Sunday, April 23, 2000
Tristate digest
Boy, 8, missing since early Saturday
Cincinnati police on Sunday issued a critical missing-person report for an 8-year-old Mount Auburn boy last seen at his home on Saturday morning.
Albert E. Pleasant went outside to care for his dog at 11:30 a.m. and disappeared. He might have with him his dog, a Rottweiler and shepherd mix that is mostly black with white on his chest and paws.
Albert is African-American, 4-feet-8, 80 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a green sweat shirt, black jeans, and brown and black hiking boots, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call District 4 police at 352-3576 or the personal crimes unit at 352-6474.
Teen dies of injuries from warehouse fire
A Friday warehouse fire in Over-the-Rhine claimed its second victim Sunday when 15-year-old David Byran Jr. died at Shriners Burns Institute.
The teen was injured in the morning fire in the 600 block of West McMicken Avenue. He died about 9:30 a.m., a hospital spokesman said. He had been in a loft area above where the fire and explosion occurred.
David Vodde, 28, also was killed in the fire that started inside the auto parts warehouse and repair shop inside a converted brewery.
The fire caused an estimated $150,000 damage.
Robber gets $82 from UDF store
A man stole $82 from a United Dairy Farmers store in Evanston Saturday, Cincinnati police said.
He walked into the store at 3641 Montgomery Road at 3:53 p.m. and handed the clerk a note that read “This is a robbery.”
He then grabbed the money and fled.
Dogs fail to catch robber after chase
A man robbed a KFC restaurant in Avondale on Saturday and eluded police dogs after an eight-block pursuit, Cincinnati police said.
The man entered the business in the 3000 block of Reading Road at 9:10 p.m. and acted as if he had a gun, police said. He took a cash drawer with an undisclosed amount of money.
Man, 65, arrested in knifing incident
LOCKLAND — A 65-year-old Hartwell man was charged Saturday with felonious assault after an incident in which a person was stabbed on the left side of the face, Lockland police said.
Ellis Lewis, of the 8400 block of Woodbine Avenue, was arrested on Walnut Street in Lockland, where the incident occurred. Police say Mr. Lewis and the victim were arguing when Mr. Lewis stabbed the man, causing a large gash on his face.
No information on the identity or the condition of the victim was available.
River cleanup needs volunteers
River Sweep 2000, the largest environmental riverbank cleanup, will be on June 17, a Saturday, along the shorelines of the Ohio, Allegheny, Monongahela, Beaver, Kanawha, and Kentucky rivers.
Volunteers are needed for the sweep, sponsored by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission.
For information, call (800) 359-3977.
Draper to speak at 4C celebration
Sharon Draper, 1997 Teacher of the Year, will speak at the 4C Champions for Children Celebration at 6 p.m. May 1 at the Legacy Banquet and Conference Center, 7617 Reading Road, Roselawn.
Ms. Draper, an English teacher at Walnut Hills High School, will speak on the importance of early care and education. She retired April 1.
Reservations can be made by calling 221-0033, ext. 318. The deadline is April 28. Cost is $30.
Chief reviews effect of rights settlement
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — The city police chief has acknowledged that negotiating a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations of civil rights abuses by police helped strengthen his force.
But Chief Jerry McCartney still maintains that city officials should have refused to sign the settlement — called a consent decree — in which they promised to correct problems in the training, supervision and discipline of officers.
Unlike Steubenville, Columbus officials refused to sign a consent decree. The Justice Department then sued Columbus, making it the first city in the nation to challenge a federal lawsuit that alleges a pattern of civil rights violations by a police department.
“I can't give the Columbus police and the (Fraternal Order of Police) any more credit just for doing what they're doing — just for the simple reason I don't think there's any pattern of abuse here in Steubenville,” Chief McCartney said.
But, Chief McCartney admitted: “There's things in that consent decree I really appreciate and like.”
Finance loopholes bring call for change
COLUMBUS — A recently uncovered scheme to trade access to top state officials for big political donations is only one of many loopholes in Ohio's campaign finance laws and has state leaders talking reform, a newspaper reported Sunday.
“We need to fundamentally change the way we conduct the people's business,” said Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. “The people's confidence in the political and legislative process is at an all-time low. Government needs to be more transparent.”
Ohio lawmakers established campaign contribution limits in 1995. But the law is convoluted and allows many to take advantage of the system, the Columbus Dispatch said in a story published Sunday.
Gov. Bob Taft recently has been criticized for his role in recruiting members to an exclusive club that promised invitations to a reception at the governor's mansion and other gatherings at taxpayer-owned sites in exchange for at least a $25,000 pledge.
In response, Mr. Taft and other statewide officeholders, such as House Speaker Jo Ann Davison, R-Reynoldsburg, have called for the full disclosure of all donations.
Testing of newborns criticized as slow AKRON — Frustrated parents say newborns with rare disorders are made even more sick and uncomfortable because the Ohio Department of Health takes too long to screen them for diseases.
The health department said it plans to move to around-the-clock testing, but some parents were skeptical about that pledge.
Benjamin Taylor, now 2, almost died when he was nine days old because his doctors had to wait a week to receive results of his blood test.
Benjamin later was diagnosed with galactosemia, a rare disorder in which his body didn't have the enzymes it needed to digest the natural sugar in milk, which his parents had been feeding him without knowing that it made him ill.
A state law also forces doctors to wait 48 hours to take a blood sample.
Bank robbers not the usual
Drug firm faces suit by diabetic
Neighbors rail against trains
Neighbors retrieve gosling
Stumped by the Stooges
Results of our e-poll
Fence didn't prevent death
Late-night emergency room caters to injured pet patients
Lilies can have cats pushing up daisies
Suspect crashes into police car
Flaming Lips just kiss off rock
Games proposed to lessen tensions
Kidnapping suspect to be moved to Ky.
Safety is teens' driving force
School may need 8 trailers to fit rising enrollment
Silverton assesses future of city pool
Skeleton found near river on Ky. side
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Queen City's moments to shine reflected in book
Tristate digest
