A new trial may be possible for Charles V. Schaeffer of Fostoria who was sentenced in a fatal 2014 arson after the Ohio Third District Court of Appeals reversed one of his convictions.  Schaeffer was found guilty of complicity to aggravated arson, complicity to aggravated murder, complicity to murder, and complicity to attempted murder after a three-day trial in October 2014.  On Aug. 31, the appellate court reversed Schaeffer’s conviction on the complicity to attempted murder charge, citing improper jury instructions.  It is unclear whether or not a new trial will take place.

Wood County taxpayers will be getting a rollback after Wood County Job and Family Services asked commissioners to suspend collection of its levy in 2016.  Director Dave Wigent said the agency has established a system by which it builds a reserve of about two years of funds and then ceases or reduces collection of the levy, a 10-year, 1.3-mill tax approved by 65 percent of voters in 2007.  Collections, which currently total around $4 million annually, were suspended in 2000, 2001 and 2011, and reduced by half in 2014 and 2015.

Marathon Petroleum has increased its purchase offer for MarkWest Energy Partners by $400 million, to $15.1 billion. Marathon’s improved offer comes as the proposed purchase of MarkWest, one of the nation’s largest natural gas processors, faces mounting second-guessing and even criticism.  Last week, former MarkWest Chief Executive Officer John Fox issued an open letter to the MarkWest board of directors opposing the sale. He said the merger would result in MarkWest unit holders receiving smaller cash distributions.  MarkWest unit holders will vote December 1 on whether to approve the deal.
 

North Baltimore mayor Mike Julien cast the tie breaking “yes” vote to allow the village to adopt a full-time paid EMS program.  North Baltimore has been discussing the need for a full-time service at least since January of 2013.  The village currently has a part-time paid/part-time volunteer department, which has helped fill more shifts and decrease response times.  Volunteers will continue, but the department will be staffed around the clock.  No one would be paid 40 hours.

The Laiho Gallery, the first pop-up book gallery in the world, will open tonight at the University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum.  An additional 325 square feet of gallery is being dedicated to children’s books that feature paper engineering techniques.  Pop-ups, fold-outs, die-cuts and other three-dimensional literary works of art will be displayed in space that was previously part of the museum’s storage area.

Bluffton University will be adding a four-year nursing program that will allow students to earn an associate degree to become registered nurses and then complete a bachelor of science in nursing.  The program, which is expected to begin in fall 2016, will be offered in conjunction with Northwest State Community College in Archbold.  Current registered nurses who would like to finish their bachelor of science in nursing will be sought for the first year, the university said.  First-year students who will be beginning the entire four-year program will be recruited in fall 2017.