Scammers posing as health department staff
COLUMBUS — Health officials are warning Ohioans of callers posing as state health department staff to get personal information the department would never seek over the phone.
The Ohio Department of Health says the scammers use caller ID technology to make it appear they are calling from a credible phone number. They sometimes say they are calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or on behalf of a health care provider. The callers often have some personal information about those they are calling, such as name, date of birth, address and the name of the person’s physician.
Anyone getting such a suspicious call should never provide personal information, but hang up and call the named agency or company for verification.
The State Highway Patrol is investigating.
Man fatally shot en route to homeless shelter
STOW — A man being transported by police to a homeless shelter has been fatally shot.
The state crime bureau is investigating the shooting, which happened Sunday night in Stow.
The Stow Police Department says the man was taken into custody after an officer responded to a report of someone pounding on a resident’s door and asking for cigarettes.
Police say the officer was taking the man to Haven of Rest in Akron when he asked for backup from Akron police because the man was becoming aggressive.
Stow police say before the officer arrived he reported that shots had been fired.
Police say the man died at an Akron hospital. The officer was treated for injuries and was released.
Inmate dies after altercation with deputies
AKRON — An investigation is underway after an Ohio jail inmate died following an altercation with sheriff’s deputies.
The Summit County Medical Examiner says inmate Anthony Jones died Saturday night. The 36-year-old Jones was hospitalized after the Friday morning incident in a secure part of the county jail.
Bill Holland, spokesman for the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, tells the Akron Beacon Journal two deputies sustained minor injuries.
The paper says Jones was arrested Aug. 7 in Akron on eight charges, six of which involved the illegal handling of weapons or firearms.
Jones was accused of firing a gun into two Akron homes.
Citizen group fights Piketon waste facility
PIKETON — A newly formed citizen group pledges to fight federal plans to store contaminated waste in southern Ohio from the cleanup of a Cold War-era uranium plant.
The Chillicothe Gazette reports more than 100 people gathered for a recent meeting of the Citizens Against Radioactive Dump.
The group opposes a plan by the Department of Energy to create an on-site disposal facility at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
Federal officials say the facility would save money for the cleanup of low-level waste. However, an environmental report commissioned by the village of Piketon says there is cracked bedrock in the area and waste would put groundwater at risk.
Both the citizen group and Piketon officials are critical of the U.S. Energy Department. No representatives from the department attended the meeting.
Amazon project receives $7.8M tax credit
NORTH RANDALL — An Ohio board has approved an estimated $7.8 million tax credit for Amazon as the e-commerce giant plans a new fulfillment center outside of Cleveland that could employ 2,000 people.
The Plain Dealer reports the Ohio Tax Credit Authority signed off on a 1.35 percent, 10-year tax credit Wednesday in Columbus. The credit would go toward an 855,000-square foot building in North Randall, where workers will pack and ship Amazon products.
The building is set to open in 2018.
State officials say the authority on Wednesday also approved a 1.39 percent, 10-year tax credit for a smaller Amazon project in Monroe in southwest Ohio. The state says Amazon expects that project to create an estimated 1,000 fulltime jobs.
Amazon hasn’t made an announcement about that facility.
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