The extreme behaviour had continued as Gilkey stepped outside looking to kill more people. His cousin Matthew Henderson said he’d spoken to Paul’s wife: “I said, ‘What’s he doing?’ (She said) ‘I think he’s waiting on more people to come so he could kill them.’” Henderson also believes that depression and the situation with his terminally-ill wife, Darlene, contributed to what happened saying Paul had told him “When she dies, they might as well bury me too.” He also told police that Paul David Gilkey had purchased plots in the Oak Grove Cemetery the previous week.

Paul David Gilkey already had an extremely violent past as he’d been in jail for 10 years for beating a man to death with a fence post in 1974 and he’d also allegedly stabbed his own father in 1986. Gilkey did not murder his wife or his stepson, Ralph Sowers III, allowing them to get away.

Source: The Jackson County Times-Journal

Ohio Murders Triggered By Orange [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Gilkey spared his wife and his stepson.  The stepson fled the house after Gilkey killed himself to get cell reception and call the police.

Ralph Sowers III, the stepson, says in the 911 call,

“He let me leave because I have kids. He tried to shoot my brother, and my brother was hiding behind me. And then he kept telling me to `Duck! Duck! Duck!”

Gilkey shot both women at close range and then his son.  He went out on the porch and fatally shot himself in the chest.  When the police pulled up to the house he was still standing upright but dead.

Gilkey had a long history of violence.  He had served 10 years in prison for killing a man in Georgia.  he also has done time for assault.

Peggy Gilkey, one of Paul’s sisters said,

“He was really trying to take care of her, but he felt like people weren’t letting him. He felt as though his wife’s relatives were taking over her care, and he was upset because items were being taken from the home”

Gilkey had recently gone to the local cemetery and bought three plots for himself, his son and his wife.  Surviving relatives said that Gilkey was unpredictable and unstable.

Terminally Ill Woman Witnesses Murder Suicide is a post from: The Inquisitr

A process known as hydraulic fracturing in the town of Youngstown, Ohio may be the reason the city and much of the surrounding area have been experiencing increased earthquake activity since Spring 2011.

According to reports the area has fallen victim to 11 earthquakes including a 4.0 magnitude quake that hit the town on New Year’s Eve.

A seismologist says the epicenters were clustered around an injection well which lay near a fault line. That well has since been closed and Ohio lawmakers have banned drilling within a five-mile radius.

While one well has closed the proliferation of such wells has continued to run unabated in the area as drilling companies attempt to dispose of wastewater that is created from their fracturing processes.

The process of fracturing involves blasting water and chemicals into rock in order to free trapped oil and gas.

According to the Wall Street Journal water from hundreds of different fracking operations was disposed of during the wells operation.

Even though the well is now closed the seismologist noted:

“The earthquakes will trickle on as a kind of a cascading process once you’ve caused them to occur,” while they added that the last year of pumping there “is a pulse that has been pushed into the ground, and it’s going to be spreading out for at least a year.”

Do you believe that further studies should be conducted before the practice of fracking should be allowed to continue not only in Ohio but in locations all over the United States where illness and other issues have been discovered since the practice began and fracking chemicals have been found in drinking water?

Fracking Blamed For Ohio Earthquakes is a post from: The Inquisitr

It just may be the Touchdown of the Year!

Cincinnati Bengals’ Wide Receiver  Jerome Simpson, with three minutes to go in the first half against rival Arizona, may have shown us the “Touchdown of the Year! There was nothing so impressive about the short catch that Simpson made, but when he was at the five yard line he somersaulted in the air to avoid a defender and then “stuck” the landing in the end zone.

Have a look at the Touchdown of the Year!

Bengals’ Simpson: Touchdown of the Year? [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Florida Gators will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Gator Bowl which quite possible could be better named the Urban Meyer bowl since he will be helping face off against his former school and interim coach Luke Fickell.

The Buckeyes (6-6) will head to Jacksonville on Jan. 2 for the event which gained a unanimous decision. The committee also had Penn State under consideration. The committees decision was based off setting a good matchup, the ability to sell tickets and the ability for fans from both schools to travel to the event and watch it on TV.

In their final ruling the committee said Penn State’s appearance in the Outback Bowl last year ultimately led their decision.

According to Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett:

“Regardless of the type of year these two teams have had, they’re still recognized around the country as two of the traditional powers in college football,” while adding “With Urban Meyer taking the Ohio State job, we think this will motivate Florida fans to attend the game.”

