Here are your morning headlines for Monday, August 27:
- Kasich orders flags flown at half-staff for John McCain
- Ohio Libertarians set slate for fall elections
- Sexual abuse lawsuit filed against Cuyahoga Falls televangelist Ernest Angley
- Wright State's faculty union sets strike date
- Hunting Works for Ohio reports hunting generates over $1 billion
- Records show Ohio government watchdog refused to investigate collusion allegations
Kasich orders flags flown at half-staff for John McCain
Gov. John Kasich has ordered all flags at public buildings and grounds in the state be flown at half-staff to honor the life and service of Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday. Kasich ordered the flags lowered effective immediately through the day of McCain's interment. In a statement, Kasich described McCain as "an iconic American hero, patriot and statesman without compare."
Ohio Libertarians set lineup for fall elections
Ohio Libertarians have set their statewide slate for this fall's elections. Governor candidate Travis Irvine and his running mate, business owner Todd Grayson, call themselves the "pro-freedom alternative to career politicians" Mike DeWine, the Republican, and Richard Cordray, the Democrat. Irvine is a filmmaker who previously ran for mayor of Bexley. The party also nominated Robert Coogan, a Cincinnati accountant and finance professional, for state auditor, and Dustin Nanna, of Delaware, for secretary of state. The Libertarian Party of Ohio regained minor party status in July through a process imposed under Ohio's new, more restrictive third-party law.
Sexual abuse lawsuit filed against Cuyahoga Falls televangelist Ernest Angley
A lawsuit filed by a former associate pastor at a Northeast Ohio megachurch claims televangelist Ernest Angley sexually abused and harassed him over a 10-year period starting in 2004. The allegations detailed in a complaint in Akron by Brock Miller, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, were previously reported by the Beacon Journal in January. Miller claims Angley, who recently turned 97, forced him in 2004 to get a vasectomy as a condition of his employment, inspected his genitals and repeatedly asked questions of a sexual nature at Angley's Grace Cathedral in Cuyahoga Falls. The lawsuit alleges Angley made Miller lie on a bed while the televangelist massaged him. Angley didn't respond to requests for comment from WOIO-TV and the Beacon Journal. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Wright State's faculty union sets strike date
The faculty union at Wright State University has set Oct. 1 as a date to strike if its members reject a fact-finder's report. The union says the strike will happen if at least 60 percent of the members reject the report due Sept. 11. The university administration previously offered a three-year contract with no raises, reduced health benefits with higher premiums and a new furlough proposal. The American Association of University Professors says the cut in benefits and a furlough combined would amount to a 9-percent pay cut.
Hunting Works for Ohio reports hunting generates over $1 billion
A group associated with the firearms industry says hunting generates more than $1.4 billion for Ohio's economy.
The newly formed Hunting Works for Ohio found hunters spend $850 million a year on average in the state, including $320 million in trip-related expenses and $274 million on equipment. The report also found that Ohio sees about 553,000 hunters each year and Ohioans who hunt generate $97 million in state and local taxes. The group is one of at least 18 state chapters organized through a project of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
Records show Ohio government watchdog refused to investigate collusion allegations
Records show Ohio's government watchdog declined to investigate allegations of collusion and political manipulation involving the governor and attorney general. At issue was an investigation Attorney General Mike DeWine launched in 2015 after secretly taped video appeared to show Planned Parenthood employees engaged in potentially illegal fetal tissue sales. A 2016 anonymous complaint alleged DeWine may have allowed anti-abortion groups to influence the probe. It also suggested findings were "released to coincide" with fellow Republican Gov. John Kasich's run for president. DeWine and Kasich called the complaint baseless. The AP reported in May that a Cincinnati anti-abortion activist was in regular contact with DeWine's office during his investigation and some of her input was shared with state investigators.
Inspector General Randall Meyer never investigated, citing a lack of authority.
