OHIO

OHIO

Casino backers open to different Columbus site

COLUMBUS — The company bringing casinos to Ohio says it’s willing to consider alternative Columbus sites to the one authorized by voters.

Penn National Gaming said Thursday it would consider sites suggested by Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman instead of the location planned for the Arena District.

The company said it would look at the sites “in the spirit of compromise” as long as construction could begin sooner and the new site doesn’t increase financial risk.

Coleman is proposing four alternative sites around the city, including a former minor-league baseball stadium and a dying mall.

Coleman wants to preserve the family atmosphere of the Arena District, home to the Blue Jackets hockey team, the city’s new baseball stadium, restaurants and new condos and apartments.

In break from desk work, sheriff halts fight

HAMILTON — A county sheriff whose priorities normally run to budgeting and agency procedures got a taste of some old-fashioned police work.

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones was driving through the southwest Ohio city Thursday when he saw a fight break out in the middle of the street.

Jones pulled over in his unmarked car, blocked traffic, pulled the men apart and identified himself.

Jones says that was enough to stop the fight.

One of the men recognized Jones and even pulled a photo of Jones out of his pocket used as a promotion a few years back.

Tasered Cincy woman sues city, police over arrest

CINCINNATI — A city councilman’s daughter has sued the city and two Cincinnati police officers over her arrest with the use of a Taser stun gun.

Celeste Thomas, the 27-year-old daughter of Councilman Cecil Thomas, was zapped during an Aug. 23 traffic stop.

Her federal lawsuit filed Thursday targets the city and two officers who arrested her. One, Anthony Plummer, was fired in early December and is appealing.

Thomas is seeking an unspecified amount of money in her claims for false arrest, malicious prosecution and excessive force.

Her attorney, Carl Lewis, says she is embarrassed personally and also for her father, a former Cincinnati police officer.

Thomas was acquitted of a charge of obstruction of justice.

PENNSYLVANIA

Justices reinstate verdict in shooting of dog

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court says a lower court erred when it ruled the state’s animal-cruelty law is so confusing and ambiguous that owners can’t be prosecuted for killing their dogs or cats.

The state Supreme Court on Thursday said there are sufficient facts to support a northeastern Pennsylvania woman’s conviction for conspiracy to commit cruelty to animals.

The case involves the 2006 shooting outside Weissport of Wendy Colleen Kneller’s 6-year-old pit bull-chow mix named Bouta.

The high court says there was “no immediate need to kill the dog” and notes that Bouta was beaten maliciously before it was shot.

Appeals court overturns Mich. woman’s sentence

ERIE — A Pennsylvania appeals court has overturned a Michigan woman’s 9-18 year prison sentence for killing her newborn daughter, finding the trial judge abused his discretion.

Teri Rhodes, 21, pleaded guilty in August 2008 to manslaughter in the August 2007 death after hiding her pregnancy. Rhodes was a volleyball player at Mercyhurst College when she gave birth in a campus apartment.

Erie County Judge William Cunningham’s Nov. 2008 sentence was harsher than Rhodes’ attorney and prosecutors had anticipated given her guilty plea.

The Superior Court panel said Thursday that Cunningham “may have prejudged this case or reached its decision at sentencing on the basis of improper considerations.”

Rhodes has been free on bond.

Associated Press