This Hour: Latest Ohio news, sports, business and entertainment - WCMH: News, Weather, and Sports for Columbus, Ohio

This Hour: Latest Ohio news, sports, business and entertainment

Posted: Updated:

MISSING WOMEN FOUND

Cleveland police visited kidnap street regularly

CLEVELAND (AP) - Police made regular crime runs to the Cleveland street where three women were held captive in a house over a decade before escaping.

Since the 2002 abduction of the first victim, Michelle Knight, Cleveland police went to the block along Seymour Avenue to take crime reports nearly 160 times.

An analysis published Sunday by The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer says that amounts to just over one crime report a month over the past decade for a city block with fewer than 20 homes.

According to the analysis, there were more than 35 assaults, many of them domestic crimes against women and some resulting in busted lips and bleeding noses.

Fifty-2-year-old Ariel Castro has been charged with three counts of rape and four counts of kidnapping in the women's ordeal.

HEALTH WORKERS-BACKGROUND CHECKS

Ohio to bolster checks on home health care workers

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The state of Ohio has received a $2.1 million federal grant to improve criminal background checks for those home health care workers who directly serve the disabled and elderly.

The money means more thorough reviews for more than 100,000 workers who provide direct care to patients in Medicaid- and Medicare-funded settings.

Gov. John Kasich's (KAY'-siks) administration says Ohio also will provide $700,000 in state funds to bolster background checks.

The money will help the state to extend the use of the attorney general's fingerprint database to direct-care providers. State officials say the electronic system will make post-hiring background checks timelier and less burdensome.

Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a statement his office will be able to immediately notify employers of a worker's arrest or a conviction.

DUAL LICENSE PLATES

OH bill would require only 1 license plate

CLEVELAND (AP) - Two state legislators want to end the requirement for two license plates on vehicles in Ohio and require only one per vehicle.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reports that state Reps. Terry Johnson and Stephen Slesnick say requiring one license plate on the rear bumper could save the state more than $1 million annually. They say it also would save money for car owners whose vehicles aren't built for front license plates and have to pay to have brackets attached to hold front plates.

But some law enforcement officials object to the bill. They say having both front and back plates makes it easier for people to report those involved in crimes and allows police to locate vehicles in crime or traffic investigations.

CLEVELAND MARATHON

Kenyans top finishers in Cleveland marathon

CLEVELAND (AP) - Kenyan Philemon Terer has won the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon in 2 hours, 17 minutes, 37 seconds.

Another Kenyon, Sarah Kiptoo, won Sunday's women's race in 2:33:42.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer says both are represented by Richfield native Scott Robinson, who runs the AmeriKenyan Running Club in Santa Fe, N.M.

Brandon Bauer of New Albany was the top Ohio finisher. He finished in fifth place in 2:28:45.

The race was held under tightened security in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.

TRASH-TO-ENERGY

Cost could sink Cleveland trash plant

CLEVELAND (AP) - A proposal in Cleveland for a trash-to-energy plant could be sunk by rising cost estimates.

But mayoral chief of staff Ken Silliman tells The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer the city has not ruled out the idea. He says the city is still pursuing an air emission permit from the state in case the project goes forward.

A city consultant says the project expense would far exceed that of other methods of waste management.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency plans a public hearing on the issue June 12 in Cleveland.

City administrators believed that the $180 million facility would help the city-owned electric utility meet its goals to tap more renewable energy sources.

TEENS FOUND DEAD

Bloody trail in Ohio probe in 2 brothers' deaths

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - An arraignment is scheduled Tuesday for a 17-year-old charged in the deaths of 2 teenage brothers.

The aggravated murder charges announced Friday against Michael Fay came just over a week after he and the teens were named in an Amber Alert.

The alert was issued after the slain brothers' mother discovered a gun and blood inside a trailer home where the three boys lived with their mothers.

The brothers, 14-year-old Blaine Romes and 17-year-old Blake Romes, were found dead several hours later.

According to The (Toledo) Blade, court documents unsealed Friday said the first police officer at the scene followed the bloody trail throughout the mobile home to the back door.

CHINESE-REGIONAL CAMPUSES

Chinese students to take classes at Ohio branch

MIDDLETOWN (AP) - Some Chinese students will come to a branch campus in a small southwest Ohio city to take classes this fall in a pilot program Miami University hopes will expand its global connections.

The pilot program at the Miami University Middletown campus is taking registrations now.

The Middletown Journal reports that a company affiliated with Renmin University in China recently bought a building near the campus that will be used for a dining and social center for the students. The company, Quest Holding International, also has a local partnership to provide housing.

Regional campus dean Michael Pratt says the students will join the English Language Center. They will take classes to improve reading, speaking and writing, and also courses in mathematics and American studies.

JOHN CARROLL COMMENCEMENT

Four-star general returns to Ohio campus roots

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio (AP) - A four-star general is returning to his Ohio alma mater to deliver the commencement address.

General Carter Ham will address graduates at John Carroll University near Cleveland Sunday afternoon. The Jesuit university will award Ham an honorary doctorate.

The school expects about 650 undergraduate and 200 graduate students to receive degrees.

Ham is a member of John Carroll's Reserve Officers Training Corps Hall of Fame.

He most recently served as commander of the U.S. Africa Command. He will retire from the Army in June.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE PRESIDENT

New president for Ohio's largest community college

CLEVELAND (AP) - A new president has been selected for Ohio's largest community college, and he's already familiar with the territory.

Trustees of Cuyahoga (keye-uh-HOH'-guh) Community College in Cleveland selected Alex Johnson to succeed Jerry Sue Thornton as president.

Johnson led the college's Metropolitan campus from 1993 to 2003. He is currently president of the Community College of Allegheny County, which has nine campuses and centers in the Pittsburgh area.

Since leaving Tri-C in 2003, he also served as chancellor of Delgado Community College in New Orleans.

The outgoing president served 21 years in Tri-C's top job. Thornton's retirement is effective June 30.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.