Ohio News Briefs

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Prosecutors say Ohio man planned to join Islamic State group

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Federal prosecutors say they began investigating a Jordanian citizen living in Ohio after he was arrested while trying to get into the Turkish embassy in Washington.

Prosecutors say the man is now accused of attempting to travel to Syria and fight with the Islamic State group against the Syrian leadership.

The U.S. Justice Department says 26-year-old Laith Waleed Alebbini was arrested Wednesday at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Kentucky.

Alebbini was in court Thursday afternoon in Dayton, Ohio, where he had been living. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for May 11.

Court documents do not indicate whether he has an attorney.

Records say Alebbini was arrested in January for unlawful entry at the Turkish embassy in Washington, but those charges were later dropped.

Ben Carson shares Kasich’s view that 2016 race ‘frustrating’

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ben Carson says he hasn’t read the book by Ohio’s governor, but says the two shared similar frustrations as 2016 presidential candidates.

The Housing and Urban Development secretary is in Gov. John Kasich’s home state this week on a national listening tour.

Carson now works for the Republican pair’s common 2016 rival, President Donald Trump. Kasich remains one of Trump’s highest profile detractors.

In an Associated Press interview on the tour’s first day Wednesday, Carson said he hadn’t read Kasich’s “Two Paths,” released Tuesday. It challenges the election’s tone of fear, hate and disrespect.

But Carson said he and Kasich were equally frustrated with the campaign “because we kind of wanted to talk about issues, and nobody else wanted to talk about issues. They just wanted fights and stuff.”

2 Ohio pastors indicted on child sex trafficking charges

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Two Ohio pastors facing federal allegations of sex trafficking of children now have been indicted on child pornography charges.

A federal grand jury in Toledo has indicted the Rev. Cordell Jenkins and the Rev. Anthony Haynes on both child sex trafficking and production of child pornography charges.

The two Toledo men have been in jail since April 7 after being arrested by federal agents at their homes.

The Blade newspaper reports that court documents say Haynes began grooming a 14-year-old girl for prostitution in 2014 and had sexual contact with her.

The documents say Haynes introduced her to other men, including Jenkins who is accused of paying to have sex with the teen.

Attorneys for both men didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment Thursday.

Northern Ohio man dies after explosion during fuel transfer

MILAN, Ohio (AP) — A workplace safety agency is investigating the death of a man hurt in an explosion while transferring fuel between hauling trucks at a northern Ohio business.

The Sandusky Register reports 70-year-old Thomas Layton, of Sandusky, died Tuesday at a hospital after the explosion that morning.

It occurred at Coles Energy in Milan Township, roughly 50 miles west of Cleveland. Milan fire Chief Brian Rospert says it appears the cause was a static charge while fuel vapors were in the air.

A spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration says its inspectors are investigating the workplace fatality.

The newspaper says the Coles corporate office didn’t return calls Wednesday.

Layton’s widow says Coles Energy officials had remained with her throughout Tuesday.

Ohio zoo euthanizes 29-year-old polar bear that had cancer

POWELL, Ohio (AP) — The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio says it has euthanized a 29-year-old male polar bear after veterinarians determined he had liver cancer with limited treatment options.

The bear euthanized Wednesday, Nanuq, fathered five surviving offspring in a species with a low reproductive rate.

Three are cubs born to the zoo’s two female polar bears last November. Nanuq also fathered Nora, who moved from Columbus to the Oregon Zoo, and Luna, who remains at the Buffalo Zoo.

Officials say Nanuq was rescued as an orphaned cub in Alaska in 1988 and lived at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Wisconsin. He was moved to Buffalo in 2009 and to Columbus in 2012.

The zoo says Nanuq surpassed the median life expectancy for such a bear by eight years.

911 call: Man wants police dog to search for stolen heroin

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Police say an Ohio man called 911 to request a police dog to help track down heroin allegedly stolen from him.

WEWS-TV reports a 20-year-old man in Bath Township, near Akron, made the call in January. The recording was released this week.

When the call operator asks why the caller needs a police dog, he replies that a female stole heroin from him.

Bath Police Chief Mike McNeely says it’s among the most bizarre things he’s heard in four decades of policing.

McNeely says the man is expected to face a drug charge after he pulled a brown, waxy substance from his pants while being interviewed by police.

The substance was seized and sent to a lab for testing. The caller was released pending the test results.

Ohio PTA plans town hall meeting on state’s opioid epidemic

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The statewide parent and teacher association focused on the health, safety and education of children plans to hold a town hall meeting on the opioid epidemic.

The Ohio PTA will open its annual convention with the town hall on Friday evening. The 111th convention runs through Sunday in Columbus.

The increasing use of heroin has led to record overdose rates across the state. The town hall will include presentations by the office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine on a statewide overview, summary of responses, and information about services and programs available for use in schools.

The state branch of the National PTA says it has some 70,000 members in more than 500 units.

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