Roundup: Aug. 22, 2008
Staff and Wire reports
Justice Center fixes to cost about $550K
ELYRIA — Fixing the Lorain County Justice Center’s outer shell will cost less than expected.
County commissioners on Thursday approved a contract with Cleveland-based RAM Construction Services to make the repairs next spring for $508,921.
The original estimates for the work had been between $900,000 and $1 million.
The improperly installed brick-and-mortar shell has led to water seeping into the building, which has damaged carpets and walls.
The county has accused the subcontractor that installed the walls, Northern Valley Contracting Inc., of shoddy workmanship and is suing the company to pay for fixing the problems.
The county has refused to release the $2.8 million bond the company took out as insurance for its portion of the work on the justice center, which opened in 2004.
Lorain County Administrator Jim Cordes said he expects the county to eventually recoup any money it spends on the project, but the repairs need to be done.
Burned cookie causes fire scare
AMHERST — An overcooked cookie filled Amherst Marion L. Steele High School with smoke Thursday afternoon and gave firefighters fears that a full-blown fire had started, Amherst Fire Chief Wayne Northeim said.
He said thick smoke filled part of the Washington Avenue school at 1:46 p.m., and at first it seemed like the flames had spread between the ceiling tile and roof.
But firefighters soon discovered a maintenance worker had put a cookie in a microwave for 10 minutes, Northeim said.
Wednesday is the first day of school for students, so there were none in the building when fire crews entered.
Ohio liquor sales top $697M in fiscal ’08
COLUMBUS — State officials say Ohioans are spending more than ever on liquor.
The Ohio Division of Liquor Control says in the fiscal year that ended June 30, the state’s 440 contract liquor agencies had record sales of $697.7 million, about 4 percent more than the previous year.
The amount of booze sold rose 1.4 percent, to about 10.3 million gallons of what the state calls spirituous liquor, meaning liquor that’s more than 21 percent alcohol, or 42 proof.
Officials say liquor sales generated $167 million for the state’s general revenue fund and another $131 million that was earmarked for other uses.
Ohio credit unions say: Bware txt msgs
COLUMBUS — Ohio cell phone users are being warned to ignore text messages stating that their credit union account was suspended for suspicious activity.
Spokeswoman Katie Walton with the Ohio Credit Union League says the alerts that began showing up on mobile phones early Tuesday are part of a scam meant to dupe consumers into divulging personal information. The messages include a phone number with a Miami area code, and Walton says credit union customers who call it to reactivate their account are instructed to enter their debit or credit card number.
Walton says her group doesn’t know how many people dialed the number. Officials believe the messages were sent out randomly to phone numbers in Ohio’s 614 and 419 area codes.
Woman leaps from hospital’s 5th floor
TOLEDO — A hospital in Toledo says one of its patients leaped through a 5th-floor window, landing on an emergency room roof four stories below.
St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center spokeswoman Sarah Bednarski says the woman is being treated but won’t describe her injuries.
Bednarski says the woman was in the hospital’s neuro-constant care unit when she jumped through the glass window Thursday morning.
The hospital isn’t releasing the patient’s name or why she was undergoing treatment.
1 hospitalized after bus crash in Dallas
DALLAS — A commercial bus carrying 37 people has crashed into a vacant building near the Dallas Zoo overnight.
One person aboard was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas with a broken leg. Officials say the bus belonged to Houston-based Transportes Los Nortenos and was heading to Columbus, Ohio, when the 11 p.m. crash happened Wednesday on an Interstate 35E frontage road. No caused has been determined.
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Filed by Staff and Wire reports August 22nd, 2008 in Top Stories. Popularity: 2% |
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