Abdul Awkal is scheduled to be executed June 6 for killing his estranged wife and brother-in-law in a Cuyahoga County room where the Awkals were taking up divorce and custody issues.

Awkal’s lawyer says the man suffers from severe mental health problems and should be spared. The state says Awkal carefully planned the killings and should be executed.

The parole board voted 8-1 against mercy for Awkal. Board members concluded Awkal planned the shooting and that it wasn’t the result of a psychotic breakdown.

Gov. John Kasich has the final say on clemency.

Judge David Dowd in Akron agreed Thursday to move the trial to Sept. 17. He also must consider a defense request to hold the trial away from Cleveland and Akron.

The highway bridge targeted by the alleged bomb plot sits between the two cities in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

The suspects are described by the government as self-proclaimed anarchists. They have pleaded not guilty.

Authorities said they arrested the men last month when they tried to detonate what was actually a fake explosive provided by a paid FBI informant.

U.S. Attorney Carter Stewart filed an embezzlement count against 57-year-old Carl Shye, Jr. in U.S. District Court on Thursday.

Shye was treasurer for former charter, or community, schools in Columbus, Youngstown and Dayton. Under Ohio law, such schools operate independently of any school district but under contract with a sponsoring entity.

State Auditor David Yost said he first spotted a pattern involving Shye from state audits. The auditor’s office issued more than $1 million in 62 findings for recovery against Shye over a decade.

Shye’s arraignment is June 21.

The settlement resolves resolve claims that Skechers overstated weight-loss benefits in advertisements for its so-called rocker-bottom athletic shoes.

Here’s one of those advertisements.

Under the settlement, Skechers will allocate up to $40 million for consumers who purchased the shoes.

The county’s Republican Central Committee on Wednesday appointed Delaware Police Chief Russell L. Martin to fill out the term of Walter Davis.

Martin will also be a candidate for the office in the November general election.

Davis resigned earlier this year after being accused of using county money for trips and dinners where he reportedly met with a female deputy. Davis, who is married, agreed to repay the money and the female deputy was later fired.

Police now say Gabryale Campbell, 9, died Sunday at Columbus’ Children’s Hospital.

Police did release the condition of the third child riding on the motorbike.

The accident happened on Taylor Avenue on the city’s northeast side after police say the bike pulled out of an alley into the street.

Deandre Pruitt, 2, died shortly after the accident.

The driver was uninjured and was not expected to face criminal charges.

The House voted 82-12 to pass the bill. The Senate previously approved it, and Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign it.

All drivers would be banned from texting, though young drivers could more easily be pulled over for it.

The bill would make texting a secondary offense for adults. That means drivers could be ticketed for typing messages only if they were first pulled over for another offense, such as running a red light.

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, the measure would be among the nation’s broadest in terms of teen distracted driving restrictions. The organization says texting while driving is already prohibited in 38 states.

Columbus Fire Batallion Chief Michael Fowler says the investigation is ongoing, but the man is thought to be a resident of the building that sits at the corner of Cleveland Ave. and Oakland Park Ave.

“The fire was believed to have started in a bedroom of one of the apartments, apartment 8A. But the victim was found in a hallway outside of the apartment,” Fowler says.

Fowler says most of the 75 people displaced by the fire stayed in a nearby hotel last night.

Multiple media outlets report that Copley police Officer Ben Campbell joined Mr. Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and 33 other officers from around the country for a special ceremony at the Rose Garden. Campbell has been credited with stopping 51-year-old Michael Hance last August. Two high school students and an 11-year-old boy were among those killed by Hance in Copley on Aug. 7.

The National Association of Police Organizations pays tribute annually to law enforcement officers who went above and beyond the call of duty to save lives.

OSU formed the committee after several incidents of hate crimes were reported on its campus, including the words “Long Live Zimmerman” spray painted on the side of OSU’s black multicultural student center. The recommendations aim to increase diversity and inclusion on campus.

Short- and Long-term goals

In the short term the panel recommends more discussions about diversity and a help line where students can report hate crimes. In the long term they want the university to provide financial aid to students from underrepresented populations and increase recruitment of minority faculty.

OSU’s Vice President for Student Life Javaune Adams-Gaston says the committee was created out of student demand, and many of the goals of the task force were inspired by students.

“Much of the work that the task force did was student inspired, student supported, student researched,” Adams-Gatson said.

One of the goals of the panel has already been accomplished, the creation of an email alert system for hate crimes.