Wednesday, April 19, 2000
TRISTATE A.M. REPORT
Rape suspect's case goes to adult court
HAMILTON — A Butler County grand jury will consider whether to indict an 18-year-old man in the rape of a 2-year-old girl who was left in his care.
After a hearing Tuesday in the county's Juvenile Court, Judge David J. Niehaus found enough evidence to transfer the case to the adult court system.
The suspect, Joshua Edward Hale, was a juvenile at the time of the alleged offense in June 1999. He turned 18 earlier this month.
Mr. Hale in January began serving a seven-year prison term for felonious assault and improperly discharging a firearm into a residence. Police reports say he fired a gun into a Franklin home while the 2-year-old girl, her father and two other people were inside.
That offense occurred while Mr. Hale was under investigation for allegedly raping the child at the Middletown apartment he shared with the child's mother, police said.
The girl suffered internal injuries as a result of sexual assault, witnesses told the court Tuesday, causing her to bleed into her diapers. Witnesses were unable to say what object was used to cause the injuries.
Mr. Hale also faces a vandalism charge for allegedly kicking out the window of a Butler County sheriff's cruiser when he was arrested on the night of the shooting.
SCPA wants to use Emery Theatre
The School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) has expressed interest in using the to-be-restored Emery Theatre as a venue for up to 30 performances a year.
The 963-student magnet school in nearby Pendleton is part of the Cincinnati Public School district, and its current theater accommodates only 500.
School Principal Jeffrey J. Brokamp has toured the 1,700-seat Emery and reviewed restoration plans, and said that “a grand old facility such as the Emery Theatre” would be perfectly suited for fund-raising galas, musicals and other concerts.
The 89-year-old theater at 1112 Walnut St. is in the midst of a $27.5 million restoration that includes creating 62 apartments and rehabilitating the theater.
The housing is to be completed by next spring, and the theater is scheduled for completion within five years.
Beth Sullebarger, executive director of the Emery Center Corp., also said she is interested in pursuing such a collaboration with the Greater Cincinnati Arts Education Center.
Cincinnati Pops Conductor Erich Kunzel has proposed the arts campus for Over-the-Rhine, either as a charter school or a consolidation of SCPA and Schiel Primary School for Arts Enrichment.
Drug area sweep ends in 10 arrests
Neighbors' complaints of drug activity led police Monday night to a crackdown that ended in 10 arrests.
Cincinnati Police Division officers undercover, in uniform and on bicycles focused on areas of Madisonville and Kennedy Heights. They recovered four rocks of crack totaling 2.37 grams, 0.31 grams of marijuana and $1,295.
The 10 people arrested were charged with offenses from having open flasks to aggravated drug trafficking.
Girl, 7, burned playing with lighter
HAMILTON — A 7-year-old girl was in fair condition Tuesday at Shriners Burns Institute in Cincinnati after her dress caught on fire at her Hamilton home.
Ennana Dillow suffered burns to her arms and torso. Police said she was playing with a cigarette lighter at about 8 p.m. Monday at her home in the 2200 block of Pleasant Avenue. Her mother was in another room.
Grant buys housing, training for homeless
A Cincinnati shelter for homeless veterans was awarded $197,574 by the federal government for an employment and training program.
The Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries Rehabilitation Center received one of 43 grants from the U.S. Department of Labor totaling more than $8.2 million.
The grants are the largest number ever offered under the department's Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Project.
The rehabilitation center serves veterans in the Cincinnati area. It will use the grant to enroll 140 homeless veterans and provide employment and housing assistance.
The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates their number exceeds 275,000 on any given night and twice that number experience homelessness over the course of a year. At least 60 percent of the nation's homeless men are veterans, advocates say.
Butler sheriff will chat online
HAMILTON — Butler County Sheriff Harold Don Gabbard is having an Internet chat session tonight.
It is 7 to 8 p.m. at www.butlersheriff.org.
Instructions for participating in the chat session are on the home page of the Web site.
Chat room doors will open at 6:45 p.m., and space is limited.
A transcript of the chat will be available Thursday.
This is the first in what the sheriff hopes will be a monthly series of chat sessions.
For more information, call the sheriff's office at 887-3640.
24 at G.E. plant share lottery pot
CLEVELAND — A group of 24 workers at the G.E. Lighting plant here claimed one of two winning tickets sold in a $32 million Super Lotto drawing, the Ohio Lottery said Tuesday.
The winners chose the cash option for the April 12 drawing and will receive a lump sum payment of about $5.1 million after federal and state taxes. Each of the winners will receive about $213,350 after taxes.
“We've been playing the lottery for about 10 years and we got lucky,” said Mark Higginbotham, one of the winners.
T&J Market in Willowick, which sold the ticket, will split a $10,000 sales bonus with Gene's Drive Thru in Clyde, which sold the other winning ticket.
The jackpot of March 15's $20 million Super Lotto drawing was claimed Tuesday by Rosemary C. Serra, a Massillon attorney acting as trustee for the WOLT Blind Trust. A blind trust allows winners to claim a prize without publicly disclosing their names.
Superintendent gets praise and a job
DAYTON, Ohio — Fifteen speakers were enough to convince the city's school board that interim Superintendent Jerrie Bascome McGill should be awarded the job permanently.
Just 90 minutes before picking Ms. McGill on Monday, the school board had voted 4-3 to exclude her — once again — as a finalist.
But after audience members criticized that decision, the board went into a closed meeting and emerged with word that Ms. McGill was their choice for superintendent.
Falling concrete injures 3 workers
DAYTON, Ohio — A concrete slab fell Tuesday at a downtown building under renovation, injuring three workers.
The slab had to be moved to free one worker, fire Lt. John Combs said.
Two were in serious condition at Miami Valley Hospital. The third was being treated at Franciscan Medical Center.
Their names and information about their injuries were not immediately available.
Auditor confident she'll beat charge
Traffic stop ends in fatal shooting
Building a bridge between faiths
Lebanon, state in tiff over retirement buyouts
Local patient gets latest in pacemakers
Monroe expected to OK Hustler store
Paul Brown Stadium deemed fund hog
Local filmmaker's 'Golem' ready at last
AM REPORT
'Angel' won't fall from lineup
Answers sought after Hilltop fire
Book helps own ers master canine communication
CCM's theater season stresses art of diversity
Commission: Education should be the focus over politics
Get to it
Great Danes, rescuers need aid months after fire
Just 1 remains on MRDD board
Learning project brings new building
Legal Aid Society gets $350,000 grant approval
Library wins parking spaces
Middletown OKs golf-fee increase
Monroe board sets open enrollment priorities
Nearly all CCM season created in '90s
Proffitt returning to Ohio
Students study a river's life forms
Suspect can't recall shooting
Teen charged in death of friend
Teen saves sister, self from fire
Volunteer groups honored for 'making a difference'
Queen City's moments to shine reflected in book
