March 1, 2021

Ohio private employers will soon pay less in worker's comp premiums

COLUMBUS, Ohio— Workers’ compensation premium rates paid by private employers in Ohio will drop an average of 7.1% starting in July, under a proposal approved Friday by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s board of directors.

The rate reduction, which will save about 220,000 Ohio employers a total of $71.5 million, is the twelfth such decrease the BWC’s board has made since 2008, according to a release from the bureau.

BWC Interim Administrator and CEO John Logue said in a statement that the rate cut was made possible by a continuing trend of fewer injury claims, fairly low medical inflation costs, and strong fiscal management.

“We’re especially pleased to pass these lower costs along to our business community amid the ongoing challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Logue said.

Read more: https://www.cleveland.com/open/2021/02/ohio-private-employers-will-soon-pay-less-in-workers-comp-premiums.html

March 1, 2021

Ohio AG Dave Yost asks Supreme Court to suspend indicted Cleveland Councilman Ken Johnson

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Friday asked the Ohio Supreme Court to commence suspension proceedings against indicted Cleveland Councilman Ken Johnson.

Yost made the request under provisions in the Ohio Revised Code that authorize suspension of local public officials who, like Johnson, have been charged with a felony relating to their official duties.

Johnson was arrested Tuesday morning on 15 charges from a federal grand jury that among other things accuse him of swindling the council out of $127,000 by submitting false expense reports.

“Sadly, it’s become routine for us to initiate suspension proceedings for indicted city council members – Ohioans deserve representation free of public corruption and we must constrain those that abuse their power,” Yost said in a statement. “The suspension of a public official facing charges of public corruption is the proper remedy while the criminal case is resolved.”

Read more: https://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/2021/02/ohio-attorney-general-dave-yost-asks-supreme-court-to-suspend-indicted-cleveland-councilman-ken-johnson.html

March 1, 2021

Cleveland church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X spoke to be stop on proposed

Cleveland church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X spoke to be stop on proposed civil rights trail


CLEVELAND, Ohio – In the beginning, nearly a century ago, the imposing red-brick building on Cleveland’s East Side was a synagogue. Not just any synagogue, but billed as the largest Jewish center west of the Allegheny Mountains with a basketball court, an indoor swimming pool and auditorium that could seat 2,400 people.

Dedicated in 1922, it served as the hub of Glenville’s Jewish community until the population drifted east to the Heights and a largely Black congregation bought the building for $125,000 and named it Cory United Methodist Church after a white missionary. The church then became a fulcrum of faith for the Black community and a notable landmark in the civil rights history of Cleveland and the country.

Today, the structure at 1117 East 105th St. faces an uncertain future. The church’s membership has shrunk from some 3,000 in its heyday to about 150, and while the building is structurally sound, it’s sorely in need of costly renovations.

But the Cleveland Restoration Society announced this week that Cory will be the site of an Ohio historical marker describing its significance in the civil rights movement. The society also disclosed that the church will be one of 10 sites along a proposed civil rights trail in Greater Cleveland (The only other site yet identified is Glenville High School, which will also get a marker), planning for which has been aided by a grant from the National Park Service.

Read more: https://www.cleveland.com/news/2021/02/cleveland-church-where-the-rev-martin-luther-king-jr-and-malcolm-x-spoke-to-be-stop-on-proposed-civil-rights-trail.html

March 1, 2021

Florida man drowns while searching for lost golf ball, authorities say

OLDSMAR, Florida — A 74-year-old man was found dead in a pond on a golf course Sunday and authorities believe he likely fell in while searching for a lost ball.

The body of Hermilo Jazmines was found by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office dive team at the East Lake Woodlands Country Club, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

Jazmines was golfing with a friend Sunday morning when he hit his ball in the water on the course’s third hole, the news release says. He was last seen looking for his ball near the water.

Authorities say Jazmines went missing, although his cart was still parked on a path and his putter was found near the edge of the pond. The dive team found Jazmines in the water not far from the putter, the release says.

Read more: https://www.cleveland.com/nation/2021/03/florida-man-drowns-while-searching-for-lost-golf-ball-authorities-say.html

March 1, 2021

VCU freshman found dead after night of hazing at fraternity rush event, his family says

Police are investigating the death of a Virginia Commonwealth University freshman who was found dead early Saturday after a fraternity rush event involving alcohol, according to the student’s cousin.

The death of Adam Oakes, a 19-year-old student from Loudoun County, led to the suspension of VCU’s chapter of Delta Chi fraternity.

Oakes died early Saturday at an off-campus residence following a night of hazing as part of the Delta Chi fraternity, said Oakes’ cousin, Courtney White.

Oakes visited a house in the 100 block of West Clay Street on Friday night, where he was given a handle of Jack Daniels whiskey and told to drink, White said.

