Today’s News
OSU study: Researchers observe wing use by fruit flies for purpose other than flying
Take away a fruit fly’s wings and the insect would no longer be able to fly — nor would it be able to smell, new research by Ohio State University scientists found. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, found fruit flies’ tiny, translucent wings contribute more to sniffing out food, a mate and other important scents than they do to optimize flight. According to a press release, scientists long have wondered about the [...]
California could reshape pot rules as legal market struggles
LOS ANGELES — The nation’s largest legal marijuana market is struggling. Illicit sales continue to thrive. A shaky supply chain has customers looking at barren shelves in some shops. There are testing problems. And a proposal to allow home marijuana deliveries in cities that have banned pot sales could lead to a courtroom fight. A Los Angeles hearing this week provided a window into the state’s emerging cannabis economy, in which early enthusiasm for broad [...]
Christian heartland opens window into fight for China’s soul
NANYANG, China — The 62-year-old Chinese shopkeeper had waited nearly his entire adult life to see his dream of building a church come true — a brick house with a sunny courtyard and spacious hall with room for 200 believers. But in March, about a dozen police officers and local officials suddenly showed up at the church on his property and made the frightened congregants disperse. They ordered that the cross, a painting of the [...]
Wisconsin gives West hope of challenging B10 East dominance
The Big Ten West might not be best, but it is getting closer to challenging the East Division’s conference dominance. Wisconsin returns the entire offensive line and a 1,900-yard rusher from its record-setting 13-win team, and some see the Badgers as a contender for the College Football Playoff. Iowa has the nation’s top tight end in Noah Fant, Northwestern is coming off its second 10-win season in three years and Purdue is on the rise [...]
OSU research finds link between sexual behavior and immune cells in the brain
Ohio State University this week announced research that explains how young brains are shaped for sexual behavior later in life. The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, found that the typically overlooked immune cells appear to play an important role in determining whether an animal’s sexual behavior will be more typical of a male or female. Kathryn Lenz, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience and the study’s lead researcher, silenced the cells, known as [...]
Fire lookouts span eras, stay crucial in spotting wildfires
BOISE, Idaho — Fire-lookout towers perched atop remote, craggy peaks across the U.S. West may seem like quaint reminders of an era before satellites, smartphones and jet-propelled air tankers. Indeed, some of the structures are more than 100 years old. But with their lofty views and good old-fashioned human observation, fire lookouts play a crucial role in the nation’s front-line efforts to stop wildfires. “The biggest piece of this puzzle is to keep fires small,” [...]
How the Fed is unintentionally squeezing developing economies
WASHINGTON — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is blaming the United States for Turkey’s financial crisis, ignoring homegrown problems like high debts, raging inflation and his own erratic policies. Yet one of the threats facing Turkey and other emerging-market countries really is made-in-America: By ratcheting up U.S. interest rates, the Federal Reserve has — unintentionally — led investors to pull money out of emerging markets like Turkey, strengthened the dollar’s value and made it harder for [...]
Survey finds Columbus among top friendliest cities to do business
Central Ohio was recognized as a friendly place to do business in a recent survey. Columbus ranked third with an A-plus rating in the 2018 Small Business Friendliness Survey from Thumbtack, a virtual and mobile company that connects people with local professionals. The survey ranked all 50 states and 57 cities. Fort Worth and San Antonio, both in Texas, were the top two cities in the survey. Columbus was followed by Colorado Springs, Colo.; Jacksonville, [...]
Ex-Trump aides often find a soft landing for staying quiet
WASHINGTON — Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And, perhaps, your potential leakers closer yet. President Donald Trump’s political operation has made a regular practice of providing soft landing-pads for discarded staffers, offering nebulous jobs at big salaries to aides who have been pushed out of his West Wing. The revelation this week that former White House assistant Omarosa Manigault Newman was offered a high-paying job on Trump’s re-election campaign in return for [...]
New law clears way for tech equipment installation
Compromise legislation for the placement of small cell technology equipment went into effect this month. AT&T was among the companies to note it would make investments and additional upgrades in the state following the passage of Substitute House Bill 478 in May. “Gov. (John) Kasich has signed legislation that encourages companies to invest more in wireless infrastructure. We’re now speeding our wireless build out plans in Ohio with tens of millions of dollars dedicated to [...]
Legal News
Proposed legislation would reduce penalties for some gunholders in gun-free zones
As a new school year gets under way, lawmakers in the Ohio House of Representatives have before them a bill intended make the state’s gun-free [...]
New initiative lowers driver’s license reinstatement fees
Gov. John Kasich has enacted an initiative that would allow for reinstatement fee reductions for Ohio motorists who have committed certain offenses and resultantly had [...]
Supreme Court candidates sign ‘clean campaign’ pledge
A committee charged with monitoring the campaign ads of Ohio jurists announced last week that all four candidates seeking a spot on the Ohio Supreme [...]
Business News
Hilliard home security system firm has dealt with changing consumer trends
When Doug Huey started his security system business with his brother in 1988, they had to run 25 wires in the property. And a “decent [...]
To fend off Netflix, movie theaters try 3-screen immersion
LONDON — Sit at the back of the movie theater, and it’s possible to see the appeal of ScreenX, the latest attempt to drag film [...]
Local firm sells oils to patients in end-of-life situations
Jason Kimbrel has worked in the pharmaceutical and hospice care industries for the last 15 years. During that time, he learned how the industry has [...]
Real Estate
Old churches, schools used for housing in Michigan raise some concerns
BERKLEY, Mich. — When Berkley resident Eric Wheeler found out Our Lady of La Salette School could be redeveloped into a five-story apartment complex, he [...]
Report shows that stricter land regulations contribute to higher home prices
With stricter land-use regulations, homeowners can expect higher home values and strong job growth, according to a new report. And in Columbus, where regulations are [...]
Portsmouth plans transformation, record-setting event
Residents of a southern Ohio city hope to trade in the municipality’s notoriety as the epicenter of the state’s opioid-abuse epidemic for a spruced-up, optimistic [...]
Politics
Northeast governors, eastern Canada premiers meet in Vermont
STOWE, Vt. (AP) — Some governors from the northeast U.S. and premiers from eastern Canada on Monday called for the end of the trade war [...]
Top 2020 Democrats missing in Iowa but working backchannel
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa State Fair opens this week, complete with its signature deep-fried Oreos and prize hog judging. Country star Reba McEntire [...]
Kentucky teachers mount an insurgency for fall campaign
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — As Republicans in Congress prepare for a possible backlash this fall against President Donald Trump, their counterparts in the Kentucky legislature [...]
