Christmas tree needed for square

        Downtown Council is looking for a Christmas tree to place on Fountain Square for the holidays.

        But it can't be just any tree. It must be a blue or green spruce with short needles, less than 25 feet tall and with a trunk less than 12 inches in diameter.

        The council will have the tree professionally removed and replanted in an area park after the holiday season.

        It must be in a front yard, accessible by crane, clear of utility lines and have a 10-foot radius for digging.

        The tree will be lighted during Light Up the Square on Nov. 24. Anyone wishing to donate should call Todd Bucher at 579-3111.
       

Police arrest 23 in prostitution sting

        Cincinnati police officers, responding to complaints from residents about prostitution in Over-the-Rhine, arrested 23 people Wednesday night and early Thursday morning in a sting.

        Ten officers from District 1 and the police division's Community Oriented Policing and Criminal Apprehension teams posed as female prostitutes and men looking to buy sex. They arrested 23 men and women, according to Lt. Stephen Wilger, commander of the initiative.

        Among those arrested was a woman who is eight months pregnant. All were charged with solicitation.

UC to honor philanthropist Tytus

        Indian Hill philanthropist Margo Tytus will be honored today for half a century of service to the University of Cincinnati.

        The classics department is naming a visiting scholars program for her.

        In 1953, Mrs. Tytus became an adviser to the Charles Phelps Taft Memorial Fund that this year will provide almost $1 million to 10 UC departments and their students, library purchases, conferences, lectures and publications.

        Three years later, she joined the board of trustees that administers the Taft fund and the separate Louise Taft Semple Fund dedicated to the classics department.

        The new Tytus program will support visiting scholars for one to nine months so they can use the classics department library.

        Charles Phelps Taft was a publisher of the Cincinnati Times-Star. Mrs. Tytus is a granddaughter of a brother of Mr. Taft.
       

Endowment begun in bishop's name

Rev. Thompson

        The social justice work of the late Episcopal Bishop Roger W. Blanchard will receive another boost Saturday.The Right Rev. Herbert Thompson Jr., current bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio, will award $250,000 to the Bishop Blanchard Endowment Fund at the Procter Conference Center in London, Ohio.

        The gift will aid the Episcopal Community Services Foundation, which provides seed money to local churches for community service projects. The gift is the first in a $7 million endowment campaign for the fund.

        The $250,000 gift is one of six awards totaling more $4 million distributed by Bishop Thompson this year.

Luken asks for less for chamber expenses

        Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken is asking that the city give $27,000 to the African American Chamber of Commerce for furniture and computers.

        That is substantially less than the $100,000 sought by the chamber for office equipment and to hire at least three employees.

        City Council has questioned whether the chamber should be awarded money outside the budget process. The chamber has requested $246,000 from city budgets in 2001 and in 2002.

        The $27,000 would be separate from that. Mr. Luken said “hard costs,” such as furniture, should be funded now — but not money for personnel, which could lead the chamber to ask for more money during the budget process.
       

Caracole to show housing for needy

        Caracole Inc. will hold an open house Tuesday for its recently completed housing project for people with AIDS and substance-abuse problems.

        The Caracole Recovery Community opened earlier this year to provide counseling, life-skills training and housing for clients. For more information about the program, call 761-1480.
       

Bones may be those of early settlers

        SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The skeletal remains of two people unearthed by a man digging a trench are possibly those of early settlers, authorities said Thursday.

        The bones were discovered Tuesday night by a man building a home on the property east of this western Ohio city. The remains were found about 3 feet deep.

        Lt. Russell Garman, of the Clark County sheriff's office, said an anthropologist concluded that the bones were remains of an adult and teen-ager.

        Lt. Garman said the remains would be reburied where they were found.
       

Teachers cleared in test controversy

        ALLIANCE, Ohio — The State Board of Education has cleared two teachers of charges that they helped their students cheat on the fourth-grade proficiency test.

        The board unanimously voted to follow the recommendation of hearing officer Robert St. Clair to not suspend Peggy Zufall and Diana Fails.

        Mr. St. Clair said he found no evidence that the teachers at South Lincoln Elementary in the Alliance school district gave students correct answers or warned them when answers were incorrect.

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