LORAIN — Joan Bahnsen still had a red, swollen jaw Tuesday morning caused by a man she says punched her and then robbed her West 23rd Street bar the night before. It was the second robbery in two months at the 62-year-old’s Highland Grill.

Bahnsen told police she was tending bar just before 10 p.m. Monday when a man came in acting strangely. He asked to use the phone and Bahnsen replied there was no phone available. Then the man told her he had a gun.

“He said, ‘I’m robbing you,’ and I said, ‘Oh no you’re not — not again,” Bahnsen said. “I swung around, and he caught me on the jaw. I was half out of it. He hit me pretty hard.”

Footprints from 40-year-old Norman Wilkerson’s house led directly to the dumpster where a stolen cash drawer was thrown away, according to Patrolman Doug Smith’s report. Another set led from his apartment to where he was arrested.

“This gets a little expensive after a while,” Bahnsen said. “I’m just trying to run a business here, and you’ve got guys out there who won’t get a job or they’re smoking crack — whatever their problems are.”

Meanwhile, in a state that allows its law-abiding citizens to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense, a different outcome resulted when this Texas bar manager was confronted by an ice pick-waving robber:

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House Bill 12 has been added to the Criminal Justice Committee's agenda for two days in the first week of March.

On Tuesday, March 4 at 2:30 pm., proponent testimony will be heard in Statehouse Room 114. ARRIVE MUCH EARLIER.

THIS MAY BE THE ONLY CHANCE YOU HAVE TO SPEAK BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE.

On Wednesday March 5 at 9:00 a.m., opponent testimony, and interested party testimony, will be heard in Statehouse Room 116.
Citizens are more than welcome to attend, and will be permitted to offer testimony at this hearing. Please consider wearing your OFCC shirt to show support for the organization.

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2:45 p.m. 2/14/03 - The motion has been denied. Click here for the full story.

TIFFIN - Seneca County's prosecutor has taken the first step in appealing a decision that made Ohio's law against carrying a concealed weapon unconstitutional in the county.

County Prosecutor Ken Egbert Jr. filed a motion Thursday afternoon in Seneca County Common Pleas Court asking Judge Michael P. Kelbley for an emergency stay on the decision he issued Tuesday declaring the law unconstitutional.

"I feel compelled to ask the trial court first," Egbert said.

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today.

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