In the meantime the Gators (6-6) will be making their 21st bowl appearance, the second longest streak nationally, falling only behind Florida State’s 30 consecutive years.

The Gators will play in a January bowl for a seventh consecutive year in a row but for Ohio State it’s only the second ever appearance in the bowl, their first was a loss to Clemson in 1978.

Who will you be cheering for during the Florida and Ohio State matchup?

[Image via Jeff Kinsey / Shutterstock.com]

Ohio State To Play Florida In Gator Bowl is a post from: The Inquisitr

A few months back, comments made by Dr. David Ludwig in the Journal of the American Medical Association as to the level of appropriate state intervention into childhood obesity sparked heated national debate.

Ludwig’s comments in a July piece suggested removing obese children from their homes and placing them in foster care, a concept that rightly upset many parents in the US, where childhood obesity is high. (Ludwig sniffed about a “chronic failure to address medical problems” on the part of parents in his article.) Now a woman whose 9-year-old son was placed in foster care due to weight struggles is speaking out about the controversial removal. The woman was not identified by name by local press, who report her son is on the honor roll and participates in school activities. But the child weighs 200 lbs., and local child welfare authorities believed that in and of itself, the child’s weight was reason enough to remove him from the care of his mother to live in foster care until he slims down.

Mary Louise Madigan, a spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Family Services in the family’s Ohio county, confirmed that the removal was based on “medical neglect” allegations made against the mother solely for the child’s weight. Local press obtained a brief comment from Madigan about the situation:

“This child’s problem was so severe that we had to take custody,” Madigan said. The agency worked with the mother for more than a year before asking Juvenile Court for custody of the child, she said.

Lawyers for the mother, a substitute elementary school teacher who is also taking vocational school classes, think the county has overreached in this case by arguing that medical conditions the boy is at risk for — but doesn’t yet have — pose an imminent danger to his health.

Juvenile Public Defender Sam Amata also spoke to the paper, noting that in the care of foster parents in another county, the child has lost a “few pounds”- but that the foster mother has struggled to keep up with medical appointments for the child. Amata points out that extra help has been offered to the foster mother, help that probably would have been more effective if offered to his actual mother. A trial to determine the fate of the family and the case has been scheduled for the child’s birthday.

Obese Ohio Child Placed in Foster Care For Being Overweight is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ohio voters on Tuesday rejected a Republican backed plan to dismantle much of the states union-backed collective bargaining rights.

The bill was defeated after an expensive campaign was mounted by the states major unions, a campaign that pitted firefighters, teachers, police officers and other state workers against the political establishment.

According to the Associated Press businesses and unions poured more than $30 million into nationally watched commercials, internet campaigns and radio ads.

Speaking about their victory AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka revealed:

“Ohio sent a message to every politician out there: Go in and make war on your employees rather than make jobs with your employees, and you do so at your own peril.”

Responding to the defeat GOP Gov. John Kasich said:

“It’s clear that the people have spoken.”

He said he would take a deep breath and contemplate the loss — and [determine] how best to move forward while adding:

“In a campaign like this, you give it your best, and if you don’t win and the people speak in a loud voice, you pay attention to what they have to say, and you think about it.”

In a swing state the GOP defeated bill was a closely watched issue for the White House as we head into the 2012 Presidential election cycle where Ohio will be an important consideration in determining the Presidential winner.

Do you believe that the failure to pass this bill is a sign that state workers are attempting to take back control of their own futures or a simple misstep by the GOP?

[Image via ShutterStock.com]

Ohio Voters Reject Collective Bargaining Law, Protect Union Workers is a post from: The Inquisitr

No similar link was found between exposure to the chemical at the same “higher” levels by boys and the behavioral problems, which include anxiety and hyperactivity. BPA is used in making plastics, and is found in some food packaging and canned goods. The study was centered near Cincinnati and involved nearly 250 pregnant women. Urine samples were taken twice during the pregnancy, and then again immediately after the babies were born. Researchers tested for BPA concentration in the samples, and then retested the children yearly to determine levels.

BPA was present in the urine of almost all the women who participated in the study, with concentrations averaging 2 micrograms a liter. For every tenfold increase in BPA levels, researchers observed a corresponding spike in levels of anxiety, diminished emotional control and hyperactivity.

