Saturday, May 30, 2009
ohio
Suspect in Canton slayings arrested in New Mexico
CANTON — Authorities say a suspect in the fatal shootings of three people outside a bar in Canton has been captured in New Mexico.
Canton police said Friday that Edward Martino III was arrested without incident by FBI agents at a train station in Albuquerque. Police said Martino had been traveling alone on an Amtrak train.
Police say the 24-year-old Martino is a suspect in Wednesday’s slayings of three people outside the White Crown Cafe. Police said the shootings were preceded by an altercation inside the bar.
It was unclear when Martino would be extradited to Ohio.
There was no immediate information on whether charges had been filed against Martino.
Man fined $95,000 over campaign contributions
COLUMBUS — A man accused of illegally funneling $121,000 in campaign contributions through family members to Democrats and Republicans across the state has been fined $95,000.
The Ohio Elections Commission imposed the fine Thursday on Montford Will of New Albany for 19 violations since 2006. His wife and two grown stepchildren were each fined $10,000.
Ritchey Hollenbaugh, Will’s attorney, says his client did not know that giving campaign contributions in someone else’s name is illegal. He says the fine far exceeds what is reasonable for the circumstances.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien recommended fines over prosecution. He says parties and candidates who received the contributions should properly dispose of them or face forfeiture proceedings.
Pesky muffleheads invading Lake Erie shore
SANDUSKY — Lake Erie’s summer invasion is under way again.
Pesky flying insects known as muffleheads are back swarming Ohio’s shoreline and bugging visitors. The bugs are harmless but sometimes swarm in large numbers and cling to windows, trees and fast-food signs.
Sandusky resident Jack Colvin says they are a nuisance for boaters and anyone who lives along the water.
The muffleheads are a sign of a healthier Lake Erie. They were killed off from the 1950s through the 1980s by high pollution levels that reduced oxygen in the lake.
Nation embraces town to help save baseball
GREENVILLE — Donations have been pouring in to a tiny band of volunteers who saved youth baseball in this small southern Ohio town.
Tough economic times threatened to torpedo the 450-player league, but volunteers stepped in and saved the program. They got a shot in the arm when their plight made national news.
Donors from Florida and Pennsylvania are sending batches of new baseballs. A car filled with gloves, bats and catcher’s gear arrived courtesy of a Columbus man. An Illinois woman who lived through the Great Depression and has a soft spot for baseball is writing a check.
The town of 5,000 about 50 miles southwest of Columbus expects 500 auto-related jobs to be gone by October. The loss of tax revenue has forced the town to all but drop its financial support of the league.
PENNSYLVANIA
Man accused of trying to have sex with teen boy
PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett says a state legislative staffer wanted to engage in sex acts with a teenage boy while dressed in a panda costume.
Corbett says 40-year-old Alan David Berlin, of Carlisle, was charged Thursday with attempted sexual exploitation of children and related crimes.
A Corbett spokesman says the boy’s parents alerted authorities after finding sexually graphic messages on his computer. He says agents found a wolf and cat-type costume in Berlin’s home.
A spokesman for Sen. Jane Orie says Berlin has been suspended. Berlin worked in the Senate about a decade, including the last several years with the Allegheny County Republican.
Berlin is being held in the Dauphin County jail. It’s not clear if he has an attorney.
Newspaper ad calls for Obama assassination
WARREN — A northwestern Pennsylvania newspaper is apologizing for running a classified advertisement calling for the assassination of President Barack Obama.
Publisher John Elchert says the ad appeared Thursday in The Warren Times Observer. It read, “May Obama follow in the steps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy!” The four presidents were all assassinated.
Elchert tells The Associated Press that advertising staff didn’t make the historical connection, but the paper removed the ad Friday and turned the information over to police.
Elchert says an agent from the Secret Service office in Erie is in town, investigating the person who placed the ad.
A note in Friday’s paper says, “The Times Observer apologizes for the oversight.”
Man pleads guilty in 12-year-old son’s death
UNIONTOWN — A southwestern Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his 12-year-old son.
Fayette County District Attorney Nancy Vernon says 40-year-old Michael Alvin Muha Jr. agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of 21‚Ñ2 to five years in prison. Police have said they don’t believe Muha intended to kill Michael Alvin Muha III.
The shotgun shooting began with a Nov. 23 domestic dispute at their home in Redstone Township, about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh. The elder Muha’s girlfriend, Tasha Miciotto, was also wounded.
Man marries during deliberations in trial
DOYLESTOWN — A suburban Philadelphia man asked a judge to perform a wedding ceremony while the jury in the man’s criminal trial was still deliberating the verdict.
Timothy Zalut, 20, of Doylestown, was on trial on assault charges this week in Bucks County Court. When it appeared that he might have to go to jail, Zalut decided to tie the knot with his fianc e, Hayley Dykstra.
Senior Judge C. Joseph Rehkamp of Perry County was presiding over the trial. He agreed to perform the ceremony in chambers while the jury was still out.
Dkystra said, “We wanted to get married, and we were worried that we wouldn’t get the chance.”
A plea bargain finally brought the trial to a halt and Rehkamp sentenced Zalut to five years of probation.
Associated Press