WORLD DIGEST || Loaded gun found at airport in passenger’s carry-on

Loaded gun found at airport in passenger’s carry-on

COLUMBUS

Authorities say security officials found a loaded gun in a passenger’s carry-on luggage in a central Ohio airport.

A statement from a Transportation Security Administration spokesman says agents found the handgun Thursday afternoon in the luggage of a passenger at a Port Columbus International Airport security checkpoint.

The spokesman says police took possession of the bag. The passenger’s name was not released. A message was left with an airport spokeswoman.

Officials say it’s the 14th firearm discovered by agents at Port Columbus International Airport this year. A total of ten firearms were found in the airport in 2013.

The TSA says travelers who bring such firearms to security checkpoints can face criminal and civil penalties and potentially thousands of dollars in fines.

Ohio judge accused of criminal misconduct

LORAIN

A special grand jury has indicted an Ohio judge on charges of criminal misconduct related to his personal finances.

Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge says he’s done nothing wrong and will fight the charges in court.

The 67-year-old Burge was indicted Wednesday on charges including falsification, tampering with records, soliciting improper compensation and having an unlawful interest in a public contract.

The investigation was conducted by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. It focused on Burge’s finances, including his interest in a Lorain office building.

The special grand jury has been meeting secretly for months.

Burge will automatically be barred from hearing cases.

Judge wants charges dropped

CINCINNATI

The attorney for a southwest Ohio judge being tried on felony counts says the case against her should be thrown out.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Norbert Nadel listened to arguments Thursday on a motion by defense attorney Clyde Bennett II. Bennett said prosecutors have failed to present sufficient evidence in the trial to support the charges against Juvenile Court Judge Tracie Hunter.

Prosecutors countered that Bennett should make his arguments to jurors and let them decide. Nadel says he will announce his ruling today.

Hunter faces nine counts alleging tampering with evidence, forgery and theft in office. Her trial began Sept. 8.

The Democrat took the bench after a lengthy legal battle over disputed election results, and Hunter has insisted the case against her is politically motivated.

Ohio asks full appeals court to review early-voting case

COLUMBUS

Attorneys for Ohio have formally asked the full federal appeals court to review a lawsuit affecting the swing state’s early voting schedule.

Ohio’s attorneys said in a court filing that immediate action is needed to reverse a judge’s order that allows early ballots to be cast next week.

U.S. District Judge Peter Economus has temporarily blocked an Ohio law trimming early voting and ordered Secretary of State Jon Husted to set additional times, including evening hours. The order moved the start of early voting to Tuesday instead of Oct. 7.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld the judge’s order on Wednesday.

The state is appealing the panel’s decision and wants the full court to grant a rehearing.

3 arrested in fatal slaying at bar in Cleveland Heights

Police in a Cleveland suburb have arrested three men in connection with a bar shooting last weekend that left a 25-year-old woman dead.

Cleveland Heights police announced the arrests Wednesday in the fatal shooting of Arrion Smiley, which happened at the Double R Bar early Saturday.

A news release from the agency says Jamahl Drake and Darius Wills have been charged with aggravated murder, and Anthony Hunt has been charged with complicity to aggravated murder. Jail records didn’t say if they had attorneys.

English teacher sentenced to life in rape of 2 young boys

CLEVELAND

A former suburban Cleveland high school teacher has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for raping two boys.

Sixty-seven-year-old Joseph Scherma spent more than three decades as an English teacher at Westlake High School, west of Cleveland.

The (Elyria) Chronicle-Telegram reports he was sentenced to life by a judge in Cleveland on Wednesday. He pleaded guilty last month to two counts each of rape, kidnapping and gross sexual imposition and to three counts of disseminating material harmful to juveniles.

Prosecutors say he removed two boys, ages 9 and 11, from their homes and had sex with them.

They believe that one of the boys was abused in February and another from the middle of 2013 into this year. He was indicted May 28.

From Vindicator wire reports