Today’s News
US manufacturers seek relief from steel and aluminum tariffs
WASHINGTON — Rising costs. Delayed shipments. A baffling bureaucracy. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported aluminum and steel are disrupting business for American companies that buy those metals, and many are pressing for relief. Hundreds of companies are asking the Commerce Department to exempt them from the 25 percent steel tariff and the 10 percent aluminum tariff. Other companies are weighing their options. Jody Fledderman, CEO of Batesville Tool & Die in Indiana, says American [...]
Local woman’s Facebook-driven group for businesswoman gets attention from website leaders
Noni Banks always wanted to be part of a movement. As an African-American woman, Banks sometimes feels she was born in the wrong generation, missing out on the Civil Rights movement, for example. But after going through the motions of life, including a cancer scare, divorce and some career changes, the Otterbein University alumna decided to take her filing cabinet of articles and vision boards online to launch The Diva Movement, a leadership development organization [...]
New data shows that Americans are filling far fewer opioid prescriptions
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New data show that the number of prescriptions for opioid painkillers filled in the U.S. fell dramatically last year. They showed their biggest drop in 25 years. The decline comes amid increasing legal restrictions and public awareness of the dangers of addiction. A health data firm released a report Thursday showing a 9 percent average drop nationwide in the number of prescriptions for opioids filled by retail and mail-order pharmacies. All [...]
A new wave of gun control bills progress to Ohio Senate committees
A quartet of bills aimed at curbing gun violence and introduced in the wake of a national demonstration seeking stricter federal gun laws have been referred to their respective committees in the Ohio Senate. The Government Oversight and Reform Committee has taken up Senate bills 283 through 285, while members of the Local Government, Public Safety and Veterans Affairs Committee are expected to mull Senate Bill 286 — a measure requiring gun owners to register [...]
There are some good times to ignore credit card advice
Conventional wisdom about credit cards is often black and white, from whether you should use cards at all to which types deserve a slot in your wallet. But personal finance is just that — personal, experts say. “Financial advice is best when it is not one-size-fits-all,” said Bruce McClary, spokesman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “Everybody is different in the way they set priorities and manage budget decisions, so it makes sense that [...]
Aging death row: Is executing old or infirm inmates cruel?
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Vernon Madison has spent decades on Alabama’s death row. Now 67, Madison has suffered from strokes and dementia and his lawyers say he no longer recalls the crime that put him there: the 1985 killing of a police officer. His speech is slurred, he suffers from confusion, and once thought he was near release and talked of moving to Florida, according to his lawyers. This fall, the U.S. Supreme Court is set [...]
Teachers use social media in uprisings, fight for funding
PHOENIX (AP) — The public education uprisings that began in West Virginia and spread to Arizona, Oklahoma and Kentucky share similar origin stories. Teachers, long tired of low wages and a dearth of state funding, begin talking to each other online. Their Facebook groups draw tens of thousands of members. They share stories of their frustrations and then they demand change. Kentucky public school employee Nema Brewer co-founded the KY120 United Facebook group that drew [...]
Manhattan turf war: ‘Billionaires Row’ vs. homeless shelter
NEW YORK — Some of the world’s wealthiest people have apartments in the half-dozen new skyscrapers built along a stretch of Manhattan’s 57th Street known as “Billionaires Row.” And soon they may have an unwanted new neighbor: a homeless shelter. The city has approved a plan to house 140 single men in what was once the budget Park Savoy Hotel on West 58th Street, a modest building right next door to the back entrance of [...]
Democrats see Wisconsin as proving ground for party revival
PARDEEVILLE, Wis. — Margo Miller thanked her hosts, covered herself in a blue poncho and headed back into the driving sleet, with more doors to knock in this rural subdivision but with another new volunteer’s name on her clipboard. Miller and about 50 other Democratic activists who braved a recent spring storm returned with 160 petition signatures for a special state Assembly campaign, a local sleeper election that Democrats hope will be anything but. Since [...]
Medical students who study abroad could help alleviate Ohio physician shortage
A committed relationship didn’t stop Kelly Long from going to medical school in the Caribbean. But the Upper Arlington native and Ohio State University alum wasn’t satisfied with the job she had in Chicago. “I felt like I was missing my calling,” Long said. With support from her family and her boyfriend (now her fiancé), she applied and was accepted in St. George's University in Grenada, which has an estimated population of 107,000 people. After [...]
Legal News
Ohio Supreme Court upholds death penalty constitutionality
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the constitutionality of the state’s three-decades-old death penalty law, rejecting a challenge that argued [...]
Proposal would allow bystanders to sue police if an officer damages their smartphone
A Senate committee this week heard testimony of a Columbus lawmaker who wants to bolster protection of citizens’ free-speech rights as they pertain to recording [...]
Tax breaks proposed for pro bono work
A bill proposing tax breaks for attorneys for pro bono legal services has gained little traction since its introduction in the Ohio House of Representatives [...]
Business News
Shopping more: Retail sales rebounded a solid 0.6 pct. in March
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers bounced back in March and bought more cars, furniture and appliances after three months of declining retail sales. The Commerce Department [...]
Hocking Hills Canopy Tours, early user of zip lines, is still going strong
When Julieann Burroughs and her five business partners started the Midwest region’s first canopy tour, she was surprised when she’d meet someone who didn’t know [...]
Report: Ohio in top 10 for business growth
Ohio’s year-over-year growth and new companies starting among 18 major industries last year placed it among the top 10 states for business creation. With a [...]
Real Estate
Columbus ranks 50th for highest share of cash-out borrowers
Central Ohio was among the top 50 metropolitain areas where homebuyers were likely to tap into their home equity when refinancing. Columbus ranked 50th among [...]
Proposed German Village projects not likely the start of a trend, says neighborhood advocate
Despite limited space, German Village hasn’t fully escaped the wave of residential and lodging developments in central Ohio. The German Village Commission provided conceptual reviews [...]
Love that home’s view? See how much more you’ll pay
A house with a fabulous view can be hard for a homebuyer to resist. But seeing the mountains, water or city lights from the comfort [...]
Politics
Dems’ presidential hopefuls may come from city hall
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrats searching for potential presidential candidates may find some in an unlikely place: city hall. A handful of Democratic mayors [...]
Another Trump trade war, this time with Rwanda over clothes
KAMPALA, Uganda — The sweaty mechanic tossed aside the used jeans one by one, digging deep through the pile of secondhand clothes that are at [...]
Trump says he wants skilled migrants but creates new hurdles
It may be a while before President Donald Trump gets another chance at creating a new, “merit-based” immigration system, a keystone of his four-part plan [...]