After that, the researchers measured BPA levels in the children each year. At age three, parents filled out a survey on kids’ anxiety, depression, aggression and hyperactivity, as well as any behavioral problems or trouble controlling their emotions. Race, income, marital status and education level for mothers was accounted for in the study.

Study author Joe Braun of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston said of the group:

“The vast majority of our children were typically-developing children and didn’t meet any clinical criteria for behavioral problems.”

Future studies are planned to explore the link between BPA and behavioral problems in girls.

BPA Linked With Behavioral Problems in Girls is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ohio State is in trouble once again, this time with NCAA officials benching three Buckeyes players. Two of those players are already sitting out for taking cash and free tattoos over the summer and for accepting too much cash for very few summer job hours.

Under the NCAA’s new ruling leading rusher Dan Herron and top returning receiver DeVier Posey will not be permitted to play when the Buckeyes take on No. 14 Nebraska on Saturday.

Following the NCAA’s ruling Athletic Director Gene Smith said on Monday that there was no “systemic” problem at Ohio State, noting that the problem falls directly on the athletes, former coach Jim Tressel and a booster who has been banned from contacting players in any capacity.

According to Smith:

“These failures are individual failures: failures of individual athletes, and as you know unfortunately a previous coach, and a booster,” Smith said when asked if the latest violations will lead to more serious institutional charges of lack of control and failure to monitor from the NCAA. “So it’s not a systemic failure of compliance. I’m optimistic and I’m confident that we will not have those charges.”

Ohio State is hoping that Herron and Posey will be able to play after this coming weekend. Both players were serving five-game extensions.

Do you think the NCAA is taking Ohio State’s suspensions too far and making an example out of Ohio State to send a strong message about league violations or are they simply following the rules they’ve set forth for their players and coaches?

3 More Ohio State Buckeyes Benched By NCAA is a post from: The Inquisitr

Eight people are dead after a family argument just outside of Akron, Ohio led to a senseless shooting spree that took the life of an 11-year-old and seven adults, while two other victims were left wounded.

The shooting occurred in a wooded, residential neighborhood where Copley Township police shot the gunman to death.

A 75-year-old neighbor witnessed the shooting and quickly took cover behind a truck, according to Gilbert Elie he was getting ready for church on Sunday morning when he heard gunshots and cries for help, he says after hearing the shots he headed across the street where he saw the body of one female laying in the driveway, a female and a young girl shot inside a car and one man shot near the garage.

Gilbert says that as he was standing outside the home when another woman came outside of the next door house and tried to talk to him until her boyfriend followed her outside and shot her.

After running for safety Elie told police that he didn’t see what happened next since he was hiding behind a truck for protection.

An investigation is in progress as police try to figure out what the family squabble entailed and why their shooter killed everyone inside and outside of the home including a seemingly innocent little girl.

No statements have been released at this time from the two wounded individuals who witnessed the horrific scene.

Eight Dead After Ohio Family Feud Ends In Shooting Spree is a post from: The Inquisitr

Official sightings of Casey Anthony have kicked off with the famous ex-con spotted out shopping in Ohio over the weekend.

The story broke- where else?- on TMZ, and in the pic, you can see Casey’s attempt to obscure her identity with a baseball cap. Other than that, Anthony is completely recognizable and seemingly unprotected as she goes about her business in public.

Anthony donned shades with her OSU cap, browsing the racks at Old Navy alone as the person taking pics quietly shot the images. TMZ points to the fact that Casey’s got family in the Buckeye State, but also that she’s been getting around:

Anthony has several relatives who live in Ohio — but it’s unclear if she has spent time them. Sources extremely close to Anthony tell us she has been bouncing around the country ever since her release from jail after being acquitted of murdering her daughter.

Next stop — no one seems to know.

Tot mom won’t be doing any media interviews officially until she undergoes counseling.

Casey Anthony Spotted Out and About in Ohio is a post from: The Inquisitr

Pilots Don Gum, 73 and Mitchell Cary, 65, lost their lives this week when the Wright Brothers replica plane they were flying crashed.

The plane, a replica of the Model B 1910 creation crashed in Ohio on Saturday, killing both men upon impact.

The plane was created using a modern engine, materials and controls and was modified to make it easier to sit in during flight, however it still closely resembled the Wright Brothers’ Model B flyer.

