Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 14

B2 COMPLETE. IN-DEPTH. DEPENDABLE. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2013 LOCAL STATE IN BRIEF SANDUSKY Man gets death for killing mom, 2 kids A northern Ohio man convicted of killing a woman and her two young children has been sentenced to death. A county judge in Sandusky decided Thursday to accept a recommendation of the death penalty for 42-year-old Curtis Clinton.

The same jury had convicted Clinton of aggravated murder and rape. Clinton had denied killing 23-year-old Heather Jackson, her 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son at a Sandusky home. A message seeking comment was left for attorney. The woman and children were killed in September 2012. Police cers said that they found the bodies behind boxes in a utility closet and that the body was under a mattress.

GEORGETOWN Grand jury calls shooting witnesses A southern Ohio grand jury has called some reluctant possible witnesses for the investigation of the fatal shooting of a young mother whose toddler was wounded. Brown County authorities say witnesses have been subpoenaed this week to appear before grand jurors in an effort to get more cooperation as they try to out what happened to 22- year-old Brittany Stykes. Investigators disclose details of grand jury proceedings, but a former girlfriend of the slain husband told reporters Wednesday she had been summoned. Samantha Grubbs says she had been advised earlier not to talk voluntarily to police. Police say someone called Aug.

28 to report a Jeep Wrangler the road in a wooded area about 45 miles southeast of Cincinnati. They found Stykes dead inside. AKRON County treasurer jailed for cash gi A federal judge in Ohio has sentenced a former county treasurer and local Democratic Party executive to months in federal prison for failing to report a $3,000 cash gift. The (Youngtown) Vindicator reports that former Mahoning County treasurer Lisa Antonini was sentenced Wednesday in Akron. The former county Democratic Party chairwoman also will have to serve two years of probation and pay a $2,000 The 44-year-old Antonini had pleaded guilty in June 2011 to a single count of honest services mail fraud.

She apologized to the judge Wednesday for her By Thomas J. Sheeran Associated Press CLEVELAND A mysterious defendant in a $100 million, cross-country Navy veterans charity fraud case was convicted Thursday of racketeering, theft, money laundering and other charges. Jurors deliberated for about three hours Wednesday before reaching guilty verdicts on all 23 counts. They heard nothing from the ex-fugitive, who changed his mind and decided against testifying. His attorney said he wanted to tell his story but worried about his mental state if he faced aggressive cross-examination by prosecutors.

The defendant iden himself as 67-year- old Bobby Thompson, but authorities say Harvard-trained attorney John Donald Cody. He was indicted in 2010, disappeared for nearly two years and was arrested last year in Portland, Ore. He faces up to 67 years in prison at his sentencing, which was scheduled for Dec. 16. The defendant rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and rocked on his feet as the verdicts were read.

Deputies his wrists after the guilty verdict was announced. Unlike the last two days of his trial, the defendant showed up with his shirt buttoned and his hair combed. He was charged with looting the United States Navy Veterans Association, a charity he ran in Tampa, Fla. As his week trial wound down, he had appeared disheveled in court, so much so that the judge suggested a break Tuesday to allow him to get a clean shirt and comb his hair. defense rested without calling anyone to the stand because there is no defense for the scam that John Don ald Cody pulled on Americans in the name of our said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, whose of handled the trial.

Defense attorney Joseph Patituce said after the verdict that tive legal representation issues stemming from limited preparation time and his cooperation might be a basis for a planned appeal. Patituce said he doubts other states will seek to prosecute his client at this point. He also said he had questions about his mental health and asked the judge to order an assessment before sentencing. The judge agreed. Man convicted in Navy-vet fraud He looted charity he ran in Tampa, authorities say.

E-cig bill still draws By Jim Siegel The Columbus Dispatch The House moved Wednesday to keep the growing e-cigarette industry away from Ohio youths, but the bill continues to draw from those who say the hidden purpose is to shield the products from state cigarette taxes. With the sales of electronic cigarettes reaching an estimated $1.7 billion in 2013, Rep. Stephanie Kunze, R-Hilliard, said her bill is focused on banning sales of the nicotine-infused products to people younger than 18. She said a national study recently found that the number of middle- and high-school students who have tried e-cigarettes doubled in one year. new product is opening up an entirely new generation that can be addicted to Kunze said.

is also an alarming trend of e-cigarettes being used as the vehicle for other When the user inhales, an e-cigarette heats up nicotine-infused liquid inside, releasing a vapor that is inhaled and exhaled. They come in a variety of including chocolate, cotton candy and Dr Pepper. Rep. Nickie Antonio, D- Lakewood, said keeping e-cigarettes away from children is important, but the bill the products under a new category that protects them from state cigarette taxes and laws such as the indoor smoking ban. important that we carve out this new she said.

