News

Not-guilty pleas have been entered for a man charged with murdering a Central State University football player outside a nightclub in Dayton.

Thirty-year-old Jason Shern is charged with fatally shooting 21-year-old Kordero Hunter on Sept. 23. A judge entered a not-guilty plea Thursday for Shern on the murder charge and on felonious assault and weapons charges. Shern stood mute as the pleas were entered.

David Zak is vice-president of the Springfield Improvement Corporation, which is part of the chamber of commerce. His colleague at the chamber, John Detrick, says Zak has been vital in the city's economic growth spurt. He points to a gift company Zak helped lure to Springfield as an example of how he can relate well to the business community.

“He did this with thirty one gifts a company that is going to be growing to a thousand jobs. We are fortunate to be able to attract them to Springfield,” says Detrick.

Richard Ringer hails from Greenville, OH but spent time performing in New York's Antifolk scene which he says he found liberating.  Ringer's latest album, Creepster Freakster, was a departure from previous recordings written from the point of view of fictional characters.  A lifelong writer, Ringer has written an unpublished novella and is currently working on a new album called Afterlife Surprise, set to be released in 2012.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Permits are being issued more quickly in Ohio for the natural gas drilling associated with the practice called fracking.

The Columbus Dispatch reports Thursday that 27 permits for horizontal drilling into the Utica Shale formation beneath Ohio were granted from July to September alone.  Ohio Department of Natural Resources figures show that's more than half the total number of permits issued since 2009. 

In fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, chemicals are injected into the shale through horizontal wells to release natural gas from the rock.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Lawmakers pushing to ban capital punishment in Ohio have asked the governor for a moratorium on executions while a committee studies the death penalty.

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor recently announced that a court committee will study Ohio's death penalty law to make sure it is working as well as it should.

O'Connor has emphasized that the committee will not examine whether to ban capital punishment.