IRS-POLITICAL GROUPS
Former IRS commissioner heads to Hill amid scandal
WASHINGTON (AP) - The former head of the Internal Revenue Service heads to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, giving lawmakers their first opportunity to question the man who ran the agency when agents were improperly targeting tea party groups.
Lawmakers want to know what former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman knew and when he knew it. They also want to know why Shulman didn't tell Congress that agents had been singling out conservative political groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status - even after he was briefed.
Shulman is testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, which has launched a bipartisan investigation into the matter.
IRS-POLITICAL GROUPS-RALLIES
Anti-IRS protest planned at Ohio federal building
CINCINNATI (AP) - Tea party activists want to show their unhappiness over extra IRS scrutiny with protest rallies.
Members of the Cincinnati tea party will gather at noon Tuesday at the city's Fountain Square, then march to the nearby federal building to continue the rally. The building houses Internal Revenue Service offices that handled group applications for tax-exempt status. IRS officials have acknowledged that some conservative groups received inappropriate attention and questioning.
Other tea party groups also want activists in other cities to protest Tuesday at their local IRS offices.
Some recent IRS retirees in the Cincinnati area say employees there shouldn't be vilified. Former senior manager Bonnie Esrig says the Cincinnati office was a nonpolitical environment, and tax-exempt status workloads had been increasing.
SOFTBALL COMMISSIONER-SEX CHARGES
OH youth sports chief gets prison for sex charges
EASTLAKE, Ohio (AP) - A former youth softball league commissioner in northeast Ohio has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for possessing child pornography and inappropriately touching a 17-year-old girl.
The (Willoughby) News-Herald reports that 46-year-old Scott Schinke was sentenced Monday. He's the former commissioner of the Eastlake Youth Softball League east of Cleveland.
Schinke said in court he was "ashamed" of what he did and asked for probation, but Judge Vincent Culotta called it "a failed attempt at remorse."
Schinke previously pleaded guilty to a felony count of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, and a misdemeanor count of sexual imposition. Prosecutors said he inappropriately touched a 17-year-old concession stand volunteer in 2010.
A search of his computer turned up 456 images of suspected child pornography.
TODDLER DROWNS
Toddler drowns in eastern Ohio river
AKRON, Ohio (AP) - Authorities say a 2-year-old boy drowned in a river in eastern Ohio after wandering away from his family's cabin.
The autistic boy and his family are from Akron and were staying in a cabin near the Muskingum River when Andrew "Drew" Howell went missing Saturday. The family later found him in the river.
The Akron Beacon Journal reports that the toddler was pronounced dead later at a hospital in Zanesville.
Laurie Cramer, director of the Autism Society of Greater Akron, was asked to talk to the media on behalf of the grieving family. She said Drew wandered away from the cabin and must have headed straight to the river, about 100 yards away. His mother said she turned her attention away for no more than 30 seconds.
CLEVELAND-MOVIE MADNESS
City urges patience during Cleveland filming
CLEVELAND (AP) - City officials in Cleveland are asking residents for patience while the filming of a big-budget movie ties up traffic near downtown for the next several weeks.
The production of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" will close portions of city streets through much of June. City officials are urging residents to be aware of the closures and have patience with Cleveland's latest star turn.
Police spokeswoman Jennifer Ciaccia tells The Plain Dealer that the road closures are a fluid situation, so her advice is to "be patient and leave early."
Perhaps the most notable closure is that of the West Shoreway from Lake Avenue to East Ninth Street, from May 30 to June 15.
The city has a web site - www.clevelandmovietraffic.com - that will provide updates on road closings.
OFFICER INJURED
Ohio teen faces charges after officer hit
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio State Highway Patrol has charged a teen with drunken-driving and failure-to-control after he allegedly hit a police officer during a pursuit last weekend.
A burglary call in Mount Vernon, northeast of Columbus, started the incident early Sunday. That led to police chasing a car driven by 18-year-old Joshua Baldridge across Knox County.