The aircraft had been in service for just one month before the tragic accident occurred and speaking to CNN the president of their nonprofit flying association says they had ”extensive experience” flying replicas.

Police are currently attempting to determine exactly what caused the accident to occur.

Two Dead After Replica Wright Brothers Plane Crashes is a post from: The Inquisitr

One person was killed and three other were wounded when a gunman opened fire on a crowd of people at a George Clinton concert in Cleveland, Ohio.

The shootings took place right before 10pm on Saturday night and occurred during the eighth annual Unity in the Park festival.

No arrests have been made and a description of the shooter has not been provided to police. According to onlookers a fight had broken out among younger show visitors and a police spokesman wasn’t sure if they were involved in the incident.

“These were younger people, so we’re not sure,”  said the spokesperson, while they added, “George Clinton is an older (artist). We’re not going to speculate.”

The shooting involved a 16-year-old boy who died from a gunshot to the head, a 20-year-old female who was shot in the neck, a 14-year-old boy and a 23-year-old man who were both shot in the leg.

Anyone with information about the shooting are encouraged to call the Cleveland police department.

George Clinton Concert Shooting Leaves One Person Dead, Three Others Wounded is a post from: The Inquisitr

I’ve heard jokes before about moms spraying annoying people with breastmilk, but didn’t think it was possible until I read this strange report.

A woman in Ohio has been arrested and mugshot-ed after she sprayed police officers with her milk during an altercation. Ohio mom Stephanie Robinette, 30, is accused of drunkenly using her baby’s food as a weapon against the law enforcement agents after a wedding fight:

Early Saturday, officers responded to a dispute between a married couple at a wedding in Delaware, OH.

The husband alleges his wife, Stephanie Robinette, 30, struck him several times and locked herself in the car.

When officers tried to get her out of the car, she told them she was a “breastfeeding mother and proceeded to remove her right breast from her dress and began spraying deputies and the vehicle with her breast milk,” Sheriff Walter Davis said in a statement.

The milk-spraying mom is currently in custody, and it is not known if she has yet been appointed or retained a lawyer. Robinette has been charged with domestic violence, assault, obstructing official business, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Breastmilk as a Weapon: Ohio Woman Charged is a post from: The Inquisitr

A six-story Jesus statue on the grounds of Solid Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio was damaged after being struck by lightning shortly after midnight on June 15th.

The piece is called “King of Kings,” but is informally known as “Touchdown Jesus” or “Big Butter Jesus” due to its pose. According to Wikipedia, the statue is known by several other names informally in the area:

While the statue and some surrounding structures were damaged in the fire that followed the lightning strike, no one was hurt in the blaze. From the Dayton Daily News:

The Lawrence Bishop Music Theater at Solid Rock Church on Union Road endured smoke damage, according to officials. Damages to the King of Kings statue and the theater were estimated to be around $700,000, said Monroe Fire Chief Mark Neu.

It is unclear yet whether plans are pending to restore Big Butter Jesus to His former glory. Video below of the conflagration.

Ohio’s ‘Big Butter Jesus’ hit by lightning, severely damaged is a post from: The Inquisitr

Have you ever had to rely on the word or recollection of law enforcement against you in court? How did that work out for you?

A 5-1 decision issued by the Ohio Supreme Court this week ruled that an officer’s guess at a driver’s rate of speed is good enough to secure a speeding conviction, a move met with skepticism by both drivers in Ohio and local law enforcement. Clermont County Sheriff A.J. “Tim” Rodenberg spoke to Cinncinati.com about the controversial ruling:

“This is going to create a lot of controversy and potential for abuse by some police officers,” Rodenberg said. “Most officers take their duties seriously, but there are always a few rogues, just like in any profession. This is basically a blank check for them.”

The decision comes as the result of a speeding ticket issued to Mark Jenney in Copley, Ohio. A lower court initially threw out the conviction because the officer was unable to prove that he had been properly trained on use of the radar gun. But Jenney was ultimately found guilty by the State’s Supreme Court when they ruled that the officer “had the background and training to make an educated guess of Jenney’s speed.”

Ohio court rules police guesstimates are good enough to convict you of speeding is a post from: The Inquisitr

Despite a series of appeals in which lawyers for Darryl Durr contended their client had a severe allergy to the anesthesia used in lethal injections, the prisoner was put to death this morning in Ohio.

