SLAVE LABOR-CHARGES
Defense attorneys dispute Ohio enslavement charges
CLEVELAND (AP) - An attorney says slavery charges against three people in Ohio are ludicrous and says the woman at the center of the alleged forced-labor plot moved in and out as she pleased.
Andrew Hyde represented 26-year-old Jordie Callahan of Ashland on state kidnapping charges. Those charges were dismissed Tuesday as federal forced labor charges were filed against Callahan and two other people.
Prosecutors allege the three enslaved the mentally disabled woman and her daughter for more than a year.
The federal court lawyer for Callahan declined comment. A second defense attorney, Ed Bryan, says Jessica Hunt will plead not guilty and says there are credibility issues with the mother at the center of the case.
Messages were left for the attorney representing Daniel Brown.
MISSING WOMEN FOUND
Hearing for Ohio man accused of kidnapping 3 women
CLEVELAND (AP) - A Cleveland man accused of kidnapping three women and imprisoning them in his house over a decade has another court appearance Wednesday.
Ariel Castro has pleaded not guilty to the more than 300 counts against him, which include rape, kidnapping and felonious assault, among others.
Attorneys for the 52-year-old Castro have hinted they would consider a plea if talk of death penalty charges is taken off the table.
It was unclear if Castro would appear in person for his preliminary hearing as he did for his arraignment last week.
Also Wednesday lawmakers in Columbus planned to discuss a bill that would provide the three women years of relief payments, college tuition and medical assistance.
FOOTBALL PLAYERS-RAPE
Ky. man says he's target of hacking investigation
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A central Kentucky man says he's the target of a federal hacking investigation tied to an ongoing inquiry into the rape of a teenage girl in Ohio.
Deric Lostutter of Winchester told The Associated Press on Tuesday he leaked documents related to the investigation. Two high school football players in Steubenville, Ohio, were sentenced to time in a juvenile detention facility after being convicted.
Last fall, bloggers and hacker activists filled cyberspace with allegations that not enough was being done to investigate the entire case. In January, a 12-minute video that first appeared on YouTube after the rape and mocked the attack was reposted.
Lostutter says he didn't hack into the computer where the video was stored, only made the information public.
The FBI raided Lostutter's home in April.
JET-EMERGENCY LANDING
Landing gear collapses as jet lands at OH airport
CINCINNATI (AP) - Authorities say no injuries were reported when a small private jet's landing gear apparently collapsed after it touched down on a runway at a Cincinnati airport.
Cincinnati fire department officials say the twin-engine aircraft landed at Lunken Airport about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. Airport manager Fred Anderton says a pilot and co-pilot and one passenger were on board.
Authorities say the plane landed on its belly after the landing gear apparently collapsed and was resting on its left wing, after which fire officials say they were called to the scene.
Authorities say some fuel leaked, but there was no fire.
IRS INVESTIGATION
IRS worker: No political bias against tea party
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Democratic congressman has released the full transcript of congressional investigators' interview with an Internal Revenue Service manager and self-described conservative Republican who said the close scrutiny of tea party groups' tax forms originated in his Cincinnati IRS office, not in Washington.
John Shafer oversaw a group of IRS workers who screen applications for tax-exempt status. He said he was unaware of any involvement by the White House in decisions to screen tea party groups.
Shafer said that in February 2010, his group sent its first tea party application to higher-ranking supervisors because media attention such groups were getting seemed likely to make their treatment a high-profile case.
Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings released the transcript. He had released excerpts from Shafer's interview earlier this month.
OHIO BUDGET
Budget director: Ohio's unused surplus about $397M
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The state budget director has told a legislative committee that Ohio should have roughly $397 million in uncommitted funds left at the end of the current budget year.
The news comes as lawmakers head into final negotiations over Ohio's next 2-year budget.
Budget Director Tim Keen and legislative analysts delivered updated state revenue and Medicaid caseload projections to a six-member conference committee on Tuesday.
Keen told the panel that the governor believes the ending balance should be returned to taxpayers.
