Last Friday, two days after a Free Times cover story "The Pajama Game" outlined the ever-growing list of allegations of misconduct by his staff/roomies, Attorney General Marc Dann admitted to his role in creating a hostile work environment at the AG's office and finally copped to an affair with his 28-year-old scheduler, Jessica Utovich.

During a morning press conference at his headquarters on the 17th floor of the Rhodes Tower in Columbus, Dann also announced the firings of the two staff members who lived with him: Anthony Gutierrez, his hometown neighbor and director of general services (the man who is the focus of a sexual harassment complaint filed by two former employees), and Leo Jennings, his communications director. (During her sworn statement, Jennifer Urban, an attorney working at the AG's office, said that Jennings told her to lie to investigators so that it didn't appear that they, too, were involved in an extramarital relationship.) Dann's chief of staff, Ed Simpson, resigned the night before. Utovich also resigned Friday.

"To Alyssa and my children, to the employees of the attorney general, I apologize for my human failings," Dann said. Many noted that Dann made no direct apologies to Cindy Stankoski or Vanessa Stout, the two women who say they were transferred from their jobs at general services, after being harassed by Gutierrez. He told reporters that he informed his family about the affair "months ago," even though his spokesman called the allegation "rumor and innuendo" just last week.

At Free Times' press time, Gov. Ted Strickland had just released a letter to Dann, demanding that he resign and threatening to impeach him if he refused. The letter was signed by every elected Democrat in Ohio, as well as Chris Redfern, head of the Ohio Democratic Party. Dann responded immediately with a letter of his own, saying (and we're paraphrasing here): Bite me!

Even though the investigation ended with the release of findings last Friday, this story is not likely to go away any time soon, even if Dann resigns this week. When Dann's in-house investigators finished their job, their records became public information and their interviews with witnesses have already been published online by the The Columbus Dispatch. A review of those interviews suggests that Utovich has grounds for a complaint of her own and that Dann walked a very thin line between perjury and obfuscation.

Dann has not yet explained why Utovich was transferred in January at the same time Stout was moved out of the building. A spokesman for Dann told the Free Times it was Simpson (friend and former editor of Alyssa Lenhoff, Dann's wife) who thought Jessica should be transferred, because "it was time for her to move on." Stout says it was Lenhoff herself who demanded the transfers. In her interview, Jennifer Urban - who calls herself Jessica's "best friend" - suggests Stout's version is more accurate.

"My understanding of why she got transferred was because the Right Angle Blog [a popular righty blog] came out with a story ... that she and Marc Dann were having an affair, and she needed to be transferred because of that story. And because of the allegations and Alyssa and how she was reacting to the story, she needed to be moved from the floor."

When Dann was asked about the transfers in his first interview with investigators, on April 22, he said he didn't know if the two were related. As the interview went on, it became obvious that he was being very careful about any answer he gave that dealt directly with his lover. Asked directly if Utovich ever spent the night at his apartment, he said, "I don't know, because I wasn't - I was barely at the apartment."

When interviewed again, last Wednesday, Dann amended this statement, saying, "Although I was infrequently at the apartment, I was aware that she stayed overnight."

"Do you know what was the occasion?" he was asked.

"You know, I have knowledge that she stayed overnight," Dann replied. "What I don't want to do is allow this serious investigation about allegations of sexual harassment to be transformed into something that is about rumor and innuendo."

The biggest questions of all - what did Dann know about the sexual harassment and when did he know it - are still unanswered. Dann claims he was upstairs, sleeping, when Stankoski fell asleep in Gutierrez's bed, where she awoke in the morning with her pants unbuttoned and unzipped. He denies offering shots of tequila to Stankoski, as she claims. And he maintains he didn't learn about Stout's allegations until her complaint was filed.

When The Dispatch caught up with Stankoski on Saturday, she was livid that Dann continued to deny any knowledge of Gutierrez's lewd behavior. "He's his roommate, his best friend, and his neighbor in Youngstown, and he doesn't know what he's doing?" she said. "I know [Dann]'s lying." — James Renner

SUPE'S ON!

The Man of Steel was created not far from the smelting plants of Cleveland's steel factories. For some reason, we don't make a big deal about it. But it's true. In 1933, Glenville High School senior Jerry Siegel and his buddy Joe Shuster came up with the idea for the iconic character while working on a magazine Siegel self-published for sci-fi fanatics. Cleveland was the original Metropolis. Seriously! Stop laughing!

Anyhoo, this year marks the caped crusader's 75th anniversary, which kicks off at the North Coast Comic Con on Mother's Day at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Middleburg Heights, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Admission is $5 (moms are free). Several comic book writers will be on hand to sign autographs, including Sean McKeever (Spider-Man, Teen Titans), Eddy Newell (Black Lightning), and even Tom Batiuk (Funky Winkerbean).

But diehard Superman fans may want to start the party early. At 7 p.m. Saturday, May 10, family members of Siegel and Shuster will arrive at the Crowne Plaza for a free meet-and-greet. Suggestion: If you're going to ask them why Siegel and Shuster sold Superman for $135, at least buy them a beer first.

Additional announcements about upcoming Summer of Superman events will be announced at the show. — JR