The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation announced Wednesday that 41 employers in Ohio will share more than $942,000 in federal safety grant money.

The cash infusion will be dedicated to purchasing or upgrading equipment designed to reduce or eliminate workplace injuries and illness. The money was designated to these companies because of their ongoing commitment to worker safety.

The employers operate in 28 Ohio counties, including Stark, Wayne, and Portage Counties.

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Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Administrator/CEO Sarah Morrison today announced 41 employers will share more than $942,000 in grants to purchase equipment designed to substantially reduce or eliminate workplace injuries and illnesses.

“BWC commits $15 million to the safety grant program each year to partner with businesses that make safety a part of their plans to thrive and grow,” said Morrison. “By investing in workplace safety, they’ll have fewer injuries and a more stable workforce.”

The Safety Intervention Grants were approved in December. The recipient employers operate in 28 counties around the state, including:

Vernell Lavon Curry, 28, of Stow, has been arrested after nearly seven months on the run. 

U.S. Marshalls and the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force took Curry in Tuesday, January 24, in connection to the overdose deaths of two women in his apartment back in June. He's being held in Summit County Jail on charges of Involuntary Manslaughter and Drug Trafficking. 

In June, 2016, Abigail Hackett, 22, and Sarah White, 25, both of Stow, were found dead inside Curry's Stow apartment. An autopsy showed the two women died within minutes of one another of acute fentanyl toxicity. Curry wasn't connected to the case until October when the autopsy results came back on the two women. 

Cleveland Police Patrolman David Fahey was killed when he was hit along I-90 Westbound in Rocky River around 6 a.m. Tuesday morning. 

Officer Fahey was providing assistance to an earlier accident when a white Toyota Camry hit him. He was transported to an area hospital where he died. 

After an hours-long manhunt, police in Lorain County located the suspect vehicle outside a home on E. 31st St. in the 11 a.m. hour. Authorities surrounded the home and shortly after noon, a suspect was in custody. 

No suspect information, nor charges have been released at the time of the arrest. 

Cleveland Police were assisting after a van had run into the back of a fire truck along I-90 near the Warren Rd. exit. That is when the driver of the 2000 Camry hit Officer Fahey and drove off. The highway was shut down for hours between the Innerbelt and Detroit Rd. 

Jerry Grassick, 51, of Green Township is in jail, arrested for allegedly breaking into a woman's home, hiding in her bathroom, and attempting to steal her Salisbury Steak... The kind with the gravy! 

According to the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, upon returning home, the female resident noticed someone or something moving in her bathroom. She thought it was her cat. Turns out, Grassick was hiding in her bathtub behind her shower curtain.

The Sheriff's Office report states that Grassick was attempting to steal Salisbury Steak, frozen chicken, and pork chops. 

Grassick is charged with burglary and is due in court January 30th. 

A Wadsworth High School student is under arrest after posting threats against the school on a personal Facebook page. 

Wadsworth City School Superintendent Andy Hill says the student, whose name and age has not been released, did not single out any specific other student or faculty member, but mentioned the school itself in the threat. 

Once the threat was made public and made known to the Wadsworth Police and school district Sunday, the student was arrested shortly after. Hill says the school district then posted to their own Facebook page and made calls to students and families regarding the incident. "We don't have any reason to believe there was anything more to this than the one student who is now in custody," Hill said Monday. 

There is no word on the charges that student is facing. No other arrests were made in the case. Classes continued as normal Monday morning at Wadsworth High School and throughout the rest of the district. 

We've already got the standards to worry about. Then this past summer we were introduced to fantanyl and carfetanil. Now, after some popularity in Florida and other places across the U.S., Northeast Ohio has another drug showing up on the streets; FLAKKA.

Medway DEA and Wooster Police seized 2 ouncese of the substance that was being delivered through the mail to a Wooster home. FLAKKA is chemically similar to bath salts, and can be snorted, smoked, or even injected. Side effects have been described as “excited delirium” that involves hyperstimulation, paranoia and hallucinations that can lead to violent aggression and self-injury. 

No suspect information from the bust that happened January 11th in Wooster. Police say they'll release more information later. 

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh was sworn into office Thursday; making history as the first Summit County Prosecutor in the past 60 years to be elected to five consecutive terms. 

2017 marks Prosecutor Walsh's 17th year as Summit County Prosecutor, passing former County Prosecutor Lynn Slaby, who served from 1980 through 1995. Former Summit County Prosecutor Alva Russell still holds the title of longest-serving prosecutor in Summit County history, holding the office from 1936 to 1956. 

In a statement released Friday, Walsh said, "I want to thank Summit County voters for having the faith in me as their county prosecutor. It has been an honor to serve them." 

