Ohio amendment capping payday interest rates certified
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A ballot proposal to cap Ohio’s interest rates on payday loans and impose additional regulations on the industry has cleared its initial hurdle.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine certified the “Short-Term Loan Consumer Protection Amendment” on Monday. His office found backers’ re-submitted petition contained a “fair and truthful” summary of the proposal and the necessary 1,000 valid signatures. An earlier petition was rejected March 9.
The amendment goes next to the Ohio Ballot Board.
Organizers, including the Ohio CDC Association, said in launching the ballot effort in February that they want to see some of the nation’s highest interest rates on short-term loans capped at no more than 28 percent.
Ohio voters approved payday lending limits in 2018, but the industry has found ways to bypass those restrictions.
Teen’s body found in creek at nature preserve
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say the body of an 18-year-old high school student has been found in a creek at a southern Ohio nature preserve.
The Ross County Sheriff’s Office says Randon Cochran’s body was found Monday evening in Paint Creek about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from where he went into the water early Sunday while camping with friends on an island at Buzzard’s Roost Nature Preserve.
Authorities began searching for Cochran after receiving a 911 call shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday.
Cochran was a student at the Pickaway-Ross Career & Technology Center High School. Superintendent Dennis Franks says the school has made counselors available for students.
The nature preserve is roughly 53 miles (85 kilometers) south of downtown Columbus.
Memorial in Ohio Statehouse honors company losses in Iraq
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A memorial paying tribute to a central Ohio-based Marine reserve company that lost 22 Marines and a Navy Corpsman in Iraq in 2005 once again can be viewed at Ohio’s Statehouse.
Display of “The Eyes of Freedom ” honoring the members of the Columbus-based Lima Company continues Tuesday through Sunday in the Statehouse rotunda. The exhibit first displayed at the Statehouse in 2008 has been viewed at more than 270 events nationwide. Fifteen of the 23 who died were from Ohio.
The memorial includes paintings, names, statistics and boots of those killed. Columbus artist Anita Miller created life-sized paintings of each of fallen service member.
A newly unveiled bronze sculpture by Miller, “Silent Battle,” brings attention to suicides by veterans and other issues related to post-traumatic stress.
Slain student’s family sues prison agency, halfway house
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The family of a slain Ohio State University Student has sued Ohio’s prison agency and a residential facility where her killer lived claiming they didn’t adequately supervise him.
The lawsuit filed Monday by the family of Reagan Tokes with the Ohio Court of Claims seeks damages from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and NISRE Inc., a private company that operates the facility where 29-year-old Brian Golsby lived after completing a six-year sentence for attempted rape.
The 21-year-old Tokes’ body was found in a Grove City park near Columbus in February 2017.
Golsby was sentenced to multiple life sentences in March after a jury found him guilty of aggravated murder, rape and kidnapping.
A department of correction spokeswoman declined to comment about the suit. Messages were left with NISRE.
Ohio students to test wits against cybersecurity attackers
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A central Ohio university is hosting an event that will test students’ skills at defending against cyberattacks.
The daylong capture-the-flag event Tuesday at Franklin University will allow high school and college students to work to solve a series of real-world scenarios to test their knowledge and technical skills. Teams can retrieve virtual flags by successfully solving challenges and top finishers will receive special recognition.
The event is part of Cyber Range, a learning and teaching tool made available through the Ohio Cyber Collaboration Committee, or OC3. The committee coordinates Ohio’s efforts to strengthen cybersecurity.
Ohio police identify armed man fatally shot in SWAT standoff
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Columbus police have identified the central Ohio man who was fatally shot by SWAT officers after they say he made a “threatening gesture” with a handgun during a weekend standoff.
Police say 30-year-old Corey Cordova was a Columbus resident.
Police say he was shot early Sunday morning in a neighborhood on the city’s west side, near downtown.
Officers had responded to reports late Saturday night about a man firing shots into the ground. Police say the man ran into a house and SWAT officers and a hostage team tried to negotiate with him in a standoff that lasted more than an hour.
Police haven’t publicly identified the officers involved in the shooting.
