Tag Archives: Ohio

U.N. envoy urges North Korea to explain why freed U.S. man is in coma

FILE PHOTO - Otto Frederick Warmbier, a University of Virginia student who has been detained in North Korea since early January, attends a news conference in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo February 29, 2016. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Kyodo

GENEVA (Reuters) – A United Nations human rights investigator called on North Korea on Friday to explain why an American student was in a coma when he was returned home this week after more than a year in detention there.

Otto Warmbier, 22, has a severe brain injury and is in a state of “unresponsive wakefulness”, his Ohio doctors said on Thursday.

His family said he had been in a coma since March

2016, shortly after he was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor

in North Korea.

“While I welcome the news of Mr Warmbier’s release, I am very concerned about his condition, and the authorities have to provide a clear explanation about what made him slip into a coma,” Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), said in a statement issued in Geneva.

Warmbier, from a Cincinatti suburb, was arrested for trying to steal an item bearing a propaganda slogan, North Korean media reported. On Thursday, North Korea said that it had released him “on humanitarian grounds”.

The University of Virginia student’s father, Fred Warmbier,

said his son had been “brutalised and terrorised” by the North Korean government.

Fred Warmbier said the family did not believe North Korea’s

story that his son had fallen into a coma after contracting

botulism and being given a sleeping pill.

Ojea Quintana called on North Korea to “clarify the causes and circumstances” of Otto Warmbier’s release.

“His case serves as a reminder of the disastrous implications of the lack of access to adequate medical treatment for prisoners in the DPRK,” he said.

“His ordeal could have been prevented had he not been denied basic entitlements when he was arrested, such as access to consular officers and representation by an independent legal counsel of his choosing,” added Ojea Quintana, a lawyer and veteran U.N. rights expert.

North Korea is believed to operate political prison camps and foreign nationals have also been detained on political grounds, Ojea Quintana said. Two American university professors in Pyongyang were arrested this year for allegedly plotting anti-state acts.

A 2014 landmark report by a U.N. investigators cataloged massive human rights violations in North Korea which they said could amount to crimes against humanity.

Tens of thousands of people are detained across the isolated country in inhumane conditions and subjected to torture and forced labor, it said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Trump pushes infrastructure plan as Russia probe heats up

U.S. President Donald Trump announces his $1 trillion infrastructure plan to the crowd during a rally alongside the Ohio River at the Rivertown Marina in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. June 7, 2017. REUTERS/John Sommers II

By Jeff Mason

CINCINNATI, Ohio (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Wednesday trumpeted plans for $1 trillion in U.S. infrastructure spending as he struggles to gain momentum for his economic agenda amid growing attention on the probe into alleged ties between his campaign and Russia.

“America wants to build,” Trump said. “There is no limit to what we can achieve. All it takes is a bold and daring vision and the will to make it happen.”

Speaking in Cincinnati, Ohio, Trump reviewed a proposal announced earlier this year to leverage $200 billion in his budget proposal into a $1 trillion of projects to privatize the air traffic control system, strengthen rural infrastructure and repair bridges, roads and waterways.

Trump said he would not allow the United States to become a “museum of former glory.” He spoke about backing large transformative projects but did not give specifics.

“We will construct incredible new monuments to American grit that inspire wonder for generations and generations,” he said.

Trump pointed to a government program that allows the private sector to tap into low-cost government loans called the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act as a way to leverage federal funds with state, local, and private sector funding.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said at a Senate hearing on Wednesday that administration plans to unveil a detailed legislative proposal by the end of September.

Democrats want $1 trillion in new federal spending and proposed a plan that includes $200 billion in roads and bridges,$20 billion in expanding broadband Internet access, $110 billion for water systems and $75 billion for schools.

Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer said the Trump budget unveiled in May cuts $206 billion in infrastructure spending across several departments, including $96 billion in planned highway trust fund spending.

The Ohio visit was the second leg of a week-long White House focus on infrastructure. On Monday the president proposed spinning off air traffic control from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The proposal to privatize air traffic control has run into skepticism and opposition from Democratic senators and some Republicans.

The infrastructure push comes as the White House seeks to refocus attention on core promises to boost jobs and the economy that Trump made last year during his presidential campaign.

