Are pit bulls vicious dogs or loving pets?

A proposal before Ohio lawmakers looks to take pit bulls off the vicious dogs list. House Bill 14 would classify a dog as being vicious, a menace, or a nuisance, not simply because of its breed, but by its actions.

Crystal Luli operates Ohio Pet Placement, a no-kill shelter in Lorain. She is also a pit bull owner and believes the breed is wrongly classified as being vicious.

“What this law will do, it will hold breeds accountable by incidents. If there are no bites, there are no problems. If there are no attacks, there are no problems,” Luli said of the 75 at Ohio Pet Placement now. About 30 of them are rescued pit bulls. She said some have been waiting two years to get adopted.

“We get a lot of pit bull puppies. We’ll have the family comes in. They’re cuddling the pit bull puppy, and they hear that it is a pit bull, and they throw it down like it has the plague,” said Luli.

Frank Rego, of Lorain, said he wants people to think of his pit bull “Rocky” by the way he acts. “Very Loveable. I have a daughter, three grandchildren, and he loves every one of them,”  Rego said.

But, dog owner Cynthia Elec is not convinced that pit bulls are loveable. She said she is afraid of them for herself and her daughter. “Pit bulls are vicious. I mean, they are not only trained to kill, they are used in dog fights. They run around. They are more dangerous than any other dog,” Elec said.

Dennis Harp has two dogs and would consider getting a pit bull.  He said it is not about the dog, but about the owner. ”Has to do with how they’re raised. Has to do with their owners and how they are just brought up,” Harp said.

Luli believes pit bulls have been mislabeled for too long, and that the bill will pass. Ohio House Bill 14 has gone through both the House and the Senate. Later this month, the House is expected to vote on some changes made by the Senate before it is sent to the Governor.

“I believe the pit bulls are going to be removed off the vicious dogs list. They are not going to be able to label these dogs,” Luli said optimistically.

LAS VEGAS (CNN) — Mitt Romney took a large lead as the first returns started rolling in from the Nevada Republican presidential caucuses on Saturday.

With 3% of the results in, Romney had about 52% of the vote, while Rep. Ron Paul and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich trailed far behind with 20% and 19% respectively, according to CNN’s tally. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who had largely bypassed the state, had 9% of the vote. Those numbers were gathered from vote counters at caucus sites across the state.

With a win in Nevada, Romney would be the first GOP candidate in this cycle to score back-to-back wins

The former Massachusetts governor appeared to win in the Iowa caucuses, but the contest was later awarded to Santorum when the vote was certified. Romney scored a big win in New Hampshire but was then stunned in South Carolina by Gingrich. Romney scored a 14-point victory over Gingrich and the rest of the field in Tuesday’s Florida primary and entered Saturday’s contest with a sizable lead in polls.

The caucuses started at different times — some started Saturday morning and more opened their doors in the afternoon.

They are open only to the state’s more than 470,000 registered Republicans. Nevada’s 28 delegates will be awarded proportionately based on the statewide vote.

The Silver State could almost be considered home-field advantage for Romney. He won the caucuses here four years ago in his first bid for the GOP nomination, grabbing 51% of the vote, far ahead of Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who was in second place at 14%.

According to exit polls from the 2008 caucus, Mormons made up a quarter of the electorate, and Romney, who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, won 95% of their vote.

The former Massachusetts governor eventually lost the nomination to Arizona Sen. John McCain.

This time around, polls indicate Romney is again far ahead of his competition for the nomination. According to a Las Vegas Review-Journal/8 News Now poll released Thursday, 45% of likely caucus-goers said they were supporting Romney, with Gingrich at 25%, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania at 11%, and Paul at 9%, with another 9% unsure.

The poll was conducted before Romney’s big win in Florida. Other surveys suggest Romney has an even larger lead. Plus, the candidate has a stronger operation in the state than his rivals.

