Monday, March 13, 2000
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Man, grandson escape Avondale house fire
Fire badly damaged a home on Northern Avenue in Avondale on Sunday morning.
Two people — a man and his toddler grandson — escaped the two-alarm fire unharmed, said Cincinnati District Chief Chris Corbett. Their identities were not available.
But the blaze caused $65,000 damage to the house and $5,000 damage to the house next door. It took firefighters about an hour to put it out. The cause was likely careless cigarette smoking, Chief Corbett said.
Ohio State students blamed for graffiti
COLUMBUS — Prosecutors and police say much of the graffiti decorating walls and other outdoor spaces throughout the city isn't from vandals, but students at Ohio State University and the Columbus College of Art and Design.
It's not clear how many of the graffiti artists are students because the Franklin County Municipal Court clerk's office has been unable to provide accurate statistics on the number of cases prosecuted.
“I can't quantify it through statistics, but a large number are OSU students or ex-OSU students,” said Bill Hedrick, an assistant city prosecutor.
Lelia Cady, an aide to City Councilwoman Maryellen O'Shaughnessy, said last week that she called Ohio State's vice president for student affairs, David Williams III, to ask that the university explain the city's penalties for graffiti during freshman orientation.
Cat rescue leads to drug arrests
WESTERVILLE, Ohio — A cat in a fire pit brought the heat down on two residents.
Stephen Neff, 33, and Kelly Todd, 24, were arrested Friday after firefighters responding to their call to rescue a cat from the chimney found evidence of drug activity and called police in this Columbus suburb.
Police reported finding a garden of marijuana plants being cultivated under the house's crawl space. Nearly 200 plants were recovered along with drug paraphernalia, Lt. Joseph Morbitzer said.
The pair were charged with a felony count of marijuana cultivation. The investigation continues.
Commuter rail route in Cleveland studied CLEVELAND — A regional planning agency has hired a consultant to study seven proposed commuter rail routes in northeast Ohio.
The rail routes to be studied extend from Cleveland to Conneaut, Aurora, Canton, Medina, Lorain, Kent and Amherst. Trains would stop in other communities along the way.
A $1 million study released last year selected the seven routes from 39 in a nine-county area. That study said the routes were “marginally feasible” but merited further study.
The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency agreed Friday to the study, which is expected to cost about $625,000.
Kucinich urges review of pending hospital sale
CLEVELAND — U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich enlisted the House Judiciary Committee chairman in an appeal Saturday for an antitrust review of the pending sale and partial shutdown of St. Michael Hospital.
Primary Health Systems Inc., of Wayne, Pa., plans to sell the Cleveland hospital to the Cleveland Clinic. The research hospital plans to end inpatient care at St. Michael and maintain some outpatient services.
Mr. Kucinich, D-Ohio, and Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., the judiciary committee chairman, said they wanted to protect “a competitive health care marketplace in the Cleveland metropolitan area.”
PHS said last Monday that it planned to close St. Michael and Mt. Sinai Medical Center-East in suburban Richmond Heights. On Friday, Mayor Michael R. White signed an agreement to maintain limited services at St. Michael.
Last month, PHS closed Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Cleveland. PHS has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization since last March.
PHS spokesman Edward Nebb said Saturday night that no objections to the St. Michael sale had been raised by the U.S. Justice Department during a three-week review period that ended March 1.
Clinic spokesman Mark Cohen declined comment on the antitrust issue.
Gary diocese to cut debt for eight groups
GARY, Ind. — Citing a strong economy and the principle of stewardship, the Catholic Diocese of Gary said it will reduce or forgive debts of $2.8 million for eight parishes and institutions.
Diocese spokesman Brian Olszewski said the gesture will help churches and church groups move forward and create new programs, despite debts incurred through low enrollment and operational costs.
Water treatment overhaul called for
INDIANAPOLIS — Months after a massive fish kill in Indiana's White River, thousands of wastewater treatment plant operators are calling for an overhaul of their certification program.
The operators, who treat human sewage and industrial chemical wastes before they are discharged into rivers and streams, are demanding standards that specifically define their duties, exams that measure their skills and more rigorous enforcement of rules.
About 3,050 operators are certified in Indiana through the Department of Environmental Management.
A contaminant killed more than 90 tons of fish in the White River from Anderson to Indianapolis in mid-December. State officials are still investigating, but they suspect Guide Corp., an auto parts maker in Anderson, discharged a chemical into the city's treatment plant. Guide has denied responsibility.
New headstones for Civil War veterans
KENDALLVILLE, Ind. — Two Civil War veterans whose headstones had been eroded over time have received new marble markers — the first in an effort to replace all damaged or missing gravestones of Civil War and War of 1812 veterans buried in Noble County.
Cpl. J.L. Deuel, who fought at Gettysburg, received a new marble headstone Saturday. A marble marker was placed at the grave of Melvin Boggs, who served in the 152nd Indiana Infantry, days
earlier.
There are 85 cemeteries in the county and the project is expected to take several years. So far, 26 headstones have been delivered.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is supplying the grave markers for free.
Man gets out of prison, arrested on new charges
KNOX, Ind. — A man convicted of neglect for chaining his son in a small closet and feeding him soap and hot sauce left prison Saturday, only to be reincarcerated in a county jail pending other charges against him.
Joseph Grad was transferred without incident to Starke County Jail on Saturday, said Sharon Hawk, administrative assistant to the superintendent at Westville.
Mr. Grad had been scheduled for early release from Westville after earning good-time credit and a GED behind bars. His release — just 18 months into a 41/2-year prison sentence for neglect and other charges — had sparked a public outcry.
Mr. Grad faces five felony charges related to child molesting.
The new charges accuse Mr. Grad and his former wife, Carmen Grad, of allowing a 13-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy to have sex in their home in 1997 and 1998.
The girl gave birth to a son in March 1998, prosecutors said.
Schools work to salvage students
Garages, not lots best bet for our pennies
Buchanan back on campaign trail
Weather smiles on parade
Worst, best schools got levies
Cammys carry on
Center funding on shaky ground
Deerfield considers police force
Farmers' opinions to be heard during Tristate April hearing
Lebanon shapes party plans
Medical waste unwanted
Agreement reached on flags at state capitol
Area-made indie film lands veteran actor
Rescuers learned lesson in Colorado
Hate letters' association with church in question
Baby-death study questioned
Queen City's moments to shine reflected in book
Support wanes for proficiency testing
Traffic stop reveals Mo. robbery warrant
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