Watchdog group files ethics complaint over Seitz probe

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A pro-sustainability watchdog group has filed an ethics grievance over a probe that cleared a powerful Ohio legislator after a sexual harassment complaint.

Scott Peterson, executive director of Checks and Balances Project, says the law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister retained by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office as special counsel had an ethical conflict in the case of Republican state Rep. Bill Seitz of Cincinnati. Taft is Seitz’s former law firm.

Checks and Balances opposes Seitz’s position against Ohio’s clean energy standards.

The Ohio Supreme Court’s office of disciplinary counsel will review the grievance to see if there is enough evidence to file a formal complaint.

A message seeking comment was left Friday for a Taft partner.

Seitz has said the sexual harassment complaint was “utterly meritless.”

Police say 2 dead in Ohio suburb after officer shoots man

FAIRFIELD, Ohio (AP) — Police say an officer fatally shot a man who was stabbing a woman in a suburban city in southwest Ohio.

The stabbing suspect died inside the Fairfield home, while police said the woman died later at a hospital in the northern Cincinnati suburb. Their identities weren’t released immediately.

Fairfield Police Chief Steve Maynard says officers responded Friday morning to a woman’s 911 call for help. He says she didn’t communicate specifics about why she needed help.

He says officers forced entry and found the man stabbing the woman in an upstairs bathroom. He says officer Bryan Carnes fired “several rounds” to stop him.

Carnes and another officer at the scene will be on administrative leave pending review of the shooting. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will investigate.

Woman gets probation for taking dead butterfly from exhibit

CINCINNATI (AP) — A woman who took a dead butterfly from an Ohio botanical garden has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that 36-year-old Jaime Revis was sentenced to six months’ probation after entering the plea Thursday. She was arrested in April for taking a blue morpho butterfly from the Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati.

Revis’ lawyer says she had previously been told by a conservatory employee that she could take dead butterflies that would otherwise be thrown away. The attorney called the incident a misunderstanding.

The Springfield Township woman says she uses the butterflies in her photography.

In addition to probation, Revis agreed to a lifetime ban from the conservatory and to take a critical thinking class.

Bank robbery suspect gives ID, easily tracked by police

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police say a quick-thinking bank teller convinced a suspected robber to hand over his own license.

Authorities say the man walked into a Huntington Bank in Columbus June 4 and gave the teller a note saying he was armed and demanding money.

The teller gave the man a stack of cash, but then he demanded more money from the electronic cash recycle machine in the bank’s lobby.

Police say the teller told the man the machine needed a driver’s license to dispense cash, so the man handed his own license over.

The license led police to the 51-year-old man who was arrested June 15 and charged with aggravated robbery and threatening with a deadly weapon.

Ohio judge accidentally shoots himself at shooting range

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Police say an Ohio judge accidentally shot himself at a shooting range.

Toledo Police say Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Michael Goulding was injured Thursday afternoon while going through a firearms qualification course at the Scott Park shooting range.

Goulding was trying to holster the gun when it fired, striking him in the leg.

A range officer applied first aid while the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department responded to the scene.

Goulding has been hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

Blue Angels return to Ohio this weekend for Dayton Air Show

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — The U.S. Navy’s famed Blue Angels are set to soar over Ohio this weekend for this year’s Dayton Air Show.

The Dayton Daily News reports the fighter jet team is headlining the event, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at Dayton International Airport.

It marks the return of military demonstration teams after performances were scrapped the past two years. Last year, the Thunderbirds canceled their show after a jet slid off a runway at Dayton International Airport and crashed, injuring the pilot. The Blue Angels canceled in 2016 after a crash killed a pilot during a practice show in Tennessee.

This year’s show will also feature stunt planes, the U.S. Army Golden Knights skydiving team and a re-enactment of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.