Here are your morning headlines for Monday, September 18th:
- Lawmakers aim to curb distracted driving after record crashes;
- Wooster football player dies of undisclosed causes after game;
- Anonymous donor will fund upgrades, new library at Kenyon College;
- Deadly Ohio State Fair ride comes down;
- New sign of life in effort to override Kasich's protections for Medicaid expansion;
- Nursing home reaches settlement in overdose death;
- CSU, Cavs end partnership;
- Ohio woman's son dies of overdose amid Hurricane Irma evacuation;
- More people than ever are living in downtown Cleveland;
Lawmakers aim to curb distracted driving after record crashes
The Ohio Legislature is considering two bills aimed at curbing distracted driving after records found that talking, texting and web surfing contributed to nearly 14,000 crashes in the state last year. One would make distracted driving a secondary offense with a maximum $100 fine. The other targets younger drivers by establishing a 9 p.m. curfew for driving unless accompanied by an adult and extending the learner's permit period from six months to a year.
Wooster football player dies of undisclosed causes after game
A football player at the College of Wooster has died after being hospitalized after a game Saturday when he complained he didn't feel well. 21-year-old Clayton Gelb was a senior offensive lineman on the team and a chemistry major at the school. School officials aren’t providing any details about what caused his death. The London, Ohio, native started at right guard in Saturday's 38-20 home win over Ohio Wesleyan University.
Anonymous donor will fund upgrades, new library at Kenyon College
Kenyon College says it has received $75 million from an anonymous donor, the largest gift in the school's history. The money will pay for a new library and academic quad on the campus of the school in Gambier, northeast of Columbus. The money will also be used to make Ascension Hall, one of the school's oldest and most iconic buildings, fully accessible to people with disabilities. The school says the donation is the largest-ever single gift to a private liberal arts college in the state.
Deadly Ohio State Fair ride comes down
Crews have begun dismantling the thrill ride involved in a deadly accident at the Ohio State Fair. The removal of the Fire Ball ride at the state fairgrounds began with a final inspection Saturday. A four-passenger carriage on the swinging and spinning ride broke apart July 26, on the opening day of the fair, and flung one of the ride's carriages into the air. An 18 year-old high school student, Tyler Jarrell, died. A State Highway Patrol investigation found the ride operators were not to blame. Dutch manufacturer, KMG, said the cause was excessive corrosion of a support beam.
New sign of life in effort to override Kasich's protections for Medicaid expansion
The Ohio House is again weighing an override of Gov. John Kasich's veto protecting Medicaid expansion after scrapping the idea in July. A memo circulating among House Republicans said GOP Speaker Cliff Rosenberger "would just like to see" where his caucus members stand now that efforts to repeal the federal health care law in Washington appear indefinitely stalled. The memo, obtained by the Associated Press, gave a reply deadline of 5 p.m. Sunday but added: "This does not mean the veto override will be on the floor this week." Kasich vetoed a budget provision June 30 that called for freezing new Medicaid expansion enrollment starting July 1, 2018, and preventing those who drop off the program from re-enrolling.
Nursing home reaches settlement in overdose death
A Rocky River nursing home has reached a settlement with the family of a woman who died from a drug overdose. Cleveland.com reports nurses at Normandy Manor mistakenly gave the woman 20 times the prescribed dosage of oxycodone. Federal investigators found nurses did not read the labels before giving the woman a higher concentration of the drug. A judge will rule on the 375 thousand dollar settlement at a hearing next month.
CSU, Cavs end partnership
Cleveland State University’s men’s basketball team has decided it will not play any of its games at the Quicken Loans Arena this year. Crain’s Cleveland reports a two-year partnership between the Cavs and the Vikings expired this past summer. That deal included handing over booking and cross-promotion for CSU games to the Cavs. Both teams had shared revenues from games played at the Q, and the Cavs had helped bring events to the Wolstein Center. The Vikings played only two games at the Q last season and attendance had been steadily dropping.
Ohio woman's son dies of overdose amid Hurricane Irma evacuation
An Ohio woman says her drug-addicted son has died of an apparent overdose after being abruptly released from a Florida treatment center ahead of Hurricane Irma. Kristy Herndon Whaley, of Westerville, says the body of 25-year-old Kyle Whaley was found behind a strip mall in Delray Beach, Florida, on Wednesday. The Columbus Dispatch reports Kyle Whaley studied economics and statistics at Ohio State University before becoming addicted to pain pills and dropping out in 2015. His mother said he was relocated to Florida from Ohio for treatment due to lack of available beds. When Legacy Healing Center, northwest of Fort Lauderdale, evacuated Sept. 8, Whaley said her son somehow wound up unsupervised at a sobriety house miles away rather than at the center's evacuation site. The center declined comment.
More people than ever are living in downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland has set a residency record. The Downtown Cleveland Alliance found 15,000 people are now living downtown, compared to just 2,000 seventeen years ago. The nonprofit organization did not include University Circle or Ohio City in its calculations. Alliance representative Joe Marinucci says he expects 20,000 downtown residents by 2020. Marinucci says occupancy has held at around 95 percent over the past six years. He attributes the high occupancy rate to millennials, young professionals and empty-nesters. The Alliance is celebrating the record with a series of events called "Downtown Days" that include food tastings, wine and a block party.