Those pledges have been eclipsed by the furor over Russia’s alleged meddling in the election. That drama will come to a head on Thursday when former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, who was leading the Russia probe until Trump fired him last month, testifies before a Senate panel.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason in Cincinnati, Ohio Writing by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chris Sanders and Cynthia Osterman)

Anthem to leave Ohio’s Obamacare insurance market in 2018

FILE PHOTO: A sign at the office building of health insurer Anthem is seen in Los Angeles, California February 5, 2015. REUTERS/Gus Ruelas/File Photo

By Caroline Humer

(Reuters) – Anthem Inc, which has urged Republican lawmakers to commit to paying government subsidies for the Obamacare individual health insurance system, on Tuesday announced it would exit most of the Ohio market next year.

The high-profile health insurer, which sells Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states including New York and California, for months has said that uncertainty over the payments used to make insurance more affordable could cause it to exit markets next year.

Anthem CEO Joseph Swedish two weeks ago reiterated that the company was reviewing its participation in the individual markets that are a key piece of the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare.

Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump have promised to repeal and replace the law, but have disagreed over the details, creating uncertainty at a time when insurers must submit plans and premium rates for 2018.

In addition, Republicans are trying to cut off these Obamacare subsidy payments in court proceedings and President Donald Trump has made conflicting statements about continuing paying them.

Insurance departments across the country have reported that insurers have submitted premium rate increases of up to 50 percent and 60 percent or even higher for 2018.

Anthem attributed the Ohio decision to volatility and uncertainty about whether the government would continue to provide cost-sharing subsidies. It said it would continue to sell Obamacare compliant plans outside of the exchange in Pike County, Ohio as well as other individual plans that were grandfathered when the law went into effect.

Anthem is the only insurer selling health insurance exchange products in all 88 Ohio counties in 2017 and the only insurer in 20 counties, according to Ohio Department of Insurance spokesman Chris Brock.

In 2018, the move would leave about 10,500 people in at least 18 counties with no insurer.

“Congressional action is needed to restore stability,” Brock said. The insurance department is looking for options for those affected, he said.

Other large health insurers have also pulled out for 2018, including Aetna Inc and Humana Inc, leaving other areas facing the possibility of no insurer.

Anthem’s decision was made as rate filings were due to the state and after discussions with the insurance department.

“States can beg and plead, but much of this is out of their hands,” said Larry Levitt, health economist at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Anthem shares rose $1.19, or 0.64 percent, to $187.88 in early afternoon trading.

(Reporting by Caroline Humer in New York; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Andrew Hay)

Facebook murder suspect remains at large as police ask public for help

(Reuters) – A murder suspect who police said posted a video of himself on Facebook shooting an elderly man in Cleveland remained on the loose on Tuesday as authorities appealed to the public for help in the case.

Police said they have received “dozens and dozens” of tips and possible sightings of the suspect, Steve Stephens, and tried to persuade him to turn himself in when they spoke with him via his cellphone on Sunday after the shooting.

But Stephens remained at large as the search for him expanded nationwide, police said.

The shooting marked the latest video clip of a violent crime to turn up on Facebook, raising questions about how the world’s biggest social media network moderates content.

The company on Monday said it would begin reviewing how it monitors violent footage and other objectionable material in response to the killing.

Police said Stephens used Facebook Inc’s service to post video of him killing Robert Godwin Sr., 74.

Stephens is not believed to have known Godwin, a retired foundry worker who media reports said spent Easter Sunday morning with his son and daughter-in-law before he was killed.

“I want him to know what he took from us. He took our dad,” Godwin’s daughter Tammy told CNN on Monday night. “My heart is broke.”

During the same interview, his son Robby Miller said that he wanted the shooter brought to justice and for his family to have closure.

“I forgive him because we are all sinners,” he said. “If you are out there, if you’re listening, turn yourself in.”

Facebook vice president Justin Osofsky said the company was reviewing the procedure that users go through to report videos and other material that violates the social media platform’s standards. The shooting video was visible on Facebook for nearly two hours before it was reported, the company said.

Stephens, who has no prior criminal record, is not suspected in any other murders, police said.

The last confirmed sighting of Stephens was at the scene of the homicide. Police said he might be driving a white or cream-colored Ford Fusion, and asked anyone who spots him or his car to call police or a special FBI hotline (800-CALLFBI).

