News

DAYTON, Ohio(AP) - An Ohio congressman wants Veterans Affairs medical personnel who ignore infection control standards to face possible imprisonment.

Republican Rep. Mike Turner plans to announce legislation Monday allowing the government to fine and imprison for up to one year VA health employees for intentionally bypassing safeguards. The Dayton Daily News reports Turner is likely to formally introduce the bill after Labor Day.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - It appears Ohio won't get $176 million in federal stimulus money to expand its unemployment benefits.

The federal government set aside $7 billion to give to states that expanded those benefits, and the deadline is Monday. Ohio's General Assembly would have to pass a law to make those changes, but no voting session was scheduled Monday.

A spokesman for Republican Gov. John Kasich says it's unwise to make changes that will cost the state in the long run in exchange for one-time money from the federal government.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Hundreds of home-weatherization jobs are expected to be lost in Ohio as federal stimulus money runs out for programs that help low-income and elderly Ohioans with home-energy improvements.

The Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies in Columbus told the state this week that agencies providing services for the Home Weatherization Assistance Program expect to lay off about 700 employees in the next six months.

WESTMINSTER, Ohio (AP) - Officials in six northwest Ohio counties are planning a $1 million project to clear logjams and leaning trees from a 76-mile stretch of the Auglaize River.

They tell The Lima News that goals are to reduce flooding, encourage recreation and create a maintenance fund for the waterway.

The stretch involved collects water from an area of about 216,000 acres and about 12,000 property owners. Funding will come from assessments of $1 to $10 per acre on those property owners in Allen, Auglaize, Mercer, Putnam, Shelby and Van Wert counties.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The board tasked with redrawing Ohio's legislative lines kicks off a week of public hearings Monday with trips to Lima and Toledo.

The Ohio Apportionment Board redraws the state's legislative districts every 10 years to reflect changes in population after each decennial census. A spokesman for the House speaker says the board wants to hear from the public about what works and what doesn't with the current districts.