Here are your morning headlines for Tuesday, Nov. 19:
- Attack reported at CVNP;
- Study: Hyperloop project could begin in 2023;
- Tamir Rice's family launches arts fund;
- 'Trump Bucks' to go into effect for farmers this week;
- $12M grants go toward preventing pregnancy-related deaths;
- Canton loans Hall of Fame Village $3.5M for hotel;
- Summit County revises panhandling law;
- Owner of market that won suit against Oberlin College dies;
- Medical board wants more time to review sex misconduct cases;
- Klobuchar 1st Democrat for president to file in Ohio primary;
Attack reported at CVNP
Cuyahoga Valley National Park is asking the public to help identify a man who reportedly assaulted a woman Sunday on the Old Carriage Trail in Sagamore Hills. The woman said a man wearing a ski mask attacked her during her run. She escaped without injury. He's described as a white man with average built and height, wearing a knit cap and dark, heavy clothes. Officials are investigating the incident.
Study: Hyperloop project could begin in 2023
A feasibility study shows construction on a Hyperloop transit system between Cleveland and Chicago could begin as early as 2023. The study from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency estimates the system could create nearly a million jobs and generate $48 billion in new income. The system, proposed last year, would consist of large-scale vacuum tubes that would carry passengers from Cleveland to Chicago in under an hour. The full study will be released next month and is gathering public input.
Tamir Rice's family launches arts fund
The family of Tamir Rice, 12, who was shot by Cleveland police in 2014, is launching an arts fund in his name. The Tamir Rice Legacy Fund, will support local arts projects. Rice was shot outside the Cudell Recreation Center within seconds of police arriving at the gazebo where he was playing with a toy gun. His mother, Samaria Rice, used settlement money from the city to establish the Tamir Rice Afrocentric Cultural Center. She said it will provide artistic, educational and youth programs that celebrate the history and culture of people of African descent.
'Trump Bucks' to go into effect for farmers this week
The latest installment of subsidies to farmers impacted by the trade war with China are set to go out this week. The so-called Trump Bucks are intended to offset farmers’ financial shortfalls caused by retaliatory Chinese tariffs against soybeans and dozens of other crops. In Ohio, those subsidies have amounted to more than $1 billion over the past two years. The Columbus Dispatch reports that 95% of Ohio farmers are receiving the subsidies. Payments in Ohio range from $19 to $89 per acre. Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown claims mismanagement of the program and that it plays favorites by paying higher subsidies to farmers in southern states.
$12M in grats to go toward preventing pregnancy-related deaths
The Ohio Department of Health has released $12 million in federal funding to combat pregnancy-related deaths across the state. The money comes at the same time the department released a report showing most deaths between 2012 and 2016 were preventable. The money comes from two five-year grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. The grants will establish a maternal health task force and create prevention plans for maternal deaths. The state will also look into opioid use during pregnancy.
Canton loans Hall of Fame Village $3.5M for hotel
The city of Canton is kicking in $3.5 million to help the Pro Football Hall of Fame Village buy a downtown hotel. The Village purchased the McKinley Grand Hotel last month for nearly $4 million and plans $21 million in renovations. The city said the 10-year loan won't come from taxpayer dollars, but instead from revenue bonds.
Summit County revises its panhandling law
Summit County has a new panhandling law in place to settle a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. County Council approved revision that states panhandlers can't stand in a right-of-way to interact with drivers, and can only enter the road if there is a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. It also prohibits touching or grabbing someone else's property without consent. The ACLU sued the county for free speech violations over the previous law, which punished drivers who gave panhandlers money on the side of roadways. Violations can range from first- to fourth-degree misdemeanors. The county has also agreed to pay $2,000 in the lawsuit. This is the third legal change to the law since 2013.
Owner of market that won suit against Oberlin College dies
Operators of a market who won a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Oberlin College after protests erupted against them said one of its co-owners has died. David Gibson, 65, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about a year ago. His family in June won a $44 million lawsuit against Oberlin College that a judge later cut to $31.5 million. Their lawsuit claimed that college officials ruined their business by encouraging protests against Gibson’s Bakery and branding them as racists after a shoplifting incident involving three black students.
Medical board wants more time to review sex misconduct cases
The State Medical Board said it will need to work past an original February deadline to finish reviewing about 2,000 closed cases of alleged sexual misconduct by doctors. The board is trying to determine whether any of those cases from the past 25 years involved evidence of criminal misconduct that was ignored. Board officials said they’ve had trouble recruiting enough victim advocates and former prosecutors for that work and now needs an extension until May or June. It launched the review after learning such evidence was ignored in a 1996 investigation involving Richard Strauss, the late Ohio State University team doctor now accused of abusing young men for two decades without ever facing discipline.
Klobuchar 1st Democrat for president to file in Ohio primary
Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar has become the first 2020 presidential candidate to register for Ohio’s March primary. Elections officials still must verify the Minnesota senator’s petitions. Klobuchar was positioned as the most prominent Midwestern candidate in the field when she joined the race in February. She’s now among 18 Democrats running for president in a field that’s been growing as primary season nears. This summer, Ohio lawmakers voted to move Ohio’s primary to March 17, St. Patrick’s Day.
