News-Journal from Mansfield, Ohio • 1

Graduation Day iTTTrrw Bucyrus man 1 .11 I I ciinmforl Zi State champs Clear Fork baseball, Hillsdale softball I Photos from Crestview, i4; 1 D-Day, Battle LV MHC onH I ov I DflPC in IIIWW UIIU bbA I I nUk TLI I Lists for Madison, rM? teams claim crowns I JA LOCAL 3A Mansfield Sr. I PAGE 8A v- i 1 mjM i( 4mm' mm- MONDAY, JUNE 7, 2010 MansfieldNewsJournal MANSFIELD, OHIO I 75 CENTS Ni' ROB HARDINNEWS JOURNAL PHOTO ILLUSTRATION St The body cooler in the basement of Bucyrus Community Hospital. AP Tornado damage Sunday along Main Street in Millbury, Ohio. Authorities say tornados and thunderstorms that swept through the Midwest overnight killed a number of people in Ohio, destroyed homes and damaged a high school gym before graduation. SEVERE WEATHER rm 00 Kill orna 2009 DEATH REPORTS 7 in NE Ohio Coroner's off ice investigated almost 10 percent of deaths fvOOS QUAjff r-.

7fK I 7 J''1 I No one injured after Mansfield bridge collapses MANSFIELD Traffic is being re-routed around the Orange Street Bridge, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, after it collapsed shortly after 1 1 p.m. Saturday. "We've got two road-closed signs and barrels up right now," said Robert Long, a Mansfield utility maintenance dispatcher. "There was some structural damage and some holes in the asphalt, but we cleaned up the debris with the back hoe (Saturday night)." No one was injured when it collapsed, due to heavy storms. Street Department Supervisor Dave Lorenz said city engineer Jim DeSanto will assess the damage today.

Traffic is being rerouted to Grace Street and US 42. "We didn't have any other bridge issues around the city, but we did have some flooding," Long said. "If you see a road-closed sign, please don't go around it," Lorenz said. "It is for the safety of the public and the safety of our workers." News Journal staff report BY JOHN SEEWER AND MEGHAN BARR Associated Press MILLBURY, Ohio A tornado unleashed a "war zone" of destruction in northwest Ohio, destroying dozens of homes and an emergency services building as a line of storms killed at least seven people and briefly threatened the Northeast on Sunday. Storms collapsed a movie-theater roof in Illinois and ripped siding off a building at a Michigan nuclear plant, forcing a shutdown.

But most of the worst was reserved for a 100-yard-wide, 7-mile-long strip southeast of Toledo now littered with wrecked vehicles, splintered wood and family possessions. The tornado ripped the roof and back wall off Lake High School's gymnasium about 11 p.m. Saturday, several hours before the graduation ceremony was supposed to begin there. The school board president said one of the victims was the father of the class valedictorian. Two buses were tossed on their sides and another was thrown about 50 yards, landing on its top near the high school's football field.

More than 10 hours later, its right turn signal was still blinking. Lake Township police Chief Mark Hummer flew over the damaged area and said at least 50 homes were destroyed and another 50 severely damaged, as well as six commercial buildings. The storm fell over an area of farm fields and light industry, narrowly missing the heavily populated suburbs on the southern edge of Toledo. "It's a war zone," Hummer said. "It's pretty disheartening." Hummer said Sunday afternoon all buildings had been searched and everyone was accounted for.

Rescuers were searching a wooded area and a field near the worst BY ERIK SHILLING News Journal MANSFIELD Of the 1,067 deaths in Richland County last year, 105 were investigated by the coroner's office. And of those, 70 went through autopsy either by request or because of some indication of foul play. Also among the 105 were four homicides, 16 suicides, 50 accidental deaths, and two cases where a final determination could not be made. The rest were of natural causes a leaky aorta over here, say, or undetected cancer there. These were among the findings of Coroner Dr.

Stewart Ryckman, whose office puts together an annual report. Among the suicide cases the office took on, gunshot wounds to the head and chest were most common 10 people died this way last year. Coming in second were intentional hangings, of which there were four. One person intentionally overdosed on a cocktail of opiates and alcohol; another died after poisoning himself with carbon monoxide. Last year's four homicides included three involving a firearm and the other by what is known as blunt force trauma.

