Police looking into pair of robberies
WARREN - Police here were looking for suspects in two unrelated robberies at different stores Sunday.
Shortly after 3 p.m., a 51-year-old Warren man pulled into the parking lot of the Sparkle Market on Parkman Road N.W., and two masked men confronted him and took $160 from his wallet. The victim told police a gun was shown.
About 9:30 a.m., $150 was taken from a 36-year-old clerk at the Family Dollar Store, 378 Elm Road N.E., by a gunman who grabbed the money from the register.
Newton officials to meet on levy
NEWTON - Newton Township trustees have scheduled a special meeting for 9 a.m. Wednesday at the township hall to consider a resolution for a levy for cemetery upkeep, equipment and maintenance.
Trustees also will meet to discuss upgrades to Hott West Road.
Man held in slaying of girl, 16, in Akron
AKRON - Police say a 24-year-old man is being held in a weekend shooting in northeast Ohio that left a 16-year-old girl dead and a 19-year-old woman shot in the head.
Officers say they arrested 24-year-old David Stoddard at a motel Sunday morning, shortly after the shooting at a home in Akron. Police say Stoddard knew the teens, but no motive for the shooting has been established.
The Akron Beacon Journal reports that police were called to the home at about 4 a.m. Sunday. Other people in the home identified Stoddard at the shooter.
Casino betting mostly up in December in Ohio
COLUMBUS - Bettors were looking for holiday luck last month, putting more money into slot machines and table games at the two Ohio casinos opened the longest.
But the Ohio Casino Control Commission said Monday the Hollywood Columbus casino which opened in October saw betting drop from November to December for both slots and table games as the novelty wore off.
The Horseshoe Cleveland casino received the biggest boost in December, with slots betting up 17.3 percent and wagers at table games up 12.6 percent.
Man crashes, dies after police chase
CINCINNATI - Authorities say a man died after crashing his car while fleeing a sheriff's deputy attempting to stop him for an alleged violation of Ohio's vehicle-window tint law.
The Hamilton County sheriff's office says 32-year-old Aaron Williams of Cincinnati was pronounced dead at a suburban Cincinnati hospital shortly after the crash on Monday morning.
A sheriff's release says the deputy signaled the driver to stop after noting the darkly tinted windows. Violating Ohio law's that prohibits car windows from being tinted too darkly is a misdemeanor.
Authorities say the driver sped off, losing control of his car and hitting a fence and a tree after a chase that lasted about a minute.
Prisons dept. pays $350K to settle claim
COLUMBUS - Ohio's prisons department has agreed to pay $350,000 to settle a medical negligence claim made by a former inmate at the Belmont Correctional Institution.
The Court of Claims of Ohio announced the Dec. 28 settlement on Monday.
According to a 2010 complaint against the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Joshua Leach complained of leg numbness and left hand weakness to a prison physician while at the correctional facility in 2008.
Rather than conduct an MRI scan of the cervical spine recommended by an emergency room doctor, a prison physician recommended an electromyogram/nerve conduction study first. Results from that study necessitated an MRI, which was conducted seven weeks later.
Leach alleged that the prison doctor failed to timely diagnose the herniation of his spine.
Staff, wire reports