MRDD appoints new superintendent

        The Hamilton County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities announced that Cheryl Phipps will replace retiring superintendent Thomas H. Kidd.

        Ms. Phipps is now serving as the assistant director of the Ohio Association of County Boards of MRDD and is the project director of the self-determination project that is being expanded across Ohio.

        As Ms. Phipps prepares to assume her new position, Mr. Kidd will stay on through Dec. 31 to assist her.
       

Humana/ChoiceCare opens claims Web site

        Humana/ChoiceCare, one of the Tristate's largest HMOs, has launched a new Web site they say will make it easier for doctors, employers and members to get updates about health claims.

        Company officials launched the site, www.humanacc.com, Wednesday in Cincinnati and say it will be rolled out nationwide over the next several months.

        Once all the site features are complete in early 2001, the site will include claims data; information about network doctors, preferred drugs and benefit limits; consumer health tips and an on-line billing service.

        As for security, the site is limited to claims data, not full medical records. To view claims data, users must have passwords, and can request that none of the information about them be posted. Finally, data on sensitive health conditions, such as mental illness and sexually transmitted diseases, will not be available to any users.
       

Character training begins for workers

        Some Cincinnati fire and police supervisors finished Wednesday the first round of character training that eventually will be given to everyone in both divisions.

        About 140 officers and firefighters took the training Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the first in the city to do it since city council members officially designated Cincinnati as a character city last month. Sponsored by the privately funded Character Council of Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky, the classes focus on how to practice your life with 49 key qualities, including benevolence, faith, punctuality and thriftiness.

        Local businesses, churches and other government agencies also have bought into it.

        The program is backed locally by well-known people including former Bengal Anthony Munoz, Cintas Corp. Chairman Richard Farmer and Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Steven Adamowski.
       

Planning workshops to review issues

        MASON — Mason residents are invited to help shape their city's future by attending one of three public planning workshops on Thursdays beginning at 7 p.m. today.

        Each meeting will begin with a presentation of an issue by Woolpert LLP, the planning firm working with the city to update Mason's comprehensive plan. Tonight's discussion will center on land use and development.

        On Oct. 26, transportation and pedestrian movement will be discussed and on Nov. 9, participants will consider the community's image and downtown.

        The workshops will be held in the Kiva Meeting Room at Mason Middle School, 707 South Mason-Montgomery Road. For information: 398-3035.
       

Officer hit by car while placing flares

        MIDDLETOWN — A police lieutenant is recovering from in juries he suffered after a vehicle struck him.

        Lt. John Reiring suffered cuts on his leg requiring 20 stitches as well as injuries to his shoulder and back, police said Wednesday. He was expected to visit a doctor today and possibly learn when he might return to work.

        Lt. Reiring was injured Tuesday afternoon at Breiel Boulevard and Forest Hills Drive. The officer was placing flares in the roadway to alert motorists that the intersection's traffic lights weren't working because of a power outage when a vehicle struck him.

        The driver, Heather Mack, 17, of Middletown, was charged with failure to stop at an intersection where the traffic control device has malfunctioned.
       

Ex-Enquirer editor's suit can go forward

        WASHINGTON — A District of Columbia judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed against Gannett Co. Inc. by the former editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer.

        D.C. Superior Court Judge Stephanie Duncan-Peters ruled that the lawsuit will remain in her court, but part of the case will be decided under Ohio law.

        Gannett, based just across the Potomac River in Arlington, Va., had asked the judge to dismiss the case on the ground that the D.C. court was not the appropriate venue.

        Lawrence K. Beaupre sued in April for unspecified damages, claiming that top Gannett officials closely supervised a 1998 report critical of Chiquita Brands International Inc. and then blamed him when problems arose after publication.

        A few months after a $10 million settlement with Chiquita, Mr. Beaupre was assigned to a news executive job with Gannett corporate headquarters.

        Mr. Beaupre contends Gannett and its lawyers made a secret promise to remove him as the Enquirer's editor to avert a threatened lawsuit by Chiquita. Gannett says the lawsuit distorts the facts and it had no contractual obligation to keep Mr. Beaupre in any job.
       

Independent college enrollment at high

        Ohio's independent, nonprofit colleges Wednesday reported a record fall enrollment of 121,080.

        This is a 2.2 percent increase over last year, according to Larry H. Christman, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio.

        He said three-quarters of this year's freshmen received need-based financial aid averaging $13,500 from schools and state and federal programs.

        Mr. Christman said average tuition was just under $15,000 plus $5,000 for room and board on campus.
       

Jury can't decide in death of girl, 4

        CLEVELAND — A woman who admitted beating her 4-year-old daughter with a purse strap and shoe was convicted of child endangering, but the jury deadlocked on murder and assault charges.

        Ten of 12 Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court jurors voted Tuesday to convict Lashon Sawyer of murder, and all but one voted to convict her of assaulting the girl, Sydney. A unanimous vote is required to convict.

        Ms. Sawyer faces up to eight years in prison on the endangering charge but will not be sentenced until after she is retried on the murder and felonious assault charges.

        Jurors told the judge that deliberations were hampered by one juror who said he wasn't listening during the trial and thought there would be a transcript he could read afterward.

        Ms. Sawyer's live-in boyfriend, Patrick Frazier, has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for failing to get the girl medical attention.

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