Columbus news

• Van used by rock icons Aerosmith in '70s found in the woods

  08-08-2018 23:43
  
  CHESTERFIELD, Mass. — Long before Aerosmith filled stadiums with tens of thousands of fans, the band traveled New England in a tiny van playing to smaller crowds.That dilapidated van has been found in the woods of a small Massachusetts town.@Aerosmith Saw @americanpickers Last night discovering this hidden treasure from the Greatest Rock Band ! Really Cool -AMERICAN HISTORY now in the right hands ! Excited to see what the do with it. Hope Aerosmith tell share some stories around it on the
  
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• Families says they paid for therapy dogs but were scammed

  08-08-2018 23:25
  Families say they lost thousands of dollars after they were promised therapy dogs. They say they either got nothing or animals that were untrained.The dogs were supposed to be trained to alert in the case of a seizure by a Grove City company called M & R Working Dogs.Eleven people have filed complaints with the Attorney General’s Office.“It’s devastating to hear that something like this can happen,”said Keith Tillman whose daughter was supposed to receive a dog.The at
  
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• Families say they paid for service dogs but were scammed

  08-08-2018 23:25
  Families say they lost thousands of dollars after they were promised service dogs. They say they either got nothing or animals that were untrained.The dogs were supposed to be trained to alert in the case of a seizure by a Grove City company called M & R Working Dogs.Eleven people have filed complaints with the Attorney General’s Office.“It’s devastating to hear that something like this can happen,”said Keith Tillman whose daughter was supposed to receive a dog.The at
  
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• Baby expected to survive after mom gives birth in Chillicothe Burger King bathroom

  08-08-2018 22:52
  A baby born in a toilet at a Chillicothe Burger King last week is expected to be OK, according to police.According to the report, police responded to the restaurant on Centennial Blvd. on a report that a woman overdosed and given birth in the bathroom.When officers arrived, they found a man passed out in a vehicle. Police found 26-year-old Zachary Frey passed out behind the wheel of the running vehicle.Officers were able to wake up Frey, who they described as drooling, having slurred speech, pin
  
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• Third and High Project Going Back to Commission

  08-08-2018 22:28
  A proposal to build a five-story mixed-use building at the northwest corner of Third Avenue and High Street will be back in front of the Victorian Village Commission tonight. The development, which was first proposed in early 2017, would replace the building that once held the Little Dreamers Big Believers daycare and Yoga on High. Although […]
  
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• 'I warned him': Gun-toting grandma shoots man pleasuring himself at her front door

  08-08-2018 22:18
  A man allegedly pleasuring himself was shot by a gun-toting grandmother from Texas."Some guy pulled off his pants and pulled his pants open playing with his thing and he ran up and I told him to get away from my door or I will shoot him,” Granny Jean said.The 68-year-old said the man wouldn’t take no for an answer. So Jean grabbed her pistol."And he kept coming and reached for my door after it was locked so I shot through the door,” she said.She fired one shot, striking the man
  
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• Bank inside grocery store robbed in west Columbus

  08-08-2018 21:50
  
  A PNC bank inside a Kroger, located at 3600 Soldano Blvd. was robbed late Wednesday morning, according to Columbus police.According to a release, a muscular-built black man, approximately 40 years of age, 6-foot tall and 200 pounds, wearing a grey T-shirt and sunglasses walked into the back and handed the teller a note demanding money. The teller complied and the suspect fled with an undetermined amount of cash.
  
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• Prosecutor: Man at New Mexico compound trained kids for school shooting

  08-08-2018 21:41
  
  TAOS, N.M. — The father of a missing Georgia boy was training children at a New Mexico compound to commit school shootings, prosecutors said in court documents obtained Wednesday.The documents say Siraj Ibn Wahhaj was conducting weapons training with assault rifles at the compound near the Colorado border where 11 hungry children were found in filthy conditions.Prosecutor Timothy Hasson filed the documents while asking that Wahhaj be held without bail after he was arrested last week with f
  
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• Firefighters capture video of "firenado"

  08-08-2018 21:16
  
  Firefighters in Derbyshire, England, captured a strange and frightening natural phenomenon on video Tuesday. It looks like a tornado that's on fire, and the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service Ashby Station appropriately referred to it as a "firenado."The video of the menacing, swirling flames has gone viral online, and the fire and rescue service offered a simple explanation as to what caused the blazing cyclone. "It's created as cool air enters the top of the hot air causing a swirl similar
  
