BY The Cincinnati Enquirer
Central Avenue from Pete Rose Way to Third Street will be closed until 10 this morning and again from 9 p.m. Monday until 5 a.m. Tuesday so construction crews can demolish parts of Fort Washington Way over Central Avenue.
Detour signs will direct drivers to take Pete Rose Way to Broadway to get between Third Street and Pete Rose Way during the closures. Levee Way and the Race Street overpass will also be open.
Burned Indiana boy returns to hospital
The brother of a 15-year-old girl who was killed this week when fire gutted the family's Indiana home has returned to the hospital. Joel Zeinner, 11, was in fair condition at Shriners Burns Institute after doctors determined his burns were more severe than initially thought, officials said.
His sister, Jammie Zeinner, an honor student at Rising Sun High School, was killed Tuesday in the Bear Branch, Ind., blaze.
The fire was attributed to faulty copper wiring.
Two trust funds have been set for the Zeinner family, at the Winton Savings & Loan, 10575 Harrison Ave., Harrison 45030 and at Friendship State Bank, P.O. Box 171, Rising Sun, Ind. 47040.
On Friday, the Anderson Township High School football team announced it would conduct a fund-raiser for the family, according to Liz Ward.
Mrs. Ward's son, a former Anderson football player, is a college roommate of Jammie Zeinner's step-brother.
For more information or to contribute to the Anderson High School football team fund-raiser, call 232-4260.
Franciscan at St. John to open holiday center
KENWOOD - The Franciscan at St. John Miracle Center and gift wrap booth will open 10 a.m. Nov. 24 at Kenwood Towne Centre.
Miracle Center is a donation collection site for St. John's self-sufficiency programs. It needs the following items: clothing, bed and bath linens, personal care items, pillows, baby items, nonperishable foods and cleaning supplies. It also accepts monetary donations; checks made out to: Franciscan at St. John.
The gift wrap booth will be inside the Miracle Center on the second level of Kenwood Towne Centre, next to the Gap Kids store. For a charge of $2 to $8, it will wrap most gifts. It will be open during regular mall hours through Dec. 24.
All proceeds benefit St. John's.
Metro ridership above expectations
From January through September, Metro provided almost 1 million more passenger trips than it originally projected for its weekday service.
People took more than 14.1 million weekday trips on Metro buses during the first nine months of 1998. Metro expected it would provide 13.2 million trips.
New ridership, the summer's Clean Air Fare program and Fort Washington Way funding for new suburban service while construction is under way helped boost the numbers.
Amphibious veterans to hear VA speaker
Steve Young, operations manager of the VA Healthcare Systems of Ohio, will be the guest speaker at the Southwest Ohio LST - AMPHIB luncheon at noon todayat the Old Country Buffet, 6850 Roosevelt Parkway in Middletown.
The group welcomes Navy and Coast Guard veterans who served aboard an LST or other amphibious vessel during World War II, Korea, Vietnam or Desert Storm.
No reservations are required. For information, call B.P. Allen (513) 423-2893.
Murderer sentenced 9 years after killing
Dale Causey was sentenced to 33 years to life in prison Friday for killing an Avondale man nine years ago.
A jury convicted Mr. Causey of aggravated murder and robbery last month after prosecutors presented evidence that he shot Anthony Scott during a drug deal in 1989. Although he was a suspect from the beginning, police were unable to locate him until early this year. A call to Crime Stoppers led police to a house in Columbus, where Mr. Causey was found in the back yard feeding his Rottweilers.
After his arrest, prosecutors said, Mr. Causey told a police officer: "You got me arrested, but you don't have me in court yet. And you got no witnesses." During his trial, a witness testified that she saw Mr. Causey push Mr. Scott's body out of his car as he drove away.
Call to mayor halts drunken-driving arrest
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The mayor of Pickerington will appoint a magistrate to preside over Mayor's Court after a suspected drunken driver was released once he made a phone call to the mayor.
A videotape recording from a Pickerington police cruiser in July shows an officer preparing to arrest a suspected drunken driver, then releasing the man after a telephone conversation with Mayor Lee Gray.
Mr. Gray said Thursday that he made a mistake getting involved. He said the driver - Lance Hedges of Columbus - was a good friend. Mr. Gray said he will appoint a magistrate to handle future cases after the weekly Monday night session of Mayor's Court. Ohio mayor's courts handle traffic and parking tickets and violations of city ordinances.
Pickerington is about 15 miles southeast of Columbus.
Indiana State Police stop enforcing belt law
INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana State Police have stopped enforcing the state's new seat-belt law in the wake of a Hendricks County judge's ruling declaring it unconstitutional.
But some law enforcement authorities are ignoring Thursday's ruling.
Judge David H. Coleman's ruling declared that the law allowing police to stop drivers suspected of not wearing safety belts violated the public's protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. State police spokesman Sgt. Steve Hillman said Thursday that state troopers never enforced that aspect of the law anyway.
In an e-mail sent to state police post district commanders Thursday, Superintendent Melvin Carraway ordered that all primary enforcement of the law cease.
Before the new law went into effect July 1, officers could issue a citation for a seat-belt violation only after stopping a vehicle for a different violation, what is known as secondary enforcement. The seat-belt violation carries a fine of up to $25.
Police can still stop motorists if they are seen driving without wearing a seat belt.
