Lake Erie algae matches third-most severe
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Federal researchers say the harmful algae on Lake Erie this year roughly matched the third-most severe bloom over the past 15 years.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday the algae outbreak had two peaks this year in August and again in mid-September.
The agency says this year’s bloom left behind a thick, paint-like scum that covered about 280 square miles in September.
Researchers say the massive algae bloom was roughly equal to the one in 2013.
They say the bloom this year stretched from Toledo, Ohio to the shoreline along Ontario, Canada and reached the mouth of the Detroit River.
The potentially toxic algae blooms that are fed by farm fertilizer runoff and municipal sewage overflows are a threat to drinking water and aquatic life.
Ohio: 500+ police agencies meeting standards
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The state says law enforcement agencies representing nearly eight of every 10 Ohio officers have been fully certified on new standards governing the use of deadly force and other policies.
An advisory board commissioned by Republican Gov. John Kasich created the standards after a series of fatal police shootings in Ohio and nationally.
Agencies that don’t meet the statewide standards as minimum policies will be listed as noncompliant on an annual list. Standards also include recruiting and hiring.
The Department of Public Safety announced Monday that North Royalton Police Department in suburban Cleveland and Riverside Police Department in suburban Dayton are the latest departments to comply with the standards.
The agency says 506 departments employing over 27,000 officers have either met the standards or are in the process.
Counties find new polling places
CLEVELAND (AP) — Election directors in northeastern Ohio scrambled to find new polling locations after a severe storm over the weekend knocked out power across the region.
Damage from the storm on Sunday along with the power outages has closed some schools and churches that were supposed to be polling sites Tuesday.
Electricity in some areas isn’t expected to be back on until Wednesday.
Election officials held emergency meetings on Monday to decide what to do.
Portage County has moved two polling locations in Aurora while Geauga County is relocating four polling sites.
In Cleveland, Cuyahoga County elections officials asked utility crews to put a priority on restoring power to two polling places that were without electricity Monday afternoon.
Drug charges filed against 100 people
EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say 100 people have been charged with hundreds of counts of drug trafficking, including allegations of flooding the state with doses of deadly synthetic opioids.
Investigators allege the drug trafficking ring has operated mainly between Cuyahoga and Columbiana counties in eastern and northeastern Ohio since 2014.
A 756-count indictment against 100 individuals following a probe by the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Columbiana County Drug Task Force in East Liverpool was announced Tuesday.
Defendants are charged with trafficking in cocaine, heroin and the synthetic opioids fentanyl and carfentanil.
Two suspects are charged with felony assault for allegedly exposing an East Liverpool police officer to fentanyl during a traffic stop earlier this year.
Boy charged for Instagram threat
NORTON, Ohio (AP) — Police say a 12-year-old Ohio boy accused of posting a threat to his middle school on social media has been suspended and charged with making false alarms.
Administrators of Norton Middle School near Akron were notified about the threat Monday morning, and the student was taken into custody on his school bus when it arrived in the parking lot.
Police and the school didn’t publicly identify the student or share specifics about the threat made on Instagram. Investigators determined the boy didn’t have the means to follow through with the threat.
WOIO-TV reports the student wasn’t armed.
Father charged in pool death of son
SHARON, Pa. (AP) — A man has been charged in the death of his toddler son who was found unresponsive in a swimming pool blocks from home.
KDKA-TV reports that 35-year-old David Gammon 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.
Court documents don’t list an attorney for Gammon and a listed phone number for him couldn’t be found Tuesday.
