Bill would require drivers to move over for garbage trucks
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio House will consider legislation giving garbage trucks “move-over” protections in place for emergency vehicles.
A bill expanding those protections was approved by a House committee Wednesday and now moves to the full House. The Senate passed the bill unanimously in October.
The bill would require drivers on multilane roads to move at least one lane away from garbage trucks and must slow down while passing if they can’t change lanes.
The National Waste and Recycling Association says garbage trucks can make 600 to 900 stops a day. The organization says similar legislation has been approved in 16 states, including Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York and West Virginia.
The Dayton Daily News reports penalties would be a misdemeanor moving violation with a maximum fine of $300.
More than 131,000 issued concealed carry licenses in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s attorney general says more than 131,000 residents were issued licenses last year to carry concealed weapons.
Attorney General Mike DeWine says there were 77,281 new permits issued and 54,064 renewals.
The Dayton Daily News reports the total amount of permits issued in 2017 was down 34 percent compared to the record number of 158,000 in 2016. Last year’s numbers were also below the five-year average.
Permit holders can bring their weapons to bars and restaurants, day care centers and college campuses where guns are allowed.
Ohio law requires permit holders to complete eight hours of training.
4 face federal charges in large-scale fake ID operation
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Four people accused of operating a large-scale fake ID operation that netted investigators $4.7 million in bitcoin have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Ohio.
The four from the Toledo area are facing federal charges announced Thursday that include making false identification documents and possessing document-making equipment.
The group was arrested in early February after investigators seized bitcoins, computers, printers and gold and silver bars inside a Toledo home.
Ohio authorities began investigating in 2015 after receiving several fake ID cards from a bar in Springfield. A college student told investigators his friends bought IDs from the online social forum Reddit.
Documents say buyers had to follow specific instructions to hide the transactions and use bitcoins, digital money that isn’t tied to a bank or government.
Boy, 8, drowns after being carried away by fast creek waters
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say an 8-year-old boy who was swept away while trying to cross a fast-moving creek in southern Ohio has died.
The Chillicothe Gazette reports the boy was found Thursday by family members and died at a hospital in Chillicothe. The Ross County Sheriff’s Office hasn’t released his name. He was a student at Huntington Elementary School in Chillicothe.
Southern Ohio has been hit hard by rainstorms in the last week with extensive flooding reported throughout the region.
Ross County Sheriff George Lavender says people need to be cautious around small creeks like the one the boy tried to cross because they can become fast-moving streams after heavy rains.
Snow storm downs power lines, close schools in NE Ohio
CLEVELAND (AP) — The front edge of the storm causing havoc on the East Coast dropped as much as a foot of snow on parts of northeast Ohio with heavy winds leading to power outages and school closings.
Cleveland-based National Weather Service meteorologist Marty Mullen says wind gusts from the storm passing through Thursday night into Friday morning reached 55 mph near the Lake Erie shoreline with sustained winds of 20-30 mph.
Mullen says areas in Ashtabula County in the far northeast corner of the state received 10-12 inches of wet, heavy snow while temperatures hovered around freezing. Areas west of Cleveland reportedly received less than an inch.
Winds caused power outages throughout the area with numerous school closings reported east of the city.
