The state will quit charging a $5 fee for handicapped parking placards because a court ruled that the fee violates federal law, but will still allow deputy registrars to charge a $2.25 processing fee, Ohio officials said Thursday.
Like the $5 fee, that $2.25 service charge may be prohibited under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, a lawyer for a man who sued Ohio said Thursday.
State officials said the $5 fee was being dropped Thursday pending Ohio's decision on whether to appeal a judge's ruling that the fee was illegal under the federal law. The ruling could force Ohio to reimburse $3 million paid by disabled people since 1992.
The Ohio law that required the fee took effect before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, state officials said.
Shooting victim headed for jail
Chris Clarke was shot in the chest and hospitalized Wednesday, but Cincinnati police have determined that he was not the victim of the crime.
Officers released the shooter, a man who apparently shot Mr. Clarke in self-defense.
Police said Mr. Clarke forced his way in to a Roselawn home on the 7100 block of Reading Road Wednesday in a drug-related offense. He fired several shots, and the man inside the home fired back with a .22-caliber rifle, police said, hitting Mr. Clarke in the left chest.
Mr. Clarke, 19, then ran about two blocks, and officers found him collapsed in a yard.
He was in fair condition Thursday at University Hospital. When he is released, he will be jailed at the Hamilton County Justice Center to face charges of felonious assault and aggravated burglary.
Cleveland mayor opposes buyout
CLEVELAND -- Just days before he takes control of city schools, Mayor Michael R. White on Thursday denounced a state-approved $597,000 superintendent's buyout.
"It will demoralize the staff, it will turn off the parents," Mr. White said in opposing a contract that provides interim Superintendent James Penning with a three-year buyout option.
Under the deal signed Jan. 5 by state Superintendent John Goff, Mr. Penning would receive the payout if he isn't appointed the new chief executive officer of the district and cannot reach agreement on an alternative position in Ohio's largest school district. Mr. White said he only learned of the deal last week.
Mr. Goff said the mayor had received a Dec. 17 briefing that included mention of the three-year buyout plan.
Meeting to discuss riverfront parking
The Cincinnati-Hamilton County Riverfront Steering Committee will discuss riverfront parking options at a 10 a.m. meeting today in room 805 of the Hamilton County Administration Building.
The committee is composed of Cincinnati City Council's Community Development Committee and County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus, and it reviews options for stadium and other riverfront developments. THP Limited Consulting Engineers will present eight riverfront parking options the firm developed for the county. The options range in price from roughly $16 million for acres of parking lots to $125 million for a series of garages with fancy storefronts.
