Two arrested in Alabama in buffet brawl over crab legs

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Alabama police say a dispute over crab legs at a dinner buffet ended in a brawl that left two people facing misdemeanor charges.

Huntsville police officer Gerald Johnson says he was eating at the Meteor Buffet restaurant when a fight broke out.

Johnson tells WHNT-TV that diners were using service tongs like fencing swords and plates were shattering, and a woman was beating a man. Johnson says diners had been waiting in line for crab legs for more than 10 minutes, and they lost their tempers once the food came out.

The station reports Chequita Jenkins is charged with assaulting John Chapman, who suffered a cut on his head. Chapman is charged with disorderly conduct.

Court records aren’t available to show whether either person has a lawyer.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/02/27/meteor-buffet-brawl-huntsville-brawl-leaves-2-facing-misdemeanor-charges/3011171002/
(no more at link)

Colours - Bad Day At Black Rock, Baby

Kentucky teachers group calling for statewide 'sickout' to protest pension board proposal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky's largest school system will be forced to shut down Thursday after thousands of teachers called in sick as part of a statewide "sickout."

Jefferson County Public Schools said late Wednesday night that it does not have enough substitutes to cover the number of absences reported.

Fayette County Public Schools, the state's second largest district, also announced it would close due to teacher absences.

The closures come just hours after a grassroots group urged teachers to call out sick so that they could travel to Frankfort, the state capital, to protest of a bill that would restructure the board that oversees the state's teacher pension system.

Read more: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/27/kentucky-teachers-pension-protest-group-calls-sickout/3011167002/

Jimmy Kimmel Live: Trump's Lawyer Michael Cohen Begins Testimony

Fake pain cream sold at The Arnold, to city first responders, couple admit

COLUMBUS -- A central Ohio couple has pleaded guilty to federal health-care fraud charges for conspiring with others to sell a bogus pain cream to those seeking pain relief, including attendees at The Arnold Sports Festival and Columbus first responders.

Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the southern district of Ohio said Amy M. Kirk, a nurse practitioner in Columbus, and Ryan D. Edney of Plain City, each signed plea deals for conspiracy to commit health-care fraud, according to court records.

Each of them faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The plea deals are part of an ongoing federal investigation into a bogus prescription drug ring, said Ken Affedlt, an assistant U.S. district attorney for the southern district.

-snip

The city of Columbus’ health-care plans were billed $8,100 a tube in the first quarter of 2015. From February to June 2015, city employees submitted 283 prescriptions for a compound cream for a total of $2.3 million, according to city records provided to The Dispatch. Those prescriptions were filled by Topical Rx.

Read more: http://gatehousenews.com/sideeffects/fake-pain-cream-sold-arnold-city-first-responders-couple-admit/site/dispatch.com/

New Hampshire gives initial approval to recreational pot

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire lawmakers on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to legalizing recreational marijuana, dismissing public safety and health concerns on a path to join scores of other states that have passed similar cannabis measures.

Lawmakers voted 209-147 in favor of the bill that would legalize possession up to 1 ounce (28 grams). Adults would be allowed to grow up to six plants, and a commission would be set up to license and regulate an industry supporters said could produce $33 million per year.

"I know change is hard. It's a little scary," the bill's sponsor, Democratic Rep. Renny Cushing, told lawmakers ahead of the vote. "But I think now is the time that New Hampshire makes the transition from prohibition to real legalization, taxation and regulation."

Past efforts have failed in New Hampshire, but Democrats, who added legalization to their platform last year, now control both the House and Senate. But a spokesman for Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said the governor remains committed to vetoing the bill. Benjamin Vihstadt said Sununu agrees with law enforcement and public health officials who say "now is not the time for the recreational legalization of cannabis in New Hampshire."

Read more: https://hosted.ap.org/toledoblade/article/cc6bf90bcea64553b1b54fa708e6d485/nh-lawmakers-give-initial-nod-legalizing-recreational-pot

Ex-bank execs remain free on bail after fraud convictions

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Four former executives of the only financial institution criminally charged in connection with the federal bank bailout program do not have to report to prison while their attorneys appeal their fraud and conspiracy convictions, a judge ruled Wednesday.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Richard Andrews came in response to requests by the former Wilmington Trust executives to be allowed to remain free on bail during appeals, which could take a year or more.

The four defendants were convicted of hiding Wilmington Trust's massive amount of past-due commercial real estate loans before the bank, teetering on collapse, was hastily sold in 2011. The century-old bank, founded by members of the du Pont family, imploded despite receiving $330 million from the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Former bank president Robert Harra and former chief financial officer David Gibson were sentenced to six years, while former chief credit officer William North was sentenced to 4½ years and former controller Kevyn Rakowski got three years.

Read more: https://hosted.ap.org/toledoblade/article/0f0b250b83e54737bd8464e7d72323b6/ex-bank-execs-remain-free-bail-after-fraud-convictions

UAW sues General Motors to stop plant closings in 3 states

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The United Auto Workers has sued General Motors in federal court to stop the closing of plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland, claiming the company is forbidden from idling plants under its current contract.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Youngstown, Ohio. The plants at which the UAW is trying to prevent closures are in Lordstown, Ohio; White Marsh, Maryland; and Warren, Michigan.

GM in a statement said the company’s November announcement about the closings doesn’t violate the contract and said the company is working with the UAW on “solutions to our business challenges.”

Lordstown assembles the Cruze subcompact sedan. The Maryland site operates manufactures electric motors and drive trains, and the Michigan plant makes transmissions.

https://www.toledoblade.com/business/automotive/2019/02/26/uaw-sues-general-motors-to-stop-plant-closings-in-3-states/stories/20190226121
(no more at link)

Nuclear plants still hold value to Ohio, MIT experts argue

COLUMBUS — Ohio’s two aging nuclear power plants have plenty of life left in them and it would prove more economical to keep them running than if the state had to bring other sources of clean electricity online to meet future demand, a pair of experts said Wednesday.

Co-authors of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study on the value of nuclear energy nationally and internationally told lawmakers that the plants’ economic value goes beyond what they can get for the electricity they produce.

“We need solar and wind, but we also need something that is dispatchable and controllable,” Jacopo Buongiorno, of MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, told the state House Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The study suggests that nuclear power does and will continue to play an important role in providing low carbon-emission power nationally and could provide a hedge for future uncertainty over demand, natural gas prices, and environmental regulation. There was next to no discussion about the nuclear waste generated by the plants.

Read more: https://www.toledoblade.com/local/environment/2019/02/27/ohio-nuclear-plants-hold-value-davis-besse-experts-mit/stories/20190227137

'Heartbeat' Bill Returns to Ohio Legislature

Committees in both the Ohio House and Senate yesterday heard testimony around a law that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected — as soon as six weeks after conception.

It's not the first time the restrictions — which, if passed, would be among the strictest in the country — have come before the Ohio General Assembly. But they may have a better chance of passing into law and withstanding legal challenges now than at any time in the past.

The state Senate's Health, Human Services and Medicaid Committee heard testimony about SB23 and the House Health Committee heard HB68, both versions of the so-called "heartbeat" legislation.

The bills have roughly 50 co-sponsors as well as the support of pro-life groups like Ohio Right to Life. But dozens also testified or submitted written statements opposing the bills, including NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio and the Ohio State Medical Association, on the grounds that it would block women's access to needed health care.

Read more: https://www.citybeat.com/news/blog/21049069/heartbeat-bill-returns-to-ohio-legislature