Here are your morning headlines for Tuesday, September 7:
- COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise
- Navy Corpsman Max Soviak’s remains return to Ohio
- Judge reverses order forcing hospital to give ivermectin to COVID patient
- Group gets approval to collect signatures for recreational pot campaign
- Akron house explosion under investigation
- State broadband grant program begins
COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise
(WKSU) -- COVID hospitalizations in Ohio continue their steady march upwards following the steep rise in new cases. Nearly 3,000 people are hospitalized, up from 2,000 patients just two weeks ago. New cases over the past five days average more than 5,800 per day, spiking last week at more than 7,000 daily cases. According to Ohio Health Department data, 1 in 4 cases occur in children. The coronavirus is raging through rural southern Ohio, which also has among the lowest vaccination rates with just over 1 in 3 of those eligible getting the shot
Navy Corpsman Max Soviak’s remains return to Ohio
(Cleveland.com) -- The remains of a northern Ohio Navy Corpsman who died in the August attack on the Kabul airport will return home Wednesday. Cleveland.com reports a public procession of Max Soviak’s remains will start at the U.S. 250 interchange of the Ohio Turnpike around 11:30 a.m. and end at the Morman-Hinman-Tanner Funeral Home in his hometown of Berlin Heights in Erie County. The 22-year-old Soviak was among 13 U.S. service members who were killed in the attack. In honor of his service, the Navy promoted him to the rank of Hospital Corpsman Third Class on Sept. 2.
Judge reverses order forcing hospital to give ivermectin to COVID patient
(Statehouse News Bureau) -- A judge in southern Ohio has ruled that doctors at a Cincinnati area hospital cannot be forced to give COVID patients a livestock medicine as treatment. Butler County Judge Michael Oster, Jr. denied a previous order from another Butler County Common Pleas judge ordering UC Health West Chester Hospital to treat Jeffrey Smith, 51, with ivermectin prescribed by a doctor from Centerville who hadn’t seen Smith and didn’t have privileges at the hospital. Smith’s wife had sued when the hospital refused to use the drug. Oster wrote that he’s sympathetic but that the CDC and major medical organizations say it’s not a treatment for COVID. The CDC reports that cases of ivermectin poisoning have tripled this year from people using the over-the-counter version.
Group gets approval to collect signatures for recreational pot campaign
(Cleveland.com) -- State regulators have given backers of a new effort to legalize recreational marijuana the green light to begin gathering signatures for the campaign. Cleveland.com reports that the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol must now gather nearly 133,000 signatures from registered voters in half of Ohio’s 88 counties to put the measure before lawmakers. The legislature would then have four months to either pass their language or a similar measure. If lawmakers fail to act, the group would need to gather more signatures to put the marijuana legalization referendum before voters in November 2022. The proposal would expand medical marijuana dispensaries, and allow adults 21 and older to purchase, possess and grow marijuana.
Akron house explosion under investigation
(WKSU) -- Authorities are investigating what caused an explosion Monday morning at a home in Akron’s Kenmore neighborhood. The Akron fire department reports that a neighbor was able to pull a man from the burning home. The occupant is being treated for burn injuries.
State broadband grant program begins
(WKSU) -- A state program to bring broadband to underserved areas is underway. Gov. Mike DeWine on Monday announced that the Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program is now accepting applications from providers willing to bring broadband to the roughly 300,000 underserved households. The program provides a pool of $250 million in grant money to private and public sector partners through Nov. 8.