Wayne County Sheriff's Deputies are looking for murder victim Jeremy Lesh's truck.

Lesh's body was found in a wooded area behind a church and school playground in Chippewa Township. A woman walking her dog notice his body concealed under a fallen tree.

Lesh, 40, had been missing since Christmas Day. An autopsy revealed he was badly beaten and stabbed to death. The county coroner called it a "brutal attack."

The vehicle in question is an early model white Chevy S-10 pick-up truck with Ohio plates GUD-7192. Anyone with infor asked to call Wayne County Sheriff. 

The Ohio Department of Health has released some flu numbers from the first week of 2017, and they're encouraging residents to get vaccinated. 

A sharp increase of 130 cases of the flu occurred between the last week of December and the first week of January, according to the report. ODH spokeswoman Melanie Amato tells WAKR.net, "We found that flue had increased across the state of Ohio and become widespread. And what that means is that we are finding hospitalizations for the flu in every part of the state." While it is a big increase, these numbers are pretty typical for this time of year in Ohio. She said a lot of people stay indoors and furthermore a lot of families are getting together, passing around germs while couped up out of the cold. 

Amato reminds Ohio residents that since the flu season typically runs through the middle of March, there is still time to get vaccinated. She says vaccinations among Ohioans is down, but supplies of vaccinations are still abundant. 

Read the full press release from the Ohio Department of Health below: 

Influenza-like illness is now widespread throughout Ohio for the first time this flu season, and the number of associated hospitalizations are rising. The first week of January, there were 287 new confirmed flu-associated hospitalizations in Ohio compared to 157 the week before. There have been 654 total flu-associated hospitalizations since flu season began last October. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), flu activity is on the rise across the country and this trend is expected to continue for at least several more weeks.

Flu season in Ohio generally lasts from October to May, with flu-associated hospitalizations typically peaking between December and February. The 2015-16 flu season a year ago started a bit later and flu-associated hospitalizations did not peak until early March. There were 3,691 total flu-associated hospitalizations during last year’s flu season.

“Influenza vaccination is the safest and most effective way to prevent the flu, except for infants younger than 6-month old who aren’t eligible to receive it,” said Sietske de Fijter, chief of the Bureau of Infectious Diseases and state epidemiologist for the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). “Vaccination can reduce flu illnesses, doctors' visits and missed work and school.”

While vaccination provides the greatest protection against the flu, other effective ways to avoid getting or spreading it include: washing hands frequently or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer; covering coughs and sneezes with tissues, or coughing or sneezing into elbows; avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth; and staying home when sick and until fever-free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medication.

Symptoms of influenza can include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Flu vaccination is available at most healthcare providers’ offices, local health departments and retail pharmacies.

“There are no flu vaccine shortages across Ohio,” de Fijter said. “The short time it will take to get a flu vaccine is much less than the time it will take you to recover from the flu.”

CDC recommends that clinicians administer one of two prescription antiviral drugs as a second line of defense as soon as possible to patients with confirmed or suspected influenza who are hospitalized, have severe illness, or may be at higher risk for flu complications. Patients who could benefit from them include children younger than 2 years old; adults 65 and older; people with chronic medical conditions including asthma, heart disease, or weakened immune systems; pregnant women; American Indians/Alaska Natives; and people who are morbidly obese.

“These antiviral medications can reduce the severity of the flu and prevent serious flu complications,” de Fijter said. “They work best when started within two days of getting sick.”

Adult flu-associated deaths are not reportable to ODH so these statistics are not available. Flu-associated pediatric deaths are reportable, but there have been no such deaths reported in Ohio so far this flu season.

More information about influenza and flu activity in Ohio is available at www.flu.ohio.gov.

Jeffrey Conrad of Toledo has been sentenced to life in prison for the stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend, Amanda Russell.

Russell's body was found in the backyard of her Cuyahoga Falls home back in August of 2014 by her then 14-year-old daughter. Russell, who had a protection order against him, was arrested and charged with murder. A jury found him guilty of Aggravated Murder, Felonious Assault, Violating a Protection Order, and Domestic Violence. 

In addition to the life sentence, Summit County Common Pleas Court Paul Gallagher tacked on 11 years for the assault of a fellow inmate. Conrad, remorseless in court Wednesday, wore a smile as he maintained his innocence in the murder of Russell whose body was found in her backyard. Conrad was convicted by a jury back in 2015. 

Conrad made the news during the murder trial when he chose to represent himself and then, threatened to shoot other people in the courtroom. Later he decided that he didn't want to be in the courtroom any longer and removed himself, leaving no one to represent him and the defense of his case. He was in court for sentencing, and according to the Summit County Prosecutor's Office, showed no remorse and claimed his innocence while smiling with the family of Amanda Russell present.