Burglars hit dozens of churches near Ohio-Michigan border

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

HOWELL, Mich. – Authorities say burglars have broken into more than 40 churches in mostly rural areas of Michigan and Ohio since August.

The Detroit Free Press reported (http://on.freep.com/VOlpJ9) on Friday that break-ins have been reported in Michigan’s Lenawee, Monroe, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Livingston and Genesee counties, as well as Fulton County, Ohio, near the states’ border.

Police said they believe the burglaries are connected and may have been committed by the same thieves.

Most of the churches targeted didn’t have security systems, and thieves got in by prying open windows and doors. They’ve ransacked offices, rifled through drawers and forced open safes.

Instruments taken in church burglary