Veteran Ohio regulator appointed to utilities post
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has promoted a veteran staff member at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to one of the agency's appointed commissioners.
Strickland named Steven Lesser to a commissioners' post yesterday for a five-year term beginning in April.
The 57-year-old Lesser of Bexley in suburban Columbus is currently chief of staff at the PUCO and has been an employee of the agency in different capacities for 30 years.
The PUCO regulates natural gas, electric, phone, truck, rail, waste and waste water companies in the state.
Lesser will earn $120,000 a year. He replaces outgoing commissioner Ronda Hartman Fergus.
Police: Ohio girl dies after fall into snow bank
ASHLAND, Ohio (AP) -- Police say an 8-year-old Ohio girl died after falling into a hole she dug while playing in a snow bank in front of her family's home.
Ashland police Sgt. Joel Icenhour (EYEZ'-en-how-er) says Emily Kramer was playing alone Sunday afternoon when she fell headfirst into the hole and could not free herself.
He says the girl's father had been outside with her earlier and returned to pull her out of the snow and find her unconscious.
The girl was taken to Samaritan Regional Health System, where she was pronounced dead.
Icenhour says the girl's waist had blocked her access to air, and she had kicked off one of her boots. She dug the 12-inch to 15-inch-wide hole with a larger shovel, and a small sand shovel was found inside.
Ohioan gets 44 years for standoff
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- An Ohio man has been sentenced to 44 years in prison for holding his wife at gunpoint at a retirement home where she worked.
Police said Michael Swiergosz (SWEER'-gohz) was distraught over his pending divorce when he went to the assisted-living center, pointed a gun at an employee and told her to call his wife. The April 28 standoff at the Sunset House in Toledo went on for five hours.
On the witness stand last month, Swiergosz said he never intended to use the gun but only brought it to get his wife's attention.
At his sentencing hearing Monday he apologized and said he wants an opportunity to be a father again. His attorney says he'll appeal the judge's sentence.
A Lucas County Common Pleas Court jury convicted Swiergosz Jan. 28 of charges including felonious assault, kidnapping and rape.
Ohio lawmaker says he was punched at restaurant
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) -- A state lawmaker from northeast Ohio says a punch to the face left him unconscious on the floor of a Youngstown restaurant.
Democratic state Rep. Robert Hagan said he was assaulted Sunday at the Lemon Grove Cafe. Hagan said a man asked him to step out of the way of his view of belly dancers on stage and then taunted him with offensive language.
Hagan responded, "Back away, man," and said he got slugged. Hagan said he required 11 stitches to close a cut chin.
Police arrested 30-year-old Dorian Thomas on a charge of assault and booked him into the Mahoning County Jail. Court records don't reflect an attorney representing him and directory assistance said a phone listing under his name is unpublished.
Ohio condo wall collapse smashes 10 cars
CINCINNATI (AP) -- An aging 10-foot-high retaining wall has collapsed in the Cincinnati suburbs, damaging 10 cars and pushing another about 10 feet.
Officials of the Cedar Hill Condominiums in Green Township west of Cincinnati the weight of weekend snow might have spurred the collapse early Saturday. They say the condo board had recently been discussing raising fees to replace the wall.
A condo official's Ford Focus was totaled; damage estimates for the other vehicles weren't immediately known.
School evacuated, students feel lightheaded
NEW RICHMOND, Ohio (AP) -- A fire official in southwest Ohio says a high school was evacuated and five students were taken to hospitals after about 13 complained of feeling lightheaded.
The conditions of the New Richmond High School students taken to hospitals were not immediately available. New Richmond Fire Chief Mark Baird says eight additional students were treated at the scene.
Superintendent Tom Durbin of the New Richmond Exempted Village School District said about four students in a music classroom became lightheaded yesterday afternoon and a few other students later complained of the same symptoms.
Baird says fire officials could not determine a cause.
