Woman who killed 2 teens while texting sentenced to prison
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio woman who drifted off a road while texting and struck and killed two teenage girls has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Twenty-five-year-old Natasha Boggs, of New Franklin, asked for forgiveness before being sentenced Friday in Akron.
Boggs pleaded guilty in March to two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and one count each of vehicular assault and attempted tampering with evidence for the deaths of 14-year-old Taylor Galloway, of Akron, and 14-year-old Amber Thoma, of Coventry Township, in May 2017. A 15-year-old boy was seriously injured.
They were struck alongside a road with no sidewalks in Summit County’s Coventry Township.
Boggs received credit for the 11 months she’s spent in jail, making her prison sentence just over five years. Her driver’s license was suspended for five years.
Supreme Court sets execution date for man who killed couple
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has set an execution date for a man convicted of stabbing to death an elderly couple inside their home.
The court on Friday scheduled Charles Lorraine to die on March 15, 2023, for the 1986 slayings of 77-year-old Raymond Montgomery and his 80-year-old bedridden wife, Doris Montgomery, in Warren.
Records show the 51-year-old Lorraine, of Warren, stabbed Raymond Montgomery five times with a butcher’s knife and his wife nine times before burglarizing their Trumbull County home.
A federal judge in March dismissed the arguments of Lorraine and two other convicted killers that Ohio’s method for putting prisoners to death was unconstitutional and lifted their stays of execution.
One of Lorraine’s attorneys said Friday that work will continue to prevent Lorraine from being executed.
Ohio’s unemployment rate unchanged in May
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — State officials say Ohio’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged from April to May at 4.3 percent and remained higher than the national rate.
The state’s unemployment rate in May 2017 stood at 5.1 percent.
The national rate was 3.8 percent in May, down from 3.9 percent in April and 4.3 percent in May 2017.
The state’s Job and Family Services Department says Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased by 22,600 jobs from April to May.
The agency reported job gains in sectors that include trade transportation and utilities; financial activities; leisure and hospitality; professional and business services; educational and health services; and other services. Job gains also were reported in construction; manufacturing; and mining and logging.
Government employment in Ohio increased by 2,500 jobs in May.
Police identify women killed in Ohio crime rampage
TRENTON, Ohio (AP) — Police have identified two women believed to have been killed by a man that led officers on an hours-long standoff in southwest Ohio.
The Butler County Sheriff’s office says the 45-year-old suspect shot and killed 27-year-old Megan Motter and dumped her body in Madison Township.
The investigation into Motter’s death led deputies to an apartment in Trenton Wednesday, where they say the suspect shot at them and took three women hostage.
Negotiators tried to talk the man out of the home, but he turned his gun on himself. Officers later found 63-year-old Sharon McCleary dead inside with a gunshot wound.
The suspect has been hospitalized, and is expected to live.
Police have yet to file charges.
Man who shot officer during drug raid found guilty
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A man accused of shooting an Ohio narcotics detective during a drug raid at a Toledo home has been found guilty.
Jamaine Hill was sentenced to 47 years in prison Thursday after he was found guilty of multiple counts of assault in connection with the shooting that injured Detective Jason Picking.
Prosecutors say Hill fired five shots at SWAT team members who were executing a search warrant at the 39-year-old’s home in November 2017. One struck Picking in the face and shattered his jaw.
Hill says he thought someone was breaking into his home.
Picking has returned to work, but still faces additional surgeries. He declined to comment after Thursday’s hearing.
Hill’s attorney tells The Blade that he intends to appeal the jury’s verdict.
FBI to investigate Ohio company that failed to deliver trips
CLEVELAND (AP) — The FBI has opened an investigation into an Ohio company that failed to deliver on pre-paid field trips for more than a dozen schools and thousands of students from across the state.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland said Thursday it makes sense for the FBI to investigate Discovery Tours Inc. because of the number of Ohio counties involved.
Hundreds of consumer complaints have been filed with the state attorney general.
The Mayfield-based company filed for bankruptcy protection last month, listing $1.4 million in assets and nearly $4 million of debt.
Attorney Lester Potash said Thursday problems “snowballed” for Discovery Tours when a Washington, D.C.-area hotel canceled reservations despite the company having paid deposits for rooms.
Potash says the company and its owners have done nothing criminal.
Over 100 books, DVDs reported stolen from library
WADSWORTH, Ohio (AP) — Police say someone checked out more than 100 books and DVDs from an Ohio library and never returned them.
Investigators say the items were taken from the public library in Wadsworth in northeast Ohio April 11 and are presumed stolen. They are valued at about $5,100.
Lt. Dave Dorland told The Medina Gazette on Wednesday that police don’t have a suspect, but they have identified the person who owns the library card used to check out the items. They spoke with her mother, who said that her daughter’s purse had been stolen, along with her library card. Police were not able to locate the daughter.
Library director Daniel Slife says the library card was created two days before the items were checked out. He says he just wants them returned.
New sculpture to recognize city’s Prohibition history
WESTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio city once considered ground zero for Prohibition is unveiling a sculpture commemorating the city’s role in the movement.
Officials in Westerville in suburban Columbus planned to dedicate the sculpture, “The American Issue” by artist Matthew Gray Palmer, on Friday evening.
The sculpture recalls the era when Westerville was a village of 1,500 residents, many of whom moved to central Ohio to establish the Anti-Saloon League.
A wedge recalling the way Prohibition divided the country and a split barrel are among the privately funded sculpture’s images.
Friday’s event includes music, games and — of course — nonalcoholic beverages in the form of root beer floats.
Prohibition was enacted as the 18th Amendment in 1920 and repealed in 1933.