The two chambers have separate tax plans that must be reconciled. The Senate dropped a 7% statewide income tax reduction passed by the House in favor of small-business exemptions.
Lawmakers face a June 30 deadline to pass the almost $62 billion budget before the new fiscal year July 1.
ABORTIONS-OHIO
Ohio House committee to discuss new abortion bill
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Majority Republican in the Ohio House are proposing a new legislative measure they say would curb abortions by helping women make a more informed decision.
The proposed bill to be discussed at a House committee hearing Wednesday would force women seeking an abortion in Ohio to listen to their doctors describe "all relevant features" of their fetus.
Women would also have to wait longer to undergo the procedure.
The GOP's most recent attempt to decrease the state's abortion rate would also require doctors to tell women the procedure increases the risk of breast cancer and may cause pain to the fetus.
Critics say some of the information doctors will be forced to tell patients is untrue, saying for example that there is no link between cancer and abortions.
CANAL DROWNING
Crews search for body of teen in Ohio canal
HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) - Emergency crews are searching for the body of a 15-year-old boy who went missing while swimming in a southwest Ohio canal.
Crews responded the canal in Hamilton at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on a report of 2 people in the water.
When they arrived on the scene they say they found a 15-year-old girl clinging to a tree limb in the water. A paramedic was able to bring the girl safely back to shore.
Authorities say a 15-year-old boy was also swimming in the canal when he started to struggle.
They say 1 of his friends tried to rescue him, but turned around because of the strong current.
Hamilton fire crews used boats Tuesday night to search for the boy.
The Butler County Sheriff's office is now handling the incident.
HASLAMS-INVESTIGATION
3 more plead guilty in probe of Pilot Flying J
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Three more employees of the truck stop chain owned by the Cleveland Browns' owner and Tennessee's governor have pleaded guilty in what authorities call a scheme to cheat trucking firms out of rebates.
Regional sales manager Kevin Clark pleaded guilty to mail fraud in federal court in Knoxville on Tuesday.
Knoxville media report that Holly Radford, an account manager, and salesman Jay Stinnett entered similar pleas later in the day.
Prosecutors allege that the sales team of Pilot Flying J, the country's largest diesel retailer, short-changed trucking companies to boost profits and commissions.
Pilot is run by Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, the brother of Gov. Bill Haslam. Jimmy Haslam has denied any personal wrongdoing.
Two other Pilot employees pleaded guilty last month.
ATTORNEY GENERAL-LAW LIAISON
Ex-sheriff named liaison for Ohio attorney general
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A former central Ohio sheriff labeled the nation's longest-serving sheriff is the state attorney general's new liaison with Ohio's local law enforcement officials.
Attorney General Mike DeWine said Tuesday that former Pickaway County Sheriff Dwight Radcliff is now his office's senior law enforcement liaison.
Radcliff will travel across Ohio to meet with law enforcement officials and discuss programs, services and training offered by the attorney general's Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy.
Radcliff retired in 2012 after serving as Pickaway County's sheriff since 1965. The Alexandria, Va.-based National Sheriffs' Association says he was the longest-serving sheriff in the United States when he retired.
DeWine says in a statement that Radcliff's law enforcement experience is unmatched and he is respected across the state.
ENDANGERED HISTORIC PLACES-OHIO
Picturesque Ohio village on endangered places list
CINCINNATI (AP) - The National Trust for Historic Preservation is urging Ohio to scrap a plan that could put a highway through a beloved 80-acre wooded area that residents of the village of Mariemont use for hiking and gardening.
The Washington, D.C.-based group says the highway would permanently scar the southwestern Ohio village, which looks more like an English town than an Ohio suburb.
The national preservation group has named Mariemont as among the nation's 11 most endangered historic places.
The Ohio Department of Transportation says a new highway is needed in the area to ease traffic congestion and reduce accidents.
Highway officials say that even if the department puts a highway through the 80-acre woods, no homes or businesses in Mariemont would be directly impacted.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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