In this case, the bloody death of 72-year-old James Mills of Mifflin. Two men face murder charges in the case, Mills' son and grandson, who are scheduled OAVE P0LCYNNEWS JOURNAL Richland County Coroner Dr. Stewart Ryckman by the door to his office at 597 Park Avenue East In Madison Township. spiked again last year. Richland County Coroner Dr.

Stewart Ryckman said 2009 represented the highest number of such deaths since 2006, when eight people died from overdoses. In 2009, that number shot up to six or seven Total drug deaths were up slightly from last year, from 17 to 18. All but one was an accidental overdose. "Sometimes they'll be taking one drug and they're not familiar with it so they'll take another drug in the same amount See DEATHS, page 4A for trial this summer. Fatal drug overdoses in the county represented what investigators said was the usual panoply of intoxicants.

Six men and women took a lethal dose of heroin; two men Oxycontin; two men hydrocodone, orVi-codin; four men crack or powder cocaine. There was one methadone overdose and one case of deadly alcohol poisoning, which took place last spring at the home of Larry Plott who was murdered two weeks ago on Stewart Road in Madison Township. Prescription drug deaths hit portion of town as a precaution. The tornado turned a township police and emergency medical services building into a mishmash of 2-by-4 framing and pink insulation. Hummer was talking to a police dispatcher by phone when the storm hit "She started saying, "The building is and then another dispatcher came on and said, "The See WEATHER, page 4A 10 died of drug overdose in Crawford Co.

Is Hollywood knocking again? BY TERRICHA BRADLEY News Journal BUCYRUS Overdoses were the second most prevalent cause of death in Crawford County last year. Crawford County Coroner Dr. Michael Johnson said the county moved from eighth in the state for most deaths by uninten Ohio Film Office seeking locations for 3 projects fad Health Office of Vital Statistics. Other deaths investigated by the coroner's office in 2009 included seven resulting from motor vehicle accidents, three from suicide, one each from drowning and hypothermia. Two deaths were attributed to "other" and one more was the result of a police shooting.

In that incident, on July 11, William Kitzmiller died from a gunshot wound after a tussle with Galion police attempting to arrest him for, among other things, domestic violence. Kitzmiller was found to have a handgun, and after shooting one officer in the hand, was fatally shot by another. That officer, Josh Dawson, was ultimately cleared by a Crawford County grand jury. ttxadleyienncoganncttconi 419-521-7233 were the result of natural causes; 10 were overdoses. Johnson didn't have final numbers for 2009, since several cases are not yet wrapped up, but he guessed the number of overdoses will be higher than his office is currently reporting.

The reason, he noted, was because at least some of the open cases have toxicology results pending. In deaths attributed to drug overdoses across the county since 2006, most toxicology results revealed a combination of drugs. "Unfortunately, a majority of the cases are young people," said Johnson, who noted white males between the ages of 45 and 54 have the highest overdose death rates. While white men rates are highest white women make up the fastest growing risk group, according to Ohio Department of 7i tional drug overdose to No. 5.

"It'samultifac-eted problem," Johnson said at a recent summit on drug abuse in north central BY LOU WHITMIRE News Journal MANSFIELD North central Ohio could be the backdrop of future Hollywood films, just like it has been in the past The Ohio Film Office recently fielded inquiries regarding three film projects looking for locations in the state, according to officials at the MansfieldRichland County Convention Visitors Bureau. Filmmakers are looking for a farm and a small town both for interior and exterior shooting; a See HOLLYWOOD, page4A 33 Ohio. "Almost all Johnson toxicology reports have more than one drug." Johnson's office handled 38 cases in 2009, 23 of which were sent to Lucas County for autopsy. Thirteen of the deaths i -d 4 k. 0E ftXC'iitS OuiiNAl The historic Ohio State Reformatory, a film location a number of movies, most notably "The Shawshank Redemption." 'ti'ir'ii'i fVaxire M.

Rudolph Randy L. Shepard Advice Comics Daily Calendar Dilbert Editorial 5B 7A 3A 2A 6A TODAY'S WEATHER Partly cloudy and cooler. High 72, Low 48. Forecast, page 2A Health Calendar 6B Lifestyle 4B Lottery 2 A Puzzle 28 Sports IB Robert "Jae" Eerbe'ick Chfton "Cliff" Djrbm Cadence J. Gardner Steven E.

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