Ohio’s minimum wage increases by 5 cents with New Year here
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The state minimum wage has increased by 5 cents to adjust for inflation.
Non-tipped workers must be paid an hourly wage of at least $8.15 beginning Sunday. Tipped workers are slated to receive a minimum of $4.08 an hour starting next year — a bump of 3 cents.
The rising minimum wage reflects an increase in the Consumer Price Index, which rose 0.7 percent during the past year. There was no increase in minimum wage made for 2016.
The new wage only applies to companies with annual gross receipts of more than $299,000 a year. Ohio’s minimum wage for employees at smaller companies along with 14- and 15-year-old workers is tied to the federal minimum wage set by Congress.
Dozens make annual New Year’s Day plunge into Ohio river
WATERVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Dozens of people have repeated an annual New Year’s Day tradition by plunging into Ohio’s Maumee River near Toledo.
The Blade reports that at least 100 people participated in the polar bear plunge in suburban Waterville Sunday.
The event is held each January 1 in honor of the late Herb Mericle, a Waterville resident who did it for many years at exactly 2:30 p.m.
The newspaper says Mericle chose the time because that’s when he was married on Jan. 1, 1929. Mericle died in 2008.
Seasonably mild temperatures that hit 40 degrees helped boost the number of participants, though turnout has been strong in years when it was much colder.
Ohio volunteer collects memories from dwindling WWII vets
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A northeastern Ohio woman from a big military family is taking videos of World War II veterans’ recollections as part of a national project to capture veterans’ memories of war.
Suzanne Nichols tells the Akron Beacon Journal it’s important for people to see not just big-picture history but smaller stories about how war affects the people involved.
Two years ago, the Akron woman started recording stories and gathering documents and photos for the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project.
She’s had seven subjects so far. The most recent was 93-year-old former Navy man Clyde Dye, of Akron, whose crisp memory and gift of gab made him a good fit for the project.
Ohio sheriff says man shot, killed self in sheriff lobby
EATON, Ohio (AP) — A western Ohio sheriff says a man shot and killed himself in the lobby of the sheriff’s office.
Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson says the shooting happened Friday night. The sheriff’s office is in Eaton near the Indiana line.
The sheriff says dispatch and jail personnel heard a loud pop from the lobby area shortly before 8 p.m. and found a man seated with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot sound.
Simpsons says the man was pronounced dead at the scene. Eaton fire fighters, paramedics and police responded along with sheriff’s deputies.
The name of the man was not released. The sheriff’s and coroner’s office are investigating.
Ohio detective pleads guilty to stealing pills from home
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A former suburban Dayton detective will give up his Ohio peace officer certification after pleading guilty to stealing prescription pills from a home after police investigated a reported possible break-in.
Thirty-seven-year-old Ryan Meno faces up to 30 months in prison at his Jan. 31 sentencing after his guilty plea to theft of drugs, theft in office and obstructing official business.
Montgomery County Judge Mary Wiseman said Meno would be “forever disqualified’ from holding any public position of trust in Ohio.
Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said Kettering police responded Feb. 29 to call about a possible break-in at an elderly resident’s home. The prosecutor said there was no break-in, but Meno returned later on a claimed follow-up and stole pain medication.
A message was left Friday for Meno’s attorney.
Ohio police say finds of old ammunition becoming more common
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A family cleaning out the Toledo-area home of a relative who recently died stumbled across a live hand grenade from the World War II era.
Authorities in Toledo say it’s becoming a more common occurrence.
A Toledo police spokesman says the bomb squad retrieves old military munitions about once a month.
But he says too often people who discover old grenades or a mortar shell will haul it to the police station.
Police say the best thing to do is call 911.
That’s what happened this past week when the grenade was found in the suburban Toledo home.
The Blade newspaper reports that the Northwest Ohio Bomb Squad put the grenade in a blast-resistant container to dispose of it.
