Hello! Here’s a look at how AP’s general news coverage is shaping up in Ohio. Questions about coverage plans are welcome and should be directed to the AP Columbus bureau at 614-885-2727 or [email protected]. Andrew Welsh-Huggins is on the desk. Ohio News Editor Delano Massey can be reached at 800-762-4841 or 614-885-2727 or [email protected].
A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change. Expected stories may not develop, or late-breaking and more newsworthy events may take precedence. Advisories and digests will keep you up to date. All times are Eastern.
Some TV and radio stations will receive shorter APNewsNow versions of the stories below, along with all updates.
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TOP STORIES:
DEATH PENALTY-JUDGE OVER JURIES
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A recent decision by a Cleveland judge to overrule a jury’s death sentence recommendation for a triple killer highlights how rare such judicial decisions are. Research by The Associated Press found just eight additional examples of judicial overrides since Ohio’s current death penalty law took effect in 1981. That’s compared with more than 320 death sentences handed down during the same time period. By Andrew Welsh-Huggins. SENT: 1,000 words.
AP Photos.
ASHTABULA TRAIN DISASTER
ASHTABULA, Ohio — It’s been 140 years since a train disaster killed nearly 100 people when a bridge collapsed over a river in far northeast Ohio, but Dave Tobias is still looking for artifacts from the tragedy. As a young boy, Tobias lived near the site of what became known as the “Ashtabula Train Disaster” and got hooked on looking for artifacts that sometimes washed out of the riverbank after a spring thaw, The Plain Dealer (http://bit.ly/2hwJAkn) reported. He used a gold-panning technique and later a metal detector, eventually finding thousands of pieces. SENT: 460 words.
AP Photos.
VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT-OHIO
AKRON, Ohio — A northeastern Ohio woman from a big military family is taking videos of recollections from the dwindling population of surviving World War II veterans as part of a national project to capture veterans’ memories of war. “I think it’s very important for people to see, not the historical truth, the big picture, the stuff you see in books, but the small stories, the stories of how war affected the people who lived it,” Suzanne Nichols told the Akron Beacon Journal (http://bit.ly/2hqn0s4 ). SENT: 320 words.
EXCHANGE-SKI LODGE FIRE-OHIO
ZANESFIELD, Ohio — The snow machines billowed clouds of snow as the sun cut through the wintry haze to illuminate Mad River Mountain’s new lodge. The beams of light also brought the promise of better luck this ski season. Inside, carpenters, electricians and designers scrambled to complete work on the $7.5 million lodge in the run-up to its official opening late last month. A ribbon-cutting was held for the new Lodge & Loft on Friday, Dec. 30. By Dean Narciso, the Columbus Dispatch. An AP Member Exchange.
SPORTS
T25-OHIO STATE-RETURNING STARTERS
COLUMBUS, Ohio — In the end, the Ohio State Buckeyes’ youth and inexperience was exploited by Clemson in the desert. On the bright side, most of the team that reached the College Football Playoff with only six returning starters will be back next year, likely including quarterback J.T. Barrett. By Mitch Stacy. SENT: 780 words.
AP Photos.
IN BRIEF:
— POLICE OFFICER-STOLEN PILLS: A former suburban Dayton detective will give up his Ohio peace officer certification after pleading guilty to stealing prescription pills from a home after police investigated a reported possible break-in.
— WARREN-MIDTERM ELECTIONS: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is flexing her fundraising muscles on behalf of fellow Senate Democrats as she looks ahead to the 2018 elections.
— MISSING PLANE: Recovery efforts have resumed for a small plane that carried six people and disappeared over Lake Erie near Cleveland’s shores three days ago.
— SUICIDE-SHERIFF’S OFFICE: A western Ohio sheriff says a man shot and killed himself in the lobby of the sheriff’s office.
— OLD AMMUNITION FOUND: A family cleaning out a home in the Toledo, Ohio-area home of a relative who recently died stumbled across a live hand grenade from the World War II era.
— SHOOTINGS AND CRASH-2 DEAD: Police in a southwestern Ohio city are trying to sort out a series of overnight New Year’s incidents that left two people fatally shot and several others wounded.
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If you have stories of regional or statewide interest, please email them to [email protected]. If you have photos of regional or statewide interest, please send them to the AP state photo center in New York, 888-273-6867. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact AP Customer Support at [email protected] or 877-836-9477.
MARKETPLACE: Calling your attention to the Marketplace in AP Exchange, where you can find member-contributed content from Ohio and other states. The Marketplace is accessible on the left navigational pane of the AP Exchange home page, near the bottom. For both national and state, you can click “All” or search for content by topics such as education, politics and business.
