Burgess pleads in dog shelter case

TROY - A New Carlisle man accused of running a dog rescue and adoption center in Piqua before city officials shut it down after it was declared a public nuisance and health hazard pleaded guilty Monday as charged to a total of 14 misdemeanor counts following a pretrial hearing in municipal court.

Jeff Burgess, 57, the former owner of One More Chance Rescue and Adoption, once located at 125 Clark Ave., entered the guilty pleas to a variety of related counts of animal cruelty and violations regarding rabies, immunization, quarantine and unsanitary conditions, in addition to three other counts related to prescription drugs found inside the facility back when it was raided last November.

A presentence investigation was ordered, but no sentencing date was set…

…Only a few dogs died, and all other dogs were adopted out to happy homes, officials with the clean up process said…more

Bear in man’s backyard raises Bethel trustee’s ire

Sean Trimbach of Bets Exotics LLC, courtesy Dayton Daily News

MEDWAY — With the right bow tie, the adorable brown bear cub in the backyard of Sean Trimbach’s Crystal Lake home could pass for a real-life version of Boo-Boo…

“I’d love to get in there to wrestle around with her,” Trimbach said…

Acting on a neighbor’s recent complaint, Brown, a Bethel Twp. trustee, wants Trimbach to get rid of his bear.

“There are other houses around,” Brown said. “No one should have to live across the street from a bear.”…

Brown wants the state law changed.

“How am I supposed to tell the neighbors across the street with small children that, yes, we can regulate cows and goats, but we can’t regulate bears?” she asked…more

Hunters carry on in different world

…A range of views is found among the folks who purchased about 450,000 Ohio hunting licenses in 2010. The ideological spectrum widens considerably among the state’s 11-plus million citizens who did not buy a license to kill the animals the state decrees may be killed.

Hunting licenses were purchased by about 3.9 percent — nearly one in 25 — of the state’s residents last year…

…Hunters, because they generally are in agreement and more active politically than much of the public, have a greater impact on policy than their numbers suggest.

...Many of that 3.9 percent work and spend to make sure that their gun rights aren’t impinged and that the wildlife they pursue is managed in a sustaining way…

…the ratio of active hunters to population totals has been significantly lower all around, including in Ohio…more

Dog’s death cues algae-toxin tests

A Cleveland-area lab told Metro Parks officials yesterday that it detected toxins produced by algae in a Three Creeks Metro Park pond where a dog drank water and later died…

..Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, are common in Ohio lakes and streams but grow thick in water after feeding on phosphorus from manure, fertilizer and sewage that wash into waterways. The algae can excrete liver and nerve toxins that can sicken people and kill pets, fish and wildlife.

A preliminary Ohio Department of Agriculture report concluded that the dog died of severe anemia attributed to internal blood loss consistent with a bleeding disorder. The report said algae blooms can produce toxins causing liver damage that affects blood clotting, but rat poison can also affect it…

…Metro Parks also will test water samples from lakes at Prairie Oaks and Battelle Darby Creek metro parks, Deputy Director Larry Peck said. Dogs swim in those lakes.

Peck said he didn’t know the concentrations of toxins found in the Heron Pond water but that they were at potentially lethal levels.

The fatality was the first reported pet death in Ohio this year that might be associated with a toxic-algae bloom…more

Gov. John Kasich picks Sen. Tim Grendell for judicial vacancy in Geauga County, ending contentious appointment process

Sen. Tim Grendell, courtesy Plain Dealer photographer John Kuntz

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio Sen. Tim Grendell will leave his post in the Senate to fill a judicial vacancy in Geauga County.

Gov. John Kasich picked Grendell for the job…

… One applicant for the job said he heard rumors that Kasich was under pressure to appoint Grendell because other Republicans in the Senate were tired of dealing with him.

"I heard that not from the governor's office, of course. Certainly that was the rumor mill that went on throughout the state of Ohio," said Ed Ryder, who applied for the judgeship and is the Geauga County GOP chairman. "That doesn't seem like much of way to make an appointment from my standpoint."…

Grendell and Ryder also clashed when Grendell turned down the House seat he won last November. Ryder criticized Grendell for manipulating the election system by running for another office, winning it and then changing his mind, remaining in the Senate…

… Senate Republicans will now have to find a replacement for Grendell, a state lawmaker for the last 11 years…more