PHILLIPS INDICTED ON DRUG CHARGES:
The woman whose allegations started a sex scandal involving three law enforcement officers and a city firefighter has been indicted on drug charges by a Washington County Grand Jury.
Crystle L. Phillips, 27, of 1009 Third St., Marietta, was one of 12 people indicted in the June grand jury session. She is charged with third-degree felony trafficking in drugs and fourth-degree felony trafficking in drugs, both stemming from the alleged sale of approximately 100 prescription pills to a confidential informant on Sept. 2.
Both of the sales took place when children were present, which elevated the level of the offenses, said Washington County Prosecutor Jim Schneider.
After Phillips was questioned for allegedly selling prescription drugs to a confidential informant, her cousin, Justin McCormic, a Parkersburg attorney, reportedly contacted the Washington County Sheriff's Office with information about her alleged on-duty affairs with a sheriff's deputy, two Marietta police officers and a city firefighter.
A complete list of indictments will appear in Tuesday's edition of The Marietta Times.
BUDGET STALEMATE CONTINUES:
COLUMBUS (AP) - As Ohio barreled toward a Tuesday budget deadline, Gov. Ted Strickland accused Senate Republicans of playing politics by failing to call his racetrack slots proposal to a vote.
In a news conference Monday, the Democratic governor said seven members of the Senate's Republican majority - including Senate President Bill Harris - supported a 2007 bill mandating that racetracks offer video racing terminals.
He called them similar in intention to the video lottery terminals he has proposed to fill $933 million of a $3.2 billion budget gap, and identical in their moral impact.
Harris continues to insist that Strickland does not need legislative approval to authorize the slots at horse tracks.
Lawmakers trying to balance the $54 billion budget have agreed to pass an interim budget.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE APPEARS STALLED:
NEW YORK (AP) - As consumers get ready to celebrate July Fourth, many merchants already have dismissed summer as a washout.
Macy's flagship store has racks of summer tops, swimwear and dresses marked down as much as 50 percent, while luxury retailer Bergdorf Goodman is slashing prices on designer goods by as much as 70 percent. Meanwhile, piles of clothing as well as barbecue grills, tents and gardening tools are bypassing stores and heading straight to liquidators as merchants try to conserve their cash.
Such deep discounting so early in the season is great news for bargain hunters, but it's a worrisome sign that shows a further weakening in retail sales since the end of May.
Consumers' confidence in the economy, which had surged in April and May, is projected to be virtually unchanged for June when The Conference Board releases figures Tuesday. And major retailers will release June sales results next week.
While unusually rainy weather across a broad swath of the country has dampened business, some analysts wonder whether shoppers are waking up to the harsh reality that the economy won't be getting any better soon - even as consumer spending makes up 70 percent of economic activity.
That doesn't bode well for merchants, which need to get rid of summer inventory quickly to make room for fall goods that start to arrive next month.
