UNION TOWNSHIP -- A small experimental plane crash-landed in a park in Union Township about 8:15 p.m. Saturday, the Ohio State Highway Patrol at Batavia said.
The pilot, Lester A. Weise, 82, of Cincinnati, was taken to University Hospital, where he was treated and released.
The patrol said Mr. Weise was flying an experimental plane without lights and tried to land in a clearing at North Park when it got too dark to fly. While trying to land, he struck a fence.
The crash was the third in less than month in Greater Cincinnati. On Aug. 15, a Wyoming surgeon, Dr. John Krieg, was killed when his Beech A-36 small plane crashed during a missed approach near Amelia in Clermont County.
Later that day, a Cessna 152 piloted by Dr. Steven Moses ran out of gas and crashed head-on into a van on Ronald Reagan Highway, a mile short of the Blue Ash Airport.
Dr. Moses, 27, a surgeon-in-residence at Good Samaritan Hospital and a 1989 Lakota High School graduate, was dead at the scene. Two women in the van -- Josephine Rolle, 63, of Bond Hill and Edith Sharp, 58, of Forest Park -- also were killed.
NAACP president to defend 12-year-old
CLEVELAND -- The president of the NAACP in Cleveland will help defend a 12-year-old black boy accused of killing a 5-year-old white girl this summer. George Forbes, a former Cleveland City Council president, and another lawyer at his firm, Dennis LoKonti, will assist Tarin S. Hale, the public defender handling the case.
Anthony Harris is charged with stabbing Devan Duniver to death in New Philadelphia, a town 80 miles southwest of Cleveland.
Mr. Forbes said last week that he does not think race is an overt issue in the case.
Ohio State fund-raiser expanded to $1 billion
COLUMBUS -- Ohio State University officials have been so successful at raising money that they've decided to ask for more.
The university has increased the goal of its "Affirm Thy Friendship" campaign to $1 billion.
"It's a nice round number," university President William E. Kirwan said.
The campaign began in the summer of 1995 with a goal of $650 million, making it the largest fund-raising campaign in the school's history. By that fall, the goal had been raised to $850 million.
The new goal has been made possible by the pace at which donations have been coming into the campaign, which will pay for university construction projects, chairs and professorships, scholarships and other university activities.
Taste of the East fest will be Sept. 19
The Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati is hosting its third annual Taste of the East festival Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The event will feature food from Arabia, Pakistan, India and the Far East, and there will be a bazaar with boutique clothing, jewelry, mehndi hand decorating and other items from around the world. There is no admission fee. Guided tours of the mosque will be available; long sleeves and pants or long skirts are required for the tour.
The event is sponsored by the Women's Committee of the Islamic Center, 8092 Plantation Drive in West Chester. For more information, call the center at 755-3280.
City likely to settle lawsuit with police
COLUMBUS -- The city likely will pay $191,700 to settle the lawsuit of four police sergeants who say their rights were violated during a mayoral investigation, an official said.
"We felt it was time to resolve this matter," said Glenn Redick, assistant city attorney.
City Council has the final say and probably will vote on the proposed settlement at its meeting Sept. 21, he said.
The lawsuit, filed last year in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, accused the city of discriminating against the officers, who are black, and stated that a mayoral investigation constituted "an invasion of privacy and slander."
Sgts. Thomas Glover, Jeffrey Blackwell, Neil Mason and Charles Martin would be paid $22,500 apiece. The proposed settlement also includes $97,000 for their legal fees and $4,700 for expenses.
Toledo mayor wants residents in Jeeps
TOLEDO, Ohio -- It is not enough for Mayor Carty Finkbeiner that Jeeps are made in Toledo. He thinks area residents ought to drive them, too.
Mr. Finkbeiner wants to start a campaign to encourage area motorists to buy Jeeps. The campaign comes after a newspaper article last month that said Jeeps did not rank among the top 30 automobiles sold in Lucas, Wood, or Monroe counties.
Chrysler Corp. Chairman Robert Eaton on Wednesday sent a fax to Mr. Finkbeiner, saying he was surprised that Jeeps didn't rank higher.
The mayor's spokeswoman, Mary Chris Skeldon, said the campaign has yet to take shape.
Police seek motive in family slayings
ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- Police and friends tried to figure out the motive in an apparent double murder-suicide of a couple and their leukemia-stricken daughter.
The couple's 7-year-old son discovered the bodies in the family's apartment Thursday when he got home from school.
Detective Lt. Terry Hudec said Eric Biris, 29, apparently shot his wife, Pamela, 27, and 4-year-old daughter, Drew, before committing suicide. Police did not know the reason for the shootings and would not comment further.
Cuyahoga County Coroner Elizabeth Balraj ruled the deaths of Pamela and Drew homicides. Each had been shot once in the back of the head with a .45-caliber handgun. Mr. Biris died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, an autopsy Friday showed.
It appeared all three were shot at close range in the living room, said Detective Sgt. Carl Gulas.
The couple's son, Eric Jr., is staying with his grandparents, police said.
