Voters in Ohio primary approve majority of school tax issues

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Voters in Ohio’s primary election approved the majority of school tax issues on ballots around the state.

The Ohio School Boards Association says the results not yet certified by the secretary of state show 73 percent of the 97 school tax issues in Tuesday’s primary were approved.

The association says most of the school tax issues approved on Tuesday were renewals, and the passage rate for new funding was significantly lower.

Voters on Tuesday approved 94 percent of the 49 renewal tax issues. They approved only a little more than a half, or 52 percent, of new school tax issues on ballots around the state.

Voters in last year’s primary in March approved 71 percent of 68 tax issues.

Crews search for man after canoe capsizes on lake

CINCINNATI (AP) — Rescue crews are searching for a man missing at a lake in suburban Cincinnati after a canoe that he and another man were in capsized.

Hamilton County sheriff’s officials say the other man was pulled to safety after he was located in water at the dam shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday. Water rescue boats searched the 156-acre lake for the missing man until ending for the night about 2:30 a.m.

The search resumed about 7 a.m. Thursday.

Lt. Greg Grimm with the Great Parks of Hamilton County says the men were fishing in a personal canoe when it capsized as they left an island. A family member called authorities when they didn’t return home.

Officials say the rescued man was recovering at home.

Witness: Truck in fiery crash tried to avoid wrong-way car

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A witness to a crash and fire that temporarily closed a southwest Ohio interstate says the wrong-way car driver who died appeared to intentionally move into the path of an oncoming semi-truck, whose driver tried to avoid the collision.

A police report on the Sunday crash on Interstate 75 in Dayton indicates police suspect drugs or alcohol were a factor for the wrong-way driver, a 30-year-old Beavercreek man. Test results are pending.

Witness David Arnold was driving behind the truck. Arnold tells The Dayton Daily News that the truck driver clearly tried to avoid the collision, then ran to nearby vehicles warning that the truck hauling gasoline was about to explode.

It burst into flames and black smoke that could be seen for miles.

The truck driver suffered minor injuries.

Man sorry that his left-behind guitar caused airport scare

CLEVELAND (AP) — Police say an unattended bag that led to security officials temporarily closing part of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was a guitar left behind by a man who couldn’t afford the luggage fee for it.

A police spokeswoman tells Cleveland.com that prosecutors will decide whether to pursue any charges against the 45-year-old man from Taberg, New York, over the bag abandoned Tuesday in a check-in area.

Some passengers were guided into safety zones away from that area, while flights continued taking off and landing. The man was questioned and allowed to board his flight home after investigators determined there was no safety threat.

He tells WEWS-TV that he’s sorry and that he didn’t realize his role in what happened until it was over and he was questioned.

Self-proclaimed prophetess’s campaign van catches fire

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The campaign van for a perennial mayoral candidate and self-proclaimed “prophetess” in Ohio has been damaged by a fire.

WTOL-TV reports Opal Covey’s minivan caught fire in Toledo on Wednesday. The large sign on top, which claims she is Toledo’s legitimate mayor and has been since the 2013 election, was not damaged. She received 142 votes in the 2013 primary election, out of nearly 24,000 cast.

Covey says the van had shut down as she was driving and caught fire as she was trying to restart it.

She and her sister both got out safely.

Investigation of jail supervisor referred to prosecutors

EUCLID, Ohio (AP) — A supervisor at an Ohio jail could face criminal charges after being accused of an asking an employee to look up information about his ex-wife’s boyfriend.

Cleveland.com reports that Steven Key denies the allegations and says the employee volunteered to look up the information.

The investigation began in February when Euclid police cited Key with menacing after a confrontation with his wife’s ex-boyfriend. The boyfriend told police he thought Key had run his license plate to find out his address.

Police found someone had run the plate from the Euclid jail, where Key worked. The Cuyahoga sheriff runs the jail and took over the investigation. It was referred to prosecutors Wednesday.

Key has been reassigned to the jail in downtown Cleveland and his database access has been revoked.

Ceremony honors Ohio peace officers killed in line of duty

LONDON, Ohio (AP) — Five Ohio peace officers who died last year in the line of duty are being honored.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and law enforcement officers from across the state are remembering the officers at the annual Ohio Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony in London, about 28 miles west of Columbus.

The ceremony honors the memory of 782 Ohio peace officers killed in the line of duty since 1823.

The officers who died last year include: Officer Thomas Cottrell Jr., Danville Police Department; Officer Steven Smith, Columbus Division of Police; Officer Sean Johnson, Hilliard Division of Police; Trooper Kenneth Velez, Ohio State Highway Patrol; and Officer Aaron Christian, Chesapeake Police Department.

Their names and those of seven historical inductees are being added to the Ohio Fallen Officers’ Memorial Wall.