robber
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police say officers acted within department policy when they shot and wounded the suspected serial bank robber whom law enforcement called the “Buckeye Bandit” because he often wore Ohio State University clothing.
Columbus police cornered him after a teller slipped a tracking device into a bundle of cash during a robbery last year. Police say two officers fired when the man pointed what appeared to be a handgun.
The department says an internal review found the officers acted according to police policy.
The man, Ikechi Emeaghara (ee-KEE’-chee ee-MEHG-‘rah), was suspected in a string of robberies. He pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery in federal court and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that his attorney said the 28-year-old turned to robbery after losing his job.
Man charged in stabbing ordered to mental health facility
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A northeast Ohio man accused of fatally stabbing his 76-year-old mother has been ordered confined to a mental health facility.
The Akron Beacon Journal reports Michael Gleisinger received two evaluations on whether he was competent to stand trial. The first found the 49-year-old was sane, but a second evaluation found him incompetent but “restorable” with treatment.
A judge ordered on Thursday that Gleisinger be treated at a Northfield facility for up to one year. Gleisinger’s lawyer says he is happy the man is getting some treatment.
Police say he stabbed his mother Nancy Gleisinger in the chest and abdomen at their Akron home in May. He has been charged with murder and felonious assault.
The man has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Couple crashes into woods after high-speed police chase
BUTLER, Ohio (AP) — Police say they plan to file several charges against a couple that crashed into two cruisers during a high-speed chase in Ohio.
The police chase ended after the couple crashed into a wooded area in Butler Township Monday night. Authorities say the man and woman, both 26, have been hospitalized with injuries that are not life-threatening.
Police say the chase started after officers tried to stop the couple from stealing less than $100 worth of merchandise from a Walmart. Chief John Porter says the driver struck a police cruiser in the parking lot, hit a dumpster and then backed into a second cruiser.
No officers were injured. Porter says the cruisers are out of service and need to be repaired.
The suspects’ identities have not been released.