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• Local Comedy Spotlight: “Quiet Down In Front” with David Z. Price and Friends

  08-08-2018 21:08
  “In a theater, one of the first movies I remember seeing was called…and I know I’ve seen more before this, but this one stuck with me: Garbage Pail Kids,” muses local comedian, actor, and writer David Price. “Do you know that? [laughs] I mean, I know you know what Garbage Pail Kids are, but they made […]
  
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• New traffic signals improve safety for students heading back to school

  08-08-2018 21:07
  For one central Ohio school district, the quickest walk to school may not have been the safest. In fact, for many New Albany students, the walk from their cars to campus looked more like a game of Frogger.New Albany High School sits along several busy roadways that students were crossing to get to class.The situation was dangerous, until recently when the district and the community came together to solve the issue.Two new traffic signals were installed, one at Fodor Road and high school entrance
  
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• German-Style Brewery and Beer Hall Planned for Firehouse Building in Olde Towne East

  08-08-2018 20:15
  A group of restauranteurs living in Olde Towne East are planning to open a new German-style brewery and beer hall in the neighborhood. The Gemüt Biergarten will take over the first level of the Firehouse, formerly known as the Columbus Music Hall, at 734 Oak St. “The operating group has lived and worked here in […]
  
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• Lauren Hill to be inducted into Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame

  08-08-2018 20:13
  
  A Cincinnati basketball player whose battle with cancer inspired people around the world will be posthumously inducted into Ohio's Basketball Hall of Fame.Lauren Hill was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in high school.Hill was able to achieve her dream of playing in a college basketball game with Mount St. Joseph University in November 2014.Her appearance triggered a strong fund-raising campaign for victims of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, a rare and fatal pediatric brain tumor that
  
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• First Look: THREAD Short North

  08-08-2018 19:20
  Locally-owned fashion boutique THREAD has announced the opening of its Short North location at 930 N. High St. This is the contemporary clothing store’s second location, following its flagship in Grandview Heights. THREAD offers a selection of women’s clothing, accessories, home decor, and gifts, from local as well as big-name designers and brands that are […]
  
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• Alleged MS-13 leader asks to ease NY jail restrictions

  08-08-2018 18:27
  
  MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A man identified by prosecutors as the East Coast leader of the MS-13 gang says he's suffering from his Long Island jail lockdown.Newsday reports that Miguel Angel Corea Diaz recently asked a judge for an improvement in jail conditions.His lawyer, Scott Gross, says Corea Diaz has been locked in a cell for about 23 hours a day and only has limited phone access.Corea Diaz says he has been unable to talk to his children. He also said he had received death threats from out
  
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• DUI suspect says she's a 'clean, white girl' who shouldn't be arrested, police say

  08-08-2018 17:51
  
  A woman seen speeding through a stop sign at 60 mph told officers they shouldn't arrest her because she's a "very clean, thoroughbred, white girl," police said.Her eyes glossy and bloodshot, Lauren Elizabeth Cutshaw was slurring her words and a breathalyzer showed her blood-alcohol level at .18 percent, according to police in Bluffton, South Carolina.But Cutshaw, 32, told the arresting officer she shouldn't be jailed because she was a cheerleader, a dancer and a sorority girl who graduated from
  
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• NEXT: China’s Social Credit System

  08-08-2018 17:30
  In his 2003 novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Cory Doctorow’s near-future fictional world features Whuffle, a digital form of social capital. In Doctorow’s world, reputation is the chief form of currency: through a digital app, anyone can discover anyone else’s reputation score. The higher your reputation, the better the products and services […]
  
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• Demolition of University City Shopping Center Begins

  08-08-2018 17:18
  Fencing is up and demolition work is starting at the University City Shopping Center, the retail strip at the corner of Olentangy River Road and Ackerman Road. A plan to replace the one-story center with a six-story mixed-use development was approved last summer. Skip Weiler of the Robert Weiler Company said that construction is scheduled […]
  
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• Kids won't go to sleep? Disney's new hotline might help

