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Ever since kick off at the Ohio State and Marshall game Thursday evening, excitement has been in the air around Ohio Stadium. It screams one thing - Ohio State football is back!

“It doesn't get better than Ohio State football,” said Marshall Rosensweet prior to Thursday’s matchup. "It’s been a countdown since the season ended last year,” said Melissa Hindman, a buckeyes fan.

Opening day means predictions are optimistic on both sides of the field. “We're looking to do it this year, trying to go number one all the way to Glendale,” said Buckeyes fan Austin Brown.

Walter Hall, on the other hand wore green to the game in support of Marshall. “Either way, we're going to be happy and we'll come to town and spend some money."

Gameday also means plenty of tailgating, not to mention plenty of food. “We got brats, we have Italian sausage, peppers and onions, we have potato salad,” said Bob Malouf. "We have homemade BBQ sandwiches that I started last night in the slow cooker,” said Hindman.

Those without tickets either watched from the parking lot, with help from a satellite dish. Others watched at the local watering hole. “(Tailgating) is the way, nothing like a little BBQ, little corn hole, few cold ones and a cigar and ‘let's go bucks,’" said Malouf.

While the economy has shown a little bounce-back, many people don't have extra money just lying around.  But this is the start of a very critical point in the year for the united way and the agencies they help fund through fundraising.

New bride Becca Shapiro has seen plenty of money flying out the door, yet she still finds a way to give.

"It’s still important have to pick and choose what you connect to and works for you personally,” Shapiro said.

At the United Way of Central Ohio that is good to hear, especially when economic gloom and doom isn’t completely gone.

"When you have the economy the way it is we are not going to be able to set a goal that is a record goal,” Kermit Whitfield with United Way of Central Ohio said.

And last year the group didn't even set a goal, and the donations fell about 10 million less than the year before.

"We know we could do so much more for our programs,” Whitfield said.

One of those groups that get help from the United Way is St. Stephen’s Community House, and the child care program.

"Self sufficiency is something that moves families forward so they are not going to services over and over again many families one a time find stronger relationships and neighborhoods,” Michelle Mills, President  & CEO of St. Stephen’s Community House said.

They focus on cradle to career, and the 600-thousand from united way makes it possible.

"They need to see the light at the end of the tunnel we need to be that light,” Mills said.

This year the United Way is preaching positive and proactive, working on trying to get better, and still find a way to raise money.

"We've always said give what you can and the model of a workplace campaign makes that easier,” Whitfield said.

That is easier said than done for Matia Branham.  She’s the new Mom of a 3 month old.

"We are penny pinching, around every corner, every corner,” Branham said.

But she still finds a way to give each pay period,   and for the united way that giving makes all the difference.

A Dublin Jerome High School wrestler has recovered from an infection caused by MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and the school's wrestling room, which was disinfected and closed for two weeks, has reopened, school officials said today.

MRSA infection is caused by a strain of staph bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics commonly used to treat ordinary infections. It has been a major concern in recent years as community-acquired infections, including clusters seen in athletes, became more common.

A coach notified school administrators on Aug. 9 and they immediately closed the wrestling room, where the student had been during the summer break, said assistant principal Mark Mousa.

The school sent a letter to parents of students on the wrestling team the next day, he said. The wrestling room was thoroughly cleaned and a sign was posted saying that the room shouldn't be used until Aug. 23, the first day of school, said Nick Magistrale, athletic director.

The closure was just a precaution and didn't affect the team because wrestling season hasn't started, said Principal Cathy Sankey. Conditioning in the summer is voluntary and included outdoor activities, she said.

Nobody knows where the wrestler contracted the infection, Mousa said. One other wrestler was checked out for a possible infection and that test came back negative, he said.

mcrane@dispatch.com

 The driver of a semi tractor was killed Sunday when his vehicle overturned, plowed through a field off I-270 on the southeast side, and caught on fire.

 NBC 4 reports with the Fast Facts from the scene.

The truck left the road around 7 p.m. and ended up off the highway in a field  behind Fisher’s Greenhouse near Parsons Road.

 The owner of the greenhouse told NBC 4 he thought he heard thunder and went out of the building to roll up his car windows.  

He said when he arrived outside, he saw the burning truck and ran over to help, but the heat from the burning truck drove him back.

 The flatbed being pulled by the tractor was not carrying cargo, according to witnesses.  The vehicle’s fuel provided a source for the fire to burn.

 The crash is under investigation by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

 Two lanes of southbound I-270 near the scene are restricted to help officers investigate.

 No names are yet available and the circumstances that led to the crash are not yet known.

 For additional information, stay with NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com.
To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail Stories@nbc4i.com.