Read more: https://richmond.com/news/local/education/updated-vcu-freshman-found-dead-after-night-of-hazing-at-fraternity-rush-event-his-family/article_55138a49-b4e7-5aa6-a85c-4685b2cfab93.html

March 1, 2021

'Aisha's Law' for domestic violence protections returns to Ohio legislature

Expansions to domestic violence protections have once again returned to the Ohio Statehouse, after passing the House last year but failing to see daylight in the Senate.

State Rep. Janine Boyd, D-Cleveland Heights, said in Thursday’s House Criminal Justice Committee that this was the 14th version of the bill attempting to enhance punishments for certain domestic violence crimes and tools for law enforcement to help prevent escalation of already high-risk situations.

The bill is nicknamed Aisha’s Law, after Aisha Fraser, a Shaker Heights teacher and mother killed by her ex-husband, former judge and state legislator, Lance Mason, during what was supposed to be a supervised exchange of their children.

Mason had previously served prison time on a previous domestic violence charge, leveled after another attack on Fraser.

Read more: https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2021/02/26/aishas-law-returns-to-ohio-legislature/

March 1, 2021

'Stand Your Ground' laws tied to racial inequities, increase in violent crime, researchers say

Laws that expand the right to shoot to kill in perceived self-defense yield unequal consequences in the justice system depending on whether the person shot was white, according to research published Monday.

So-called “stand your ground” laws, one of which was passed in Ohio last year, are also associated with a modest to robust increase in violent crime rates in states that implemented them, according to findings published in the American Journal of Public Health.

There’s variation in the data. For instance, Florida, the first state to implement the idea in 2005, experienced a “robust” increase in violent crime rates, whereas the effect was more muted elsewhere.

“I think what we can really decisively say is there’s no positive effect of these laws,” said lead researcher Alexa Yakubovich in an interview. “There’s no evidence that these laws are reducing violence or reducing crime.”

Read more: https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2021/02/26/stand-your-ground-laws-tied-to-racial-inequities-increase-in-violent-crime-researchers-say/

March 1, 2021

U.S. attorney departs, but HB 6 investigation is far from over

The cruel fortunes of politics mean that David M. DeVillers stopped being the top federal law enforcement official for Southern Ohio on Sunday. But the attorney who last July announced the arrest of then-House Speaker Larry Householder, last week said the investigation that led to the arrest isn’t going anywhere.

The scandal surrounding what DeVillers said was “likely the largest bribery and money-laundering scheme ever in the state of Ohio,” continues to rock Capitol Square as prosecutors and investigators continue their work.

“I’m not going to say (there are going to be) more charges, but the investigation is not complete,” DeVillers, 55, said during an interview in his Arena District Office, flanked by portraits of Frederick Douglass, William Tecumseh Sherman and Alexander Hamilton.

For an office that prosecutes federal crimes across a 48-county area, it was strangely quiet last Wednesday, as some employees worked from home and DeVillers prepared to leave.

Read more: https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2021/03/01/u-s-attorney-departs-but-hb-6-investigation-is-far-from-over/

March 1, 2021

Legislature sends governor bill to reduce teacher certification requirements

The West Virginia Legislature has finished passing a bill that would allow people without education degrees to become public school teachers even if whatever degree they do have isn’t related to the subject area they plan to teach in.

The legislation now heads to Republican Gov. Jim Justice for his signature or veto.

Leaders of the Republican supermajorities that control both chambers of the state Legislature fast-tracked the bill. It wasn’t assigned to Education or any other committees in the House of Delegates, where it passed Friday with no Democratic support.

Data from the West Virginia Department of Education shows a lack of fully endorsed teachers. In one of the worst examples, there were 278 teachers this school year with at least one Geometry class on their schedule, yet 29% were not fully endorsed to teach that subject for the grade level they were teaching.

Read more: https://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/legislature-sends-governor-bill-to-reduce-teacher-certification-requirements/article_87209ddc-fd01-5df0-919e-4551cfa1becf.html
(Huntington Herald-Dispatch)

March 1, 2021

Amended Charter School Expansion Bill Moves Ahead In W.Va. Senate

A bill expanding on West Virginia’s public charter school law is now back, in part, to an earlier version that was passed by the House of Delegates last week.

HB 2012 once again permits up to 10 public charter schools to be established by 2023. The shift occurred after an amendment adopted Friday on the Senate floor was offered by Sen. Dave Sypolt, R-Preston, chair of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Development Committee.

“[The amendment] returns the language relating to the cap on the number of public charter schools to the original language in the House bill,” Sypolt said.

Sypolt’s amendment also removes a cap of 1,500 students placed on statewide virtual public charter school enrollment. His amendment also clarifies certain penalties that could lead to revocation of a charter school, and it requires virtual charters to be held to the same obligations as brick-and-mortar charters as it relates to needs of special education students.

Read more: https://www.wvpublic.org/section/education/2021-02-26/amended-charter-school-expansion-bill-moves-ahead-in-w-va-senate