Ohio OKs first testing lab for medical marijuana in state

Ohio OKs first testing lab for medical marijuana in state

STREETSBORO

Ohio has approved the first testing lab for medical marijuana in the state.

The Ohio Department of Commerce on Thursday announced it has awarded the first Testing Lab Certificate of Operation to North Coast Testing Laboratories in Streetsboro in Northeast Ohio.

The department said the certificate means that all “regulatory components of the program are in place for the sale of plant-only product in dispensaries.”

All marijuana must be lab-tested for potency and purity before sales can begin.

The first marijuana plants were harvested in October and the first dispensary was approved this month.

The department also said that it has awarded Level I cultivator provisional licenses to Greenleaf Gardens in Middlefield in northeast Ohio and to Certified Cultivators in Dayton in southwest Ohio.

Kasich nixes officer death benefits bill with lawmaker raise

COLUMBUS

Gov. John Kasich has vetoed a proposal to increase death benefits and insurance coverage for slain public-safety officers’ families after lawmakers used the bill to increase elected officials’ pay.

In a veto message Friday, Kasich called the bill’s initial intent “very praiseworthy.” But he said he couldn’t “support or condone the last-minute rush to include a controversial pay raise” without adequate public debate.

Kasich urged lawmakers to send the original bill to his successor, Republican Gov.-elect Mike DeWine, when the new session begins in January.

He added that if legislators want a pay raise, it should be contained in a stand-alone bill that’s “introduced and debated in an open and deliberative process.”

The veto is among several that Ohio lawmakers may try to override next week.

Court orders prison system to share more lethal drug records

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that the state prison system must share more requested records on the acquisition and supply of its lethal-injection drugs.

The high court decided Friday that the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction could not claim certain documents were entirely exempt from open records laws because they contain information that could identify those who participate in manufacturing or supplying drugs used in executions. Instead, those records should be released with such information redacted.

Lawyers initially complained in 2016 that the state failed to produce a complete set of records about the drugs, including who made them and when they expire.

The department claimed other records were exempt from open records laws. Last December, the court ordered the department to provide records for justices to review.

Inmates push for class-action suit against Cleveland jail

CLEVELAND

Seven inmates are suing county officials for endangering their health and safety at a Cleveland jail.

Lawyers for the inmates allege the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center is intentionally overcrowded, and inmates are regularly denied health care, edible food and access to their attorneys.

If a judge approves their request for class-action status, other inmates can join the complaint.

The jail’s director abruptly resigned in November after the U.S. Marshals Service released a scathing report detailing inhumane conditions. The review followed at least six inmate deaths in a four-month span from June to October, including some that were considered suicides.

Prosecutor Michael O’Malley, who will represent the county, told Cleveland.com on Thursday that his office could not comment on specifics of the lawsuit because it had not yet been served.

Police: Suspect in custody shot, killed inside headquarters

TOLEDO

Authorities in Ohio say an officer shot and killed a man wanted in the slaying of his grandmother in the Detroit area after he grabbed an officer’s stun gun inside Toledo’s police headquarters.

Toledo’s police chief says 23-year-old Damon Barstad of Warren, Mich., was being let out of a holding cell Thursday when he rushed at several officers.

The chief says an officer fired one shot at Barstad after he grabbed the stun gun during a struggle.

Barstad had been arrested early Thursday at a motel in Toledo, about 58 miles south of Detroit.

Warren police say Barstad was wanted in the stabbing death of his 68-year-old grandmother. Her body was found Wednesday night in in the garage of her home, just outside of Detroit.

Authorities: Police officer died by self-inflicted gunshot

CINCINNATI

Authorities say the Cincinnati police officer whose body was found near a popular park died of a gunshot wound that appears to be self-inflicted.

The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office says Sgt. Arthur Schultz had a single wound to his head and neck area. The 51-year-old Schultz’s body was found in a vehicle in Eden Park on Thursday.

Coroner’s officials say their lab is still investigating his death.

Schultz had served in the city’s police department for the past 28 years. Chief Eliot Isaac said Thursday he “will be greatly missed.”

Prosecutor: Woman found guilty in fatal police chase

DAYTON

A prosecutor says a woman who led police on a high-speed chase and caused a crash ending in another motorist’s death has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Ohio.

Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said in a release Thursday that 18-year-old Alyssa Irwin-Debraux also was found guilty Thursday of failure to comply and grand theft of a motor vehicle in connection to the September crash on Ohio 741 that killed 57-year-old Mary Taulbee.

The release says a Moraine police officer was pursuing a stolen Jeep driven by Irwin-Debraux when another vehicle moving out of the jeep’s path struck a car driven by Taulbee. Taulbee’s car spun into the police cruiser’s path. The Lebanon woman died at a hospital.

A message seeking comment was left for the defendant’s attorney.

Associated Press