The Kenton Times

Woman survives brutal attack in park
ELYRIA, Ohio (AP) - A woman who was shot in the back while walking through a park then beaten with a tree limb tried to play dead as her attacker carried her into the woods.
At one point, she opened her eyes.
“He looked at her and said in disbelief, 'You're still alive?”' Lorain County Prosecutor Peter Gauthier said in court this week when new details of the May 6 attack came out.
The victim, 43-year-old Shawn Stevens, suffered a severed spinal cord and is paralyzed from the waist down. She remains hospitalized in fair condition at MetroHealth Medical Center and last week had surgery to remove the bullet lodged near her spine.
“If there's a fate worse than death, I see it every day when we need to roll her over and she screams in agony,” said Jamie Eller, Stevens' ex-husband.
Gauthier says Stevens was walking down a path in Carlisle Reservation in LaGrange, about 30 miles southwest of Cleveland, when a passing stranger asked her, “Peaceful here, isn't it?”
She nodded as she kept walking. Moments later, her legs went out from under her.
(Refer to page 2 of the Kenton Times)

Deputy fired
AKRON, Ohio (AP) - A northeast Ohio sheriff's deputy accused of disobeying a superior by taking part in a high-speed chase has been fired.
Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander said Wednesday that the April chase ended with sheriff's deputy Christopher Boyd shooting three times at a car.
Alexander says the 37-year-old Boyd had been ordered not to pursue the car and not to fire his gun at the car.
The sheriff says the chase began when Boyd heard on his radio that New Franklin police were searching for the car, which was believed to be carrying people who had been involved in an assault.
Alexander says Boyd spotted the car and sped after it. He also says Boyd lied during a subsequent internal investigation.
Boyd can appeal the firing through arbitration. A working phone number for him could not be found.
(Refer to page 2 of the Kenton Times)

WEDNESDAY MAY 28, 2008

Law enforcement groups oppose Ohio bill on self-defense killings
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Major law enforcement groups said Tuesday that they oppose Gov. Ted Strickland's support of a bill that would allow a new protection against prosecution for people who kill an attacker in self defense.
One exception: Strickland's own State Highway Patrol.
The patrol and its state agency - the Ohio Department of Public Safety - have no official position on the bill but support the governor, public safety spokesman Tom Hunter said.
Under the bill Strickland favors, people who injure or kill an attacker in self defense no longer would shoulder the burden to prove their actions were justifiable.
The Democratic governor has long been supported by the National Rifle Association for his views on gun rights.
Director John Murphy of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association says the bill could allow drug dealers to claim self defense in shootings of rivals in deals that went sour.
(Refer to page 2 of the Kenton Times)

Woman told dispatcher she killed her husband
CLEVELAND (AP) - After the 911 dispatcher asked the caller for her phone number, she plainly told him: "I killed my husband."
The dispatcher again asked Annette Cobb for her number.
The 37-year-old gave her phone number. When the dispatcher finally asked "What's the emergency?" Cobb repeated, "I killed my husband."
"Just now? Hello," the dispatcher responded.
"Do you want to come ... do you want to send somebody or not?" Cobb said.
Police say they found the body of 57-year-old Rick Cobb in his home early Friday morning. The Cuyahoga County coroner's office says Cobb died of stab wounds to his upper body.
Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Anita Laster Mays set Annette Cobb's bond at $1 million Tuesday. She remains in jail and has been referred for medical treatment and psychiatric evaluation.
A female dispatcher took over midway through Cobb's call: "You said you killed your husband?"
"He is dead. He's laying on the floor," Cobb said in the call made shortly after 12:30 a.m. Friday.
"He's laying on the floor right now?" the dispatcher said.
(Refer to page 2 of the Kenton Times)

TUESDAY MAY 27, 2008

Ohio trauma system flawed
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio's trauma system is riddled with flaws and falls short of meeting federal recommendations, a panel of medical experts said in a report.
A committee of doctors, nurses, paramedics and hospital administrators this spring gave the state a failing grade of 33 percent. They measured Ohio's system against 13 indicators based on federal recommendations.
Enacted in 2002, Ohio's trauma law was designed to ensure that trauma patients end up in hospitals best equipped to take care of them. Such patients include people severely injured in car accidents, victims of stabbings or gunshot wounds and people with severe burns or broken bones.
The report cited several inadequacies, including a lack of trauma training for doctors and other hospital staff who treat trauma patients. Hospitals have failed to keep records of patients who die at the scene of an accident, the report said.
(Refer to page 3 of the Kenton Times)

More extra-long buses
CLEVELAND (AP) - The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority expects ridership to grow because of $4-a-gallon gas and has ordered another 20 extra-long buses to keep up.
The 20 new 60-foot buses will be delivered next year. Three will be used to meet anticipated demand on the renovated Euclid Avenue corridor and 17 will run on other popular routes.
RTA ordered 21 extra-long buses in 2004. They'll be put into service on Euclid Avenue later this year.
The buses cost more than $620,000 each and feature accordionlike connectors in the middle.
RTA ridership was on the decline last year but jumped in April.
(Refer to page 3 of the Kenton Times)

FRIDAY MAY 23, 2008

Student sent home for hair
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio seventh grader is feeling blue after she was banned from school for putting red highlights in her hair.
Officials at Bowling Green Junior High say Angelica Hummel must dye her hair back, because the school's dress code prohibits hairstyles that bring undue attention or make the wearer conspicuous.
The 13-year-old says she doesn't like being stuck at home and wants to return to school. But she says her punishment is unfair, because other students have highlights, too.
Parents Mike and Michelle Hummel say the school is splitting hairs, and they support their daughter's decision to keep the red coloring.
Bowling Green Area Schools Superintendent Hugh Caumartin is siding with the school, saying the dress code cuts down on distractions.
(Refer to page 2 of the Kenton Times)