ST. MARYS, Ohio - A Cleveland company has received a 1 million dollar federal grant to help create a facility that would turn animal waste into energy near Grand Lake St Marys.

 U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown announced today (Monday) that Quasar Energy Group will use the U.S. Department of Agriculture grant for a methane digester. The 2.2 million dollar facility would turn manure into methane that can be used for heating and converted into alternative vehicle fuel.

Manure and chemical runoffs from farms have led to high levels of phosphorus, which feeds blue-green algae. Brown says the digester project will also create clean-energy jobs near the lake between Dayton and Toledo.

A speedboat race is returning to Ohio's biggest inland lake following a year off because of toxic algae.

The Celina Governor's Cup Regatta is planned for next weekend at Grand Lake St. Marys. The lake between Toledo and Dayton is still plagued by blue-green algae, but warnings have been toned down.

Last summer, the lake was closed to swimming, boating and fishing, and people were warned not to touch the water. This year, visitors are advised that swimming, wading, swallowing the water and touching surface scum are not recommended.

Mary Clinton with the Ohio Department of Health tells The Columbus Dispatch  racers will want to avoid spray from the water. Race officials say they'll be protected by helmets and enclosed cockpits.

WESTMINSTER, Ohio (AP) - Officials in six northwest Ohio counties are planning a $1 million project to clear logjams and leaning trees from a 76-mile stretch of the Auglaize River.

They tell The Lima News that goals are to reduce flooding, encourage recreation and create a maintenance fund for the waterway.

The stretch involved collects water from an area of about 216,000 acres and about 12,000 property owners. Funding will come from assessments of $1 to $10 per acre on those property owners in Allen, Auglaize, Mercer, Putnam, Shelby and Van Wert counties.

The project requires approval from commissions in the six counties, and public meetings are scheduled for next month.

(Information in the following story is from: The Lima News)

Poor Will’s Almanack for the second week of Late Summer

As Late Summer deepens, then catalpas start to pale. Buckeye leaves turn brown under the high canopy. Black walnut leaves trickle to the ground. Patches of scarlet appear in the sumac and poison ivy.

Along the freeways, beds of white boneset have come into bloom beside the drifts of Middle Summer’s blue chicory and silver Queen Anne's lace.

Throughout the countryside, you can find tall ironweed, wingstem, small-flowered agrimony, white snakeroot, wild lettuce, sundrops, heal-all, wild cucumber, jumpseed, tall coneflower, clearweed, touch-me-not and goldenrod. Wild plums are ripe for jam, and woodland grapes are purple. Elderberries are dark and sweet for wine.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - State officials and advocates say available funding limits how much testing is done to identify Ohio lake pollution and problems in several areas.

The Columbus Dispatch reports the amount spent on testing is less than $200,000 a year.

The Environmental Protection Agency has about $80,000 for testing annually. Officials at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources say they spent nearly that much last year to test for toxic blue-green algae at 20 areas, including the troubled Grand Lake St. Marys between Dayton and Toledo.

Clean-water advocate Kristy Meyer of the Ohio Environmental Council says increased funding could help identify problems before they grow.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The state has found the actions of an Ohio prison doctor problematic following an investigation into the suicide of an inmate under the doctor's care.

Dr. Myron Shank resigned during the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's review of Gregory Stamper's suicide June 1.

In a report obtained by the Associated Press Wednesday, the department cited several issues with Shank's work at Allen Correctional Center in Lima.

The state says Shank failed to follow up with patients and discontinued medication without first meeting with patients.

A prisoners' rights group says Stamper was in severe pain from damage to his nervous system but had been refused medication by Shank.