Hagan scores half-truth in earthquake comments

YOUNGSTOWN — State Rep. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, scored a half-true rating on PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter for comments he made about earthquakes and Gov. John Kasich.

Hagan on Jan. 10 made a reference to the governor in a statement about a brine-injection well in Youngstown suspected of causing a magnitude-4.0 earthquake on New Year’s Eve.

“We never had an earthquake in Youngstown until John Kasich was elected governor,” Hagan said.

PolitiFact, a project of the Tampa Bay Times and its partners that aims to uncover the truth in politics, said Hagan was “half-true.”

Youngstown had not had an earthquake with an epicenter in the city until March 17, 2011, but had felt earthquakes from places like Ashtabula and Mercer County, Pa.

“But regardless of the timing of the quakes, Hagan makes a rhetorical stretch to imply that the earthquake happened because Kasich was governor,” said PolitiFact writer Aaron Marshall.

Read the entire report here: http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2012/jan/24/robert-hagan/bob-hagan-says-youngstown-never-had-earthquake-unt/