Flames and firefighters tore at a Columbia-Tusculum home early Saturday, causing an estimated $75,000 in damage, but the couple living there escaped without injury.
Fire investigators were working Saturday afternoon to determine the cause of the two-alarm fire at 3618 Eastern Ave., said District 4 Fire Chief Fred Prather.
Two adults were home when the blaze broke out shortly before 6 a.m. They were outside when fire crews arrived, Chief Prather said.
Fifty firefighters fought flames that stretched along an outside wall from the ground floor, through the second floor and into the attic. They pulled off strips of siding and used power saws to open up the roof. The fire was under control within 30 minutes.
Crews remained on the scene until late morning, extinguishing smoldering attic insulation. No injuries were reported.
Girl, 16, missing
Cincinnati police are searching for a 16-year-old girl missing since Wednesday .
Kesha Martin, of the 2000 block of Harkness Street in North Fairmount, was last seen about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday as she prepared for school, her mother Ada Barnes told police. Kesha has not been heard from since.
She does not have a history of running away, police said. Kesha has a 2-year-old child with medical problems and she has never been out of contact with the child.
Kesha is an African-American girl, about 5 feet tall and about 165 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jeans and a black starter jacket with an Orlando Magic logo. Anyone with information is asked to call Cincinnati police at 352-6474, or Crime Stoppers at 352-3040.
Former casket factory burns in Indiana
BROOKVILLE, Ind. - Fire engulfed a vacant Southeastern Indiana factory Saturday afternoon.
Several homes next to the former Franklin Casket factory in Brookville were evacuated as a precaution as flames shot from the building, police said. There were no injuries.
Firefighters from several departments battled the blaze through the afternoon and into the night.
There was no damage estimate, and the cause is being investigated. The building has been vacant for several years.
Cincinnati State has new vice president
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College has appointed a New Jersey native as its new executive vice president.
Raymond A. Yannuzzi will be responsible for the offices of institutional advancement, information technology, human resources - organizational development and multicultural affairs.
Mr. Yannuzzi most recently was administrator at Delaware County Community College in Media, Pa., where he has worked since 1992.
Families seek attorneys for boys trapped in train
HAMILTON - A Butler County Juvenile Court hearing for the two Hamilton boys who spent a week trapped in a railroad boxcar was postponed Friday when the boys' parents asked for attorneys.
John Wayne Riley, 15, and Billy Ray Grimes Jr., 12, face criminal trespassing charges for being on railroad property.
The hearing for John, who is under house arrest, and Billy, who is being held at the Butler County Juvenile Detention Center, was rescheduled for next Friday.
Magistrate Michael Braun said he will appoint attorneys for the boys because the parents indicated they cannot afford them. The boys have pleaded guilty to violating their probation.
Holiday blood drive offers T-shirt for a pint
LEBANON - Give a pint and get a free T-shirt at the Community Blood Center's holiday blood drive, 830 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 22 at the Warren County Sheriff's Office, 550 Justice Drive. Donors should bring a donor card or other identification showing a Social Security number.
For more information, call Kathy Burton, 894-6966.
Christmas concert takes tree shape
First Baptist Church of Milford will present a "Living Christmas Tree" concert Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. at the church, 1367 Woodville Pike. The concert features 65 choir members, arranged in the shape of a tree, singing about Jesus' birth. For more information, call the church at 575-1705.
Brother faces charges for alleged choking
Man accused of murder in death of brother
A Cincinnati man was indicted on murder charges Friday in what prosecutors say with the choking death of his brother.
Smittie Peterson faces one count of murder and one count of voluntary manslaughter in the Dec. 5 death of his brother, Maurice Peterson. Prosecutors say the brothers were involved in a "verbal altercation" that escalated.
Police: Man admits to fatal shooting
GOSHEN, Ind. - The suspect in the fatal shooting of a Goshen police officer has admitted to the crime, Indiana State Police said Saturday.
Frankie Allen Salyers Jr., 20, of Goshen was arrested after a six-hour search Friday that ended when officers flushed him out of a mobile home with tear gas.
Indiana State Police investigator Don Curl told Judge George Biddlecome that police had a taped statement of Mr. Salyers telling police he intended to kill Thomas Goodwin when he shot at the Goshen officer with a rifle. Mr. Salyers was ordered held without bond Saturday. Formal murder charges will be filed Monday or Tuesday, the Elkhart County prosecutor said.
