Thursday, September 02, 1999
TRISTATE DIGEST
Fisherman finds body near creek
A fisherman found a severely decomposed body Wednesday evening near a creek in Clermont County's Monroe Township.
The body is thought to be a woman's, Clermont County Coroner Nick Capurro said, because it was found wearing a necklace and a set of earrings. But the body was too decomposed to know for sure, he said.
A man fishing in a creek off Ohio 222 near East Fork State Park found the body wrapped in an unspecified material about 6:35 p.m., the coroner said. It was taken to the Hamilton County coroner's office for an autopsy.
All authorities were sure of Wednesday was that the body had been dead for a long time, the coroner said.
“It was in an advanced stage of decomposition,” he said. “It will take a long and complicated process to find out who she is, and we don't know yet how she died.”
The Clermont County sheriff's department declined to comment.
Group: Ohio schools still funded unequally
COLUMBUS — The state has fallen far short of complying with an Ohio Supreme Court order to fix the way it funds its public schools, a coalition of districts that successfully sued the state told the court Wednesday.
The Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, representing most of Ohio's 611 districts, filed a brief in the state's appeal of a lower court ruling that the legislature had not complied with the Supreme Court's 1997 ruling. The state has 20 days to respond.
The Supreme Court ruled that Ohio's funding system was unconstitutional because it did not provide a “thorough and efficient” education for every child. The court said the system relies too heavily on local property taxes, creating disparities among the districts.
The legislature responded with a series of laws that increase basic per-pupil funding, set aside money for school construction, and hold schools and students to higher standards.
But the coalition argued that the system remains tilted toward property taxes and that the money going for schools is not enough.
Perry County Common Pleas Judge Linton Lewis ruled in February that the state had not complied with the Supreme Court order, and the state appealed the ruling.
Good Samaritan tops in neonatal care study
The neonatal intensive care unit at Good Samaritan Hospital has earned high marks in a national study of treatment outcomes for premature, underweight infants.
The annual study, released in late August by the Vermont/Oxford Network, is one of two major independent reviews of neonatal care. It compared 244 high-risk neonatal units in the United States and 10 other nations.
Good Samaritan did better than 94 percent of hospitals in the study at controlling infections; better than 91 percent of hospitals at keeping a low mortality rate; and had a shorter average length of stay than 88 percent of neonatal units.
National walkathon benefits Freedom Center
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and National Conference for Community and Justice on Wednesday announced their first freedom walkathon, called Walk as One.
The walkathon will be Oct. 23. Organizers hope to attract more than 1,000 people.
“The event is unique because it will be one of the first walkathons in the nation to be deliberately designed to bring people of different races together — to walk as one,” said Ed Rigaud, president and chief executive of the Freedom Center.
The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) initiated the idea of the Freedom Center in 1994 and is coordinating the walkathon.
Locally, the walkathon's 6-mile course will pass historic sites of the Underground Railroad and the abolitionist movement in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The event will be held in 11 cities nationally.
Half the local proceeds will benefit NCCJ youth programs. The other half will benefit the Freedom Center's educational programs.
For information, call Anne Kindt Allen at 381-4660.
Former biker gang leader pleads guilty
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The former head of a motorcycle gang that allegedly ran a five-state drug, gambling and theft ring pleaded guilty Wednesday to racketeering charges.
Paul Jones, former president of the Avengers Motorcycle Club's chapter in Elyria, Ohio, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, a court clerk said Wednesday.
His plea came the day after Howard Dick, the club's former vice president, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for having seven drug charges against him dropped, according to Mr. Dick's plea agreement.
Mr. Dick, who could have been sentenced to 23 years in prison, now faces three years. Sentencing for both men will be in January, the clerk's office said.
Man posing as baron sentenced in bank theft
CLEVELAND — A bank clerk who passed himself off as an eastern European baron was sentenced to 11/2 years in prison for stealing $500,000 from a bank to support his jet-setting lifestyle.
U.S. District Judge Donald C. Nugent sentenced Richard D. Kryza, 40, of Painesville, Ohio, on Tuesday and ordered him to make restitution to KeyBank of Cleveland.
Both prosecutors and Mr. Kryza's attorney said Mr. Kryza was suffering from delusions caused by untreated mental illness.
Authorities said Mr. Kryza had been obsessed with the British royal family since he was an eighth-grader studying English history. He collected speeches by Queen Elizabeth II and hundreds of pictures of her and her family.
Mr. Kryza fashioned himself as a baron from Bohemia and Moravia and lived the high life by taking trips to London on the Concorde, eating fancy meals and staying at the Ritz hotel, authorities said.
He also donated up to $20,000 to the Monarch Leagues of Australia and Canada and to the queen.
Man sentenced after baby ingested cocaine
RAVENNA, Ohio — A man who stored cocaine in the baby swing of his 6-month-old daughter was sentenced to a year in prison for child endangering.
The girl ate some of the drug but was treated in time to prevent any damage.
Christopher Stockman, 21, of Kent, was sentenced Monday in Portage County Common Pleas Court after pleading guilty in March.
The baby was admitted to Robinson Memorial Hospital on Sept. 29 after the mother noticed a white powder around the baby's mouth.
Riverfront designers may take cue from Louisville
Sheriff filed dozens of lawsuits
Sheriff Leis no stranger to political controversy
Whose fault is it when we lose doctors?
Ex-Miami students found not guilty
Riverfest solution may be the bus
Labor Day is summer's final 'full party time'
Study links gene with blood clots
Subpoenas issued over Booth residence
Insurers win in legal opinion
Mahoney case puts focus on DUI law
Teacher union wants to recruit for CPS
Emissions tests start after 5-year delay
Second hidden pregnancy causes family new anguish
Slices of not-so-ordinary life in Northern Ky.
Airport operators plead guilty
Arrest no solace to victim's family
Cincinnati SAT verbal score rises
City officials woo Chabot
Clogged Ky. 16 defies easy fixes
Orange barrels demand a polka
Sculpture takes viewers online
Naked Cowboy gets even more exposure
GET TO IT
Governor's race prime political entertainment
Acclaim for Middletown 'dynamo'
Arlington mayor race heating up
Boone development: Draw a line?
Burglary call leads to marijuana drug bust
Cleveland suburb starts writing tickets for phoning while driving
College math hard for grads
Deters: Turn tobacco pact into cash
Fairfield to conduct citizens police course
Ludlow mayor denied his say
School cafeteria's gone; cafe is in
TRISTATE DIGEST
Upcoming: updated uptown Oxford
Volunteers labor to finish park