(Writing by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee)

Suspect charged with second murder in Ohio nightclub shooting

FILE PHOTO -- The parking lot of Cameo Nightlife club remains empty after police removed barrier tape from the scene of a mass shooting in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. March 26, 2017. REUTERS/Caleb Hughes/File Photo

By Timothy Mclaughlin

(Reuters) – A grand jury in Ohio indicted a man suspected of opening fire in a crowded Cincinnati nightclub on a second murder charge Thursday after another suspect died this week.

The charge was one of 38 brought against Cornell Beckley, 27, who faces 230 years in prison if convicted on all charges in the shooting, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters told a news conference in Cincinnati.

“We identified him (Beckley) through multiple sources as the initial shooter,” Deters said.

A second suspect, Deondre Davis, 29, who was charged with murder while critically injured, died Tuesday morning at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, according to police.

Bryan Spikes, 27, died shortly after the March 26 shooting at the Cameo Nightlife club in which 16 other people were injured.

Beckley pleaded not guilty at an arraignment hearing in Cincinnati Municipal Court last week on the initial charge and is being held on a $1.7 million bond.

Davis and Beckley would have faced identical indictments had Davis lived, Deters said. A third gun was found in the club and police are searching for a third shooter.

The gunfire, which sent hundreds of patrons fleeing and ducking for cover, erupted from a dispute inside the club between two groups from different neighborhoods, Deters said.

Beckley climbed onto the club’s stage and began shooting at around 1:30 a.m., prosecutors said. Davis started shooting after Beckley opened fire.

The club had persistent problems with violence, according to police. The club’s owner surrendered his liquor license and the club was closed, police said on Thursday.

Unlike last year’s Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida, in which 49 people died, making it the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, there were no indications the Cincinnati shooting was “terrorism-related,” according to authorities.

“People say this was a mass shooting. It was a shoot-out,” Deters said.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley called the incident the worst mass shooting in the city’s history.

One victim remains in critical condition, Deters said.

(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Two suspects charged in deadly Ohio nightclub shooting

The parking lot of Cameo Nightlife club remains empty after police removed barrier tape from the scene of a mass shooting in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. March 26, 2017. REUTERS/Caleb Hughes

By Kim Palmer

CLEVELAND (Reuters) – Ohio police have identified two suspects in a shooting at a Cincinnati night club over the weekend in which one person was killed and 16 injured, authorities said on Thursday.

One of the suspects, Cornell Beckley, 27, was arrested on Thursday and charged with murder, Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said at a press conference.

A second suspect, 29-year-old Deondre Davis, who is in critical condition at University of Cincinnati Medical Center after being shot in the early Sunday incident, has also been charged with murder, said Isaac.

Isaac said he expects more arrests. Officials previously said a lack of security video footage at Cameo Nightlife, despite its history of violence, hampered the probe.

Officials have said a fight that spun out of control led to the shooting and that there was no evidence of a “terrorist attack” such as last year’s Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Isaac said there could be a third shooter from the Ohio nightclub, citing a belief by police that three guns were brought into the nightclub. Investigators have found at least 16 shell casings at the scene, he added.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley called the incident the worst mass shooting in the city’s history and hailed the arrests.

Four police officers were providing security in the club’s parking lot when the shots were fired.

Cameo Nightlife’s Facebook page says it features “College Friday’s” for students 18 and older and “Saturday’s 21+ grown and sexy night.”

Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black previously said the club had surrendered its liquor licence and would be closed until the investigation is complete. The club, a large single-story structure, is a 7-mile (11 km) drive from downtown Cincinnati.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer, Editing by Ben Klayman and Grant McCool)

Lack of security footage hampers Ohio nightclub shooting probe

The parking lot of Cameo Nightlife club remains empty after police removed barrier tape from the scene of a mass shooting in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. March 26, 2017. REUTERS/Caleb Hughes

By Ian Simpson

(Reuters) – Ohio police have made no arrests yet in a fatal weekend shooting in a Cincinnati nightclub, in part because there was no security video footage available to investigators despite a history of violence at the venue, authorities said on Monday.

The shooting at the packed Cameo Nightlife early on Sunday left a 27-year-old man dead and 16 others wounded; the number of wounded had initially been put at 15 people.

The gunfire, which sent hundreds of patrons fleeing and ducking for cover, grew out of a dispute inside the club, where two shootings took place in 2015, authorities said.

