Ohio Senate unanimously approves anti-bestiality bill

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Senate unanimously approved a bill Wednesday outlawing bestiality.

The bill , which still must clear the Ohio House to take effect, has three parts:

It prohibits individuals from knowingly engaging in, promoting or aiding in sex acts with an animal. It also prohibits the sale or purchase of animals for sexual purposes.
It allows animals found to be used for sexual purposes to be seized and impounded.
It allows for a court to either not allow the animal to be returned to its owner or require the offender to go to psychological counseling.

Former Cleveland attorney gets prison for stealing $300K from clients

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A longtime Cleveland attorney was sentenced Tuesday to more than two years in prison after he admitted to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from several of his clients, including an elderly Korean War veteran.

Judge Nancy Fuerst ordered 65-year-old Teddy Sliwinski to pay back more than $327,000 that he stole from four clients with the help of his then-wife, Irene Patkowski, who was sentenced to 15 days in jail and 18 months probation for her role in the scheme.

"You preyed on these individuals and the estates that suffered here," Fuerst told Sliwinski in court. "You have an obligation to protect the people you represent from this exact situation."

Sliwinski, who was represented by public defender Michael Heffernan, pleaded guilty Nov. 3 to aggravated theft and tampering with records, both third-degree felonies. Patkowski pleaded guilty to a lesser aggravated theft charge and attempted tampering with records.

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/11/former_cleveland_attorney_sent.html

Businesses targeted by FBI connected to people twice convicted of food stamp fraud

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland and Garfield Heights businesses searched Wednesday by the FBI are connected to people previously convicted in criminal cases involving food stamp fraud, according to court and property records.

At least three of the targeted businesses are tied to members of the Salem family. An FBI spokeswoman would not confirm the nature of the investigation, saying the warrants authorizing the search were filed under seal.

The spokeswoman only confirmed that the FBI and other agencies were at gas stations at Fulton Road in Cleveland, on Harvard Avenue in Cleveland and Rockside and Turney roads in Garfield Heights. She also said agents searched other businesses in the Cleveland area.

Members of the Salem family, who are tied to multiple gas stations and businesses throughout the Cleveland area, have been prosecuted two times in the past 25 years. Brothers Amin and Sami Salem, both of Westlake, were the first people in Ohio sent to prison for food stamp fraud.

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2016/11/businesses_targeted_by_fbi_con.html

Tamir Rice estate's multi-million dollar settlement approved by probate court

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cuyahoga County Probate Court judge on Wednesday approved a $6 million settlement the city of Cleveland entered into with the family of Tamir Rice for the 12-year-old's police shooting death in November 2014.

Presiding Judge Anthony J. Russo said during a hearing that the settlement was fair, just and equitable, and said Rice's death was "a truly unfortunate, tragic and disturbing event, to say the least."

Under the $5.5 million portion of the settlement with the boy's estate, $3.34 million was split between members of Rice's family. Of that, Tamir's mother Samaria Rice will receive more than $1.78 million, in addition to a separate $250,000 settlement she received.

Leonard Warner, the 12-year-old's father, will receive $843,000. Tamir Rice's sister Tajai Rice will receive $640,000, in addition to a separate $250,000 settlement. After attorney's fees, she receives a total of $802,653.

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2016/11/tamir_rice_estates_multi-milli.html

University of Akron to offer course on Donald Trump

AKRON, Ohio -- The University of Akron will offer a new course next spring on President-elect Donald Trump's historic election.

The class, "Trump's Triumph," will focus on Trump's rise during the 2016 presidential election. Students will examine how Trump gained broad support and delve into his policies. The course, offered through the political science department, will also study the polls -- and why they were wrong. Students will also look into why Trump supporters chose to vote for the president-elect.

The class is open to undergraduate and graduate students at Akron.

"My course will answer a lot of questions people still have after the election," said professor Matthew Akers, director of government relations and assistant director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics. "We will discuss what happened during the 2016 presidential campaign as well as examine Trump and his positions and influences."

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/11/university_of_akron_to_offer_c.html#incart_river_index

[font color=330099]Ugh. Then we will have plans for the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library soon.[/font]

Rep. Marcy Kaptur asks EPA to declare that western Lake Erie is "impaired"

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur and a Michigan colleague on Tuesday asked U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to designate western Lake Erie "impaired" under the Clean Water Act.

