Back to Laura A. Bischoff's profile
Stories by Laura A. Bischoff
Speed limits to rise on 560 miles in Ohio
When the new 70 mile per hour law takes effect July 1, motorists will see new speed limits on 570 miles of Ohio’s interstate highways, though the current limits will remained unchanged in all of Montgomery County. The Ohio Department of Transportation on Tuesday released a map detailing which segments ...
Revived Tea Party may hurt Kasich
The IRS scandal has put the Tea Party back in the news, and Ohio conservatives have been featured prominently in stories about the targeting of groups because of their political affiliations. But an invigorated Tea Party may not be the best news for some Republicans, including Gov. John Kasich, who ...
Gee’s $1.9M salary 3rd among U.S. public colleges
Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee was knocked off the top spot on the list of highest paid public university presidents but is well positioned to regain the number one post in the coming year, according to a survey released Sunday by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Gee’s $1.9 ...
Violence up at Lebanon prison, report says
A surprise inspection of the state prison in Lebanon shows violence has been escalating over the past two years with more disturbances and assaults. Half of the inmates rate Lebanon Correctional Institution as unsafe or very unsafe and the prison is tied with the prison in Lucasville for the highest ...
Attorney General’s office builds statewide online database of unsolved homicides
The Ohio Attorney General’s office is slowly building a database of unsolved homicides from across the state in the hopes of generating new leads for detectives who might be able to solve cases that went cold long ago. “The idea was to get every unsolved homicide on a statewide database. ...
Cell phone, laptop, tablet theft could be felony offenses
Ohio lawmakers are considering legislation that would make stealing a cell phone, computer, laptop or tablet a felony offense.Many Ohioans carry laptops, tablets or smart phones that contain banking information, health data, extensive contact lists and other sensitive data that if stolen could wreak havoc in short order.This legislation comes ...
Pension trustees pull Hawaii trip request
The subsidized Hawaii trip is off for School Employees Retirement System trustees Barbra Phillips and Catherine Moss, who bowed to lawmaker and public pressure Tuesday and rescinded their requests for travel reimbursement for a May conference in Honolulu.Phillips and Moss both sent emails to SERS executives on Tuesday morning, less ...
Repeat gun offenders could face mandatory 11-year prison term
New tough-on-crime legislation would mandate an 11-year sentence for those convicted of illegally possessing a gun, if they previously had been convicted of two or more violent felonies. The bill, which has the backing of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, will be introduced Friday by state Sen. Jim Hughes, R-Columbus. ...
Agency makes it harder for state pension board members to get reimbursed for Hawaii trip
A little known state agency on Monday took an unusual step to block trustees and employees of the School Employees Retirement System from getting reimbursed for travel expenses to Hawaii, Columbus or anywhere else for that matter. The pension fund board has refused to cancel plans to send two trustees ...
Lawmaker may have broken ethics law
Springfield Republican Sen. Chris Widener may have violated Ohio ethics law when he personally appeared before a state board to appeal a building code ruling on a fire hall he designed as part of his private business, a Dayton Daily News investigation found. Widener was in the Ohio Senate when ...
Lebanon prison focus of steroid probe
A drug task force is investigating illegal steroid use, distribution and manufacture among staff at the Lebanon Correctional Institution state prison, the Dayton Daily News has learned.Commander John Burke said the investigation by the Greater Warren County Drug Task Force is centered on prison employees, not inmates. No arrests have ...
Prison focus of steroid probe
A drug task force is investigating illegal steroid use, distribution and manufacture among staff at the Lebanon Correctional Institution state prison, the Dayton Daily News has learned.Commander John Burke said the investigation by the Greater Warren County Drug Task Force is centered on prison employees, not inmates. No arrests have ...
Racing commission delays decision on Dayton racino
The Ohio State Racing Commission will take a week to consider a compromise to its seating requirements for Penn National Gaming’s proposed racinos in Dayton and the Youngstown area. Under a plan Penn presented to the racing commission on Wednesday, the Dayton racino would open with 509 enclosed seats with ...
Beer brewers upset with Ohio lawmakers
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, says it was blindsided by Ohio lawmakers who approved an amendment “in the space of four hours” that will prohibit breweries from buying wholesale distributorships in the future. The beer giant is now publicly pleading with legislative leaders to reverse course or even take ...
Ohio school retirement board votes to take controversial Hawaii trip
Despite outrage from lawmakers and retirees, Ohio’s School Employees Retirement System board refused to cancel plans to send two trustees to a five-day conference in Hawaii next month and declined to adopt the same travel limits followed by the state’s four other public pension systems.The nine-member SERS board spent Thursday ...
Ohio school pension board member collects OT for time missed at work
School Employees Retirement System trustee Barbra Phillips earns overtime pay for field trips and sports team travel as a school bus driver even when she is out of town on pension board business, public records obtained by our Columbus bureau show. Ashland City Schools allows Phillips to sign up for ...
Schools could face fines for teaching ‘gateway sexual activity’ in Ohio
Ohio may become the second state in the nation to adopt regulations that prohibit teaching comprehensive sex education to public school students, under an amendment added to the state budget bill on Tuesday. The Ohio House GOP-backed idea would subject teachers and organizations that violate the ban to possible lawsuits ...
Ohio GOP director’s tax bill reduced, still owes $168,161
Ohio Republican Party Executive Director Matt Borges learned Friday that his federal tax bill was reduced to $168,161, down from $493,624. Bob Onda, Borges’ newly retained tax attorney, said the IRS adjusted the bill in October but Borges’ old attorney did not deliver the news to him. Onda said he ...
GOP official owes $592k in back taxes
Ohio GOP Executive Director Matt Borges, who is in line to become state party chairman later this month, owes $493,624 in federal taxes and $98,397 in state taxes, according to public documents filed in Franklin County. Borges said he is on a payment plan for some of the back taxes ...
Fallout continues over Hawaii trip for school retirement board trustees
There is mounting concern that some trustees of the School Employees Retirement System are preparing to remove SERS Executive Director Lisa Morris, who publicly advised them not to attend a pension conference in Hawaii next month. SERS is expected to foot the bill for the trip. Our Columbus bureau first ...
© 2013 Cox Media Group. By using this website,
you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices
.
You're Almost Done!
Select a display name and password
{* #socialRegistrationForm *} {* socialRegistration_displayName *} {* socialRegistration_emailAddress *} {* traditionalRegistration_password *} {* traditionalRegistration_passwordConfirm *}Tell us about yourself
{* registration_firstName *} {* registration_lastName *} {* registration_postalZip *} {* registration_birthday *} {* registration_gender *} {* agreeToTerms *}