Hey everyone! As you probably know, there’s lots going on in the city. So our morning news has morphed into the afternoon news! Here’s a rundown of the today’s top stories.
Former UC police officer Ray Tensing’s has pleaded not guilty to the July 19 fatal shooting of Samuel DuBose. Tensing’s bond has been set at $1 million by Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan. Yesterday, Tensing was indicted by a grand jury for the murder of DuBose during a traffic stop in Mount Auburn. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters also finally released the body camera footage of the incident at a news conference. DuBose’s family and their attorney, Mark O’Mara, stated they don’t believe the bond was set high enough while Tensing’s attorney, Stew Mathews, said he’s going to try to get his client out of jail by next Thursday if he can post the required 10 percent of the bond money. Last night, the group Black Lives Matter held a peaceful protest through the streets of the city in response to the indictment. Beginning around 6:30 p.m. several hundred people marched from the Hamilton County Courthouse down to the District 1 Police Station. The story has made national headlines as the latest incident in a recent string of police shootings.
ResponsibleOhio is facing more problems with their petition to create a constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana on the ballot. Ohio Secretary of State John Husted announced today that he is appointing a special investigator to look into possible election fraud on the political action committee’s part. The group could face felony fraud charges if differences are found between the number of petitions and signatures of registered voters ResponsibleOhio says they have collected and the number submitted to Husted’s office. Lawyers for the group accused Husted of using intimidation tactics to kill the petition. They were told 10 days ago that they were nearly 30,000 signatures short of putting the measure on the Nov. 3 ballot. They have until today to collect and submit the remaining signatures. The $20 million effort would legalize the drug for those 21 and over. The group’s petition has faced criticism for potentially creating a monopoly on the industry by only allowing 10 marijuana farms around the state.
Governor and presidential hopeful John Kasich’s super PAC, New Day for America, has raised more than $11 million between the end of April and the end of June. According to tax filings, more than $600,000 was raised in one day in June by two donors. Kasich announced his presidential run on July 21, and while it’s early in the race, Kasich seems to need the support. A recent Quinnipiac poll put Kasich in eighth place for the Republican nomination tied with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Leading the poll was Donald Trump, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
In response to the body camera footage which helped to indict former UC police officer Ray Tensing, Rep. Kevin Boyce (D-Columbus) says he will continue to work on legislation to require all Ohio police officers to wear body cameras. Boyce says he hopes to have the legislation done by September or October, when the House returns to session. The Cincinnati Police Department has long had body cameras in the works, and in a press conference on the shooting yesterday, Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell said that body cameras were on the way for the department but did not say specifically when they would go into effect.
That’s it for today! Email me at nkrebs@citybeat.com or tweet me for story tips!
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2015.