Tuesday, May 18, 1999
TRISTATE DIGEST
Kasich attacks racial profiling
COLUMBUS — Republican John Kasich brought his unofficial presidential campaign home Monday, telling a civil rights group that police should never detain people simply because of their race.
Mr. Kasich, a congressman from suburban Westerville, said the practice known as racial profiling should stop.
“I think it is an insidious action that has gone on in too many parts of America,” Mr. Kasich said at a news conference before delivering a speech at the Columbus Urban League's annual awards luncheon. “Those kinds of actions that divide this country have to be ended.”
The Justice Department has been investigating complaints by blacks and Hispanics that they are more likely to be targeted by police and Customs inspectors for traffic stops and searches.
New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, also a Republican, recently acknowledged that state troopers treated blacks and Hispanics they pulled over on that state's turnpike more aggressively than they did whites. Similar accusations have been made in Florida, Maryland, Connecticut and elsewhere along the Interstate 95 corridor.
President Clinton called for an end to the practice during a radio speech in March.
“It almost gets to be a matter of guilty until proven innocent, and that's just not the way America should be,” Mr. Kasich said.
County asks judge to reconsider on jail
Hamilton County commissioners instructed their lawyers Monday to file a request with Common Pleas Judge Robert Kraft to reconsider his decision to dismiss a county lawsuit against the city.
The lawsuit aimed to force the city to rezone a neighborhood in Bond Hill so that a juvenile jail could be opened at the site of the former Millcreek Psychiatric Hospital for Children.
Judge Kraft on Thursday dismissed the lawsuit, saying the city has the right to control its own destiny in regard to zoning matters.
“All we're asking to do is to allow the issue to go to trial,” Hamilton County Commissioner John Dowlin said.
City Solicitor Richard Ganulin said there is no basis for the county's request.
Meanwhile, State Sen. Mark Mallory, D-Cincinnati, is urging the county to drop the issue so the land can be developed.
“We have an opportunity to develop that land as a site for jobs and progress,” Mr. Mallory said. “When you look at the relatively few jobs a jail produces compared to private-sector businesses, you understand the need for a different kind of development in Bond Hill.”
Life sentences ordered for rapes of young girl
A Cincinnati man was sentenced to three life terms in prison Monday for raping a child as many as 600 times over four years.
Prosecutors say Harry Kersey began raping the girl when she was 8. They say the girl reported the abuse last year when Mr. Kersey was arrested on unrelated charges.
Because the abuse took place several times a week, prosecutors said, the girl may have been raped between 400 and 600 times.
Mr. Kersey was convicted of rape earlier this month and sentenced Monday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court by Judge Richard Niehaus. Under Ohio law, the rape charges carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison because the girl was under age 13.
Senior citizens can get free legal advice
Legal problems of senior citizens will be addressed Thursday at the New Prospect Baptist Church, 1829 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. The free program, noon to 3 p.m., is sponsored by PRO Seniors and the Cincinnati Bar Association. Lawyers will provide basic advice, but will not act as attorneys for people with whom they talk. Information: 651-5118, Ext. 212.
Environmental agency offering minigrants
July 15 is the deadline for a new series of educational minigrants being awarded by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA). Winners will get $500 to $5,000. The OEPA will make the grants twice a year from its education fund. Each round will total $50,000. Information: (614) 644-2873.
Man charged with luring, killing girl, 10
McDONALD, Ohio — A man has been charged with luring a 10-year-old girl into the woods under the pretense of showing her some baby raccoons, then killing her.
George Foster, 33, of McDonald was charged Monday with aggravated murder, kidnapping and rape, according to Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. He pleaded innocent, and Judge Wyatt McKay ordered him held without bond.
Bridget Wetzel of Weathersfield Township was reported missing Friday night. Her body was found Saturday afternoon in McDonald, about five miles northwest of Youngstown.
McDonald Police Chief Daniel Leskovac said Mr. Foster was an acquaintance of the Wetzel family.
According to an affidavit by Trumbull County Sheriff's Maj. James Phillips, Mr. Foster told a friend Thursday while they were drinking that he had slept with several girls ages 11 to 13 and was looking for another young girl.
2 high school seniors killed in Toledo crash
TOLEDO, Ohio — A speeding vehicle hit a car on a city street, killing two high school students who were four weeks from graduating, police said.
Cassie Jones and her passenger, Maggie Hayes, both 18 and students at Toledo Start High School, died after the crash early Sunday. They were best friends and were returning home from visiting Miss Hayes' aunt.
Police reports said a Jeep Cherokee driven by Richard Williams, 32, of Toledo, hit the car as Miss Jones was turning.
Police estimated the Cherokee was going 70 mph. The speed limit on the street is 35 mph. No charges had been filed Monday.
Miss Jones had planned to study occupational therapy at Owens Community College in suburban Toledo. Miss Hayes had been accepted as a nursing student at the University of Toledo.
A trusted ear best defense for schools?
Fountain barricade coming down
Indian activist asks Anderson to drop 'Redskin'
Police raid challenged
Suspect 'on the run all his life'
Baby, rescued from trash can, dies after 5 months
Dropout rate climbs in Ohio, Ky.
Reds, county near lease
Spanish-language paper launched
Kentucky experiments in electronic education
New center at airport to train pilots
Ohio censors license plates
Road-rage driver may go back to jail
Sexual abuser gets lighter sentence because boy's mother loves him
Lilith Fair collections catch spirit
'Phantom Menace' more than a movie
GET TO IT
Athletes' grades high, district says school says
Bellevue will renovate bridge
Big dreams for Lawrenceburg
Butler Co. finds some park money
Clinton Memorial plans to grow
Cost-cutting may reduce test sites for Walnut Hills
County sees worth of extra sewer work
East-siders protest jail site
Embezzler's sentence suspended
Mason hires Herman's Hermits
New gateway signs beckon visitors
Newport may find new uses for its old pools
Public views sought on jail
Tornado's victims get help from kids' choir
TRISTATE DIGEST
Two resign at Children Services
Winburn expands plan for Over-the-Rhine housing
Woodlawn lands Trane center
Y pool to open despite damage
