Ohio State plans to bring Wi-Fi to entire Columbus campus
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State University says it will spend nearly $19 million updating Wi-Fi access, including at its football stadium and basketball arena.
Ohio State trustees on Friday approved a plan to install wireless networking access points across the Columbus campus. University officials say they expect the project will be completed by December 2020 and will be funded by university and auxiliary funding.
Work on the Wi-Fi project is expected to begin next month.
Officials say wireless access will be available in Ohio Stadium and in the Schottenstein Center by fall of 2019.
The Columbus Dispatch reports trustees also approved a $95 million plan to renovate the College of Dentistry.
Museum to showcase items from glassmaker’s 200 year history
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The Toledo Museum of Art is planning an exhibit to mark 200 years of Libbey Glass.
The museum founded by the Libbey family in 1901 features an extensive glass collection.
Many of those items and others will be part of an exhibit opening on May 4 called “Celebrating Libbey Glass.”
Among the items it will feature are lamps, vases, pitchers, goblets, paperweights and the museum’s famed Libbey Punch Bowl.
The glassmaker’s roots go back to in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it began 200 years ago. The company moved to Toledo in 1888 and later changed its name to the Libbey Glass Company.
It’s presence in Ohio helped give Toledo its nickname “The Glass City.”
Cleveland police raid marijuana factory in city neighborhood
CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland police alerted by odors emanating from a building’s exhaust system has raided a large indoor marijuana grow operation in an inner-city neighborhood.
Cleveland.com reports police during a raid Friday found around 250 plants and 300 pounds (136 kilograms) of harvested marijuana inside a building outfitted with grow lights worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A man identified as the operator of the grow site was arrested. Cleveland police district Commander Brandon Kutz says investigators will confer with Cuyahoga County and federal prosecutors about possible charges.
An employee at a business across the street from the building said the operator told people he made and repaired furniture when he moved there a year ago. The employee says the neighborhood often reeked from the smell of marijuana.
Ohio issues warning about prom-season alcohol violations
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The spring prom season has prompted state officials to remind parents and students about Ohio laws prohibiting those under age 21 from consuming alcohol.
The Ohio Investigative Unit warns it’s illegal for parents to serve alcohol to people under age 21 who are not their children even at parents’ homes.
The Investigative Unit also says it’s against the law to buy alcohol for anyone under 21 and that it’s illegal for people under 21 to drive with a 0.02 blood-alcohol level or higher.
Investigative agents also recommend that limousine companies review policies with drivers who could be charged with allowing underage consumption.
Army Corps to dredge 2 recreational harbors in Ohio
CLEVELAND (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will dredge two recreational harbors in Ohio for the first time in several years.
The Plain Dealer reports the Army Corps announced Tuesday it will dredge the Rocky River and Vermilion harbors this summer. Documents show $920,000 in federal money will help fund the Rocky River project and $880,000 has been earmarked for Vermilion.
High water levels in the Great Lakes have helped postpone dredging projects at many harbors. Army Corps officials say shallow draft recreational harbors used by fishing and recreational boats are most in need of dredging.
Rocky River and Vermilion are the only shallow draft recreational harbors in northeast Ohio.
Polling places moved from schools over safety concerns
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — A handful of polling places are being moved out of Youngstown-area schools in northeast Ohio for the May primary over concern for student safety.
The Mahoning County Board of Elections announced this week it’s moving polling locations from six schools: Martin Luther King Jr., Williamson, Harding and Paul C. Bunn elementary schools, Poland Seminary High School and the Center for Community Empowerment.
Board Director Joyce Kale-Pesta says many of the locations would have had voters sharing hallways or entrances with students.
Kale-Pesta says the move is precautionary and that she would “rather be safe than sorry with kids.”
Polling locations at Chaney and East high schools will remain because the schools have separate entrances for voters.
Mavis Staples to receive Underground Railroad museum award
CINCINNATI (AP) — The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati says it plans to celebrate the life of singer and activist Mavis Staples with one of the museum’s highest honors.
The center will present Staples with the Everyday Freedom Hero Award at a reception on Friday. Staples will receive the reward prior to her concert performance, “An Evening with Mavis Staples.”
Tickets are available for the event. The reception will be open to ticketholders for the concert.
The Freedom Center says it created the Everyday Freedom Hero Award to recognize individuals and organizations that strive to live up to the ideals of the Underground Railroad movement while using their resources for the well-being and betterment of their communities.
