Here are your morning headlines for Monday, April 15:
- Suspected tornado injures 6 in Richland County;
- DeWine's budget plan faces budget cuts;
- State recoups unpaid child support from gambling winnings;
- University of Toledo biologists search rivers for grass carp;
- Bernie Sanders' bid for president nomination comes to Ohio;
- Authorities capture prisoner who escaped from I-71 rest stop;
- Officials: 3 people die in house fire, firefighter injured;
- Dairy farms decrease throughout Ohio;
- MetroHealth to break ground on new hospital;
Suspected tornado injures 6 in Richland County
A suspected tornado touched down in Richland County on Sunday, as the storm that pummeled the South made its way to the Northeast. Several homes and businesses were damaged after an apparent tornado struck Shelby, just outside Mansfield, at about 4 p.m. The Richland County Emergency Management Agency reported about a half-dozen homes were damaged and at least six people were taken to a hospital to be treated for storm-related injuries. The tornado reportedly was an EF-2, which means it had winds between 111 and 135 mph.
DeWine's budget plan faces budget cuts
A report states Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's budget proposal exceeds mandatory spending growth limits and must be cut. The Columbus Dispatch reports that state lawmakers must also reduce DeWine’s spending plan because budget advisers say the state will take in less revenue than DeWine anticipated. Lawmakers in the GOP-controlled House are expected to begin reducing the governor's proposals later this month while adjusting spending to meet House priorities. The state Senate then will have its own opportunity to look at spending once the budget reaches that chamber. One challenge for the House is finding enough money to pay for its school-funding plan, expected to add $550 million on top of the governor's own education proposal.
State recoups unpaid child support from gambling winnings
Ohio said it's continuing efforts to recoup unpaid child support from gambling jackpot winners, with $10 million brought in over the past five years. The Department of Job and Family Services said more than 6,300 jackpots have been intercepted involving winners at Ohio's casinos and racinos and the Ohio Lottery. If noncustodial parents are behind on child support, gambling winnings should be used first to cover their responsibility to their children. The department checks jackpot and prize winners against a database of noncustodial parents who owe child support
University of Toledo biologists search rivers for grass carp
University biologists in Ohio are scouring streams following tests that confirmed larvae from the invasive Asian grass carp were found for the first time in the Great Lakes watershed. A crew from the University of Toledo working with the U.S. Geological Survey found the larvae during sampling last June in the Maumee River, a Lake Erie tributary. Grass carp, which have been found on the Maumee and Sandusky rivers, destructively feed on aquatic plants. Biologists will be working with agencies including the Ohio Department of Natural Resources on developing “strike teams” that will attempt to pull out any grass carp they find in area streams.
Bernie Sanders' bid for president nomination comes to Ohio
Sen. Bernie Sanders brought his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination to Ohio, focusing on workers' rights among other issues. Sanders participated in a town hall meeting Sunday at Lordstown High School where he discussed a need to fight against unfair trade deals that undermine workers' wages and enrich CEOs and the importance of rebuilding and strengthening unions. Sanders told a crowd of several hundred people that if elected president, he would freeze government contracts to companies who shut down American factories to outsource jobs to lower-paying countries. Sunday's event was held not far from the now-idled Lordstown plant where General Motors had produced the Chevy Cruze. GM closed the plant last month.
Authorities capture prisoner who escaped from I-71 rest stop
Authorities have captured a prisoner who escaped at an interstate rest stop near Ashland. The State Highway Patrol said 33-year- Said Ali El-Khatib was taken into custody early Sunday near a motel. He escaped Friday at an I-71 rest area in Wayne County, while the inmate transport company was taking him from New York to his Indiana, hometown. The patrol says he’s wanted in Indiana, on a warrant charging him with receiving a stolen vehicle.
Officials: 3 people die in house fire, firefighter injured
Authorities said a man and two women have died in a house fire in Cleveland and a firefighter has been injured. A 60-year-old man, an 86-year-old woman and a 30-year-old woman died in the fire early Sunday in the city's Glenville neighborhood. Authorities have not released the identities of the three people, but say they believe they were related to each other. Officials said a firefighter injured while battling the blaze was taken to a hospital as a precaution and was in stable condition. Investigators were working to determine what caused the fire.
Dairy farms decrease throughout Ohio
Ohio has lost nearly a quarter of its dairy farms over the last two years. The Columbus Dispatch reports the state has lost 51 dairy farms this year alone, bringing the total to right below 2,000. There were more than 2,600 in 2017. The decrease is attributed to smaller profit margins and exports. Nearly 17% of the milk produced in the U.S. is exported. Ohio has had a surplus of milk coming into the state from Michigan's megafarms often less than market rate, which is also contributing to the loss of the state's dairy farms.
MetroHealth to break ground on new hospital
MetroHealth System will break ground on an 11-story hospital today at its main campus on W. 25th St. in Cleveland. It's part of the health care system's nearly $1 billion transformation project, which kicked off in 2014. The new hospital will have more than 250 beds and could start seeing patients as early as 2023. MetroHealth has plans to turn nearly half of its 52-acre main campus into park-like settings for patients, staff and the community.