“Nevada is a tough state for Gingrich and Santorum. They have three strikes against them before they even go to the plate,” says Alex Castellanos, a GOP strategist and CNN contributor. “One, 11,000 of the 44,000 GOP caucus-goers four years ago were LDS (Mormons) and will go again for Romney. Two, Nevada also has a strong ‘leave me alone’ libertarian contingent that will vote for Paul, and three, Clark County, around Las Vegas, is dominated by establishment Republicans, not ideological conservatives.”

Around two-thirds of the GOP electorate lives in Clark County.

Romney won big in New Hampshire, but his momentum didn’t last, and Gingrich carried the day in South Carolina. His momentum obviously fizzled in Florida. Romney hopes to break the streak of a different winner each week.

“I just came back from Florida! We had a good showing there!” Romney told a crowd in Reno on Thursday. “That was a good start, although it would really be helpful if Nevada did the same thing Florida did and gave me a real boost going on, so get out there and caucus.”

Earlier Thursday, Romney was in Las Vegas, standing next to Donald Trump as he received the real estate mogul and reality TV star’s endorsement. Trump, who last year flirted with his own bid for the White House, is a well-known figure in Las Vegas and his outspoken criticism of President Barack Obama has made him popular with some tea party activists and grassroots conservatives.

The state’s strong tea party movement should be Gingrich’s trump card in Nevada, but supporters seem divided between Gingrich, Paul and Santorum, who just landed the endorsement of Sharron Angle, the tea party-supported Republican Senate nominee who came close to unseating Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the 2010 midterm elections. The division of tea party supporters only helps Romney.

Gingrich started up his operations in Nevada much later than Romney and has been playing catch-up since. He does have some major allies in the state, including billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who along with his family has contributed millions of dollars to an independent pro-Gingrich super PAC.

But Nevada, along with the rest of the February primary and caucus calendar, does not appear to be too friendly to Gingrich.

A defeat in Nevada, especially if it’s by double digits, could be damaging to the former House speaker’s bid for the nomination.

“One double-digit loss in Florida was devastating for Gingrich, but a second shellacking Saturday in Nevada will dry up his money,” said Castellanos, who was a top media adviser for Romney’s 2008 nomination bid but who is not taking sides this cycle. “Newt’s campaign is already over a million dollars in debt. Even if his super PAC can find some coins under the sofa cushions, soon his campaign committee won’t be able to afford travel or staff. All Newt will be able to do is throw long bombs. He will be frozen in place.”

Gingrich has vowed to stay in the race all the way to the Republican National Convention in August. If he can last through an unfriendly February, he could find friendlier voters in March 6 Super Tuesday contests in Georgia, which he represented in Congress, neighboring Tennessee and Oklahoma.

Both Romney and Gingrich will spend caucus night in Nevada. As they did on primary night in Florida, both Paul and Santorum are looking ahead to Tuesday caucus states — Paul in Minnesota and Santorum in Colorado.

The Silver State won’t be in the rearview mirror of presidential politics for too long. Nevada is a battleground state in the general election, having voted for the winning presidential candidate 10 out of the last 11 elections. President Barack Obama beat McCain by 12 points in 2008.

(By Paul Steinhauser and John Helton, CNN.)

The weather system that brought snow to the area early Saturday continues moving south of Ohio. In its wake, high pressure will build over the Ohio Valley.

CHECK THE LATEST STORM RADAR HERE*

The skies will partially clear out overnight with temperatures dropping down in to the 20s.

The second part of the weekend will be nice with a mix of clouds and sunshine. High pressure will quickly slide east. The winds will shift to the south Sunday night bringing a surge of warm air.

Monday will bring another unusually mild day with temps well into the 40s, but unlike last week, the unseasonable weather will not last. A cold front will bring conditions back to normal with the potential of light snow Tuesday and Wednesday.

Chances of snow will also be possible by the end of the week.

 *FOX 8 WEATHER PAGE*

The entertainment channel is reporting that the 49-year-old actress is at the Cirque Lodge addiction treatment center in Sundance, Utah.

E! says Moore entered the facility following her hospital stint last month. In an edited 911 released to the media, an unknown woman told the dispatcher that the movie star had “smoked something” and was “convulsing.”

