Akron
Beacon Journal recognized
AKRON: The Akron Beacon Journal’s leadership role in the 2016 Your Vote Ohio project was recognized this year in the trade industry magazine Editor & Publisher.
In its “Newspapers that do it right,” E&P gave the Beacon Journal/Ohio.com an honorable mention for convening several Ohio news outlets to share resources and attempt to represent the best interests of Ohioans in the 2016 election. Polling and citizen meetings helped guide the coverage of issues important to Ohioans.
The Knight Foundation provided $175,00 for the research conducted by the Bliss Institute for Applied Politics at the University of Akron and the Jefferson Center, a citizen-engagement nonprofit from St. Paul.
Participating with the Beacon Journal were the Repository in Canton and WKSU-National Public Radio. Others were in Toledo, Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus, Lima and Washington Court House.
CANTON
Child pornography alleged
CANTON: A Canton man was indicted Wednesday on federal child pornography charges.
Marshall Belden Jr., 69, was charged in U.S. District Court with receiving, distributing and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Belden received and distributed numerous computer files Oct. 24 that contained visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Belden possessed a computer and an external hard drive on Jan. 26 that contained child pornography, according to the indictment.
The Canton FBI office and Canton Police Department investigated.
MEDINA
Leak is ruled cause of blast
MEDINA: Fire investigators have determined that a fatal apartment explosion in the city last month likely was caused by a natural gas leak in the building.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office released its preliminary ruling Tuesday. A final ruling could still be days or weeks away, Beacon Journal news partner Newsnet5.com reports.
The Feb. 9 explosion at the Medina Village Apartments killed 18-year-old Jacob Harley Drake. His mother Sheila Drake, 51, later died at a Cleveland hospital.
TWINSBURG
Hotel assailant convicted
TWINSBURG: A 24-year-old University Heights man has been convicted of sexually assaulting a 24-year-old Columbus woman at a Twinsburg hotel after a wedding.
Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tammy O’Brien found Frank Oswald guilty of sexual battery, a third-degree felony, Wednesday after a two-day bench trial. She will sentence him at 2:30 p.m. April 13.
Prosecutors said the victim, her boyfriend and several other acquaintances, including Oswald, were staying at a Twinsburg hotel in April 2016 following a wedding.
The victim fell asleep in her hotel room and awoke several hours later to discover Oswald sexually assaulting her. Oswald admitted to police that he forced himself on the victim, the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office said.
WOOSTER
Heroin overdose charges
WOOSTER: A Cleveland man has been indicted on federal charges that he sold heroin to two people who overdosed in Wooster.
Demetrius L. Frizzell, 30, was indicted on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Akron on two counts of distribution of heroin, one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin, one count of obstruction of justice and two counts of witness tampering.
If convicted, he faces at least 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Investigators traced the sale of the heroin to Frizzell.
While in custody, Frizzell called overdose victims and instructed them to change their stories to police, according to court documents.