An outdoor emergency siren in Fostoria went off after it was damaged during a heavy thunderstorm last night. The siren is located in the south end of town. Fostoria police began receiving calls about the alarm. The city electrician was sent to the location and powered down the siren which had been blaring for approximately 40 minutes. Damage to the siren is still being assessed, but authorities say the siren would be back to normal function by this morning at the latest.
More local governments and other public entities have submitted claims for a share of Ohio’s $11.5 million settlement with rock salt producers accused of conspiring to drive up prices. The attorney general’s office says about 850 entities filed claims by the extended deadline on Friday, including cities, townships and universities. The state had alleged that Morton Salt Inc. and Cargill Inc. agreed not to compete with each other to inflate prices, leading to governments paying above-market prices for rock salt to de-ice roads, highways and bridges. The settlement announced in June ends that lawsuit.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency says tap water in the Village of McComb is OK to drink despite its brownish color. Tests in recent weeks have shown that McComb's tap water is safe, but an EPA spokesperson acknowledges the water is "obviously very unappealing." The village is battling the mineral Manganese at its 15-year-old water-treatment plant and it is coming from its drinking water source. Officials say the village is giving away free bottles of water to its customers and plans to do so every Tuesday and Thursday until the issue is fixed.
The state says Ohio's unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since 2001, dropping to an even 5 percent in July. The Department of Job and Family Services says Ohio's jobless rate remained below the national rate, which was 5.3 percent for last month. The state says Ohio has 286,000 unemployed workers in July, down 10,000 from June. Job losses were reported in categories including the service-providing sector, manufacturing and construction. Gains were reported in jobs in local and state government.
Authorities say passengers on a packed charter bus managed to steer the vehicle away from oncoming traffic in Wyandot after the driver lost consciousness. Local authorities say that the bus was headed north on Rt. 23 in southern Wyandot County when it crossed the median into southbound traffic Friday afternoon. The bus stopped after striking a guardrail. No one was injured in the crash. The bus carried more than four dozen union members returning from a rally in Columbus.
An animal rights group has complained to federal officials about Ohio State's purchase of 15 dogs, apparently for a university research project. An Ohio State spokesman tells The Columbus Dispatch the dogs were bought under guidelines from the National Institutes of Health.
