NORTHEAST OHIO NEWS

Real-Time Updates for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio

Hyland Software growing into new campus in Westlake

by Michelle Jarboe/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday January 08, 2009, 10:03 PM

Amid the daily news of layoffs and corporate cutbacks, Northeast Ohio's largest software company just keeps growing.

Hyland Software Inc. is buying most of Nordson Corp.'s 25-acre campus on Clemens Road in Westlake. The software company, based just down the street, bought Nordson's headquarters building and nearly 17 acres for $7.5 million. The sale closed Dec. 30.

Another purchase, of 3.25 acres of the Nordson property for $1.4 million, is imminent.

Continue reading "Hyland Software growing into new campus in Westlake" »

Tuskegee Airmen from Northeast Ohio to attend Barack Obama inauguration

by Brian Albrecht/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday January 08, 2009, 9:02 PM

Six decades ago they fought prejudice, discrimination, even threats of courts-martial to serve as the first black airmen in American military history.

On Jan. 20, the aging ranks of Tuskegee Airmen will be part of a second, similar historic event as invited guests for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the nation's first black president.

"It's wonderful. Terrific. It's something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime," said Roy Richardson, 79, of Oakwood.

Richardson is one of seven members of the North Coast Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen Inc. hoping to attend. The others are Joe Burrucker, 82, of Shaker Heights; Thomas Austin, 92, of East Cleveland; Arthur Saunders, 88, of Cleveland; Clarence Jamison, 90, of Shaker Heights; James Travis, 86, of Cleveland; and Edward Lunda, 85, of Akron.

During and shortly after World War II, from 1941 to 1949, they were among more than 16,000 black servicemen who joined an experimental program in the then-segregated American military to train in all aspects of aviation, as pilots, mechanics, bombardiers, navigators and support personnel. The airmen initially trained at an Army airfield in Tuskegee, Ala., then at other bases across the country.

Continue reading "Tuskegee Airmen from Northeast Ohio to attend Barack Obama inauguration" »

Sheriff Gerald McFaul's niece resigns as deputy after doing private security work during leave

by Mark Puente/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday January 08, 2009, 8:41 PM

Sheriff's Lt. Theresa Shaffer, the niece of Cuyahoga County Sheriff Gerald McFaul, resigned from her job Thursday after The Plain Dealer learned she broke the rules by working as a security guard while she was on leave for an injury.

Shaffer did the private security work after applying for Workers' Compensation payments for an injury she suffered on her job as a deputy.

Shaffer's resignation came four days after she became a lightning rod for criticism when McFaul promoted her while laying off other deputies. McFaul adamantly denied the promotion of Shaffer and two others with personal ties to the sheriff were acts of nepotism.

The newspaper obtained documents Thursday listing the work performed by Shaffer in June 2007 for Willo Security. The work was performed after Shaffer injured her arm and shoulder arresting someone near Quicken Loans Arena and filed a claim with the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

McFaul signed the forms granting Shaffer an injury leave.

Continue reading "Sheriff Gerald McFaul's niece resigns as deputy after doing private security work during leave" »

Minnesota edges out Ohio in biomedical start-up investment

by Laura Johnston/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday January 08, 2009, 6:04 PM

Ohio narrowly lost the Midwest biomedical crown to Minnesota in 2007. But last year, the state got tromped.

Investment in Ohio health-care start-ups dropped 36 percent last year to $189 million, according to the 2008 Midwest Healthcare Venture Report by Cleveland-based BioEnterprise. Meanwhile, biomedical investment in Minnesota jumped from $296 million in 2007 to $331 million last year.

The states have traded places before, with Ohio on top in 2005.

Continue reading "Minnesota edges out Ohio in biomedical start-up investment" »

Gund Foundation suffers big losses in stock market collapse

by Margaret Bernstein/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday January 08, 2009, 5:10 PM

UPDATE: George Gund Foundation to cut donations to agencies after investment losses

CLEVELAND -- The George Gund Foundation announced this afternoon that it has lost nearly a third of its value because of the stock market collapse.

In an e-mail to agencies that receive grants, the foundation warned that it will likely have fewer dollars available for projects in 2009. On its Web site, an announcement says:

We intend to increase the percentage of our assets that we give away. Federal tax law requires that we spend 5% of our assets every year, and we always exceed that minimum. But in 2009 we will go substantially beyond that. However, because our portfolio is diminished, the dollars available for grants still will likely decline in 2009.

The e-mail said the foundation will honor its multi-year grants, but will not make any new large commitments.

"We believe it is essential that our grantees understand how we are planning to adjust to the constraints on our resources and what this may mean to them," the email says.

The foundation reported that it has reduced its operating budget to free money for grants. Among cuts, the foundation said it will issue an online annual report rather than a printed version.

