Cleveland, OH

Murder victims’ families call to end death penalty in Ohio

Published

8 months ago

November 14, 2023

Murder victims’ families call to end death penalty in Ohio

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The families of murder victims are pushing Ohio lawmakers to end the death penalty.

They continue to fight executions in Ohio, saying the appeals process makes the cases agonizingly difficult. For the Rev. Crystal Walker, the death penalty is not a solution to the grief and anger she feels since her son’s death.

Her son, Edward Michael Powers, was shot and killed in Dayton in 2013. The shooting is still under investigation.

“The death penalty is an empty promise of justice,” she said Monday at a press conference in Columbus. “There are families who have been promised that the person who killed their loved ones will be executed, yet they wait for decades of court appearances and media exposure and uncertainty. Only to learn that the person being sentenced was commuted or died of natural causes.”

Walker, a board member of Ohioans to Stop Executions, said more resources are needed for the families of murder victims, including financial help for funerals and ceremonies.

The push by families comes as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine continues to postpone executions, as the state does not have the drugs needed for lethal injection.

DeWine has repeatedly expressed his concern that if a pharmaceutical company finds that Ohio used its drugs to put people to death, it will refuse to sell any of its drugs – not just the ones used in executions – to the state. That would endanger the ability of thousands of Ohioans – such as Medicaid recipients, state troopers and prison inmates – to get drugs through state programs.

As a result, DeWine said in 2020 that there would be no more executions in Ohio unless state lawmakers pick an alternative execution method – a step the legislature has so far shown no interest in taking. Since taking office, DeWine has repeatedly pushed back death-row inmates’ execution dates.

In August, Louis Tobin, the director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, wrote an op-ed piece for The Dayton Daily News that called the death penalty “society’s expression of moral outrage at the most heinous crimes.” He urged people “to stop treating criminals like victims.”

The families of victims, however, say they must deal with the tragedies for years.

David Taynor of Columbus talked Monday about the death of his brother, Daniel. He was shot and killed in Kentucky in 2010. He called the judicial process “excruciatingly slow.”

Dozens of Ohioans, including Walker and Taynor, signed a letter sent to Ohio legislators that called the death penalty a “false promise that goes unfulfilled.”

“Victims’ families in capital cases go back to court for years on end, where the press replays the details of the crime again and again,” the letter said. “The result is that the defendant is turned into a celebrity while the victim’s family waits for a punishment that never comes. This system burdens the vast majority of cases that don’t result in a death sentence.

“And as the state hangs onto this broken system, it wastes millions of dollars that could go toward much needed victims’ services.”

Currently, 118 inmates sit on Ohio’s death row, making it the sixth largest in the country, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Twenty-two are from Cuyahoga County, with most of them sent there in the early to mid-2000s, according to state records.

It has been more than five years since an inmate has been put to death in Ohio. Robert Van Hook was executed at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville on July 18, 2018.

Van Hook’s execution took place more than 30 years after he stabbed a man to death in Cincinnati. The 58-year-old had no remaining appeals, and Republican Gov. John Kasich rejected his request for clemency without comment.

Keith LaMar of Cleveland had been scheduled to be executed Thursday. That was pushed back earlier this summer to Jan. 13, 2027. He was convicted of aggravated murder in 1995 for the deaths during the Lucasville prison riots. He received the death penalty for four of the killings.

Taynor, who is an attorney, said he was in support of the death penalty when he entered law school.

“Taking someone’s life in the name of someone else’s is not justice. It is simply state-sponsored murder,” he said Monday.

Walker said the death penalty is not the answer for justice. She hopes more focus is placed on crime prevention and creating community.

“It is my fervent prayer that there will come a day when violence will cease forever, and my faith tells me that this is possible,” Walker said. “Yet it is only possible if we move away from policies that embrace violence and death as the ultimate solution.”

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Cleveland, OH

Caitlin Clark B1G Female Athlete of Year Again

Published

1 hour ago

June 27, 2024

Press Room

Caitlin Clark B1G Female Athlete of Year Again

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Former University of Iowa guard, Caitlin Clark, was named 2023-24 Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year, announced today by the Big Ten Conference Office.

Clark, from West Des Moines, Iowa, is the first Hawkeye to win the award in back-to-back years. She is also only the third repeat winner in Big Ten Conference history, joining Wisconsin’s Suzy Favor (1988, 1989, 1990) and Indiana’s Lilly King (2017, 2018).

She is also the third Hawkeye student-athlete to win the award, joining Kristy Gleason (field hockey, 1994) and Megan Gustafson (women’s basketball, 2019). She is also ninth women’s basketball student-athlete to win the award, joining Gustafson, Purdue’s Joy Holmes (1991), MaChelle Joseph (1992), Stephanie White (1999) and Katie Douglas (2001), Penn State’s Kelly Mazzante (2004), Ohio State’s Jessica Davenport (2007), and Minnesota’s Rachel Banham (2016).