Unlike last year’s massacre at a Florida nightclub, there was no indication that the Cincinnati shooting was “terrorism-related,” authorities said on Sunday. The rampage in Orlando last June was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, leaving 49 people dead.

Even though Cincinnati police lacked a video recording of the chaos, Chief Eliot Isaac said on Monday the department was confident of finding those responsible.

The best witnesses to the shooting were those who had been shot and were still recovering, Isaac said at a televised hearing of the public safety panel. In addition, some witnesses were reluctant to cooperate immediately after the incident, police have said.

Isaac said the number of wounded rose to 16 after another person came forward late on Sunday claiming to have been hit by gunfire. Two people remained in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Patrons managed to bring guns into Cameo Nightlife even though four off-duty police officers were providing security in the parking lot. Employees also used handheld metal detectors to check patrons for firearms before they could enter the club.

Even so, one customer told the Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper that clubgoers in a “no-wait” line were not being screened.

Club owner Julian Rodgers issued a statement late on Sunday expressing condolences to the victims. “We will do everything in our power to cooperate and make sure the monsters that did this are caught and brought to justice,” he said.

A telephone call to the club was not answered and its Facebook page was unavailable. However, late Monday Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black said on Twitter that the club had voluntarily surrendered its liquor license and that the facility would be closed until the investigation is complete.

The shooting was the worst this year in the United States in terms of the total number of dead and wounded, according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, which tracks U.S. shootings.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California; Editing by Frank McGurty and Leslie Adler)

Weekend weather, freezing, dangerous Conditions in Ohio cause deadly pileups

weather map from Noaa weather service 12-9-16

By Kami K

Cold weather is in store for almost the entire nation this weekend as frigid temperatures dive in from Canada. Highs will be reaching in the low 40’s for Texas and frigid low temps of -22 degrees in the Dakotas.  According to the National Weather Service, a system moving into the Pacific Northwest will spread heavy rain and snow over the region today.  Snow levels will start off very low with snow accumulations likely even in Portland and Seattle with the probability of at least 4” of snow through Saturday evening.   

Twelve to fourteen inches of accumulation will be seen in some areas in the north from lake effect snowfall along areas close to the Great Lakes. These lake effect snows have caused dangerous conditions on roads and highways. In a report from The Weather Channel, heavy lake-effect snowfall made travel dangerous along Interstate 90 near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border Thursday, causing a pair of pileups 50 miles apart that left more than a dozen injured.

Shortly before 3 p.m. EST, the Lake County, Ohio Sheriff’s Office said that a pileup involving more than 50 vehicles occurred along I-90 southeast of Painesville. As a result, authorities closed both directions of the interstate. The road was closed for more than 14 hours and about 20 people were injured, according to the Associated Press.

Another pile-up occurred earlier Thursday along the same interstate, but this one was on the other side of the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. The Weather Channel reported that at least 15 people were injured in a pileup that involved at least a dozen vehicles between Exits 9 and 16 near Girard Township, Pennsylvania.

A more deadly chain reaction crash in Michigan resulted in the deaths of 3 people when slick road conditions caused a 30 to 40 car pileup on Interstate 96 Thursday morning.

“Bands of lake-effect snow are streaming through the Great Lakes region as arctic air flows over the relatively warmer lake waters,” said weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce. “Those snow squalls can lead to visibility that deteriorates quickly, along with slick roads.”

Police and weather specialists are cautioning all drivers about respecting the weather conditions and being cautious.  

Michigan State Police Lt. Mike Shaw told CBS Detroit, “We’re just trying to tell people I know it’s the first snowstorm, I know it’s the first time we’ve seen snow in a long time, but you gotta slow down and you gotta take a look at those closing distances between the cars in front of you.”

Former U.S. astronaut, Senator John Glenn dies in Ohio at 95

Senator John Glenn speaks with reporters, with his Daughter Lyn Glenn, during the christening ceremony for the USNS John Glenn at the General Dynamics NASSCO Shipyard in San Diego, California

By Will Dunham

(Reuters) – John Glenn, who became one of the 20th century’s greatest heroes as the first American to orbit Earth and later as the world’s oldest astronaut, in addition to a long career as a U.S. senator, died on Thursday at age of 95, Ohio’s governor said.

Glenn was the last surviving member of the original seven “Right Stuff” Mercury astronauts.