Slavic Village drug crackdown produces 25 indictments

by Mark Puente/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday January 08, 2009, 4:44 PM

UPDATED at 8:10 p.m.

CLEVELAND -- A traffic stop more than a year ago led to the dismantling of the Broadway Kings street gang on Cleveland's southeast side, police said Thursday.

Federal agents and Cleveland police fanned out across the region to arrest 17 suspected gang members early Thursday morning. Three remained at large Thursday night, and five other suspects were already in jail.

Authorities spent a year investigating the gang, which dealt drugs around the Slavic Village neighborhood, after a traffic stop in November 2007. The police were investigating a man for a string of violent crimes when they pulled him over and found a stash of guns and drugs. (Previous story today.)

Continue reading "Slavic Village drug crackdown produces 25 indictments" »

Flu in United States resistant to leading antiviral drug

by Plain Dealer staff

Thursday January 08, 2009, 3:49 PM

Scientists and health officials are trying to figure out why virtually all the flu in the United States this season is resistant to the leading antiviral drug Tamiflu.

Last winter, about 11 percent of the throat swabs from patients with the most common type of flu that were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for genetic typing showed a Tamiflu-resistant strain. This season, 99 percent do.

"It's quite shocking," Dr. Kent A. Sepkowitz, director of infection control at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, told The New York Times. "We've never lost an antibiotic this fast. It blew me away."

Former head of Eastlake band boosters sentenced for theft

by Plain Dealer staff

Thursday January 08, 2009, 3:16 PM

PAINESVILLE — A former North High Area Music Boosters president who stole from the group was sentenced to either a month in jail or a month of house arrest, police said.

Marybeth Manseau can choose to serve her sentence in jail or at home. Lake County Common Pleas Judge Eugene Lucci sentenced Manseau today.

Manseau, 51, pleaded guilty in November to three counts of grand theft. She also made full restitution in the case of $10,000.

She will begin her sentence Feb. 1. If she serves house arrest, she must pay for the electronic monitoring system she will have to wear.

Obama team wants digital TV deadline postponed

by Associated Press

Thursday January 08, 2009, 3:12 PM

Updated at 4:04 p.m.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is urging Congress to postpone the Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, arguing that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air channels won't be ready.

In a letter to key lawmakers Thursday, Obama transition team co-chair John Podesta noted that the Commerce Department has run out of money for coupons to subsidize digital TV converter boxes for consumers. People who don't have cable or satellite service or a new TV with a digital tuner will need the converter boxes to keep their older analog sets working.

Obama officials are also concerned that the government is not doing enough to help Americans -- particularly those in rural, poor or minority communities -- prepare for and navigate the transition.

Continue reading "Obama team wants digital TV deadline postponed" »

It's official: Obama won election, Cheney declares

by Associated Press

Thursday January 08, 2009, 2:44 PM

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama is officially the next president of the United States, Congress declared Thursday in fulfilling its centuries-old U.S. constitutional duty to certify and tally the electoral college vote from each state.

Republicans joined Democrats in a standing ovation as Vice President Dick Cheney, in his role as speaker of the Senate, announced from the podium that Obama had achieved a majority of votes and would be the 44th president on Jan. 20.

Speaking before a joint session of the House and Senate, Cheney confirmed the results of the Nov. 4 election, that Obama and next Vice President Joe Biden had received 365 electoral votes while the Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin garnered 173 votes.

Continue reading "It's official: Obama won election, Cheney declares" »

Autoworkers union begins talks on concessions

by Kimberly Johnson/Associated Press

Thursday January 08, 2009, 2:37 PM

Updated at 3:15 p.m.

DETROIT -- United Auto Workers union bargaining officials are arriving in Detroit this week to begin discussing wage and benefit concessions they must make so General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC can keep their federal loans.

Under the terms of the $17.4 billion granted to GM and Chrysler last month, the companies have until Feb. 17 to hammer out amendments to their current contracts that would bring labor costs in line with those of employees at foreign auto companies' plants in the U.S.

Those concessions must be approved by union members and submitted as part of GM and Chrysler's restructuring plans by March 31. That's when the government can call in the loans if the requirements haven't been met.

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U.S. financial system 'more stable,' bailout chief Kashkari says

by Associated Press

Thursday January 08, 2009, 2:00 PM

WASHINGTON -- The head of the government's $700 billion financial rescue program says the effort has made the nation's financial system more stable.

Neel Kashkari, the assistant treasury secretary in charge of the bailout program, says the effort had made remarkable progress since it was passed by Congress on Oct. 3.

Kashkari called the financial system "fundamentally more stable" than when the legislation was passed, and says the rescue program helped to stem a series of financial institution failures.

