Church arsonist gets 4-year sentence

Ohio

Testing starts at ex-park near Ohio cancer cluster

FREMONT, Ohio (AP) — Whirlpool Corp. began soil and water testing Monday at a former park in a northern Ohio area where cancer has sickened dozens of children for more than a decade.Monday

Home leveled by explosion

SCIO, Ohio – Authorities said a house in a small eastern Ohio village was leveled by a large explosion while the family that lived there was at church.Monday

Man dies while rappelling in Ohio park

LOGAN, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say a 52-year-old man died when he fell from a cliff while rappelling in southeastern Ohio over the weekend.Monday

MARYSVILLE, Ohio – A judge has sentenced a 31-year-old man to more than four years in prison for burning down a central Ohio church in January.

The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/Vdw4AZ) reports that Stephen Beightler was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges of arson, vandalism and breaking-and-entering related to his burning of the New Horizons Baptist Church in Marysville.

Authorities said Beightler, who grew up in the area, stole a car from his roommate in Philadelphia on Jan. 10, drove to Marysville and drove through the doors of the church. Then he poured gasoline around the building, set it ablaze and watched from a nearby playground swing. The church was destroyed.

No one has publicly offered a motive for the fire.