Monday, July 10, 2000
Tristate digest
Lottery welcomes new game Saturday
Tickets are on sale for the Ohio Lottery's new Super Lotto Plus, which replaces Super Lotto.
The first drawing is Saturday. There will be no Wednesday drawing, lottery officials say, so they have extra time to test the new game.
Super Lotto Plus allows players to choose six numbers out of a field of 49, vs. a field of 47 in the old game. The cost per wager remains at $1.
Lottery officials draw six numbers, and then draw a Bonus Ball from the remaining numbers. Players who match the first six numbers drawn win the jackpot, which starts at $4 million and increases at least $1 million after each drawing.
The Bonus Ball can increase the award for those who match three, four, or five numbers.
“The odds of the new game will be approximately 1 in 13 million,” said Acting Lottery Director Dennis Kennedy. “The overall odds of winning any of the prizes offered will be 1 in 451, as opposed to 1 in 856 (for Super Lotto).”
This should mean more winners, he said.
Springfield officer critical after shooting
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — A police officer was shot and critically wounded Saturday night in this west-central Ohio city.
Police Lt. John Davey identified the wounded officer as Douglas Pergram.
The 28-year-old was in critical condition Sunday at Springfield's Mercy Medical Center. Officer Pergram is married and has one child.
Police Chief David Walters said the officer suffered three wounds.
The shooting followed an 8 p.m. traffic stop. Thomas Lemaster, 50, has been charged with attempted murder in connection with the shooting, Lt. Davey said.
Part of wildlife refuge also a bombing range
MADISON, Ind. — If you wander into Indiana's newest wildlife refuge on the wrong day, you may get hit by a bomb.
A large part of a bombing range north of Madison has been dedicated as the Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge, but the public can go there only on Mondays and Fridays beginning July 17, plus every other Saturday.
The Air Force will use 1,038 acres in the center of the refuge for bombing practice, said Lee Herzberger, the refuge manager.
Allowing the bombing runs to continue was a key to resolving negotiations among the Army, the Air Force and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which dedicated the refuge Saturday.
The property is home to more than 200 species of birds, 41 of fish, 40 of mammals, 24 of amphibians and 18 of reptiles.
Bodyguard plan for superintendent opposed
COLUMBUS — Plans to provide Columbus Public Schools Superintendent Rosa Smith with taxpayer-funded bodyguards go beyond measures to protect other public officials such as prosecutors and judges, officials said.
“The taxpayers should be screaming,” Sam Cicchino, chief deputy U.S. marshal for central and southern Ohio, told The Columbus Dispatch for a story Sunday. If the school board hires full-time security for Ms. Smith, “they're overreacting.”
The Columbus Board of Education voted 5-2 to allocate money to screen candidates as part of a plan to hire two full-time bodyguards for Ms. Smith.
The superintendent received death threats after removing two administrators for allegedly falsifying documents. She has been under 24-hour protection since March 7, six days after someone made a threatening phone call.
Mr. Cicchino, who is in charge of protecting federal court officials in Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton, said hiring bodyguards for Ms. Smith is an unusual response to an anonymous death threat and might not prove effective.
Gov. Bob Taft and Mayor Michael Coleman are the only officials in Columbus who are assigned personal-security details that are publicly funded.
Indiana Black Expo to be renamed
INDIANAPOLIS — The 30th Summer Celebration that Indiana Black Expo will kick off today in Indianapolis will be its last under that name.
The organization will announce before year's end that it is renaming the event the African American Family Summit in hopes of making Indianapolis a national “focal point” to address issues confronting black families, said the Rev. Charles Williams, president of the group.
The Summer Celebration, billed as the largest exposition of its kind focused on the black American community, will run through July 16, drawing hundreds of thousands of participants to conferences, concerts, health and job fairs and other sessions.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson will discuss the state of black Americans on a national and world scale today at a 7 p.m. ecumenical service at Light of the World Christian Church on East 38th Street.
Two stained-glass windows stolen
Two stained-glass windows valued at $9,000 were stolen from a home in Avondale, Cincinnati police said.
The theft occurred at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the 3400 block of Hartford Street, officers said.
Man shot in leg in Over-the-Rhine
A man was shot in the leg at 11:27 p.m. Saturday while walking in the 1300 block of Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati police said. The 51-year-old victim was transported to University Hospital, where his injury was not considered life-threatening, police added.
Rape, theft reported in Kennedy Heights
Cincinnati police Sunday investigated a reported rape and theft at a Kennedy Heights home.
A woman who lives in the 6600 block of Montgomery Road said a man knocked on her door at 11:30 p.m. Thursday, saying he wanted to talk to her. When she opened the door, the woman said, he forced his way in and was carrying a knife. She said he raped her and took $200, according to police.
No description of the suspect was available.
Sayler Park man charged in attacks
A Sayler Park man was charged Saturday with rape and gross sexual imposition in connection with attacks from June 12, 1998 to July 3, Cincinnati District 3 police said.
Larry Mondary, 28, of the 6900 block of Gracely Drive, was arrested on three counts in each of the alleged offenses. Rape is a first-degree felony, gross sexual imposition a third-degree felony.
Population decline may cost city its status
NELSONVILLE, Ohio — This southeast Ohio city faces financial pitfalls if its population goes down with the count.
Nelsonville's population in the 2000 U.S. Census must be at least 5,000 or the city about 60 miles southeast of Columbus would decline to a village.
A loss of city status would decimate the Athens County city's annual capital improvements budget of $240,000, and take away guaranteed federal funds for schools, health care, roads, and law enforcement.
Nelsonville also would have to compete for local block grants with other villages. Cities are guaranteed the money.
Church breaks silence on AIDS
Experts: Gas prices likely to slide to $1.35 a gallon
New bridge connection a concern
Heart receivers express thanks
2 shootings leave two men dead
Fire injures 4, limits access to Cincinnati Zoo
Jobs, and a slice of Americana
Landlord gets tenants to safety in Avondale fire
She learned firefighting from the inside
Antiques grace MainStrasse
Hetfield-less Metallica turns concert into karaoke
Ky. Speedway's tune: Hard rock, no problem
Results of our news poll
Veteran celebrated in Italy
Youth programs get $18,300 boost
Chamber's fund-raiser beats goal
Demolition derbies a fair hit
Fairfield wants grads at home
GE union OKs deal
Golf to be played for fund-raiser
Hamilton city offices moving
Pig Parade: She's a Honey
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