Tornadoes touched down in at least 11 Ohio counties

Tornadoes touched down in at least 11 Ohio counties

TOLEDO

Survey crews with the National Weather Service say tornadoes touched down in at least 11 Ohio counties during a storm outbreak over the weekend.

Nearly all of those were in the state’s northern half where tornadoes and straight-line winds Sunday left a trail of damaged businesses and homes.

There haven’t been any serious injuries reported from the storm in Ohio.

The weather service says there were three tornado touchdowns in Seneca County and two in Mercer County.

Tornadoes also were on the ground in Ashtabula, Ashland, Sandusky, Crawford, Columbiana, Erie, Wayne, Huron and Clark counties.

Father charged in pool death of toddler son

SHARON, Pa.

A man has been charged in the death of his toddler son who was found unresponsive in a swimming pool blocks from home.

David Gammon, 35, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in the death of 2-year-old Annakin Gammon.

Police in Mercer County said the child and his 5-year-old brother were reported missing in September from their Sharon home. The older child was spotted a few blocks away.

The younger boy was found in a fenced-in backyard pool nine blocks away in Masury, Ohio. Searchers and medics attempted CPR at the scene, but the boy was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Pennsylvanians take small wishful step toward tax relief

HARRISBURG, Pa.

The constitutional amendment that Pennsylvania voters approved Tuesday could eventually lead to reductions in the state’s heavy dependence on property taxes, but it is only a tiny step in that direction.

The amendment gives the General Assembly the authority to pass a law authorizing local governments to exclude up to the full value of residents’ homes that they own from taxation.

The new language does not by itself change anything, however.

Local governments have had the ability for two decades to exclude up to half the median value of homes in their area from taxation.

Russia, West clash over blaming Syria for chemical use

UNITED NATIONS

Russia clashed with Western nations Tuesday over a report blaming Syria for a deadly chemical weapons attack, with Moscow dismissing its findings as “mythical or invented” and the U.S. backing its finger-pointing at President Bashar Assad’s regime.

The debate in the Security Council during a meeting on the report reflected the sharp differences between Russia, Syria’s most important ally, and Western countries that have backed Assad’s opponents.

It also raised serious questions about whether the mandate of the experts who issued the report will be renewed – and whether anyone in Syria will ever be held accountable for using chemical weapons, which are banned internationally.

Russia and the United States have circulated rival resolutions to extend the experts’ body, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism. Its mandate expires Nov. 14.

Associated Press