A "Tree of Life" will be placed at Lazarus-Fountain Place to commemorate World AIDS Day and raise money for the Caracole House.
The tree will go up at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and will remain up until January. Donors may place a gift tag on the tree to commemorate or express holiday greetings to anyone they choose.
The event is sponsored by the Imperial Sovereign Queen City Court of the Buckeye Empire, a nonprofit organization that raises funds for AIDS-related agencies. Caracole House is a nonprofit housing organization for people with HIV or AIDS.
Woman abandons tent for donated camper
CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - A woman who refused to move out of a tent on her vacant property is now living in a 20-foot camper donated by people concerned about her well-being.
Since July, Helen Patricia "Pat" Hurd has been living on the site where her home burned down nearly two years ago.
With winter approaching, residents in this city about 30 miles southeast of Cleveland have been trying to persuade her to take shelter while they continue raising money to build a small house on the property.
But Mrs. Hurd refused to budge, saying she was tired of living in homeless shelters.
The donated camper has a furnace and stove fueled by propane, but neither one works. But she said she's not worried about keeping warm for the winter.
"So many people, they say. 'What if you're cold, what if you don't have heat?' I've had so many blankets, so many things donated that I'm not going to be cold," she said.
Hospital announces open-heart milestone
Jewish Hospital in Kenwood has announced completing its 1,000th open-heart surgery since the hospital started doing them in April 1996.
The transfer of high-tech services to the expanded Kenwood hospital was a precursor to closing the main Jewish Hospital in Avondale, which occurred in November 1997. The Avondale campus still employs more than 1,000 people as a corporate headquarters and central laboratory for the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati. The milestone, reached last week, comes in addition to performing more than 1,600 balloon angioplasty procedures and 5,000 cardiac catheterizations.
Bus to Addyston expands to Sundays
Starting Dec. 6, people who take Metro's Route 50 - which serves Sedamsville, Riverside, Sayler Park, Fernbank and Addyston - will be able to ride on Sundays and holidays.
The buses will run from about 7:15 a.m. to 7:55 p.m.
For complete bus riding information, call MetroCenter from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays or 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays at 621-4455. Information is also available at Metro's web site: www.sorta.com
UC gets 5-year grant for women's health
The University of Cincinnati Medical Center has been awarded a five-year, $1.5 million grant for women's health research, one of 12 awarded nationwide.
The grant from the National Institutes of Health will help UC hire three research scholars to work in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, where they will conduct basic molecular research. The grant comes on the heels of the university receiving about $27 million in women's health grants, used to study problems in pregnancy, cancer and osteoporosis.
UC seeks participants for depressant research
University of Cincinnati researchers are seeking people ages 18-65 who are experiencing sexual dysfunction after starting on an anti-depressant medicine.
Volunteers would be part of a study of a drug that may reverse the sexual side effects.
Information: 558-5115.
Trial soon in shooting of prosecutor-elect
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Getting shot on Christmas Eve 1996, Paul Gains says, was a good thing.
Five men suspected of Mafia links are accused of trying to kill Mr. Gains, the Mahoning County prosecutor-elect when he was shot. They go to trial in federal court early next year.
Lenine "Lenny" Strollo and associates of his Strollo Enterprise are accused of committing a wide range of mob-related crimes in Youngstown.
Mr. Gains and others say a tipster's phone call three months after his shooting provided crucial details about Mr. Gains' case and the June 1996 slaying of Mr. Strollo's organized crime rival Ernest A. Biondillo Jr.
It was a break that also illuminated long-denied links between the area's mobsters, public officials and inner-city crime, said James Callen of the Youngstown Area Citizens League, an anti-mob group.
Officials who pleaded guilty to mob-related crimes this year included a senior aide to U.S. Rep. James Traficant; the former county engineer; and the police chief, law director and two sergeants from Campbell, a small city bordering eastern Youngstown.
Akron officers pay for cop's suspension
AKRON, Ohio - A police officer suspended for writing an underground newsletter that called black neighborhoods an "urban game preserve" has received financial support from fellow officers who disagree with his punishment.
Officer Terry Pasko has received more than $4,100 to help offset wages he is losing during the 30-day unpaid suspension that began Nov. 16.
Paul Hlynsky, president of the officers union, Lodge 7 of the Fraternal Order Of Police, said the donations will stop when the amount reaches $4,300, the amount of the gross wages lost during the suspension.
"Terry feels awkward about accepting the money, but he does not want to offend fellow officers by not accepting it." Mr. Hlynsky said.
