Wednesday, February 16, 2000
TRISTATE DIGEST
p8 Metro, union reach tentative agreement
Metro's 763 union employees, which include bus drivers and mechanics, Tuesday reached a tentative agreement on a new contract.
Richard O'Reilly, president and business manager of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 627, said the tentative agreement, which includes salary increases and benefits, will be read to the members today and will be voted upon Thursday. The contract agreement was unanimously approved by the union's executive committee, he said.
The union's contract with Metro expired Jan. 31, but the members are working under the terms of that contract while negotiations continue, said Sallie Hilvers, Metro spokeswoman.
Contracts are negotiated every three years. The last Metro strike was in February 1988.
Fired officer alleges his drug problem ignored
A former Cincinnati police officer sued his doctor and several police officials Tuesday, claiming they did nothing to help him stop taking drugs.
Willie Ray Jones, 49, lost his job in 1998 after he was charged with using deception to obtain a dangerous drug. He later entered a drug-treatment program. The suit, filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, seeks back pay and damages of $250,000.
Mr. Jones, an officer since 1986, began taking prescription pain medication following an on-the-job injury to his neck in 1989. In his lawsuit, he argues that his supervisors and doctor should have been aware of his drug problem but did nothing to help him.
Mr. Jones claims in his suit that his rights were violated because his supervisors failed to provide “treatment opportunities” for his drug problem.
Family's auction to aid Tay-Sachs research
The family of a boy who captured the hearts of Greater Cincinnatians before his early death from Tay-Sachs disease will hold a charity auction in April.
Kyle Spencer Hesselbrock, 2, of Deerfield Township, died in July from the rare, deadly disease. Before his death, and since, family members have worked to raise thousands of dollars in the battle against the disease.
To continue their fund-raising efforts, family members, with the help of the National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association Inc., will sponsor a charity auction at 8 a.m. April 15 at 8920 Beckett Road in Butler County's Union Township.
Officials are soliciting donations of new or used items for the auction. Household goods, tools, exercise equipment, and business and restaurant services are needed. For information, call Spencer Traub at 683-7486.
Chemical spill closes Warren Co. rest stop
TURTLECREEK TWP. — A chemical spill Tuesday evening at an Interstate 71 rest stop in War ren County prompted authorities to close the rest stop, near Ohio 123.
Hydrobromic acid leaked from a tractor-trailer rig at the northbound stop about 5:30 p.m., the Ohio State Highway Patrol said. The rest stop was expected to remain closed overnight.
The driver of the truck was taken to Middletown Regional Hospital for treatment of inhalation of fumes, the patrol said. No other injuries were reported.
The chemical is toxic, and inhalation, ingestion or skin contact may cause serious injury or death, the patrol said. The chemical is nonflammable.
The patrol, the Environmental Protection Agency and a hazardous-materials unit were on the scene handling the cleanup.
The spill also prompted the closing of the right lane of northbound I-71 near the rest stop.
Coast Guard auxiliary offers seamanship course The Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 5-4 will present a seven-week Sailing and Seamanship Course beginning 7 p.m. Thursday at the Scarlet Oaks Career Development Campus, 3254 E. Kemper Road, Sharonville.
The course is free. To register, call Charlie Heckman at 251-2111.
Life term recommended in deaths of woman, fetus
TOLEDO — A jury recommended life in prison without the chance of parole Tuesday for a man convicted of killing his longtime girlfriend and their unborn son.
Jurors could have recommended Terrance Davis be sentenced to death. Death penalty experts think it would have been the first time someone in Ohio was sentenced to death in the killing of a fetus.
Judge Ronald Bowman of Lucas County Common Pleas Court will make a final ruling Friday on whether to accept the jury's recommendation.
Mr. Davis was convicted Saturday of murdering Sonya Hayes and the fetus.
With the conviction, jurors determined the fetus that was just days from being born was a viable person — a decision needed to trigger the death penalty.
To get the death sentence in Ohio, a person must be convicted of killing at least two people or killing someone while committing a specified felony such as aggravated robbery or arson.
Ms. Hayes was sitting in her car outside the Davis house when a man wearing a mask shot her six times March 31. She died a few hours after the baby.
Ohio's law says a fetus should be considered a person when “there is realistic possibility of maintaining and nourishing of a life outside the womb.”
The law was changed in 1996 after a campaign by a Middletown man whose wife and unborn son were killed in a car wreck. In 1997, a Cincinnati woman was the first person convicted under the law after causing a car accident that killed a woman and her unborn son.
Stadium bill up $14.3M
County bears main blame in stadium fiasco
Stadium a big political problem for Bedinghaus
Who's who on the stadium team
Child alerts take to airwaves
Officer in cruiser shootout retires
Schools get large part of tobacco settlement
City defends support for development group
Collegians find politics and fun can be good mix
Auto Expo opens today at convention center
Drug officers fan out at banks
Hotel-tax hike gains backer
Queen City's moments to shine reflected in book
'Oprah' slips in Tristate ratings
Oscar nominees hold surprises
Complete list of Oscar nominations
GET TO IT
Appeals court OKs peculiar use of jury
Attempted fraud lands 3rd perpetrator in prison
Audience appreciates Cowboy Junkies' pace
Butler chips in $3M to revamp mall
Cathedrals, universities called forces in cities
Clermont County goes all out to mark 200th
Computer technician indicted on porn charges
F. Lee Bailey says Sheppard fought 2
First-graders learn to sign
Insurer backs off cancer payments
Kentucky venture investments possible
Lincoln Heights considers new truck-ban ordinance
Man pleads guilty to child porn
Mason fire chief hurt at rescue scene
Offers made on old toys
Politicking gets cop suspended
School bus drivers defy union
Schools to aid health outreach
Slain man was naked and bound
Track condition stops the train
TRISTATE DIGEST
Victim's family helps killer avoid death
Warren officials question purchases
Woodlawn manager quits