Democratic amendments to change the of the devices and to cover them under the indoor smoking ban were defeated. Some have argued that the devices are healthier alternatives to regular cigarettes and should not be taxed to discourage their use. Anti-smoking groups say the products have not been studied enough to make any determinations. The bill was brought to Kunze by Lorillard Tobacco which purchased e-cigarette company Blu in July 2012. Kunze said the bill does not prevent future tax changes and she understand why groups including the American Cancer Society and heart and lung associations are opposing it when they backed a similar measure last year in Indiana.

By Jim Kuhnhenn Associated Press CLEVELAND Dogged by the botched enrollment launch of his health care law, President Barack Obama on Thursday sought to put the spotlight on his economic and energy agenda, touting increased automobile fuel efficiency for helping reduce reliance on foreign oil. For the first time in nearly two decades, the U.S. produced more oil at home in October than it imported from abroad. Obama called the shift huge competitive for the United States. The president spoke at a Cleveland plant that makes steel used for higher fuel-efficient cars.

Obama says the comeback of the auto industry during his presidency helped the ArcelorMit tal plant and saved more than 1 million American jobs. got to do more to get those engines of the economy churning even Obama said. because been willing to do some hard things, not just kick the can down the road, factories are reopening their doors, businesses are hiring new The president was highlighting some of the positive notes in the still sluggish economic recovery even as problems with the health care law were the focus before the president left Washington. Obama announced from the White House that insurance compa nies would have the option to keep offering consumers plans that would otherwise be canceled. The announcement was meant to meet an Obama promise, ultimately broken for millions, which assured Americans that they would be able to keep their coverage if they liked it.

are not going to gut this law. We will fix what needs to be fixed, but going to make the Affordable Care Act Obama said. Still, even in Cleveland, Obama had to acknowledge the health care flawed launch. But he also struck a defiant tone in the face of calls from Republicans to undo the law. will fix what needs to be fixed, but going to make the Affordable Care Act he said.

those who say opposed to it and offer a solution, push In a bright spot for Obama, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is one of a few Republican governors to take advantage of the Medicaid expansion to reach more low- income Americans. governor do it because he just loves me so Obama said. every Republican governor did what Kasich did here rather than play politics about it, have another 5.4 million Americans who could get access to health care next year regardless of what happens with the web Later, in Philadelphia, Obama attended a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee at the home of Comcast executive David Cohen. Obama spotlights economy President makes pitch for agenda at Ohio steel plant.

By Theodore Decker The Columbus Dispatch To reduce the algae blooms that threaten Lake tourism economy and public health, phosphorus into northwestern Ohio tributaries to the lake should be cut by 40 percent, a state task force recommended Wednesday. Neighboring states and Canada must also make the lake a priority if its health is to be restored, members of the Ohio Lake Erie Phosphorus Task Force said. extremely said Reutter, the director of the Ohio Sea Grant College program and Stone Laboratory on the lake. The task report has 20 recommendations. It calls on Ohio farmers to voluntarily adopt farming practices that can reduce phosphorus from their Some environmental advocates say voluntary compliance is not enough, but state agricultural leaders said more farmers are changing their habits as their knowledge of the plight grows.

farmers understand the problem, and they certainly want to be part of the said David Daniels, the director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, are common in most Ohio lakes but grow thick in water polluted with phosphorus from fertilizer, manure and sewage that rain washes into streams. The algae can excrete liver and nerve toxins that can sicken people, kill pets and threaten and wildlife. It is primarily phosphorus that feeds the algae blooms that have formed in Lake Erie, Grand Lake St. Marys in western Ohio and other inland lakes and ponds.

a statewide Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director James Zehringer said. The report released Wednesday is an update of a 2010 study by the task force, which then concluded there are multiple contributors to phosphorus into Lake Erie, but agriculture is the leading The task force suggests updating the phosphorus index farmers use to guide their fertilizer applications and promoting practices that include growing living roots year- round and avoiding fertilizer applications on frozen ground or before rain. State and federal legislators could use the recommendation to propose tighter regulations. need said Sandy Bihn, the executive director of the Lake Erie Waterkeeper organization, which was not part of the task force. She and other advocates not involved with the task force were disappointed that a draft of the report released and the public given the chance to comment on it.

Task force takes aim at phosphorus Report has 20 recommendations for improving lake. Legislation should also tax growing industry, critics say. President Barack Obama meets with workers during a visit to the ArcelorMittal Cleveland steel plant in Ohio on Thursday. Obama said the auto comeback saved more than 1 million jobs. GABRIELLA DEMCZUK NEW YORK TIMES Bobby Thompson, whom authorities have as attorney John Donald Cody, is after being found guilty Thursday in Cleveland.

TONY DEJAK ASSOCIATED PRESS.