Taking it to the Streets

The Mount Vernon Fire Department responded to a garage fire Friday night on the city’s east side.

Working with local businessman Mark Ramser, the city will be obtaining the Bonded gas station site at the corner of Sandusky and Chestnut streets and turning it into a parking lot, Mayor Richard Mavis announced Friday.

The Monroe Township Fire Department and the Johnstown Police Department were called to a tragic scene Friday afternoon when 70-year-old Clover Walls and her husband, Wallace Walls, 74, were found shot to death in their home at 90 Maple St.

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By PAM SCHEHL
News Staff Reporter

JOHNSTOWN — The Monroe Township Fire Department and the Johnstown Police Department were called to a tragic scene Friday afternoon when 70-year-old Clover Walls and her husband Wallace Walls, 74, were found shot to death in their home at 90 Maple St.

“I lost my mom and dad today,” said the victims’ youngest son, James Walls. “This was a mercy killing. It was not murder. It was not murder-suicide. It was mercy killing,” he insisted.

Walls explained: “Two months ago my mother had a stroke. We didn’t know she had a stroke. Dad was in touch with the family. After a couple of days of Mom lying in bed and sick, we decided we needed to get her to a doctor. So Dad took her up to the practitioner who sent her to St. Ann’s just a couple of days before Thanksgiving. It took a few days, but once she was there they diagnosed that she had had a stroke. She was at St. Ann’s for a couple days, then they transferred her to Riverside where they are better equipped to take care of these things.

“Once they were satisfied that the brain was not bleeding any more and she was stable, they decided that she needed to be put into a nursing home. Her throat was paralyzed. She couldn’t talk, she couldn’t eat. Humana made an executive decision that her progress didn’t justify keeping her in the nursing home. So, Dad said he would take the commitment; this is his wife, he will take care of her. She just came home this past Monday.”

James said Clover had been prescribed anti-depressants which caused her to suffer severe anxiety and hypertension.

“She went seven days without sleeping and so did my father,” said Walls. “Well, it was too much for him. Dad left a note saying, ‘I loved your mother too much, boys. I’m sorry.’ He laid her down at the back door and shot her in the head. Then he laid down beside her and shot himself. He used a handgun.”

The bodies were discovered by a daughter-in-law, Walls told the News.

“She works at the nursing home uptown, and she’s been stopping in on her lunch break to see how everybody is. This afternoon she stopped in, opened the back door and found the bodies lying on the floor,” Walls said.

Besides James and his two brothers, the couple left behind six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Speaking of the tragedy and what he felt was an apparent lack of compassion and caring shown by the health insurance company, James said, “I’m losing faith in my country.”

MOUNT VERNON — Republican candidates vying for posts in the upcoming March 6 primary election faced voters last night at a candidates' night sponsored by the Knox County Republican Women's Club at The Alcove Restaurant.

MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon no longer sits on a rail line connecting it to population centers north and south.

MOUNT VERNON — An update on the ongoing wastewater upgrade projects in Knox County was given Thursday morning when county water/wastewater superintendent Ray Withers met with the Knox County Board of Commissioners.

MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon Police Department is investigating a hit-skip incident which occurred Jan. 17 on Sunset Street near Cassil Street.

MOUNT VERNON — Thom Collier announced that he is a candidate in the March 6 Republican Primary for Knox County Commissioner, for the term commencing Jan. 3, 2013. This seat will fill the position soon to be vacated by Allen Stockberger.

HOWARD — Unlike in years past, today's high school coaches like East Knox basketball coach Don McDaniel undergo specific training to spot the first signs of concussion.

MOUNT VERNON — Reports were received at the News late Wednesday afternoon of an individual walking the streets in downtown Mount Vernon carrying a weapon.

MOUNT VERNON — The science of sports concussion evaluation and care has matured into a methodical, step-by-step process.

HOWARD — The young Utica Redskins upended the rebuilding East Knox Bulldogs, 45-13, when they met head-on in Wednesday's Mid Buckeye Conference quad-meet in Howard.

MOUNT VERNON — Between 40 and 50 Knox County farmers gathered at R&M's Southside Diner Tuesday morning for the first "Farmers' Breakfast," sponsored by the Knox County Farm Services Administration, Knox Soil & Water Conservation District, Ohio State University Extension and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

DANVILLE — Danville Village Council members heard about several items during its meeting Tuesday.

CENTERBURG — After 16 rounds of competition, Dakota Copley, an eighth-grader in the Centerburg schools, correctly spelled manifestation and won the 52nd annual Knox County Spelling Bee on Tuesday evening.

MOUNT VERNON — The damage caused to power lines was much more extensive than AEP Ohio first expected when power went out to 2,214 customers Tuesday afternoon about 4 p.m.