The iOpener: Blue Jackets Win, Lead Bruins in Playoffs; OU Expels Frat After Alleged Hazing Death

Good morning, iOpeners. It's Wednesday, May 1, 2019. Happy May Day! Are you dancing around a Maypole? Or maybe hanging a May basket on a neighbors door? Or are you celebrating International Workers' Day? 

The Columbus Blue Jackets took a 2-1 lead over the Boston Bruins in their best-of-seven second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.  It was game 3 in front of a jubilant home crowd, and fans took the noise level at Nationwide Arena to 118 decibels as the game ended.  That’s the level of an ambulance siren.

New census data show more young Ohioans voted in last November’s midterm elections than in previous ones, but their participation rate still lags behind that of neighboring states. Just 22 percent of 18-to-24-year-old registered voters went to the polls, more than double the percentage in 2014.  But that’s half of the turnout among young voters in Wisconsin – 47 percent – and it’s ten percentage points below the percentage of young people who voted in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

In Lake County, the beach at Madison Township Park has been cleared of much of the debris that washed up after a series of heavy waves that pounded the Lake Erie shoreline there two weeks ago. The National Weather Service has confirmed that a type of wave known as a meteotsunami struck the beach on the evening of April 14.  The wave dumped large tree limbs and garbage onto the beach, lifted and damaged a newly-built wooden stairway platform and pushed 4,000-pound blocks of concrete 10 feet from their original location.

Ohio University has expelled the Epsilon chapter of the Sigma Pi fraternity following the alleged hazing death of 18-year-old Collin Wiant of Dublin. The school says the decision is final and immediate.  Wiant died last November of asphyxiation due to the use of whippets, or nitrous oxide.  His parents filed a wrongful death suit against Sigma Pi Epsilon.

Water service has been restored to homes and businesses on Cleveland’s West Side, after a water main break at W. 70th St. near Edgewater Park that created a giant sinkhole. Crews are still working on filling the sinkhole. 

Weather forecast: Partly sunny, growing cloudier as the day progresses. There’s a slight chance of strong afternoon and evening thunderstorms, with gusty winds later this afternoon. Wind gusts of 40 mph or higher are possible. High 79. Tonight, rainy and windy, low 55.