Here are your morning headlines for Thursday, July 22:
- Ohio could get $1B in opioid settlement
- Sen. Sanders to campaign for Turner in Cleveland
- ODOT commits $2.5M to study The Browns’ lakefront plan
- Pelosi bars Trump allies, Jordan, Banks from Jan. 6 probe; GOP vows boycott
- Court overturns death penalty conviction in women's slayings
- Indictment: Man who hates women planned shooting at sorority
Ohio could get $1B in opioid settlement
(WKSU) -- Ohio is expected to receive around $1 billion as part of a settlement reached with the three largest distributors of opioid medications and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson. Thirty percent of Ohio’s payout will go toward community recovery programs at the local level -- 55% for a statewide foundation and 15% to the state. The negotiations took four years to finalize. It’s the second-largest such deal in U.S. history next to the $206 billion big tobacco settlement of 1998.
Sen. Sanders to campaign for Turner in Cleveland
(WKSU) -- The August 3 special election for the 11th District Congressional seat continues to attract nationwide attention. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will campaign for Nina Turner on July 31 at Cleveland’s Agora Theater. Turner worked on Sanders' 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. He joins New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who will be in Cleveland to support Turner on Saturday. The election to replace former Cleveland Congresswoman Marcia Fudge is getting heated between Turner and Shontel Brown, who has received several key endorsements of her own, including Hillary Clinton and Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina.
ODOT commits $2.5M to study The Browns’ lakefront plan
(WKSU) -- A plan from the owner of the Cleveland Browns to develop the Lake Erie shoreline got a boost on Wednesday. The Ohio Department of Transportation has awarded $2.5 million to the city for a preliminary traffic engineering and economic development impact study. The proposal includes building a bridge to connect the downtown Mall to the waterfront, which are currently separated by railroad lines and the Ohio 2 Shoreway. There is now $5 million committed to the initial study of the $230 million project, which would still be years away from breaking ground.
Pelosi bars Trump allies, Jordan, Banks from Jan. 6 probe; GOP vows boycott
(AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is rejecting two Republicans tapped by House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Pelosi cited the “integrity” of the probe in refusing to accept the appointments of Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan or Indiana Rep. Jim Banks. The two men are outspoken allies of former President Donald Trump, whose supporters laid siege to the Capitol that day and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s win. McCarthy said the GOP wouldn't participate in the investigation if Democrats won't accept the members he appointed.
Court overturns death penalty conviction in women's slayings
(AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has overturned the death penalty conviction of a man who pleaded guilty to killing three women. The court in a 7-0 decision on Wednesday said a three-judge panel in Cleveland failed to tell 49-year-old George Brinkman about his right to question witnesses during a plea hearing in 2018. The same panel sentenced him to death the following month. Brinkman will remain on death row despite the ruling. A three-judge panel in Stark County sentenced him to death in 2019 for fatally shooting a couple in 2017. Their bodies were found the day after the three women were killed in North Royalton.
Indictment: Man who hates women planned shooting at sorority
(AP) — An Ohio man has been indicted on an attempted hate crime charge for allegedly planning to kill sorority members at Ohio State University. Federal prosecutors on Wednesday identified the man as 21-year-old Tres Genco, of Hillsboro, Ohio is charged with possessing a machine gun. Authorities say Genco identifies as an “incel" — an online community of mostly men who advocate for violence against women because they believe they're unjustly denied sexual and romantic attention.
