BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (WLIO) - Since taking office, President Donald Trump has signed approximately 60 executive orders.

August 9, 2024, Press Release from the United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio: AKRON, Ohio – David Walker, 39, of Akron, was sentenced to 16 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Bridget Meehan Brennan, after pleading guilty to receipt, possession and distribution of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), also referred to as child pornography. Walker was also ordered to serve 15 years of supervised release after serving his prison sentence. Walker was an active participant on BitTorrent, an internet service that allows users to download content such as images and videos easily. It utilizes each user’s computer as a mini-server to facilitate computer-to-computer file sharing among users throughout the world. The technology allows thousands of people to download the same files without crashing the system which has made BitTorrent a commonly used protocol to share illegal files such as CSAM.

A priest that formally worked in Van Wert and Findlay was arraigned on new charges of sex trafficking in federal court.   Michael Zacharias was indicted on five charges of sex trafficking.  There were 3 victims in total, two of the charges were when the victims were under the age of 18 at the time of the offense. 

Ohio’s Heartbeat bill took effect on Friday, a day after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade. The state’s abortion ban was passed three years ago, but the federal courts blocked the bill from taking effect in the state. Within hours of the U.S. Supreme Court reversal of the 1973 decision that made abortion access a constitutional right, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a motion to immediately dissolve that court’s injunction.

The Ohio Secretary of State has told the Board of Elections in Ohio to get ready for an August 2nd primary for State House and Senate seats us…

35-year-old Amanda Hovanec, 61-year-old Anita Green, and 33-year-old Anthony Theodorou all waived their right to a preliminary hearing in Toledo Federal Court. They are charged with the death of Timothy Hovanec, who was killed by lethal injection of a drug. Now their cases will be bound over to a federal grand jury to determine if new or additional charges will be brought against them.

May 3rd is the first of two primaries that Ohio will be having this year.  Since the Ohio Redistricting Commission had to draw maps for the new state House and Senate districts four times, and because they kept getting rejected by the Ohio Supreme Court for being unconstitutional, a separate primary election will have to be had for those races and the state central committee positions.  Secretary of State Frank LaRose is looking at a possible August 2nd date for that election.

According to Auglaize County Sheriff Mike Vorhees, the cases for Amanda Hovanec, Anthony Theodorou, and Anita Green have been moved to the Northern Ohio Court in Toledo. Vorhees informs that his detectives are still working with the FBI on the investigation into the death of Timothy Hovanec. Vorhees says they decided that it would be better off if the U.S. Attorneys handle the prosecution of the case.

Senate President Matt Huffman explains, “I think the issue as it relates to the redistricting commission re there 4votes for any map that the Ohio Supreme Court in it’s current make-up will rule constitutional. And I don’t know if that’s, frankly if that’s possible to happen.”