  08-08-2018 16:46
  It can be tough to get your kids to sleep after a long day of summer fun. Disney is here to help, by lending the voices of some of its most beloved characters.The company announced the launch of the Disney store's "Sleep Shop Hotline" in a press release Monday. "Families and fans can add a little Disney magic into the bedtime routine," by calling the "toll-free number, 1-877-7-MICKEY," the release states.Parents or kids who call the number will be greeted by one of 5 pre-recorded messages from t
  
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• Restaurant Review: Pecan Penny’s

  08-08-2018 16:00
  Pecan Penny’s in Downtown Columbus is looking pretty cool these days. Depending on how you get there, the walk leading up to the barbecue joint might take you by a pawn shop that features interesting folk art and artifacts in its windows. Alternately, you might stroll by a stretch of trendy, independently-run restaurants and bars. […]
  
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• Court: Ohio can base e-school funding on participation data

  08-08-2018 15:56
  
  COLUMBUS - The Ohio Supreme Court says the state acted within its authority when it used student participation data, not just enrollment, to determine a giant online charter school should repay $60 million from one school year.Wednesday's 4-2 ruling comes as the now-closed Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow remains of interest to prosecutors reviewing audit findings and politicians raising accountability issues in a midterm election year.ECOT argued Ohio's Department of Education overstepped its a
  
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• Reynoldsburg police searching for suspect accused of using cloned credit card

  08-08-2018 14:52
  
  REYNOLDSBURG --Reynoldsburg Police are trying to identify a suspect accused of using a cloned credit card at a Walmart.Police said on August 4, the unidentified man used a cloned credit card to make several purchases at the Walmart store in the 2700 block of Taylor Road. He also used two other cards believed to be cloned.The suspect left the parking lot in a newer model, white or light-colored Chevrolet Malibu, according to investigators.The suspect is described as a black male, 5 feet 7 inches
  
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• Another round of changes headed for the west Outerbelt this weekend

  08-08-2018 14:46
  
  ODOT: Weather permitting, another milestone will be reached this weekend on the Interstate 270 widening project between Dublin and Hilliard.Southbound drivers will be shifted closer to the inside median wall onto new pavement between US 33 and Cemetery Rd. A few weeks ago, NB 270 traffic made the same switch onto new pavement.These traffic switches allow the contractor to continue making progress on the project so that it's complete this fall.The other big change for drivers on the northwest sid
  
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• Police: Gunman ambushes 2 officers sitting in vehicle

  08-08-2018 14:15
  
  CAMDEN, N.J. — A gunman opened fire on two New Jersey police officers while they were sitting in their vehicle at a red light Tuesday night, wounding them in what authorities are calling an ambush attack.At least one suspect opened fire on the plainclothes detectives in Camden, which is located just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, said Camden County Police Chief J. Scott Thomson."The information we have thus far is that they were essentially ambushed," Thomson told reporters a
  
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• Cincinnati Police: 11-year-old stealing from market shocked with Taser

  08-08-2018 12:42
  
  An 11-year-old girl who Cincinnati police say was stealing from a supermarket has been shocked with a Taser stun gun.Police say the incident happened around 9:30 p.m. Monday at a Kroger in Cincinnati. Authorities say the officer suspected the girl was using a backpack to shoplift when he approached her. Police say the girl resisted and fled before she was shocked.The girl was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital and released to a guardian.Police have charged the girl with theft and obstructio
  
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• 11-year-old stealing from Kroger shocked with Taser, Cincinnati police say

  08-08-2018 12:42
  
  CINCINNATI - An 11-year-old girl who Cincinnati police say was stealing from a supermarket has been shocked with a Taser stun gun.Police say the incident happened around 9:30 p.m. Monday at a Kroger in Cincinnati. Authorities say the officer suspected the girl was using a backpack to shoplift when he approached her. Police say the girl resisted and fled before she was shocked.The girl was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital and released to a guardian.Police have charged the girl with theft a
  
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• Papa John's sales drop amid founder controversy

  08-08-2018 12:35
  
  NEW YORK - Papa John's wants to move on from its famous founder, but John Schnatter says he isn't going away.The fight underscores the challenges facing the pizza chain, which has slashed its sales outlook for the year after reporting a third straight quarter of sales declines in North America. Rival Domino's continues to post gains.Even before the Forbes reported on July 11 that founder John Schnatter used a racial slur, a key sales figure had been down around 6 percent. Then for July, the drop
  
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• Boy's remains found at New Mexico desert compound