That designation would aid remediation of the lake's harmful algae blooms that threaten drinking water.

The letter from Kaptur and Michigan Democrat Debbie Dingell notes that Michigan included Lake Erie on a list of impaired waters it submitted to the EPA, but Ohio didn't.

They say the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's failure to declare the western lake "impaired" could keep EPA from using the Clean Water Act to develop a plan to stop phosphorous from getting into the lake and fostering algae growth.

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/11/rep_marcy_kaptur_asks_epa_to_d.html

Gov. John Kasich warns state spending will tighten as revenues fall

DUBLIN, Ohio--Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Wednesday that the next state budget will be "tight" following lower-than-anticipated state revenues.

"There's not going to be a lot of growth in any [state] program," Kasich told reporters in suburban Columbus. "It's going to be tight. There's not going to be an ability to give significant percentage increases."

At the same time, the Columbus-area Republican vowed there will be "no net tax increases." In previous budgets, Kasich has successfully pushed to cut state income taxes while raising the sales tax rate. He also has sought to increase taxes on oil and gas drilling, though state lawmakers have so far resisted the idea.

Kasich took a shot at his predecessor, Democrat Ted Strickland, whom Kasich has often accused of leaving the state's finances in a mess.

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/11/gov_john_kasich_warns_state_sp.html

Board recommends suspension for Nicholas County judge-elect over Obama fliers

A judicial disciplinary board on Tuesday recommended that the West Virginia Supreme Court bar the Nicholas County circuit judge-elect from taking the bench for a year.

The state Judicial Hearing Board also recommends that circuit judge-elect Stephen Callaghan, who faces ethics charges for allegedly using shady campaign tactics during the May primary, be suspended for a year from practicing law.

-snip-

About a week before the primary election, Callaghan sent out a flier to Nicholas County voters purporting to show Johnson partying with President Barack Obama. The ethics charges claim the fliers were meant to “deceive voters into believing that Judge Johnson and U.S. President Barack Obama were drinking beer and partying at the White House while conniving with one another to kill coal mining jobs in Nicholas County.”

Justices should also order Callaghan to pay $15,000 and pay for the cost of the proceedings against him, the hearing board’s filing states.

- See more at: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-cops-and-courts/20161129/board-recommends-suspension-for-nicholas-judge-elect-

West Virginia school systems facing $11M budget cut

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s latest mid-year budget cut means Kanawha County’s public school system is slated to lose roughly $1.1 million.

That’s according to the West Virginia Department of Education’s response to the state Budget Office regarding how it would disburse Tomblin’s $11.1 million ordered cut among the 55 county public school systems.

Education department spokeswoman Kristin Anderson said the state Department of Revenue gave her department instructions on how the cuts must be divvied among the counties, but Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss must still sign off on the education department’s proposal.

Anderson said the education department -- to comply with a separate cut to state agencies that Tomblin also ordered -- is proposing cutting $1.7 million from a budget line item for counties dealing with increased enrollment. She said these growth counties have already been allocated the money they were owed from the line item, and the remaining $1.7 million would have had to be returned to the state anyway.

- See more at: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-education/20161128/wv-school-systems-facing-11m-budget-cut

Texas governor Abbott: Campus carry could have prevented Ohio State attack

Gov. Greg Abbott, commenting on the knife attack at Ohio State University that left 11 people injured, said Tuesday that someone would "think twice" about carrying out such an attack in Texas due to its campus carry law.

In an appearance on Fox News, Abbott suggested the law, which passed during the 2015 Texas legislative session, would have been a deterrent to people like Abdul Razak Ali Artan, the suspect in Monday's knife attack. A police officer ultimately shot and killed Artan, who had driven his car into a group of pedestrians and started stabbing them with a butcher's knife.

"It's instances like this where kids on campus could have guns, where they could have been able to respond initially," Abbott said. "I think that on a college campus like here in Texas, people will think twice before waging an attack like this knowing that they could be gunned down immediately."

Texas' campus carry law, which went into effect in August for four-year schools, allows students who have a license to carry concealed weapons in college buildings. Ohio bans guns on college campuses unless they are locked in a car.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2016/11/29/abbott-campus-carry-could-have-stopped-osu-attack/