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Ohio educators upset with pension board backtracking, with millions in bonuses to be given to staff
The Ohio retired teachers’ pension board has approved millions of dollars in bonuses for their investment staff less than a month after grandstanding by eliminating the additional compensation to make a group of educators happy. The State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) is embroiled in controversy. In summary, there has been constant fighting, two board resignations and allegations of […] The post Ohio educators upset with pension board backtracking, with millions in bonuses to be given to staff appeared first on Ohio Capital Journal.
Doctor gets 26 months for fraudulent orthotics prescriptions
A former Maumee doctor has been sentenced to 26 months in federal prison for signing more than 11,000 fraudulent prescriptions for orthotic braces that cost Medicare more than $4.47 million. Ankita Singh, 42, had been found guilty Feb. 29 by a jury of six counts of healthcare fraud and was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary. Between 2019 and 2021, Singh worked as an independent contractor for at least two companies to provide “telehealth services” and signed off on durable medical equipment orders sent to her electronically after telemarketers signed up Medicare patients to receive the devices, federal prosecutors said. Singh never actually examined or consulted with any of the roughly 3,000 patients, prosecutors said, and prescribed multiple medical braces for many of the patients. More than $8 million was billed to Medicare under the scheme and $4,470,931.02 was paid out. Singh, who received fees to conduct the phantom patient consultations, was ordered to pay that amount in restitution along with a $600 special assessment fee. She will have two years of supervision after her prison release.
Wildfire smoke could again pollute Ohio's air this summer. Here's how to prepare.
The U.S. EPA said people in the Great Lakes region should prepare for potential wildfire smoke exposure this summer, which can worsen air quality. The EPA says climate change is fueling more frequent wildfires and a longer wildfire season in the western U.S. and Canada. And the smoke from those flames are drifting to the Midwest, affecting air quality here in Ohio.
Meeting to address Maumee River fish, wildlife improvements near Towpath Park
Maumee-area residents are being asked to weigh in on $2 million to $5 million of fish and wildlife habitat improvements planned for the Maumee River near the city’s Towpath Park. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is hosting a public information session at 5:30 p.m. on July 30 about the work, called the Great Lakes Fisheries and Ecosystem Restoration Towpath Park project. The 90-minute meeting will be inside the Maumee High School Performing Arts Center, 1147 Saco St., Maumee. Three potential locations are under consideration. They include sites adjacent to existing walking paths west or east of the Conant Street Bridge, or a portion of the river further downstream, northeast of the Audubon Islands State Nature Preserve. A river-adjacent wetland complex, vernal pools, and softening streambank features to stabilize the bank and slow water velocity near the shoreline are being contemplated.
What will happen with medical marijuana?
Hi, I’m Anthony Shoemaker, the statehouse bureau chief for The Enquirer. Last year, Ohio voters approved recreational marijuana use in the state. Sales have not started yet, but patients in the state’s current medical marijuana program are already concerned. State bureau reporter Haley BeMiller has been covering marijuana...
Blade staff bring home 13 awards from Associated Press Managing Editors’ Ohio awards
A Blade sports columnist and photographer took top honors in the Associated Press Managing Editors’ Ohio awards announced Sunday during a banquet in Columbus. David Briggs took home the first place award for best sports columnist during 2023 in Ohio. Jeremy Wadsworth was selected as the state’s best photographer. Artist Joe Landsberger won third place for best full page design, best graphic artist, and best illustration or informational graphic. Photojournalist Steven Zenner won second place for best photo story, as well as third place for best news photo and third place for best feature photo. Sarah Readdean, The Blade’s religion writer, was named the third best features writer in Ohio.
Ohio gets millions from the feds to plug abandoned oil, natural gas wells
Ohio is getting another chunk of money from the Biden administration to clean up and plug abandoned oil and natural gas wells that plague the state's countryside. The Interior Department has awarded the state $57.25 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the federal law passed in 2021 that commits $1.2 trillion to fix roads and bridges, expand internet access, provide access to clean water, improve ports, invest in public transportation and other purposes. The law provides $16 billion to address what the Biden administration calls legacy pollution by reclaiming abandoned coal mines and plugging orphaned wells.
The Lima News wins 12 awards in 2023 contest
COLUMBUS — The Lima News won 12 awards, including three first-place awards, at the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors awards announced Sunday at an event in Columbus. The newspaper tied for third place in general excellence in Division IV, a category for mid-sized newspapers across the state that included newspapers in Canton, Cleveland, Elyria, Findlay and Warren.
Facebook report challenges claims that fracking is 'environmentally-friendly'
A new Facebook page monitoring thousands of fracking-related accidents and cleanups happening nearly every day over the last nine years challenges the Ohio gas and oil industry's claims that it's environmentally-friendly. Report trends indicate a pattern of lax regulation along with superficial attempts to clean up oil, gas and radioactive fracking wastewater from lands and water across the state, according to FracTracker Alliance, a national nonprofit that studies, maps, and communicates the risks and impacts of oil, gas, and petrochemical development. ...
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