Connect with us

Ohio

Back-to-school means increase in campus threats; experts urge public to stay alert, report suspicious activity

Published

on

Back-to-school means increase in campus threats; experts urge public to stay alert, report suspicious activity


HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio — Back-to-school is in full swing in the Tri-State, but experts said the exciting time of year can also bring the potential for danger as well.

“We tend to see more of the bomb threats or active shooter threats when it comes to go back to school. As well as around the springtime, the very end of spring when we go to get out of school,” said Emily Torok, the executive director of the Ohio School Safety Center.

The Cincinnati area has seen several school threats within just the last 12 months. On Monday, Hamilton High School saw their first day of school end early, after threatening phone calls were made. Back in April, a middle school student at West Clermont Middle School was charged after officials said he created a bomb threat. Even last December, local FBI agents investigated threatening emails made to several local schools.

Even with a large number of incidents at campuses locally, statewide and even nationally, law enforcement experts tell us that the threat of danger is slim.

Advertisement

“The clear majority are not credible, but again, you must take it seriously until you know it’s not credible,” said Mo Canady, a former police officer and executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers.

Canady said Student Resource Officers (SROs) play a pivotal role in deciding how to respond when a school receives a threat, whether in-person, online or by phone.

“It really is important that the SRO is a functional part of any school’s multi-disciplinary safety team,” he said.

Canady said SROs can also be a helpful resource for students or parents to make reports to when something may be off or concerning.

“They’re there to be an advocate for you, to help keep you safe, and they are the right person for you to be able to report something that you see or hear that’s concerning to you,” he said.

Advertisement

The Ohio School Safety Center has a 24/7 resource available for anyone to report threats or suspicious activity, called the “Safer Ohio School Tipline.”

Parents, students or even staff can make anonymous reports online or by calling or texting 844-723-3764.

“The more we can do to have this anonymous reporting solutions out there, to have ways to report suspicious activity, the better our chances are to prevent something from happening,” Torok said.

Outside of the Ohio School Safety Center’s resources, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost also has multiple school threat assessment training videos.

Advertisement





Source link

Ohio

Ohio auditor describes how widespread Medicaid fraud affects taxpayers | Fox News Video

Published

on

Ohio auditor describes how widespread Medicaid fraud affects taxpayers | Fox News Video


Lawrence Jones questions Ohio State Auditor Keith Faber about the widespread Medicaid fraud affecting taxpayers. Faber explains that big government programs like Medicaid, operating on a trust-based system, are easily exploited. He highlights disproportionate home healthcare utilization by the Somali community in Columbus, emphasizing that inadequate controls allow people to lie, steal, and cheat the system.



Source link

Continue Reading

Ohio

Ohio State reaches $100 million settlement with nearly 300 sex abuse survivors | CNN

Published

on

Ohio State reaches 0 million settlement with nearly 300 sex abuse survivors | CNN


Ohio State University has reached a $100 million settlement with nearly 300 former students who had accused the school’s campus doctor of sexually assaulting them decades ago, the school and a lawyer for the victims said on Wednesday.

The settlement with 279 of the 280 former students was ratified by the university’s board on Wednesday. It followed years of litigation overaccusations of decades of abuse by Richard Strauss.

The abuse occurred from 1978 to 1998, the year he retired from the faculty.

“The mediation and its confidentiality are continuing as the parties work to finalize the details of the settlements, and additional information will be shared as appropriate,” the school and a lawyer for the victims said in a joint statement.

Advertisement

In February, the university reached eight additional settlements, bringing the total to 304 survivors and more than $60 million.

Strauss, who killed himself in 2005, was employed by Ohio State’s athletic department and medical staff for nearly two decades.

A 2019 report detailing the investigative findings said that Strauss had sexually abused at least 177 men, nearly all of whom were students, and that university staff who knew of the abuse failed to act. The abuse included groping and fondling of the students’ genitals and other acts under the guise of a medical examination.

News of the investigation and its findings prompted more than 500 plaintiffs to sue Ohio State, alleging they had been sexually abused by Strauss and that the school had shown deliberate indifference.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Ohio

The purge? Ohio moves to downgrade non-domiciled CDLs

Published

on

The purge? Ohio moves to downgrade non-domiciled CDLs


Another state is jumping into the fray to put the brakes on non-domiciled CDLs, with roughly 5,000 commercial drivers in Ohio facing the potential of having their licenses downgraded.

On Friday, May 29, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles announced it would be contacting approximately 5,000 non-domiciled CDL holders to verify the status of their credentials under updated rules from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

According to the Bureau, non-domiciled license holders in the state will receive one of two notices, depending on the type of documentation they initially used to obtain their CDL.

For drivers whose documentation meets current FMCSA standards, their licenses will remain valid until their expiration date. For those who do not meet current standards, the process is a bit more complicated.

As for CDL holders whose original documents do not meet current FMCSA guidelines, they will receive a notice of downgrade, and their CDLs will be downgraded to a Class D license 30 days after receiving the notice.

Advertisement

Drivers who receive a downgrade notice can request a hearing with the BMV to dispute the downgrade, and can provide additional documentation to prove their eligibility. According to the Bureau, those documents include:

  • An unexpired Employment Authorization Document issued by USCIS, valid on the most recent CDL/CLP issuance date
  • An unexpired foreign passport with an unexpired USCIS I‑94 form, both of which must be valid on your most recent CDL/CLP issuance date

Officials said the Ohio BMV has not issued or renewed any non-domiciled CDLs since FMCSA put new standards in place in 2025, and that it does not intend to resume issuing non-domiciled CDLs in the future. Additionally, the BMV will not renew revalidated non-domiciled CDLs after they expire.

All notices will be sent by mail to the address listed on file with the Ohio BMV. The Bureau emphasized that the reverification process does not apply to full CDL holders or CDL holders with legally established permanent residence. LL



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending