Patience over shutdown growing thin

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COLUMBUS – There are widening cracks in Gov. Mike DeWine’s foundation of support and signs that his greatest challenges during the coronavirus outbreak will comes this month as the state reopens.

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The sense of solidarity across Ohio that lasted through the initial stages of DeWine’s stay-at-home order appears to be fraying.

During his daily televised news conference Monday, DeWine called open-Ohio-now who confronted reporters and gathered at the home of state health director Dr. Amy Acton Saturday “obnoxious.”

“To demonstrate against me, that is certainly fair game but to bother the family of Dr. Acton, I don’t think that’s fair game,” he said.

Authorities say a large gathering in an Akron parking lot ended when two groups started shooting at each other, leaving two teenage boys, ages 16 and 17, wounded.

The gunfire erupted around 8:40 p.m. Sunday. It appeared that dozens of people were attending the gathering, including many children, and most of the crowd ran from the scene when the shooting began.

The injured boys were driven to a hospital in a private vehicle.

The 17-year-old was shot in the abdomen, while the 16-year-old was struck in the back. No other injuries were reported.

An Associated Press tally shows more than 210 million Americans live in states that are taking gradual steps toward reopening businesses or don’t appear close to reopening.

Ohio’s restart plan I one of those that is unfolding slowly. Retailers reopen May 12 and DeWine says working groups forming plans for the reopening of restaurants, gyms and hair and nail salons and the resumption of youth sports and other activities are expected to unveil those plans “fairly quickly.”

Read the new “Stay Safe Ohio” order

Bureau of Motor Vehicles deputy registrars around the state may begin reopening as early as later this month.

When they do, every deputy registrar will offer the “Get In Line, Online” program that cuts wait times, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said.

The state has extended the expiration dates for license plates, vehicle registrations and driver’s licenses.

DeWine says testing for the coronavirus is expanding dramatically and the state hopes to be testing 22,000 people per day within a week.

“This expanded testing is key, really, to protecting Ohioans, and particularly key as we go through this reopening phase of our economy,” he said. “It allows us to quickly identify individuals infected with COVID-19, promptly isolate them, and determine who they’ve been in close contact with to minimize the spread.”

So far, only 1.3 percent of the state’s population has been tested at a rate of about 3,000 to 4,000 tests per day, Acton said. Ohio began testing later than most states because early testing kits sent from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were faulty, she said.

UPDATE: The state reported 20,969 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 1,135 deaths Tuesday.

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Columbus City Council Monday night voted to award an $11,000 grant to the Greater Columbus Arts Council in support of the Curbside Concerts, operated by the group Can’t Stop Columbus.

Residents can nominate a senior to receive a curbside concert and volunteers from Can’t Stop Columbus create a three- to four-hour route for a local musician, who arrives with a personalized performance delivered from the safe social distance of the resident’s yard, porch or driveway.

Musicians have played more than 100 curbside concerts so far.
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With the post-pandemic future of higher education murky, Otterbein University announced that it intends to open its Westerville campus for fall semester.

University officials say, depending on state guidelines, they plan to “safely and responsibly resume campus life, including in-person teaching, classes and residence life, while taking “all safety precautions and following government orders and protocols,” according to a release Monday.

“The health and safety of our students, faculty and staff remain our utmost concern. We know that campus life may not look the same, but we strongly believe that personal attention and experiential learning opportunities are cornerstones of a quality Otterbein education,” university president John Comerford said.

A group of university officials will make recommendations on reopening classrooms, labs, residence halls, and dining facilities.

The procedure may include educational prevention campaigns, special cleaning, social distancing and protective mask protocols.

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Tom Hanks says graduates of a western Ohio university that has a film center named for him are “the chosen ones.”

The Oscar-winning actor delivered a surprise virtual speech Saturday to performing arts graduates of Wright State University in Dayton.

He says they started school “in a world back before the great pandemic of 2020.”

He told graduates that they “will talk of those earlier years in your lives in just that way.”

Hanks was among the first Hollywood figures to announce he had COVID-19.

He didn’t attend Wright State but has connections with teachers and alumni.