Durbin says the music room is being checked thoroughly and the students will be moved to another room until the cause of the symptoms is found.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has promoted a veteran staff member at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to one of the agency's appointed commissioners.
Strickland named Steven Lesser to a commissioners' post yesterday for a five-year term beginning in April.
The 57-year-old Lesser of Bexley in suburban Columbus is currently chief of staff at the PUCO and has been an employee of the agency in different capacities for 30 years.
The PUCO regulates natural gas, electric, phone, truck, rail, waste and waste water companies in the state.
Lesser will earn $120,000 a year. He replaces outgoing commissioner Ronda Hartman Fergus.
Police: Ohio girl dies after fall into snow bank
ASHLAND, Ohio (AP) -- Police say an 8-year-old Ohio girl died after falling into a hole she dug while playing in a snow bank in front of her family's home.
Ashland police Sgt. Joel Icenhour (EYEZ'-en-how-er) says Emily Kramer was playing alone Sunday afternoon when she fell headfirst into the hole and could not free herself.
He says the girl's father had been outside with her earlier and returned to pull her out of the snow and find her unconscious.
The girl was taken to Samaritan Regional Health System, where she was pronounced dead.
Icenhour says the girl's waist had blocked her access to air, and she had kicked off one of her boots. She dug the 12-inch to 15-inch-wide hole with a larger shovel, and a small sand shovel was found inside.
Ohioan gets 44 years for standoff
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- An Ohio man has been sentenced to 44 years in prison for holding his wife at gunpoint at a retirement home where she worked.
Police said Michael Swiergosz (SWEER'-gohz) was distraught over his pending divorce when he went to the assisted-living center, pointed a gun at an employee and told her to call his wife. The April 28 standoff at the Sunset House in Toledo went on for five hours.
On the witness stand last month, Swiergosz said he never intended to use the gun but only brought it to get his wife's attention.
At his sentencing hearing Monday he apologized and said he wants an opportunity to be a father again. His attorney says he'll appeal the judge's sentence.
A Lucas County Common Pleas Court jury convicted Swiergosz Jan. 28 of charges including felonious assault, kidnapping and rape.
Ohio lawmaker says he was punched at restaurant
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) -- A state lawmaker from northeast Ohio says a punch to the face left him unconscious on the floor of a Youngstown restaurant.
Democratic state Rep. Robert Hagan said he was assaulted Sunday at the Lemon Grove Cafe. Hagan said a man asked him to step out of the way of his view of belly dancers on stage and then taunted him with offensive language.
Hagan responded, "Back away, man," and said he got slugged. Hagan said he required 11 stitches to close a cut chin.
Police arrested 30-year-old Dorian Thomas on a charge of assault and booked him into the Mahoning County Jail. Court records don't reflect an attorney representing him and directory assistance said a phone listing under his name is unpublished.
Ohio condo wall collapse smashes 10 cars
CINCINNATI (AP) -- An aging 10-foot-high retaining wall has collapsed in the Cincinnati suburbs, damaging 10 cars and pushing another about 10 feet.
Officials of the Cedar Hill Condominiums in Green Township west of Cincinnati the weight of weekend snow might have spurred the collapse early Saturday. They say the condo board had recently been discussing raising fees to replace the wall.
A condo official's Ford Focus was totaled; damage estimates for the other vehicles weren't immediately known.
School evacuated, students feel lightheaded
NEW RICHMOND, Ohio (AP) -- A fire official in southwest Ohio says a high school was evacuated and five students were taken to hospitals after about 13 complained of feeling lightheaded.
The conditions of the New Richmond High School students taken to hospitals were not immediately available. New Richmond Fire Chief Mark Baird says eight additional students were treated at the scene.
Superintendent Tom Durbin of the New Richmond Exempted Village School District said about four students in a music classroom became lightheaded yesterday afternoon and a few other students later complained of the same symptoms.
Baird says fire officials could not determine a cause.
Durbin says the music room is being checked thoroughly and the students will be moved to another room until the cause of the symptoms is found.
Leave a comment