“John Glenn is, and always will be, Ohio’s ultimate hometown hero, and his passing today is an occasion for all of us to grieve,” Ohio Governor John Kasich said in a statement.

Glenn was credited with reviving U.S. pride after the Soviet Union’s early domination of manned space exploration. His three laps around the world in the Friendship 7 capsule on Feb. 20, 1962, forged a powerful link between the former fighter pilot and the Kennedy-era quest to explore outer space as a “New Frontier.”

As the third of seven astronauts in NASA’s solo-flight Mercury program to venture into space, Glenn became more of a media fixture than any of the others and was known for his composure and willingness to promote the program.

Glenn’s astronaut career, as well as his record as a fighter pilot in World War Two and the Korean War, helped propel him to the U.S. Senate in 1974, where he represented his home state of Ohio for 24 years as a moderate Democrat.

But his star was dimmed somewhat by a Senate investigation of several senators on whether special favors were done for a major campaign contributor. He was cleared of wrongdoing.

Glenn’s entry into history came in early 1961 when fellow astronaut Scott Carpenter bade him “Godspeed, John Glenn” just before the Ohio native was rocketed into space for a record-breaking trip that would last just under five hours.

“Zero-G (gravity) and I feel fine,” was Glenn’s succinct assessment of weightlessness several minutes into his mission. “… Oh, and that view is tremendous.”

After splashdown and recovery in the Atlantic, Glenn was treated as a hero, addressing a joint session of Congress and being feted in a New York ticker-tape parade.

His experiences as a pioneer astronaut were chronicled in the book and movie “The Right Stuff,” along with the other Mercury pilots. The book’s author, Tom Wolfe, called Glenn “the last true national hero America has ever had.”

“I don’t think of myself that way,” Glenn told the New York Times in 2012 to mark the 50th anniversary of his flight. “I get up each day and have the same problems others have at my age. As far as trying to analyze all the attention I received, I will leave that to others.”

Glenn’s historic flight made him a favorite of President John Kennedy and his brother Robert, who encouraged him to launch a political career that finally took off after a period as a businessman made him a millionaire.

(Reporting by Will Dunham in Washington; Editing by Bill Trott)

Ohio lawmakers pass ‘heartbeat’ abortion legislation

Protesters demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on the morning that the court took up a major abortion case focusing on whether a Texas law that imposes strict regulations on abortion doctors and clinic buildings interferes with the constitutional right of a woman to end her pregnancy in Washington

By Kim Palmer

CLEVELAND, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Ohio lawmakers approved a bill that bans abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, as early as six weeks after conception, clearing the way for one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the United States if it becomes law.

The Republican-led state House of Representatives and Senate passed the so-called “heartbeat” measure late on Tuesday, sending it to be signed into law by Republican Governor John Kasich.

Kasich, an abortion opponent, has in the past questioned whether such legislation would be constitutional.

The U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide more than four decades ago, but states were allowed to permit restrictions once a fetus was viable. Some states, particularly those governed by Republicans such as Ohio, have sought to chip away at a woman’s right to end a pregnancy.

Lower courts have struck down similar “heartbeat” laws in North Dakota and Arkansas and the Supreme Court refused to hear appeals on those rulings in January.

But now, with Republican President-elect Donald Trump having the opportunity to fill at least one Supreme Court vacancy, conservatives in Ohio hope that the legislation can withstand a challenge in court.

“A new president, new Supreme Court appointees change the dynamic, and there was consensus in our caucus to move forward,” Senate President Keith Faber told the Columbus Dispatch.

“It has a better chance than it did before,” Faber said of the bill’s chances of surviving a constitutional challenge,
according to the Dispatch.

The heartbeat legislation has been approved twice before by the state’s lower house only to fail in the Senate.

The abortion legislation was part of a wider bill on reporting child abuse. It does not make exceptions for rape and incest, though it does allow for abortions that would save the mother’s life, according to text of the legislation.

Some women’s rights groups were swift to condemn the approval of the bill. The Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research organization that supports abortion rights and tracks abortion legislation, said it would be one of the most restrictive abortion laws if enacted.

“Banning women from getting a medical procedure is out of touch with Ohio values and is completely unacceptable,” abortion-rights advocacy group NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio said in a statement.

(Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; editing
by Richard Lough)