Here are your morning headlines for Wednesday, October 24:
- Joe Biden to campaign in Youngstown;
- Unemployement rates down in NE Ohio;
- Kent State President Beverly Warren announces departure;
- More than one million absentee ballots requested in Ohio;
- Authorities seize cloned police radios during raids;
- Former MLB player named new Akron Zips head coach;
Joe Biden to campaign in Youngstown
Former Vice President Joe Biden will try to rally Democratic support in a Northeast Ohio area where Republican Donald Trump drew cross-over voters. Biden will headline an Oct. 29 rally at Youngstown State University. Democratic candidate for governor Richard Cordray was the federal consumer protection chief in the Barack Obama administration. President Trump did unusually well for a Republican presidential candidate in the area in 2016, boosted by blue-collar voters who traditionally went Democratic. He ran just behind Hillary Clinton in Mahoning County which includes Youngstown and won neighboring Trumbull County as he carried Ohio.
Unemployment rates down in NE Ohio
Jobless rates are down throughout Northeast Ohio. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services released unemployment rates for counties and cities on Tuesday. Cuyahoga County is at 3.8 percent, Summit is 4.1 and Stark is 4.3. Those numbers are all down from last month and from the same month last year. Surrounding counties are also showing lower numbers, including Tuscarawas, Wayne, Portage and Mahoning. Last week, the department announced Ohio's unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in September, with the state gaining 4,300 jobs. That was down from 5 percent in 2017.
Kent State President Beverly Warren announces departure
Kent State University President Beverly Warren has announced she’s retiring next year. In an email to university students, faculty and staff. Warren said she’s decided to let her contract expire on July 1st, 2019, and not pick up the option for an additional year to serve as president through 2020. She said she plans to shift her focus to family and personal considerations. Warren has served as KSU president since 2014.
More than one million absentee ballots requested in Ohio
State election officials said more than a million absentee ballots have been requested ahead of the Nov. 6 general election. The Ohio Secretary of State's Office said an estimated 1,053,697 absentee ballots had been requested and 332,663 had been cast statewide as of Oct. 19. The office said Tuesday that at that same point in 2014, a total of nearly 810,000 absentee ballots had been requested by Ohio voters and more than 272,000 ballots had been cast.
Officials said this year's totals include more than 8,620 absentee ballots requested from military and overseas voters and nearly 2,160 that have been cast. Voters will choose a new governor, decide a U.S. Senate race and other state and federal races, and vote on a statewide drug sentencing issue.
Authorities seize cloned police radios during raids
Federal and local officials said they seized a number of cloned police radios from several Canton homes during raids. Stark County Sheriff's deputies and Canton police, along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, raided seven homes Monday — seizing weapons, dozens of radios and other evidence. The Canton Repository reports the raids were the result of an investigation that found someone hacked into the public safety radio system, and then cloned the information onto black market police radios. Police have identified eight to 10 "persons of interest" in their investigation.
Former MLB player named new Akron Zips head coach
A former major league baseball player will be the new head coach of the Akron Zips when the team is reinstated in 2020. Chris Sabo was most notably a third basemen for the Cincinnati Reds. He was named Rookie of The Year in 1988. He's spent decades coaching, most recently at an academy in Florida. Akron cut baseball in 2015 to save money, but announced last year it will resume in 2020 as a non-scholarship program.
