Some of Today's State News Headlines
Today is Thursday January 10, 2008
Governor commutes death sentence of man convicted of NW Ohio murder
By ANDREW
WELSH-HUGGINS
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A convicted killer whose death sentence was commuted to life in prison by Gov. Ted Strickland prepared to leave death row as early as Thursday.
John Spirko, 61, who maintains he didn't kill postmistress Betty Jane Mottinger in 1982, will be processed by prison officials and then sent to another prison, said Andrea Carson, spokeswoman for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Under Strickland's commutation order, Spirko will not be eligible for parole.
Strickland based his decision Wednesday on the lack of physical evidence linking Spirko to the 26-year-old murder and "the slim residual doubt" about Spirko's responsibility for the slaying based on a careful study of the case.
Those factors make "the imposition of the death penalty inappropriate in this case," Strickland said.
Spirko had received seven reprieves while the Ohio Parole Board reconsidered his case and DNA testing was conducted on material found near Mottinger's body.
(Page 2 of today's Kenton Times)
Ohio lawmaker wants more college students to work polls
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A state lawmaker wants to lift residency restrictions on college students who work polls, a proposal aimed at addressing Ohio's pressing need for more election workers.
Current law says poll workers must work in the county where they are registered to vote. The proposal by state Rep. Larry Wolpert of suburban Columbus would exempt college students who are away from home and wish to be poll workers in the county where they go to school.
The move could allow tens of thousands of college students to work at campus-area polls.
Lifting residency restrictions for student poll workers is likely to be a national trend as states contend with an aging legion of poll workers whose average age is over 70, said Doug Chapin, of the Pew Charitable Trust's electionline.org.
"As the need to find poll workers grows, you're going to start to see states being more creative or rethinking the traditional arrangements they have," Chapin said.
(Page 2 of today's Kenton Times)
Patrol: 2007 Ohio traffic deaths near record low
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A final tally isn't ready, but the State Highway Patrol says the number of traffic deaths in Ohio last year will be near the record low of 1,239 set in 2006.
Fatalities that involved drinking and driving dropped 20 percent in 2007, according to the patrol.
It also says while crashes in rural areas were responsible for about two-thirds of last year's road deaths, those rural fatalities were down 4 percent from 2006 and declined for the second straight year. Traffic deaths in Ohio's metropolitan areas increased by 8 percent.
Col. Richard Collins, the highway patrol's superintendent, says its stepped-up efforts with local law enforcement will continue on the state's urban highways this year.
(Page 2 of today's Kenton Times)
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