Ohio agency seeks adjustments to no-bid contract process
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio agency under scrutiny for its awarding of no-bid contracts is proposing an alternative way of selecting some vendors.
The Department of Administrative Services will seek state Controlling Board approval Monday to exempt it and other state agencies from competitive selection in certain cases, but with new protections.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that the request calls for obtaining at least three price quotes from among 500-plus pre-qualified suppliers. If two or fewer bids are received or if only one company can provide the product or service, the contract could still be awarded through the unbid process.
The proposal follows scrutiny by state legislators and authorities after a Dispatch investigation. The newspaper found the agency sometimes ignored internal policy and analysts to questionably award millions in no-bid IT contracts.
Execs, academics among 15 named to Ohio aviation panel
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Public members of the newly formed Ohio Aerospace and Aviation Technology Committee include academics, corporate leaders in aeronautics fields and experts in airports and flying.
State Sen. Bill Beagle, a Tipp City Republican, announced the 15 appointees Tuesday. He chairs the committee working to develop policies for enhancing the industry in Ohio.
Appointees are: David Williams, Columbus; Robert Tanner, Delaware; Terrence Slaybaugh, Vandalia; Ronald Shroder, West Chester; Vincent Russo, Dayton; Jeffrey Rolf, Brecksville; Paul Orkwis, Loveland; Maureen McFarland, Kent; John Leland, Kettering; Virgil Johnson, Wellington; Adam Holmes, Nashport; Michael Heil and Carlos Grodsinsky, both of Hinckley; Joseph Coogan, Worthington; and Tony Bailey, Dublin.
Ohio’s public universities are represented, as are corporations specializing in the fields of manned and unmanned space flight, analytics and logistics, among others.
Ohio woman faces charge for taping 11-year-old son to chair
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say an Ohio woman has been charged criminally for duct taping her 11-year-old son to a chair before taking another child swimming.
Thirty-two-year-old Susan Malysa, of Boardman Township, remains jailed after a court appearance Tuesday for felony child endangering.
Boardman Township police say they arrested Malysa on Monday at a YMCA after a relative went to her home and found the boy in the home’s basement, bound to the chair with his mouth taped shut. Police say the child was cold and shaking.
A police report notes a previous report from April 2016 alleging that the child told a school counselor a woman had hit him with a hammer to discipline him.
Relatives have custody of the children.
Court records don’t indicate if Malysa has an attorney.
Man sentenced to life in prison to be released
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A man sentenced to life in prison for strangling his wife is set to be released under a new plea agreement, after an Ohio coroner changed the woman’s manner of death.
The Columbus Dispatch reports 56-year-old Timothy Howard had filed for a new trial after the Franklin County coroner changed the manner of death for his wife Delilah from homicide to “could not be determined” in 2012.
Howard entered an Alford plea to involuntary manslaughter and attempted tampering with evidence Tuesday. His agreement included a recommended sentence of 10 years and seven months in prison. Howard has already served about 10 ½ years in prison for his wife’s death in 2006.
Defense attorney Joanna Sanchez says Howard could be released by mid-July.