More foreign species expected to invade the Great Lakes

by Michael Scott/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday January 08, 2009, 1:16 PM

The Great Lakes -- especially a warm and shallow Lake Erie -- are in great danger from being invaded by another wave of foreign freshwater aquatic species.

That's the gloomy conclusion of a team of U.S. EPA scientists who used satellite data and computer modeling to predict how dozens of new invasive species might spread across the Great Lakes -- causing significant environmental and economic damage in spite of policies designed to keep them out.

The EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment identified 30 species with a medium or high likelihood of reaching lakes and 28 others already here with a potential to spread and cause harm.

That's bad news -- both economically and environmentally.

Continue reading "More foreign species expected to invade the Great Lakes" »

Cleveland assembles business leaders to advise on airport operations

by Henry J. Gomez/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday January 08, 2009, 12:59 PM

UPDATED at 7:30 p.m.

Mayor Frank Jackson has turned to the private sector for advice on how to operate Cleveland's two municipal airports.

A dozen civic leaders were announced Thursday as members of what Jackson calls the Cleveland Airport System Business Advisory Committee. They will offer the mayor and other city officials opinions on the direction of Hopkins International and Burke Lakefront airports.

The panel, which will not have decision-making authority, is stacked with well-known corporate executives and attorneys.

"The advisory committee is another example of how my administration works with the business community to accomplish mutual goals," the mayor said in a prepared statement.

Members will not be compensated for their service, an airport spokeswoman said.

Continue reading "Cleveland assembles business leaders to advise on airport operations" »

Obama economic speech warns of worse problems if Congress balks on spending plan

by Associated Press

Thursday January 08, 2009, 12:45 PM

Updated 12:45 p.m.

FAIRFAX, Virginia -- President-elect Barack Obama warned of dire and long-lasting consequences if Congress doesn't pump unprecedented dollars into the national economy, making an urgent pitch Thursday for his mammoth spending proposal in his first speech since the election. (Watch video of the speech.)

"In short, a bad situation could become dramatically worse" if Washington doesn't go far enough to address the spreading crisis, the Democrat said as fresh economic reports showed an outlook growing increasingly grim.

Since his November election, Obama has deferred to President George W. Bush on foreign policy matters such as the Middle East. But, with the worsening of the economic situation, Obama has waded deeply into domestic issues as he works to generate support for his plan to create jobs and jolt the economy into recovery.

In the speech at George Mason University outside Washington, Obama asked Congress to work with him "day and night, on weekends if necessary" to pass a revival plan within the next few weeks so that it can be ready for his signature shortly after he takes office on Jan. 20. The U.S. Conference of Mayors said the president-elect's audience included several mayors, among them those from Akron and Columbus in Ohio.

Continue reading "Obama economic speech warns of worse problems if Congress balks on spending plan" »

Oberlin schools sued over rape of 13-year-old with disabilities

by Michael Sangiacomo/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday January 08, 2009, 12:40 PM

ELYRIA — An Oberlin couple has filed suit accusing the Oberlin School District of failing to protect their 13-year-old mentally disabled daughter from being sexually assaulted by classmates at Prospect Elementary School.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court, the parents accuse the school district of negligence and violating the federal laws designed to protect disabled children.

Arlene Craft, attorney for the girl's family, said in the lawsuit that two students in the girl's special-needs class began having sexual relations with the girl when she was 12.

The girl has Down syndrome.

Oberlin police said they investigated the allegations and turned their findings over to county juvenile court authorities.

Continue reading "Oberlin schools sued over rape of 13-year-old with disabilities" »

Cleveland officer surrenders on kidnapping, rape charges

by Mark Puente/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday January 08, 2009, 12:04 PM

CLEVELAND — A Cleveland police officer surrendered today to face kidnapping, rape and sexual battery charges, police said.

Duhamel Torres, a 2nd District patrolman, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman while he was on duty, police spokesman Lt. Thomas Stacho said. Torres turned himself in this morning after investigators obtained a warrant for his arrest, Stacho said.

Stacho gave this description of the incident:

The woman was walking home and Torres offered her a ride. But he then drove past her house to a secluded area on Scranton Road and assaulted her. The woman, who is acquainted with numerous officers, told them about the assault. Those officers relayed the information to the department's Internal Affairs Unit.

Investigators received results from DNA tests Wednesday and consulted with prosecutors, Stacho said.

Torres has been on the force since October 2006. He was a Cleveland patrolman for about five years in the early 1990s, but resigned.

Steve Loomis, head of the patrolmen's union , said the public shouldn't rush to judgment on Torres.

"Everybody is innocent until proven guilty," Loomis said. "We look forward to our day in court."