GOP’s Pat Fischer wins seat on Supreme Court

GOP’s Pat Fischer wins seat on Supreme Court

COLUMBUS

A Democratic judge in Cleveland has conceded to his Republican opponent in what was an extremely tight Ohio Supreme Court race, meaning the court will continue to have six Republicans and one Democrat.

The race between Cuyahoga County Judge John P. O’Donnell and state appeals Judge Pat Fischer was too close to call on election night because there were more than 260,000 uncounted provisional or outstanding absentee ballots.

Those votes were counted by Wednesday, and O’Donnell conceded that Fischer won by more than the narrow margin that would trigger an automatic recount.

The court’s second open seat was captured by Republican Pat DeWine, the state attorney general’s son.

Troopers find drugs wrapped as gifts

BOWLING GREEN

The State Highway Patrol says troopers found 71 pounds of marijuana and other drugs wrapped as Christmas gifts in a vehicle that was stopped for a driving violation in northwest Ohio.

The patrol says the drugs seized Monday on Interstate 80 in Wood County, south of Toledo, have an estimated street value of $330,000.

A trooper stopped the rented sport utility vehicle for following another vehicle too closely, and that led to a search of the SUV with help from a K-9. Investigators found the drugs in 10 gift-wrapped boxes.

The patrol says the 31-year-old driver from Eureka, Calif., was jailed on suspicion of drug trafficking.

Dad loaded gun day before daughter’s death

CLEVELAND

Surveillance video shows that a suburban Cleveland man accused of fatally shooting his adult daughter in the head at home loaded a revolver at the gas station he owns the day before the shooting.

Sixty-four-year-old Jamal Mansour, of Rocky River, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and other charges in the September shooting of 27-year-old Tahani Mansour.

Jamal Mansour told a judge after his arrest that it was an accident, but prosecutors allege he planned the killing.

Cleveland.com (http://bit.ly/2fZ5bjv ) reports prosecutors point to the gas station video of Mansour loading a firearm as evidence that he had a “calculated plan.” Police say Mansour rarely took the weapon home.

Court records indicate Mansour said he shot his daughter “out of anger.”

Daughter finds dad dead on Thanksgiving

ZANESFIELD

Authorities are investigating the fatal shooting of a western Ohio man found dead in his home on Thanksgiving.

The Logan County Sheriff’s Office says 45-year-old Jeffrey Brentlinger’s adult daughter called 911 on Thursday to say she had returned home to find her father dead in the Zanesfield house he shared with her and her daughter. Sheriff Andrew Smith says the coroner preliminarily ruled the death a homicide.

Authorities say Brentlinger’s daughter told them she left the house Wednesday and found her father upon returning around 11 a.m. Thursday. She said the front door was open and there was mud on the floor.

6,000 deer harvested

COLUMBUS

State officials say young hunters in Ohio harvested nearly 6,000 deer in the state’s youth gun season for hunting deer.

The Department of Natural Resources says the harvest from the two-day season last weekend totaled 5,930 white-tailed deer. Last year’s total for the season was more than 7,200 deer.

Sex assaults at UT

TOLEDO

The president of the University of Toledo is telling students that their safety is her top priority after three sexual assaults were reported in little over a month since mid-October.

University President Sharon Gaber sent a letter to the campus community this week that says the university and its police department are investigating all three reported assaults.

Police reports describe all three as rapes. It also says the victims knew the suspects and are Toledo students.

Campus police recorded seven reports of rape from 2013-2015.

Associated Press