Here are your morning headlines for Tuesday, July 23:
- Irishtown Bend receives $9M;
- Lawmakers to vote on $1B rescue for state's nuclear plants;
- Colorado company buys Brandywine, Boston Mills ski areas;
- Nickel Plate Beach closes after second drowning;
- Ohio governor signs $645M workers' comp budget;
- DeWine: Emergency declaration for 63 counties road damage;
- Backers of gun background checks get OK to seek signatures;
- Ohio to get share of data breach lawsuit;
Cleveland's Irishtown Bend receives $9M
A project to stabilize Irishtown Bend in the Flats in Cleveland is getting a $9 million boost from the U.S Department of Transportation. The hillside has been shifting since it was a 19th century Irish immigrant settlement, threatening a landslide into the Cuyahoga River. The money will go toward steel reinforcements to make way for a 17-acre park with trails connecting to Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Lake Erie.
Lawmakers to vote on $1B rescue for state's nuclear plants
Lawmakers are planning a final vote on legislation that would give Ohio's nuclear plants roughly $1 billion through 2026 by adding a new fee onto electricity bills. Backers said the financial lifeline for the plants is needed to prevent them closing within the next two years. The Ohio House plans to vote on the measure today after lawmakers in the Senate approved the plan last week. Gov. Mike DeWine has said he intends to sign it into law. Opponents led by the natural gas industry have vowed to ask voters to overturn the legislation in a statewide referendum next year.
Colorado company buys Brandywine, Boston Mills ski areas
A Colorado resort company is purchasing Northeast Ohio’s ski areas. Vail Resorts is acquiring Brandywine and Boston Mills, along with 15 other ski areas owned by Missouri-based Peak Resorts. Vail is paying around $264 million for all 17 properties. Vail said it intends to invest $15 million in improvements over the next two years.
Nickel Plate Beach closes after second drowning
The Lake Erie Nickel Plate Beach in Huron is closed after a second person drowned within two weeks. A 29-year-old woman went missing on Sunday after she went under the water and didn't resurface. Officials said elevated lake levels are posing a danger, and the beach will be closed until further notice. An 18-year-old drowned there earlier this month trying to save others.
Ohio governor signs $645M workers' comp budget
Gov. Mike DeWine has signed into law a two-year budget for Ohio's insurance fund for injured workers after lawmakers missed the initial deadline at the end of June and covered the gap with a temporary budget. DeWine did not issue any line-item vetoes for measures in signing the nearly $645 million spending plan on Monday. The budget doesn't include a provision the House favored earlier that would have covered post-traumatic stress disorder for emergency responders who aren't physically injured.
DeWine: Emergency declaration for 63 counties road damage
Gov. Mike DeWine has declared a state of emergency in 63 Ohio counties where severe weather caused serious highway damage last month. The counties, including Summit, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina and Portage have had damage to roads or bridges after mild temperatures and significant rains in June saturated the ground. The proclamation allows the Ohio Department of Transportation and local governments to access federal emergency relief funds to help fix the damage.
Backers of gun background checks get OK to seek signatures
A gun safety group hoping to change state law to require background checks on virtually all guns sales has received state approval to start collecting petition signatures. Ohioans For Gun Safety can now begin gathering the roughly 133,000 required signatures from registered voters in at least half of Ohio's 88 counties. The proposal would close a loophole that allows sales without background checks at gun shows and between private individuals. Should the petition advance, it would first ask Ohio lawmakers to enact universal background checks, with a few exemptions. If lawmakers decline, the petition could be presented directly to voters.
Ohio to get share of data breach lawsuit
Ohio will get a share of what the state attorney general calls the largest settlement ever by a company over a breach of consumer data. Equifax will pay up to $700 million to settle the class action lawsuit filed after a huge data breach two years ago exposed the personal data of 147 million people. 48 states will share a $175 million fund, with Ohio getting at least $7 million, with $5 million of it going into the state’s general revenue fund. Not all consumers will qualify for a payout, but they can get credit monitoring for a decade.
