Thursday Headlines

Family and friends say goodbye to Nevaeh Buchanan, WHO declares swine flu pandemic, foreclosure rates dropped in May.

The story of 5 year old Nevaeh Buchanan has touched the lives of thousands. Today, the community says goodbye to the little girl. Visitation is open to the public and continues until 8 tonight and from noon until 8 tomorrow at Merkle funeral service in Monroe. Her funeral is Saturday at noon at the Stewart Road Christian ministries. Nevaeh will be buried at Saint Joseph cemetery following the service.

The World Health Organization says it's declaring a swine flu pandemic. That makes it the first global flu epidemic in 41 years. The decision came as infections climbed in the US, Europe, Australia and South America. The news will likely trigger drugmakers to speed up production of a swine flu vaccine and prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus.

There's good news on the foreclosure front. In Lucas County, the number of home foreclosures in May dropped 26-percent from the previous month. In Wood County, the number dropped 16-percent, Fulton down 24-percent, Defiance down about 5-percent, and Sandusky County a whopping 34-percent. Nationwide, foreclosures dropped 6-percent from April to May. However, the national number is still up 18-percent compared to May of last year.

The number of newly laid off workers fell for the third time in the past 4 weeks. The number of claims dropped by 24,000. Here in Ohio, the number dropped by over 12,000 and in Michigan by over 4,000 because of fewer layoffs in manufacturing and auto industry. Unfortunately though, the number of people claiming benefits for more than a week went up by 59,000 to more than 6.8 million. That's the highest on record dating to 1967.

Police in the nation's capital charged James von Brunn, 88, with murder in the shooting death of a security guard at the U.S. holocaust museum. Police say the white supremacist double parked his car outside the museum yesterday and walked past security guard Stephen Johns who held the door for him. Von Brunn responded by firing a rifle at the guard. Other guards returned fire, but Johns died a short time later at a nearby hospital.

The Seneca County drug task force was hard at work again in Fostoria. This time they arrested 2 men on heroin charges. Police say they found heroin, prescription drugs, and cash inside the home of Matt Eidenour. Eidenour, 27, and Joseph Worth, 28, are facing a number of drug related charges.

A Toledo teen accused of setting nine vacant homes on fire is now in line to learn his sentence. Today, Allen Quintanilla pleaded "no contest" to aggravated arson and was convicted. The judge set his sentencing date for July 7.

Two people have been charged in connection with the murder of an Amish mother of 5 in Wayne County, Ohio. There are reports the victim's husband, Eli Weaver, 29, is charged with aggravated murder and another woman is charged with complicity to commit aggravated murder. Barbara Weaver was found last week shot to death in her bedroom. Police say all of her children were home sleeping during the shooting, but none of them were hurt.

Earlier this week, Toledo mayoral candidate Mike Bell talked about a proposal to form a regional water compact with neighboring suburbs. Bell says he attended a meeting in Rossford and learned how communities may be exploring other options for water, which could reduce revenue for Toledo. Today, Toledo mayor Carty Finkbeiner responded and said the idea was reviewed and studies showed a regional authority would have to issue a lot of debt to buy the system from the city and water rates in Toledo would likely go up. The mayor says Toledo is working with Rossford to come up with a mutually beneficial deal for both cities.

Former attorney general Marc Dann, accused of wrongly using campaign funds, has reached a tentative agreement with the state. It will result in a $1,000 fine and the dismissal of all but one remaining charge in the case. Dann was accused of using the money to pay for a trip to San Francisco for his family and install a security system at his home. He stepped down a year ago amid a sexual harassment scandal at his office.

Cash spilled onto a Detroit freeway this morning. A bin inside an armored car fell out of the vehicle as it traveled on I-75 sending bills across the freeway. Crisp bills lined the road as detroit police officers carefully directed traffic around the spill. It's not clear how much money fell out or if all of it was recovered.

It was a close call for people getting gas at a station near Detroit. A pick up truck barreled in, taking out a 3 pump station in a fiery wreck before slamming into another car. Customers are being credited with helping pull at least 2 people from the wreckage, including the truck driver. Police say the driver possibly suffered a seizure. He was hospitalized and is expected to recover. No one else was seriously hurt.

The Brazilian military delivered 12 bodies from Air France flight 447 to a Brazilian island today. Investigators hope to identify them and uncover clues about the crash from their injuries. Meanwhile, a French nuclear submarine is still searching for the plane's black boxes.

A JetStar flight from Japan to Australia was forced to make an emergency landing in Guam today after a small fire broke out in the cockpit. No one was hurt. The airline says a pilot used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. The plane is the same airbus model as the Air France flight that went down over the Atlantic.

A car that crashed into a crowd in Philadelphia claimed another victim today. Latoya Smith, 22, died this morning bringing the death toll to 4. Police say it all started with 2 men stealing a motorcycle at gunpoint. One man took off on the bike and the other sped off in a car. Police were chasing the car when it jumped the curb and hit the crowd in front of a house. Three young children were also killed. Both men are in custody.

Border patrol agents discovered a massive tunnel leading between southern Arizona and Mexico. A concerned citizen reportedly contacted agents a week ago after hearing construction activity through the wall of a building. The tunnel is about 48 feet long in the U.S. and 35 feet long in Mexico. It was built with side walls framed with wooded studs, a ceiling, and a hose for ventilation.

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