YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Former Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel has signed on to be the ninth president of Youngstown State University, where he started his college coaching career.

The Vindicator newspaper says Tressel signed a three-year contract at the university's board of trustees meeting Monday night.

The newspaper reports Tressel will earn $300,000 the first two years, with third-year salary undetermined. The contract begins July 1.

The board voted unanimously last week to offer the job to Tressel.

Tressel had been an administrator at the University of Akron for the past two years and was a finalist for the presidency there.

He was forced out as Ohio State coach following a scandal in which players sold memorabilia for cash and tattoos.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Former “American Idol” singer Clay Aiken appeared headed toward a fall showdown for a congressional seat after the death of the entrepreneur who trailed him narrowly in a too-close-to-call Democratic primary.Keith Crisco, 71, died Monday after an accidental fall at his home in Asheboro, according to a statement from his family.“He was a remarkable man with a tremendous dedication to his family and to public service,” the statement said.Aiken was leading Crisco by fewer than 400 votes after the contest last Tuesday. If enough new votes turn up to make Crisco the winner, local Democrats will select a new nominee, state elections board spokesman Josh Lawson said. If not, Aiken will be the nominee, he said. The vote is expected to be certified Thursday.The nominee will face Republican incumbent Renee Ellmers in November in the GOP-leaning 2nd Congressional District.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A growing global threat of the potentially deadly MERS virus has spread to Orlando with the case of a 44-year-old man visiting from Saudi Arabia, health officials reported Monday.He becomes the second U.S. patient with the respiratory illness, which has infected more than 500 people worldwide and killed 114.MERS — or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome — is considered serious because of its fatality rate of about 30 percent and because there is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment. But health officials emphasize that it is spread only through close contact, including touching, coughing or contaminated fluids. About one-fifth of those infected are health care workers, as is the Orlando patient.The man, who works in a Saudi Arabia hospital, arrived in Orlando on May 1 but did not seek treatment until May 8.