The patrol said Baldridge's car hit 23-year-old Danville police officer Chad Lishness, who was attempting to put down spike strips to stop the car. The Columbus Dispatch reports that Lishness is in fair condition at a Columbus hospital.
Baldridge was eventually taken into custody after crashing into another car in Centerburg. More charges are possible.
The teen was in jail, with no attorney information available.
RED LIGHT CAMERAS-CLEVELAND
Cleveland will double red-light cameras
CLEVELAND (AP) - State lawmakers may be considering a ban of controversial red-light cameras, but 1 of Ohio's largest cities is planning to double the number they have in service.
Cleveland City Council approved a contract Monday with a vendor that will add the cameras to 26 more intersections in the city. The city already has 23 cameras operating.
Camera-generated tickets are civil infractions that carry $100 fines.
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reports that council members credited red-light cameras with increasing drivers' awareness of their speed and carelessness at red lights.
More than a dozen Ohio cities use traffic-enforcement cameras. Cleveland collected nearly $6 million from them last year.
PREMATURE BABIES-RESEARCH
Ohio project examines premature births
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The March of Dimes is spending $10 million in Ohio for collaborative research into the problem of babies being born prematurely.
The project will draw on the expertise of world-class hospitals in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati to try to explain why babies come too soon and to find ways to use that information to predict and prevent prematurity.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that participating universities and hospitals will turn to a diverse group of researchers, including evolutionary biologists, mathematicians, sociologists, psychologists and biomedical engineers.
One in nine children born in the U.S. arrives before 37 weeks of gestation. In Ohio, it's one in eight, or more than 15,000 babies every year. Care for these children can cost millions of dollars, and surviving babies can have serious health problems.
MISSING BOY-DEATH
Ohio woman gets 8 years for drunken-driving death
BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio (AP) - A woman who was drunk when she hit and killed a 15-year-old boy walking along a rural Ohio road last fall has been sentenced to prison for eight years.
Authorities say 49-year-old Cathy Humphries' blood alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit when she hit Austin Houser with her pickup truck Oct. 25 and kept going. It happened in the village of Rushsylvania, about 60 miles northwest of Columbus.
A passer-by found Austin's body two days later in a water-filled ditch by the side of the road. Humphries had told her family that night that she thought she'd hit a mailbox.
Humphries pleaded guilty last month to aggravated vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an accident and drunken driving.
The boy's mother pushed for a longer sentence.
JOB TAX CREDITS
JPMorgan Chase in Ohio sees tax credit approval
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - JPMorgan Chase & Co. is among several companies that have received approval for job creation tax credits in Ohio.
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority on Monday approved assistance for 10 projects expected to create more than 1,100 jobs and retain more than 21,000 positions statewide.
The tax credit body reviewed proposals from the economic development nonprofit, JobsOhio, and its regional partners. Together the projects are expected to result in more than $51 million in new payroll and spur about $72 million in investment across Ohio.
JPMorgan Chase plans to add 500 full-time positions as part of an expansion project in the central Ohio cities of Dublin, Columbus, Westerville and Gahanna.
Valeo Climate Control Corp. expects to create 105 full-time positions as part of the global automotive supplier's project in Hamilton.
FALCON BANDED
Falcon chick ready for banding atop Ohio high-rise
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio wildlife officials are ready to band the first peregrine falcon chick in three years to be hatched atop the Rhodes Tower in downtown Columbus.
The banding event at 10 a.m. Tuesday will be streamed live from the falcons' camera-equipped nest box.
The 3-week-old hatchling named Zoom is the offspring of a nesting pair of peregrines whose last two years' eggs were infertile. The avian family's daily drama is monitored by the Ohio Division of Wildlife and thousands of online viewers to a state website.
Zoom will receive a band on each leg. The falcon's sex will be determined based on size.
Ohio has 26 nesting pairs of falcons. The once-endangered species is being restored through conservation efforts supported by tax check-offs and postage stamp sales.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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