Wednesday, March 29, 2000
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Cincinnati State lowers tuition
Students at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College will get a tuition break beginning in September.
The school's board of trustees Tuesday approved a reduction from $62.50 per credit hour to $59 for in-state students; and from $125 to $118 per credit hour for out-of-state students.
The cut complies with legislation passed last year by the Ohio General Assembly requesting two-year colleges to reduce tuition by 5 percent in 2000-2001. Cincinnati State had voluntarily frozen tuition for the past three years.
“This reduction will make Cincinnati State even more affordable for students interested in quality higher education,” said Dr. Ron Wright, Cincinnati State president. He credited the tuition freeze for an 18 percent boost in enrollment over the past three years.
Accused cyclist in good condition
COLERAIN TOWNSHIP — A Mount Healthy man was listed in good condition at University Hospital on Tuesday after he allegedly eluded police and struck a police cruiser with a motorcycle on Interstate 275 Monday evening.
The Hamilton County sheriff's department said Renicul Shawn Kelley, 27, left a Colerain Avenue car dealership on the motorcycle and began driving recklessly.
A sheriff's patrol unit gave chase at Joseph Drive and Colerain. The chase lasted about 15 minutes, ending on the interstate near the Hamilton Avenue exit.
Mr. Kelley was wearing a safety helmet, and no alcohol was involved. He has been charged with failure to comply, resisting arrest and an open misdemeanor warrant.
Nader targets tax breaks for corporations
TOLEDO — Consumer advocate Ralph Nader is taking on cities and states that give tax breaks to big corporations.
Mr. Nader, a Green Party candidate for president, said Tuesday that he will make fighting what he calls “corporate welfare” a major theme in his campaign.
“It's going on all over the country,” he said.
Mr. Nader is leading the charge against tax breaks in Toledo because of the city's deal with
DaimlerChrysler AG — one of the nation's most lucrative packages ever given to a corporation.
A group of Toledo homeowners and small-business owners backed by Mr. Nader filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the city and the automaker. The lawsuit targets a $300 million incentive package given to DaimlerChrysler to keep its Jeep assembly plant in Toledo.
DaimlerChrysler received free land and tax breaks from the state and city. In return, it is spending $600 million on a new plant and another $600 million on refurbishing its existing plant.
Voinovich questions EPA smog standards
WASHINGTON — Sen. George Voinovich accused the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday of wasting money and courting lawsuits by setting smog standards without enough scientific evidence.
Robert Perciasepe, the EPA's assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, did not respond directly to the senator's complaint, which came during a hearing on next year's spending requests for a variety of air pollution programs.
Mr. Perciasepe said the EPA has estimated that the Clean Air Act has produced more benefits than costs, though the exact dollar figures are the subject of internal debate.
“Most of the cities in the United States have cleaner air than they did 10 years ago,” Mr. Perciasepe said.
Some of the EPA's air-cleaning initiatives have led to lengthy litigation, such as the case involving a 1998 regulation aimed at cracking down on emissions from coal-fired electricity plants in the Ohio Valley.
Man is accused of stabbing 4 to death
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — A grand jury Tuesday indicted a man in the stabbing deaths of four family members whose bodies were found in two homes in and near this Ohio River city.
James R. Curry, 42, of suburban New Boston, was charged with four counts of aggravated murder, Scioto County Prosecutor Lynn Grimshaw said. Mr. Curry faces the death penalty if convicted.
The bodies of Emogene Spradlin, 78, and her daughter Pamela Edwards, 52, were found March 19 in the home they shared in the Sciotoville neighborhood of Portsmouth, police said.
The bodies of Lana Spradlin, 35, and her son, Daniel Jones, 9, of Lucasville, were found in Mr. Curry's apartment in New Boston later that day. Ms. Spradlin and the boy were the daughter and grandson of Emogene Spradlin, police said.
Highway patrol closes bribery inquiry
COLUMBUS — The Ohio State Highway Patrol has closed an investigation into allegations that a member of its retirement system board accepted bribes. The patrol said it found no evidence of wrongdoing.
“The investigation revealed that the allegations were not warranted for any criminal prosecution, nor was there any evidence for any criminal wrongdoing,” a patrol spokesman, Sgt. Gary Lewis, said Tuesday.
The allegations were contained in a civil complaint the Securities and Exchange Commission filed Dec. 16 against New York pension fund manager Alan B. Bond and an associate, Robert I. Spruill.
The complaint alleged that an unidentified member of the Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System board received $79,000 in payoffs from an alleged dummy corporation.
Mr. Bond has pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted more than $6.9 million in kickbacks from three brokerage firms.
Mr. Spruill, a registered representative of the brokerages, faces federal charges of conspiracy and bribery.
Dayton disc jockey's death investigated
DAYTON, Ohio — Radio disc jockey Nikki Brooks was found dead in her home, and authorities said Tuesday the death is being investigated as suspicious.
“Brooks” is the on-air name of Kelly Wilson, 29, who had worked at WROU-FM for nearly a year. Her show aired 6 to 10 p.m. on the rhythm and blues station that broadcasts in Dayton and immediate surrounding counties.
Co-workers called the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department when Ms. Wilson failed to report to work Monday night. A deputy found the body in her apartment in suburban Harrison Township.
Man suspects fatal crash was suicide try
FRANKLIN, Ind. — The father of three of the seven people killed in a head-on Morgan County crash thinks his ex-wife may have intentionally caused the tragedy as a suicide attempt, a report Tuesday said.
Vic Kirby, whose former wife drove the wrong way into oncoming traffic on a divided highway southwest of Indianapolis, told the Johnson County Daily Journal that Judy Kirby wanted to prevent him from gaining custody of their children.
He also said Ms. Kirby had been hospitalized for depression within the past two weeks.
Ms. Kirby's mother and sister said that she had psychological problems, but that she never exhibited suicidal tendencies or mentioned killing herself.
Ms. Kirby, 31, one of two survivors of Saturday's crash on Ind. 67 northwest of Martinsville, was in serious condition Tuesday at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.
Mr. Kirby said the couple divorced six years ago and had been in a custody dispute over their five children.
Little progress in battle against cancer
Reds' stadium design whiffs at big chance
Census response depends on trust
New homes planned for Over-the-Rhine
YMCA unveils plans for $32.6 million expansion
Winburn: Join 3 city agencies
Boy, 11, held on rape charge
Man charged after police standoff
Miami dismissed from suit
Pops season celebrates Kunzel's 35 years
Pops' 2000-01 season
The rabbinical wisdom of Isaac M. Wise
Fund-raiser will help cancer victim's family
GET TO IT
Queen City's moments to shine reflected in book
Schaefer leaving Ch. 9 for natural reasons
Communities look at vicious-dog rules
Covington leaders seek college funds
Covington schools prepare for audit
Deaf tots learn to sign and speak
Delhi dad made music history
Designer hired for new city building
Drug strike force got results
Education boards name new members
Environment bill outlasts critics
Kenton Co. OKs opinion on meetings
Larger enterprise zone OK'd for Monroe
Lebanon city councilman quits
Man arraigned in shooting at Franklin plant
Mason basks in hoopla
Miami Twp. sewer update near
Monroe weighs zoning rules
Petitions urge 3 Springboro board members to quit
Police seek suspects in bank robberies within seconds of each other
Police station gets face lift
Police won't sell weapons to outsiders
Refund sought in water deal
Senate beefs up Ky.'s DUI laws
Tort reform on lawmakers' agenda
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