STATE DIGEST: Hunt is on for 175,000 turkeys; invasion of cicadas nears

Open season on 175,000 turkeys to begin soon

COLUMBUS

Ohio hunters can soon hunt wild turkeys as the state prepares to open the spring season later this month.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says the spring season is set to start April 18, while the youth-only season will occur April 16 and 17.

The state expects about 65,000 hunters will participate in the wild-turkey season before it ends May 15.

Licensed hunters are required to have a spring turkey-hunting permit. They can use shotguns or archery equipment, but are barred from using bait, electronic calling devices or live decoys. They must report their harvest using the automated game-check system.

The spring season bag limit is two bearded turkeys.

According to the natural resources department, Ohio has a current wild-turkey population of about 175,000.

Eastern Ohio braces for invasion of cicadas

COLUMBUS

Researchers say a new brood of buzzing cicadas is set to emerge from the ground and begin mating across central and eastern Ohio this spring.

The Columbus Dispatch reports a subset of the underground insect’s population, known as Brood V, will be particularly heavy around Athens and Nelsonville.

Gene Kritsky, a biologist and cicada expert at Cincinnati’s Mount St. Joseph University, says Brood V last appeared in 1999. Brood X surfaced in 2004.

Ohio’s Division of Wildlife says cicadas aren’t dangerous. They benefit trees, plants and birds. Wild turkeys flourished during Brood V’s last appearance.

It generally takes 17 years of subterranean development for cicadas to transition from nymph to adult. Once they emerge, they live about six weeks as they shed their exoskeletons, mate and lay eggs.

Death-penalty foes to bestow award

COLUMBUS

The state’s largest anti-death penalty group is giving a new award named after former state prisons director who died last month of a heart attack.

The group Ohioans to Stop Executions says former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton will be the first recipient of the Terry J. Collins Award on April 12 at an event at the Statehouse.

Collins oversaw more than 30 executions and defended Ohio’s execution procedures as prisons director. He then became an anti-death penalty advocate in retirement.

Ohioans to Stop Executions says the award bearing Collins’ name recognizes a leader in government who once supported or implemented the death penalty — but later reversed positions on the death penalty and actively advocated to end executions.

Teen advisers sought

COLUMBUS

Ohio’s attorney general is urging high schoolers to apply to become members of a board that advises his office on teen issues.

Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine says his office is accepting applications for its Teen Ambassador Board.

Students who will be juniors or seniors in high school during the 2016-2017 academic year are eligible to apply. The teens can attend public, private, charter or online schools.

Board members meet twice in Columbus during their one-year term. They work on solutions to problems facing Ohioans and meet with DeWine and elected officials.

Applications are due May 31.