State tourism page highlights Ohio’s Moon Landing ties

State tourism page highlights Ohio’s Moon Landing ties

COLUMBUS

Ohio’s tourism office has made its own launch – a new online page focused on events in the state celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing that featured a native son.

TourismOhio director Matthew MacLaren said the page highlights Ohio’s central role in the historic mission and also the state’s deep ties to space exploration.

Besides Apollo 11 moonwalk astronaut Neil Armstrong, the state has produced two dozen other astronauts.

The tourism page lays out road trips, stargazing opportunities, fun foods and space-related attractions that are available.

Armstrong’s western Ohio hometown of Wapakoneta has days of celebration planned that will be capped by the July 20 anniversary.

Diocese releases names of priests accused of sex abuse

CLEVELAND

A Roman Catholic diocese based in Cleveland has made public a list of 22 previously unnamed priests and other clergy it says have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors.

The recently released list contained the names of 21 priests and a deacon, along with those of 29 priests whom the diocese had previously named publicly. Bishop Nelson Perez said in a letter announcing the release that a committee assembled by the diocese determined that the accusations against the clerics were “more likely than not to be true.”

Perez pledged in October to follow the lead of other dioceses and release the names of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse, past and present.

The Cleveland diocese in 2002 began publishing the names of priests who were accused from that year forward.

House OKs fund for cleaning up lakes and rivers

TOLEDO

Lawmakers in the Ohio House have approved creating a permanent trust fund that would pay for projects aimed at improving water quality around the state.

It’s one of several ideas for funding water quality initiatives being looked at by Gov. Mike DeWine and legislators.

DeWine earlier this year proposed spending nearly $1 billion over 10 years to clean up Lake Erie and Ohio’s polluted streams and rivers.

The H2Ohio Trust Fund recently approved by House lawmakers would set up a long-term funding plan.

The plan still needs approval in the Ohio Senate where there’s another spending proposal up for debate.

Backers of the trust fund toldThe Blade in Toledo that water quality issues aren’t going away soon and that it makes sense to have a permanent funding source.

Anti-heroin coalition warns of spike in suspected overdoses

CINCINNATI

An anti-heroin overdose coalition in the Cincinnati region has issued a warning after a sudden spike in suspected drug overdoses.

The Hamilton County Heroin Coalition issued the warning after authorities reported that emergency responders were called to 23 suspected overdoses between Friday and Saturday.

The coalition suggested drug users follow protective measures, including carrying extra doses of the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, not using drugs alone and avoiding mixing drugs.

The coalition’s alert didn’t specify how many deaths might be attributed to the latest spike in overdoses.

Much of Ohio has been experiencing overdose surges since about April, with spikes tending to occur on weekends.

The Hamilton County coalition includes public and private health providers, elected officials and police and firefighters.

Ohio says shutting Mich. pipeline would impact refineries

TOLEDO

Operators of refineries in Ohio say a potential shutdown of a Great Lakes oil pipeline in Michigan could push up their costs or even force them to close.

Michigan’s governor wants the company that owns the oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac to finish its replacement within two years, but the company says it can’t be done until 2024.

Talks over the timeline broke down earlier this month.

Environmentalists are demanding an immediate shutdown because they say a rupture could contaminate hundreds of miles of open waters.

Last week, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine sent Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer a letter asking her to not let the pipeline shut down permanently.

Kentucky fugitive arrested in Ohio

LOUISVILLE, Ky.

A man who failed to appear in a Kentucky court on kidnapping and other federal charges has been captured in Ohio.

FBI spokesman Timothy Beam in Louisville said in a news release that Bryan Douglas Conley was caught Saturday in Ada, Ohio.

News outlets report Conley was originally arrested in January in Leitchfield, Ky., and was released while awaiting trial on charges that he kidnapped a Brentwood, Tenn., woman and demanded a ransom from her parents.

The FBI says Conley removed an electronic monitoring device from his ankle on Interstate 65 near Smiths Grove on Friday and failed to appear in federal court on a superseding indictment.

The indictment charges Conley with kidnapping, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and additional counts of interstate threatening communications.

Associated Press