Man, 32, shot to death outside after-hours Columbus nightclub

Man, 32, shot to death outside after-hours Columbus nightclub

COLUMBUS

Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man outside an after-hours club in central Ohio.

Columbus police say 32-year-old Marcus VanCleaf was found dead Saturday about 4:30 a.m. after police responded to a 911 call. The Columbus Dispatch reports that police say the caller wouldn’t give her name. But she said she heard at least nine gunshots.

Police found VanCleaf dead on the sidewalk just outside the back door of the club. He’d been shot.

Police say that no one has come forward to provide any information about the shooting.

Authorities have said in the past that after-hours clubs that operate from out-of-the-way storefronts or private homes aren’t breaking the law because they’re not selling alcohol. People pay to get in and bring their own.

Cleveland Orchestra to tour Europe in fall

CLEVELAND

The Cleveland Orchestra will visit seven cities for its annual international concert tour in September.

The tour from Sept. 7 through Sept. 22 will feature performances at several European festivals and at premiere concert halls across the continent. The 13 concerts will include works by romantic composers Johannes Brahms and Jorg Widmann.

The orchestra’s tour will begin with concerts in London and include performances in Berlin, Vienna, Paris and Amsterdam. Concerts also will be performed in Lucerne, Switzerland, and Linz, Austria.

The orchestra also will present two different concerts in northeast Ohio in August before leaving for the European tour. Those concerts will be at Severance Hall in Cleveland and Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls.

Ohio to award state funds to local parks

COLUMBUS

The Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources says it will award $3.9 million to local park projects across the state.

The department is accepting applications for grants to help local communities with those projects. The funding through the state NatureWorks Grant Program is available for cities, villages, counties, townships, park districts and conservancy districts

State officials say applicants and project scopes must meet eligibility requirements under the NatureWorks Program.

Applications for the funding must be postmarked by Sept. 1.

The grant money is part of nearly $8 million the Ohio General Assembly allocated to the NatureWorks Program for the next two fiscal years.

The Department of Natural Resources is currently offering half of those funds for local park projects that can be started as early as spring 2015.

VINDICATOR WIRE REPORTS