It is the ninth time a Hawkeye (men’s or women’s student-athlete) has earned the Big Ten Athlete of the Year award, and the fourth time in the past six seasons. Iowa’s past winners include wrestlers Ed Banach (1983), Barry Davis (1985) and Brent Metcalf (2008), football player Chuck Long (1986), men’s basketball player Luka Garza (2021), Gleason, and Gustafson.

Clark won the 2024 Honda Cup on Monday, and was named Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year as by THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA). She also won the 2024 Naismith, Wooden and Wade Trophies along with the Associated Press and USBWA Ann Drysdale Player of the Year honors.

She is also a three-time winner of the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award and is the first-ever three-time winner of the Dawn Staley Award. She also won the Honda Sport Award for Basketball in April.

Clark, who now plays for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, is the NCAA basketball all-time leading scorer and the only player in NCAA Division I men’s or women’s basketball history to lead her conference in scoring and assists in four consecutive seasons. Clark led the nation in 10 different offensive categories, including averaging 31.6 points and 8.9 assists per game and also broke the NCAA women’s tournament scoring record during the Hawkeyes’ final NCAA Tournament run.

Off the court, she is a three-time First Team Academic All-American and was named the 2024 CSC Academic All-America of the Year.

The Big Ten Athletes of the Year are selected by a panel of conference media members from nominations submitted by each institution.

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Cleveland, OH

Ohio town named best 4th of July fishing destination in U.S., report says

Published

9 hours ago

June 27, 2024

Press Room

Ohio town named best 4th of July fishing destination in U.S., report says

Summer is in full swing and Independence Day 2024 is right around the corner.

While many celebrate the annual holiday with cookouts, parades and fireworks, fishing is also a popular activity for the 4th of July. If you’re seeking the best destinations in the U.S. for fishing on the 4th, look no further than Ohio.

Cleveland, Ohio, is the best 4th of July fishing destination in the U.S., according to a report from FishingBooker.com, an online fishing charter service.

“It’s only suitable to kick off this year’s fishing destinations list with the largest city on Lake Erie – Cleveland,” FishingBooker.com writes in its report. “If we were to use only one word to describe Cleveland, it would be diversity. This Ohio beauty promises not only various fish species and numerous bodies of water for exploring, but also an array of activities to do this Independence Day. That’s why Cleveland is the perfect Fourth of July getaway location.”

Beyond Cleveland, eight additional U.S. cities made rankings for best fishing destinations in the U.S., according to FishingBooker.com.

1. Cleveland, OH

2. Fairfield, CT

3. Seward, AK

4. Astoria, OR

5. Port Arthur, TX

6. Sebago Lake, ME

7. Glenwood Springs, CO

8. Huntington Beach, CA

9. Brainerd, MN

The full report from FishingBooker.com on the nine best 4th of July fishing destinations in the U.S. can be found online.

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Cleveland, OH

Cavaliers Linked to Nets Player on Potential Trade Block

Published

15 hours ago

June 27, 2024

Press Room

Cavaliers Linked to Nets Player on Potential Trade Block

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been relatively quiet in the days leading up to the 2024 NBA Draft after reportedly naming Kenny Atkinson as their next head coach.

The Cavaliers saw multiple players thrown into trade speculation (Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen) after getting bounced in five games by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

However, various reports suggest that the Cavs will keep their ‘Core Four’ together, which is good news for Atkinson. That said, for Cleveland to take that next step, they must upgrade the wing spot and their bench this offseason.

One potential option for the Cavaliers could be Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson. The Nets could be on the verge of a firesale after shockingly trading Mikal Bridges on Tuesday night to the New York Knicks.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported Wednesday that Johnson is among the Nets vets who are all potential trade candidates to monitor. Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com said on 92.3 The Fan Wednesday that the Cavaliers “love” Cam Johnson and that they have for years.

Fedor also mentioned that the Cavaliers worked out Johnson during the draft process and have kept him on the radar. However, Fedor also questioned whether the Cavs have the pieces to send to Brooklyn in a potential trade for Johnson.

The Cavs could show interest in Cam Johnson, per @ChrisFedor
“The Cavs love Cam Johnson. If he is available from the Brooklyn Nets, the Cavs will be involved in those conversations. There’s no doubt about that. The question becomes, do they have the pieces to satisfy what… pic.twitter.com/ce5YUZFo7H
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 26, 2024

If the Cavaliers grabbed Johnson, he would be an immediate upgrade on the wing, giving the team floor spacing and another shooter. The 28-year-old forward posted 13.4 points per game on 44.6 percent shooting from the field and 39.1 percent from three-point range (6.1 attempts per game).

Johnson signed a four-year, $94.5 million contract extension last summer, so if the Cavaliers traded for him, he’d be in Cleveland for at least three seasons. With the Nets not having a pick in this year’s draft, maybe the Cavs could throw them the No. 20 overall pick, Georges Niang, and Caris LeVert to generate a conversation.

With the Knicks making a major splash for Bridges and the Celtics winning the NBA title, the Cavaliers must explore all options.

More Cavaliers news and analysis:

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