BY The Cincinnati Enquirer
A North Fairmount man was arrested early Saturday on charges that he killed his 33-year-old brother in their apartment.
Smittie Peterson, 24, is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the death of Maurice Peterson, whose body was found in the apartment on Boltwood Court early Saturday.
Police would not reveal the nature of Maurice's injuries.
Price Hill man charged with raping 4-year-old
A Price Hill man was arraigned Saturday on charges that he raped a 4-year-old girl.
Anthony Jenkins, 22, of the 2100 block of Selim Avenue, was arrested Friday and confessed to the crime, police said.
The attack is alleged to have occurred in August. The girl had told her mother about the assault, the mother confronted Mr. Jenkins and he turned himself in to Silverton police, investigators said. His bond was set at $10,000.
Two men sought in abduction and rape
Police are searching for two men who abducted a 16-year-old girl from a Mohawk neighborhood bus stop, drove her to Schwab Middle School and raped her Friday night.
The Northside girl was waiting for a bus in the 2400 block of West McMicken Avenue at 10 p.m. when two men, both
about 18 years old, forced her to get into their car, Cincinnati police said. One man was brandishing a handgun, police said.
After the assault, the girl walked to a house and called police.
Arson suspected at vacant apartments
A vacant, two-story Northside apartment building burned Friday night in what investigators suspect was an arson.
Several neighbors saw several boys running from the area of the building at 4221 Fergus St. shortly after the flames were spotted about 7:30 p.m., police said. They said that two of the boys are about 15 years old and about four others are between 9 and 11 years old. The wood frame building, which had been vacant for about three months, was unlocked, according to Capt. Dan Rottmueller of the Cincinnati fire investigation unit.
The damage was estimated at $30,000, plus about $5,000 in heat damage to a building next door.
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 352-3040. Callers may remain anonymous.
Council holding two budget hearings
Cincinnati City Council will hold two public hearings this week to discuss the $1.8 billion biennial budget.
The first will be 1 p.m. Tuesday in the third-floor council chambers of City Hall, 801 Plum St. The second will be 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Price Hill Recreation Center, 959 Hawthorne Ave.
City Manager John Shirey proposed the 1999-2000 spending plan last month, calling it a budget that will improve neighborhoods and attract new residents. Proposals include constructing two recreation centers and making road improvements.
Normally, the budget is approved by mid-December, before the fiscal year begins Jan. 1.
Driver fired after leaving child on bus
CANTON, Ohio -- A school bus driver was fired and a volunteer aide resigned Friday after leaving a developmentally disabled 3-year-old on a school bus for three
hours last month.
Linda Halsey, 42, was fired and Teresa Lanza, 39, resigned after meeting with Thomas Seeson, superintendent of the Stark County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
'"A mistake like this could have had tragic results," Mr. Seeson told the Akron Beacon Journal for a story Saturday. "Although the dismissal of any employee is always difficult, I feel strongly that this incident warrants this action."
Ryan Reynolds was strapped in his car seat when he should have been taken into Eastgate School in Louisville for morning classes. Douglas and Tami Reynolds, the parents of five children, went to the school about 11:30 a.m. Nov. 23 to pick up their son for an appointment and learned that he had never been in class. A phone call to the bus garage in Canton Township led to the discovery of the child, alone and asleep, on the bus.
Man accused of backing car at sheriff's deputy
COLUMBIA TOWNSHIP
-- A Clermont County man was arrested and charged with felonious assault after police say he tried to back his car toward a Hamilton County sheriff's deputy Friday evening.
Adam Strathman, of Union Township, fled when he and four other people were approached in a parking lot by a sheriff's unit on patrol near Hooligan's Pub in Columbia Township, police said.
Mr. Strathman fled to his car, police said, and tried to leave. But when he reached a dead end at the rear of the business, he began backing his car at the sheriff's deputy who ordered him to stop. The officer fired one round from his weapon, but Mr. Strathman was not struck.
Four others were arrested. They are: Shawn Gibson, 23, of New Richmond, charged with disorderly conduct and criminal damaging; Jennifer Stavale, 26, of Cincinnati, charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest; Richard Buckley, 23, of Cincinnati, charged with disorderly
conduct; and Anthony Thompson, 27, of West Chester, charged with disorderly conduct.
10-year term urged for theft in office
COLUMBUS
-- The former clerk of courts for Franklin County stole $58,360 in his first year of office, according to a prosecutor's report that recommends Jesse Oddi Jr. spend 10 years in prison.
Mr. Oddi, 49, took money 215 of the 250 work days and told a reporter that year that taking a pay cut was worth holding the job of common pleas clerk, Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said.
Altogether, Mr. Oddi has acknowledged stealing $448,000 from 1985 until this year.
The report, released Friday, was given to Common Pleas Judge John A. Connor, who is to sentence Mr. Oddi on Wednesday.