  08-08-2018 12:33
  
  AMALIA, N.M. - The investigation into a group of starving children found in a desert compound in New Mexico took another dark turn Tuesday when authorities said they found the remains of a young boy at the squalid property.It's not yet certain the remains are of Abdul-ghani Wahhaj, who would have turned 4 on Monday.But Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe indicated the body appeared to be that of a boy similar in age to Abdul-ghani, who suffers from seizures and was reported missing in December aft
  
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• Hall of Famer Jim Brown says he'd never kneel during anthem

  08-08-2018 11:55
  
  CLEVELAND — Jim Brown has spent much of his post-NFL career fighting for social justice and change.However, the Hall of Fame running back would never kneel during the national anthem.The 82-year-old Brown, who championed civil rights during his playing career and became an activist in retirement, said Tuesday night that he respects players' rights to do what they want but his preference is they would stand during "The Star-Spangled Banner.""I'll never kneel and I will always respect the fl
  
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• Central Ohio cities takes part in National Night Out events

  08-08-2018 04:24
  Cities across the state of Ohio participated in National Night Out, a country-wide campaign promoting positive relationships between police and community."A lot of people don't even know their neighbors anymore, and it's kinda sad," said officer Dave Dunaway, a school resource officer for the Marion Police Department.Marion, along with cities like Columbus and Westerville, hosted NNO events with family-friendly games, food trucks, vendors and booths with information from community resources. Off
  
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• Trump to hit China with new round of tariffs

  08-08-2018 03:31
  
  WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it will go ahead with imposing 25 percent tariffs on an additional $16 billion in Chinese imports.Customs officials will begin collecting the border tax Aug. 23, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. The list is heavy on industrial products such as steam turbines and iron girders.Tuesday's announcement was not a surprise. In April, the administration had announced plans to slap tariffs on 1,333 Chinese product lines w
  
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• USPS worker allegedly calls gay men homophobic slur

  08-08-2018 03:27
  A United States Postal Service employee in Columbus is accused of calling two gay men a homophobic slur.Michael Coward and his fiance Michael Vaughn were headed to a dinner party, Tuesday night, when Coward went over and grabbed his mail from his mailbox. The USPS driver was delivering mail at the time. When Coward grabbed his mail, he says the worker reacted negatively. He says she was annoyed that he didn't wait until she was finished."I started arguing with her and she called me a [expletive]
  
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• Westerville embraces National Night Out

  08-08-2018 02:48
  Tuesday evening, 20 teams of Westerville first responders and community leaders mingled with neighbors at 10 National Night Out events.In the Village Green neighborhood, people like Linda Dunbar gathered for a potluck meal."You can't replace interaction with people," said Dunbar.National Night Out is an opportunity for neighbors to meet each other and the first responders who protect their communities.Westerville Police Chief, Joe Morbitzer, said social media sites are replacing neighborhood get
  
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• Troy Balderson declares victory in 12th Congressional District special election

  08-08-2018 02:37
  With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Republican Troy Balderson has declared victory over Democrat Danny O'Connor in Tuesday's 12th Congressional District special election.Balderson is ahead of O’Connor by roughly 1,700 votes or 0.8 percent. Though all precincts are reporting, there has not been an official winner declared.According to the Associated Press, there are at least 3,367 provisional ballots left to be reviewed.You can follow live results here
  President Donald Trump campaigned
  
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• Ohio Special Election Results: 12th Congressional District

  08-08-2018 01:34
  The polls have closed in Ohio, where a Republican state senator backed by President Donald Trump is competing with a Democratic county official in a special election for an open U.S. House seat long held by the GOP.Voters Tuesday were choosing between Sen. Troy Balderson and Franklin County Recorder Danny O'Connor to complete the term of a Republican who retired in January.You can follow live results hereThe race is a test of voter sentiment before the general election in November, when Balderso
  
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• Columbus police officer accused of buying sex on the job fired

  08-08-2018 00:24
  
  A Columbus police officer accused of buying sex while on the job has been fired.In June, Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs recommended termination for Officer Randall Mayhew.On Tuesday, the director of Public Safety for the City of Columbus, Ned Pettus Jr., agreed to uphold that recommendation.Three women accused Mayhew of paying them for sex while he was in uniform and on duty.An Internal Affairs investigation found that he bought sex, engaged in conduct unbecoming, and falsified a police run.Th
  
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