Today’s News
Central Ohio unemployment rate down to 3.4 percent
Central Ohio’s unemployment rate decreased slightly by less than half a percentage point last month. The 10-county metropolitan statistical area’s not-seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 3.4 percent last month compared with 3.7 percent in April 2017, according to data the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services released Tuesday. The region’s civilian labor force increased to 1,084,200 people in April from 1,065,900 people of the same month last year. The increase was driven by gains [...]
Ohio Proud helps promote products from farmers who are veterans
For the last four years, the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Ohio Proud marketing program has promoted veteran farmers and their products. The program formed a partnership with Homegrown by Heroes in November 2014 and certifies agricultural products from farmers, ranchers and fisherman that have served or continue to serve in any U.S. military branch. “These farmers have given much to defend our country and now we are working to give something back to them. This [...]
Mass school shootings mostly happening in small-town America
ATLANTA (AP) — If you want to know where mass school shootings are most likely to occur, look no farther than small-town and suburban America. The massacre that killed 10 people at a high school in Texas last week was just the latest to happen in a small or suburban city. Of the 10 deadliest school shootings in the U.S., all but one took place in a town with fewer than 75,000 residents and the [...]
Racist ‘alt-right’ movement reeling after string of setbacks
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Led from a courtroom in handcuffs last week, one of the nation’s most recognizable white nationalists will have 38 days behind bars to ponder the dizzying demise of the group he led before his arrest exposed a bizarre sex scandal. Matthew Heimbach’s jail sentence for a probation violation is just the latest setback for the “alt-right” fringe movement that appears to be reeling after becoming emboldened and energized by Donald Trump’s presidential [...]
Many cancer patients juggle care, financial pain
Josephine Rizo survived chemotherapy, surgery and radiation, but breast cancer treatment wrecked her finances. Money was already tight when doctors told the Phoenix resident she had an aggressive form of the disease. Then she took a pay cut after going on disability leave, and eventually lost her job and insurance coverage. During treatment, Rizo got swamped with more than $50,000 in medical bills. “My concern was, ‘Am I going to die?’” she said. “I had [...]
The swamp: Two American businessmen playing all sides for a fortune in contracts
WASHINGTON — In a pursuit of money and influence that began at President Donald Trump’s inauguration, two American businessmen sought to leverage connections that stretched from Persian Gulf palaces to the Oval Office into more than a billion dollars in contracts. Elliott Broidy, one of Trump’s top fundraisers, and George Nader, a Lebanese-American adviser to the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, advanced the agenda of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates at the highest [...]
Women cite ‘grass ceiling’ as men dominate in marijuana industry so far
JUNEAU, Alaska — When Danielle Schumacher attended her first convention of marijuana activists about 15 years ago, she could count on one hand all the women in a room of older men. The lack of diversity struck the then-college student, who remembers feeling out of place but also determined to make her mark. “That feeling just really stuck with me that this isn’t going to last. This is going to shift in my lifetime, and [...]
The ‘King of the Commode’ seeks an heir to his thrones
ALAMO HEIGHTS, Texas — FOR SALE: One tiny kingdom, with many thrones. But it doesn’t come with a hereditary title. That belongs, in perpetuity, to Barney Smith — the undisputed “King of the Commode.” “There’s a lot of me in there,” he says, sitting in front of the corrugated metal garage he’s dubbed his Toilet Seat Art Museum. There’s a lot of, well, everything in there. Smith has one seat decorated with a chunk of [...]
Lawmakers support Mississippi River dam plan to stop Asian carp invasion
A pair of northeast Ohio lawmakers hope to stop the invasive Asian carp’s creep into the Great Lakes by way of a concurrent resolution introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives. The resolution expresses the Ohio Legislature’s support for the United States Army Corps of Engineers in efforts to stop the invasive species from entering the Great Lakes and support for any federal funding of those efforts. House members seated for the Energy and Natural [...]
Use of DNA in California serial killer probe sparks privacy concerns
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Investigators who used a genealogical website to find the ex-policeman they believe is a shadowy serial killer and rapist who terrified California decades ago call the technique ground-breaking. But others say it raises troubling legal and privacy concerns for the millions of people who submit their DNA to such sites to discover their heritage. There aren’t strong privacy laws to keep police from trolling ancestry site databases, said Steve Mercer, the chief [...]
Legal News
Bond issue proposed to attack toxic algae blooms
A pair of state lawmakers whose districts abut Lake Erie last week proposed a solution to the dangerous algae blooms that take over swaths of [...]
New drug court program receives final certification
A new Franklin County Common Pleas Court drug court program called Treatment Is Essential to Success, or TIES, has earned final certification from the Supreme [...]
Lawmakers mull local self-defense statutes
House lawmakers this week considered further testimony both for and against a bill that would codify an affirmative claim of self defense for Ohioans who [...]
Business News
From airlines to pizza parlors, EU businesses adopt data law
LONDON — Lisa Meyer’s hair salon is a cozy place where her mother serves homemade macaroons, children climb on chairs and customers chat above the [...]
Farmers markets are popular showcases of locally produced bounty
As this year’s strawberry crop nears harvest in central Ohio, fans of fresh produce and all things local must be champing at the bit as [...]
Post-recession, local pool business is booming
Winter weather is finally behind us, a warm May is upon us and pool season is fast approaching. And with the recession now a distant [...]
Real Estate
Report: Columbus’ industrial real estate market is healthy
The central Ohio industrial property sector started the year strong in the first quarter this year, according to a new report. Columbus’ vacancy rate in [...]
Slopes of volcano offer lush, affordable piece of paradise for hardy Hawaiians
PAHOA, Hawaii — As lava crawled down Leilani Road in a hissing, popping mass, Cheryl Griffith stood in its path and placed a plant in [...]
Report: Columbus office market recovering; industrial space in high demand
After about six years of shrinking office space vacancy and positive absorption in the Columbus office market, the past three quarters have seen a reversal [...]
Politics
Teachers who led strikes now turning their focus to midterm elections
PHOENIX (AP) — As they packed up their protest signs and returned to the classroom to finish out the school year, thousands of teachers in [...]
Quick release of gun data called trailblazing and troubling
TRENTON, N.J. — Gun control advocates are hailing New Jersey’s release of near-real-time firearms trafficking data as a trailblazing use of federal information, but Second [...]
Ohio’s new campaign urges consumers to rethink fun and alcohol
Forget Lowenbrau’s iconic beer jingle from 40 years ago: “Here’s to good friends. Tonight is kind of special ...” Enough with Captain Morgan’s swashbuckling antics [...]