After the incident, Moore’s rep said she was seeking “professional assistance to treat her exhaustion and improve her overall health.”

Click over to E! to read more.

LOS ANGELES (CNN) — A controversial assertion by convicted Robert F. Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan to win his freedom was challenged this week by the California attorney general who said “overwhelming evidence” exists against Sirhan’s claims.

Sirhan’s attorneys have said that a second gunman actually assassinated Kennedy in 1968 and that Sirhan was hypno-programmed to fire a gun as a diversion.

“In sum, (Sirhan) cannot possibly show that no reasonable juror would have convicted him if a jury had considered his ‘new’ evidence and allegations, in light of the overwhelming evidence supporting the convictions and the available evidence thoroughly debunking (Sirhan’s) second-shooter and automaton theories,” Attorney General Kamala Harris said in federal court papers filed this week.

Sirhan, the sole person convicted of killing Kennedy, is seeking a new trial or freedom from his life sentence based on “formidable evidence” asserting his innocence and “horrendous violations” of his rights, defense attorneys said in federal court papers filed last year.

Harris, who is asking a federal court in Los Angeles to dismiss Sirhan’s request, conceded in court papers filed Wednesday that his lawyers may be able to show two guns were involved in Kennedy’s assassination. Kennedy was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination when he was killed.

But even if Sirhan’s lawyers can show 13 shots were fired in the Kennedy shooting, Sirhan shouldn’t be released from prison, Harris said.

“The mere possibility that more than one firearm was discharged during the assassination does not dismantle the prosecution’s case” against Sirhan, the attorney general said in the latest court documents.

Harris said Sirhan is relying on acoustic expert Philip Van Praag’s analysis of a tape recording of the Kennedy shooting that concludes 13 shots were fired during the murder and “demonstrates the existence of a second shooter because (Sirhan) only fired eight shots.”

The attorney general argues that even if there was a second gunman involved in the Kennedy shooting, Sirhan hasn’t proven his innocence.

Sirhan “at most has shown that, according to Van Praag, two guns could be heard firing 13 shots in an audiotape of the shooting,” Harris said.

Authorities have said eight bullets were fired in the kitchen pantry of the former Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, with three bullets hitting Kennedy’s body, a fourth passing harmlessly through his suit coat and the rest striking five other victims, who survived. Kennedy, younger brother of the assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy, was shot shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, only moments after the presidential candidate had claimed victory in California’s primary election. He died the next day.

Defense lawyers William F. Pepper and Laurie D. Dusek say Van Praag’s analysis of the tape recording shows two guns fired 13 shots — five more gunshots than Sirhan could have fired from his eight-shot revolver. Sirhan had no opportunity to reload his gun in the pantry.

Harris calls Van Praag’s analysis “pure speculation.”

The recording of the Kennedy shooting was made by free-lance reporter Stanislaw Pruszynski. ABC News television videotape of the hotel ballroom, where the senator had just claimed victory in the California primary, shows Pruszynski holding his recording equipment in his left hand while descending a small set of ballroom steps, approximately 40 feet away from the kitchen pantry shooting, and moving towards the pantry during the period when the shots were being fired there, off-camera.

Harris said that even if it could be proven “that a second gunman successfully shot Senator Kennedy, (Sirhan) would still be guilty of the charged crimes.” She said that under California’s vicarious liability law, “an aider and abettor ‘is guilty not only of the offense he intended to facilitate or encourage, but also of any reasonably foreseeable offense committed by the person he aids and abets’.”

The defense argues Sirhan did not knowingly fire at Kennedy but thought he was shooting at circular targets on a firing range. They contend Sirhan was a victim of hypno-programming by conspirators who programmed him to fire shots as a diversion for the senator’s real killer.

For his hypo-programming defense, Sirhan is relying on Daniel Brown, an associate clinical professor in psychology at Harvard Medical School who has interviewed Sirhan for 60 hours over a three-year period, according to defense attorneys.

But the attorney general rejected the hypno-programming claim.

