Deer-vehicle collisions in Ohio drop as deer harvest grows
CLEVELAND (AP) — State data indicates more deer hunting between 2015 and 2017 helped decrease collisions between vehicles and deer around Ohio.
The Plain Dealer in Cleveland reports the Ohio Division of Wildlife says hunters have harvested about 186,000 deer statewide during that time period. Accidents involving vehicles and deer peaked in Ohio in 2015 at over 21,000 collisions, but that number had dropped by more than 2,600 by last year.
Some northeastern Ohio communities where the deer population had grown problematically have allowed or expanded bow hunting to thin the herds.
Strongsville’s public safety director, Charles Goss, says allowing bow-hunting had a nearly immediate effect in helping to reduce deer-vehicle collisions. Goss says the program is so popular that Strongsville is considering potential hunting on public lands and industrial properties.
Ohio shooting survivor: Honor Florida victims nonpolitically
WEST LIBERTY, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio teenager wounded in a school shooting last year says he thinks it’s disrespectful to victims of the February massacre in Parkland, Florida, to use that tragedy to further a particular political agenda.
In a Facebook video , West Liberty-Salem student Logan Cole says he won’t participate in the Wednesday student walkouts promoted by organizers of the Women’s March, which he says is oversimplifying the problem of school violence by advocating more gun control as the solution.
Cole says it’s better to honor the Parkland victims in a nonpolitical way. He is inviting classmates to join him in doing that through a Wednesday memorial service at his school.
The teen accused of wounding Cole and another student has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges including attempted murder.
Man pleads guilty after cop’s accidental fentanyl overdose
EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio (AP) — A man accused of exposing an Ohio police officer to the potentially deadly opioid fentanyl during a drug arrest has pleaded guilty to assault on a peace officer and drug-related charges.
The attorney general’s office says four doses of the overdose antidote naloxone were used to revive the officer from East Liverpool, nearly 85 miles (137 kilometers) southeast of Cleveland near the Pennsylvania line.
Authorities said the officer followed protocol and wore gloves and a mask when searching a car during the arrest last May, but later instinctively touched powder on his shirt without realizing it was fentanyl.
The suspect, a 25-year-old East Liverpool man, was sentenced Monday to over six years in prison.
Prosecutors say he was among 100 people charged in an investigation of a large drug-trafficking ring.
Police charge man in connection with hotel employee shooting
FAIRBORN, Ohio (AP) — Police have arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with the shooting death of an Ohio hotel clerk.
Dayton Daily News reports police took Michael McLendon, of Dayton, into custody last week. Prosecutors say he told police he shot 29-year-old Andrew Day at the Hampton Inn in Fairborn Wednesday after taking money from the hotel’s cash register.
Day was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.
McLendon has been charged with murder and aggravated robbery, and prosecutors expect to file additional charges as the investigation continues. He is being held on $1 million bond.
It is unclear if he has a lawyer.
McLendon was released from prison in 2017 following a previous conviction for aggravated robbery.
Students, bus driver throw fists in fight caught on video
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Several students have been captured on video fighting a school bus driver in Ohio and knocking him to the ground.
WBNS-TV reports the fight happened Friday at Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center in Columbus just after its 2:30 p.m. dismissal.
Police say two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old fought the 53-year-old bus driver. In the video, the driver is seen swinging at a student, missing and then falling to the ground when he is struck from behind.
Police say the driver suffered minor injuries.
Columbus City school officials say the bus driver was taken off the road Monday. It is unclear if the driver or the students involved will face further discipline.
Village takes traffic camera case to state’s high court
NEW MIAMI, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio village ordered to pay back $3 million in citations stemming from automated traffic cameras is taking its case to the state Supreme Court.
The Hamilton-Middletown Journal News reports New Miami has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to hear its appeal. Lower courts have ruled that New Miami isn’t immune to legal action because it gained funds by collecting fines under a traffic camera program that was declared unconstitutional in 2014.
The village argues sovereign immunity is guaranteed to municipalities across the state and necessary for preserving “fiscal integrity.”
The village cited nearly 45,000 motorists in 15 months. Josh Angel, an attorney representing one of the motorists, says the village’s appeal is a “stalling tactic.”
New Miami has said it will continue to challenge the ruling.
Family of man who died in 1966 sells his comic collection
CANAL FULTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio family wanting to preserve a rare comic book collection owned by their son who died decades ago has decided to sell it to a vintage toy store.
Jimmy Scott’s family tucked his massive collection away when the 23-year-old died in a motorcycle accident in 1966. Scott’s brother, Bob Scott, tells the Akron Beacon Journal he worried for years about how to preserve the 1,111 books.
The family recently decided to sell the collection to a vintage toy store in Canal Fulton called Toys Time Forgot as a way of preserving it.
Store manager Jami Meeker says many of the books feature the first appearances of characters like Green Goblin and Thor.
The store plans to sell the books, including a certificate honoring Jimmy Scott with each one sold.