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As a family buried their husband and father today, a 24-year-old Grove City man was charged with murder in what police say was a road-rage slaying.

Coy R. Hannah, of 2834 Brookpark Circle, is in the Franklin County jail tonight. He has not yet entered a plea and declined a request for an interview.

According to detectives with the Franklin County Sheriff's office, David Lawrence White, 51, of the West Side, was driving his pickup truck south on Harrisburg Pike, near Eakin Road, on the evening of Aug. 10, when deputies say Hannah became frustrated.

Witnesses said that Hannah's vehicle was tailing the bumper of White's truck, and that both drivers cussed at each other when they stopped at a red light.

Soon after, detectives said, both men stopped north of Frank Road. They said that Hannah reached into the open, driver's-side window of White's truck and pummeled White in the face.

Detectives said it appeared that White did not fight back and did not seek medical attention at the time of the assault.

White was discovered unconscious in his home three days later, on Aug. 13, and rushed to Mount Carmel West hospital. He remained in a coma until his death on Aug. 20. His funeral was today.

Coroner Jan Gorniak said an autopsy showed White died of a brain hemorrhage.

Gorniak said it's possible for someone to have a head injury without immediate symptoms.

"It can be a slow bleed," she said. "You think you're OK and take a Tylenol and continue to bleed."

Detectives said that White and Hannah were not previously acquainted.

bcarmen@dispatch.com

Buckeye fans are not alone in counting down the days and hours until the start of the football season.

Businesses near the Ohio State University campus know that the return of the Bucks means big bucks for them as well, with four home games over the next four weeks.

"You have a lot of people crawl out of the woodwork for the Buckeyes, to get the Buckeye gear," said Across The Field owner Eric Miller. "Now it's crunch time. Everybody's coming out."

Despite the economy, Miller described 2010 as the best year his business has seen. Across The Field is responding by capitalizing on the seasonal demand for Buckeye merchandise and apparel.

"We had a customer just walk in the door, he said, 'How late are you guys open?' And I said, 'Well, we were here until 2 am last night and we were open." Miller said. "If we're here, if the lights are on, we're open'."

Miller said the hottest seller this summer is Buckeye Silly Bandz, on sale at $8.99 a pack.

"We ordered 100 sets of them and we sold out in less than a week," Miller said.

Farther north on Olentangy River Road at Fairfield Inn and Suites, general manager Frank Nichols said hotel rooms are already sold out for the first three games of the season.

"August has been a good month for us, September is going to be an absolutely outstanding month for us," Nichols said. "The year hasn't been great, but I'm doing a little better than last year and I think we're pretty happy with that."

The return of students to the classroom also helps nearby stores, but Nichols said the football crowds are vital to the profitability of many local businesses.

"You can certainly make up some other times that are slow, you can make up a lot of traffic with football," Nichols said.

The Hocking County coroner has officially ruled the death of a Pelotonia bicyclist over the weekend a homicide. 57-year-old Michelle Kazlausky was killed after being hit by a truck that failed to heed a trooper's stop signal.

As prosecutors determine if charges will be filed, there's a silver lining of sorts to this tragic story – a silver lining that gives hope to families of cancer patients.

In the last weeks of her life, Jack Koelbl says few things were as important to his sister-in-law, 57-year-old Shelli Kazlausky as the Pelotonia and the money it was raising for cancer research. “I'll tell you how excited she was, two weeks before she got in this race she was in a really bad wreck. She fell and broke some bones in her face, she had Carpel Tunnel all of the sudden, everybody was still trying to talk her out, they said ‘don't do it,’ 'no no, I’m doing it,” Koelbl says he remembers Kazlausky saying.  And she did do it. Though she never finished the race, her devotion to funding cancer research continues - even in death.

In the days following the tragic accident, family members checked Shelli’s profile page on the Pelotonia website. “We just started checking it and we noticed it was growing like crazy,” said Koelbl. ‘It’ is the dollar amount she had and continues to raise. “The most amazing thing of all when we started on her website, there was only like $45 on there, now there's like over $22,000.”

It is now nearing the $23,000 mark.

There is also a flurry of short, but powerful messages of support. “If you're reading those (messages), it touches you. I mean, it's hard,” said Koelbl. “If she's looking down on us, and I’m sure she is, I’m sure she's even overwhelmed by the generosity of Ohio and the biking community. It's just overwhelming, it really is."

A public memorial service for Shelli will be held Friday night from 5 – 8 pm at the Cotner Funeral Home on East Main Street in Reynoldsburg.

Another service will be held Saturday at 10 am St. Pius X on Waggoner Road. In fact, Pelotonia bicyclists have been invited to lead the procession to the cemetery.