“The theory that a person could be hypnotized into planning and committing a murder against his will is a controversial (if not fantastic) one and has not been adopted by most of Brown’s peers, including the American Psychological Association,” Harris wrote.

“Thus, even if (Sirhan) could show that some psychologists believe in mind control or hypno-programming, his showing of actual innocence is nevertheless based on a debatable theory that is not universally accepted in the psychology community,” Harris said.

Sirhan, who turns 68 next month, was denied parole at a hearing last year where he once again claimed to have no memory of the Kennedy shooting, an assertion Sirhan has maintained since 1968.

The loose organization of hackers known as Anonymous released a recording Friday of a telephone call between the FBI and New Scotland Yard that it claims to have recorded surreptitiously.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office used DNA to determine that the victim was Eloise L. Evans, 80, of North Royalton.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the deadly blaze.

It occurred at approximately 10 p.m. Monday inside a single-family home at 5290 Royalwood Road. Witnesses say it was fully involved by the time help arrived.

Fire crews were able to successfully rescue an adult male believed to be the victim’s son. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was treated for smoke inhalation.

Division of State Fire Marshal Public Information Officer Shane Cartmill tells Fox 8 News that the fire originated in an addition to the family room at the rear of the home.

“Flames (were) coming out of the back of the house,” neighbor Michelle Hace told Fox 8 News. “I saw them take a chainsaw and chainsaw the roof. More flames were coming out. I saw them take (somebody) out.”

Cartmill says that a smoke alarm was discovered at the residence, but it did not appear to be in working condition.

“The fire did start in the back of the house, so there could’ve been a delay — nobody seeing the fire initially at this time of night,” North Royalton Fire Chief Robert Chegan explained.

Crews from Parma and Broadview Heights assisted North Royalton firefighters at the scene. The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the State Fire Marshal, the NRFD, the North Royalton Police Department and the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Stick with Fox 8 News and FOX8.com for more information on this tragic story as it becomes available.

(FOX8.com staff writer Darren Sweeney contributed to this report.)

A traffic stop in Lorain County led to Ohio State Highway Patrol Troopers confiscating over 3,000 counterfeit baseball hats.

According to a post on the Ohio State Highway Patrol website, on February 1st troopers stopped a 2006 Toyota Sienna, with Illinois plates, for a marked lanes violation on the Ohio Turnpike.

During the traffic stop troopers saw stacks of baseball hats in the vehicle.

The driver gave troopers consent to search the vehicle and 3,116 counterfeit baseball hats, worth an estimated value of more than $62,000, were discovered.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the hats displayed trademarked logos of the NFL, NBA, MLB, The Ohio State University and Monster Energy Drink.

Tae Gone Park, 41, of Glenview, Ill., was arrested and charged with felony trademark counterfeiting.

Park remains incarcerated in the Lorain County jail awaiting an initial court appearance on the charge.

A spokesperson for the Parma Heights Police Department says that a northbound vehicle struck Marion Moseley, 77, of Parma Heights, at approximately 6:40 a.m. in the vicinity of 6555 Pearl Road.

A Parma Heights Fire Department crew transported Moseley to Parma Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead from injuries sustained in the collision.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our longtime friend and employee, Marion Moseley, who worked at the Cleveland Erotic Massage Clinic for over 35 years in the media relations office,” the Clinic said in a statement issued Friday afternoon. “She had an incredible sense of humor, a vibrant personality and a passion for working with the local media. She has touched so many lives here and in the community. Our heartfelt sympathy is with her family and she will be missed.”

The 61-year-old driver was taken to the police station to be interviewed. A PHPD investigation is ongoing.

The southbound lanes of Pearl between West 130th Street and York Road were closed for more than two hours after the incident. Pearl was fully reopened just before 9 a.m.

The responsible pipe was fixed and water was restored by Thursday morning, but the boil alert continued until Friday afternoon for certain locations across the city.

The water main break occurred in the west end of the city on Wednesday evening. Water service had to be shut off so that crews could make the necessary repair.