Durr, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1988 murder of a 16-year-old girl, was executed at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. A prison official who witnessed the execution described the event to ABC News:

A prison official who was present told ABC News that as the process began Durr clenched his fists and grimaced while holding his head up for about 10 seconds, before putting his head down. The official, who declined to be identified, said it wasn’t clear whether Durr was in pain or reacting to the moment.

Prior to the execution, Durr’s lawyer Kathleen McGarry argued that the anesthetic used in the lethal injection procedure could violate her client’s rights:

“One of the things the Ohio Constitution guarantees is that he has a quick and painless execution,” McGarry said to the Associated Press last week.

“If he’s going to react to the anesthetic drugs in such a manner that he’s going to have a violent reaction, either vomiting or seizures or whatever the spectrum is that could happen, then obviously the execution has problems,” she said.

Several letters were posted to a blog dedicated to clemency for Durr prior to his execution, and Durr maintained he was innocent in all the ultimately unsuccessful appeals he made.

Prisoner Darryl Durr executed in Ohio is a post from: The Inquisitr

In a sad twist of fate, Ohio Lottery winner Deborah McDonald, 47, was struck and killed by a car on Tuesday- the day she received her winnings.

McDonald won $8,000 in the Ohio Lottery Cash Explosion Double Play, and was celebrating with friends at a local Red Lobster. McDonald took friends out for dinner after her check arrived, as well as purchasing wedding rings for herself and her husband- having been unable to afford them when they married. She and husband Robert had planned to use the remainder of their prize to purchase a fishing boat, and perhaps start a business, a friend told a local paper:

“Her husband was gonna be captain,” Blissit said. “She was gonna be first mate, and me and Darrell were going to be (deck) hands. Life was happy-go-lucky for her.”

However, the McDonalds got into a brief argument during the celebratory evening, and Deborah McDonald left a local bar after the disagreement. She began walking down the nearest road, where a car hit her from behind, killing her almost instantly.

Lottery winner receives check, gets hit by car and dies is a post from: The Inquisitr

Finally.

It seems that common sense has arrived via a decision by the Ohio Supreme Court that has struct an important blow for privacy rights. The court ruled that police must obtain a warrant to search your cellphone.

In a 4 to 3 decision the court ruled in the case of Antwaun Smith that the search of his cellphone by police violated his Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure. The majority noted that in today’s society modern cellphones – especially Internet enabled ones – are capable of storing a wealth of personal digitized information.

It is this information the court reasoned that people have a reasonable and high expectation of privacy, and so under established Fourth Amendment principals the police must get a search warrant in order to examine the contents or look through call logs. It is the court’s opinion, and now precedent setting law in Ohio, that all cellphones fall under this protection.

As the report in The New York Times noted:

Few federal courts have considered the issue of cellphone searches, and they have disagreed about whether a warrant should be required. The Ohio ruling eloquently makes the case for why the very personal information that new forms of technology aggregate must be accorded a significant degree of privacy.

Let’s hope that this is going to be a growing trend in 2010.

Chalk one up for the people – cellphone searches to require warrant is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sports Business Journal has a list of the 50 greatest minor league American towns and markets. 18th on that list is Toledo, Ohio. Toledo is home to one of the most famous Minor League baseball teams the world over, the Toledo Mud Hens. Thanks to actor Jamie Farr, a Toledo native, waring a Mud Hens hats on the famous MASH TV show. Now Toledo is adding to their success.

Toledo recently built a brand new indoor arena downtown to house a new Minor League Hockey team, and a team in the AFL2. The hockey team will be called the Walleye and in a recent ranking of ECHL Jerseys it ranked in the top 25%. The ECHL is essentially Double A hockey and the Walleye will be an affiliate of both the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Walleye will begin play later this fall.

The Toledo Bullfrogs will share the arena and will begin play in the AFL2 starting net summer. The AFL2 is the surviving arm of the Arena Football League and is centered around placing teams into smaller markets. Toledo is betting that these new teams combined with the draw of the Mud hens will bring in big tourist dollars year round.

As a resident of the City of Detroit, i often make the 50 mile journey south to attend sporting events in Toledo. The cost is half as much as the cost of a major sports event here in Detroit and are often more enjoyable. These Toledo stadiums are fan friendly, and built with sports fans who have children in mind. With that in mind it is a little surprising Toledo was a little higher on this list.

Toledo, Ohio enjoys major minor league success is a post from: The Inquisitr