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 CHILDREN-OHIO

Ohio releases missing children report

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - State Attorney General Mike DeWine is releasing the results of an annual report on missing children in Ohio.

DeWine was planning to talk about the results of the 2012 Ohio Missing Children Clearinghouse Annual Report Friday morning at a Columbus school. A balloon launch - with each of the 690 balloons representing a missing child in the state - also is slated.

The release was planned in conjunction with National Missing Children's Day, which is Saturday.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT-CUTS

Federal cuts will dent Ohio health initiatives

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio officials are warning that federal budget cuts are going to put a dent in public health programs.

The Ohio Department of Health said Thursday that cuts totaling nearly $8.5 million so far will affect programs including newborn hearing screenings, food assistance programs and abstinence education.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that the state health department will absorb much of the costs, but local health departments will have to figure out how to cover some losses.

The state health department director, Dr. Theodore Wymyslo, said he wrote a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking for more information about other cuts. Officials say the lack of details coming out of Washington has made it more difficult to plan for the reductions.

POLICE OFFICER-CHILD NEGLECT

Ohio cop, wife face child neglect charge in Fla.

(Information in the following story is from: The (Panama City, Fla.) News Herald, http://www.newsherald.com )

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (AP) - An Ohio police officer and his wife face aggravated child neglect charges after their young children were left unsupervised in a truck outside a Panama City Beach bar.

Bay County Jail officials say 35-year-old Michael Webb and 29-year-old Staci Hall left jail Thursday night after posting $500 bonds. The Florida Department of Children and Families took custody of the children, ages 3 and 11 months.

Webb is a police officer with the Ross Township Police Department in Ohio.

The News Herald of Panama City reports Ugly Coyote staff spotted the children sleeping in a truck and called police late Wednesday. The parents were drinking at the bar.

Police found a loaded .40-caliber Glock within reach of the children.

Jail records didn't list an attorney for Webb or Hall.

XGR-LOTTERY-INTERNET

Ohio House wants to ban lottery sales on Internet

CLEVELAND (AP) - Ohio House members want to make sure the Ohio Lottery doesn't start selling tickets on the Internet.

A provision in the state budget proposed by the Ohio House would prohibit the lottery from following the lead of other states and selling tickets directly to players via computers and handheld devices.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reports that online sales are seen as a way for the lottery to attract younger customers and compete with more glamorous casinos. Critics see it as an expansion of gambling and worry that minors could buy tickets using their parents' credit or debit cards.

Retailers who use the lottery as a draw and receive commissions also are concerned.

The House has passed the budget bill and it's gone to the Senate for consideration.

BUILDING-FATAL FALL

Insurance lawyer killed in Ohio building fall

LANCASTER, Ohio (AP) - Authorities say a central Ohio insurance lawyer was killed when he fell through the roof of a storm-damaged building he was inspecting.

The Fairfield County Sheriff's Office said 44-year-old Michael Anthony Sway died on Thursday when the roof of the building near Lancaster gave way and he fell about 22 feet to the floor below.

The sheriff's office said Sway, who lived in the Columbus suburb of Dublin, was on the roof with another lawyer inspecting the pole barn in Greenfield Township.

Sway was inspecting the building as part of his work on a disputed insurance claim. He was dead at the scene.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation are investigating the accident.

HEROIN RING

18 indicted in alleged southern Ohio heroin ring

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - A federal grand jury has indicted 18 people in an alleged 2-year conspiracy to distribute heroin in southern Ohio.

The panel charged eight people from the Dayton area, nine from Portsmouth and one from Lancaster with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than a kilogram of heroin. It's punishable by at least 10 years in prison.

The Dayton Daily News reports that the 29-count indictment alleges that the defendants distributed heroin out of 7 spots in the Ohio River town of Portsmouth, about 90 miles south of Columbus - including two motels.

DORM-STUDENT FALLS

Student who fell from UD dorm committed suicide

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - A two-month investigation has determined that a University of Dayton freshman who fell from a six-story dormitory window last month committed suicide.

Parents of 18-year-old Larry Cook had previously disputed that he had killed himself. But The Dayton Daily News reports that a probe concluded that Cook was under severe stress and had marijuana in his system when he jumped from the dorm window April 2.

Dayton police declined to discuss the details of the investigation until they could brief university officials and the teen's parents.

Later in April, a 19-year-old freshman survived a fall from the sixth floor of another university dorm. His family suspects illegal drugs were involved.

12TH DUI

Ohio man gets 8 years after 12th DUI

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio (AP) - Authorities in northeast Ohio say a 70-year-old man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of his 12th drunken-driving charge.

A judge in Summit County sentenced Edward South of Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH'-guh) Falls on Thursday. The most recent conviction happened after South crashed into a pole on Dec. 26 and walked away from the scene. Police tracked him to a family member's home and apprehended him there.

He was convicted in May of 2 felonies for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, along with a specification and an enhanced penalty for having five prior offenses in the past 20 years.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports South has racked up a dozen drunken-driving convictions in the past 25 years.

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