Cincinnati City Council could urge the state of Ohio to appeal a court ruling on minority set-asides for state construction contracts. The question will be before council Wednesday.
Three council members voted during a committee meeting Monday to bring it to the full council. They were disappointed by a ruling in late October in U.S. District Court that the state failed to prove that minority firms benefiting from the program had been discriminated against.
The ruling does not directly affect city projects, but it affects businesses in the city. Council members Charlie Winburn, Tyrone Yates and Todd Portune voted to bring it before council; Councilman Jim Tarbell abstained; Councilman Phil Heimlich voted against it. Set-aside laws are well-intentioned, Mr. Heimlich said, but they have resulted in discrimination.
Millenium 200 may get a planner
The cities of Cincinnati, Covington and Newport are moving toward designating an official Millennium 2000 Commission to coordinate celebrations of the turn of the century at the end of 1999.
A Cincinnati City Council committee recommended Monday that the full council accept the idea at its Wednesday meeting.
Organizers said they plan to hire a professional producer. Councilman Todd Portune said he wants to protect the city from liability if fund raising does not collect enough. The last Tall Stacks cost the city $800,000 for that reason, he said.
Coincidentally, Millennium 2000 will be vying with Tall Stacks for sponsors in 1999. The riverboats are scheduled to return next fall.
Stepfather accused of beating child
LEBANON - A 31-year-old man is to be arraigned Nov. 30 on charges that he beat his young stepdaughter with the arm of a rocking chair.
Harold W. Gentry of the 100 block of Dave Street, Lebanon, was indicted Friday on two counts of child endangering.
Warren County Prosecutor Tim Oliver said Mr. Gentry allegedly hit the 4-year-old in the head and buttocks Sept. 18 at the Dave Street address. The child was not seriously injured.
Someone outside the family reported the incident to Warren County Children's Services, Mr. Oliver said.
Two men indicted in robbery, death
A grand jury indicted two Cincinnati men Monday on charges of robbing and murdering Quincy Freeman two weeks ago near Findlay Market. Nathan Carter, 24, and Ishmell Foster, 22, both face charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated murder. Police say the two attacked Mr. Freeman at 11:45 p.m. on Nov. 3. They say Mr. Carter shot Mr. Freeman, 20, twice in the head, leaving him to die in an alley. If convicted of all charges, Mr. Carter and Mr. Foster could face up to 33 years to life in prison.
A third defendant, David O. Lee, was arrested Saturday and arraigned Monday on charges of complicity to aggravated robbery and aggravated murder. He is being held on a $250,000 bond.
Ex-police chief hires new lawyer
If Thomas Keenan faces a third trial on rape charges, he'll do so with a new lawyer.
The former Harrison police chief has hired veteran attorney Pete Rosenwald to lead his defense. Firooz Namei, who was co-counsel during Mr. Keenan's first two trials, withdrew from the case Monday. Nancy Dameron, who previously was lead attorney, will remain on the case with Mr. Rosenwald.
Judge Steven Martin of Hamilton County Common Pleas Court is expected to decide within days whether Mr. Keenan should be tried again on charges of raping a female clerk at the police station. The clerk accuses Mr. Keenan of groping and fondling her on several occasions. Mr. Keenan denies the allegations, saying the clerk is emotionally unstable and obsessed with him.
Mistrials were declared after the first two trials because jurors were unable to reach a verdict.
Blue Ash worker accused of peeping
A Goshen Township woman claims in a lawsuit that a Blue Ash city employee spied on her while she used a restroom at work.
Douglas Holderbaum is accused of creating "an elaborate system of voyeurism" in the women's bathroom at the Blue Ash Highway Department. The suit, filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, states that he peered through a hole in a bathroom tub while fellow employee Christine Shinkle changed clothes.
In a police statement attached to the lawsuit, Mr. Holderbaum is quoted as saying he slipped a mirror into the hole so he could more easily see into the bathroom. He said he looked through it on only two occasions, including a staff Christmas party.
"The thought just hit me to go look," he said in the statement. The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $75,000.
