A South Cumminsville man faces up to 80 years in prison after a Hamilton County jury convicted him Friday on charges of rape, assault and kidnapping.

        Ernest A. Sims, 40, was accused of abducting a 34-year-old West End woman in his car on June 21. Prosecutors say he later stopped the car near Interstate 74 at the Colerain Avenue exit and raped the woman.

        When the woman escaped, prosecutors say, Mr. Sims beat her with his fists and a tire iron.

        Two Enquirer newspaper carriers who happened on the scene called police and helped rescue the woman. Mr. Sims will be sentenced Nov. 15 by Common Pleas Judge Patrick Dinkelacker.
       

Judgment adds up
against hospital

               The parents of a 3-year-old boy who died 11 years ago at Children's Hospital Medical Center are entitled to another $1.5 million from the hospital.

        The Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals ruled Friday that the parents of Derek Goddard should be paid interest on the $3 million they won from the hospital in a 1994 jury verdict.

        The $3 million has not been paid because the case was tied up in appeals courts for most of the past six years.

        The appeals court ruled Friday that Gary and Donna Goddard are owed interest. The Covedale couple's lawyer, John Metz, said the interest totals about $1.5 million.

        The couple claimed their son was improperly treated when he was taken to the emergency room on Dec. 2, 1989.
       

Kids choose name
for police dog

               Cincinnati's next police dog will have a familiar name.

        A contest among Mercer Elementary School students ended Friday with a winner — “Buddy,” just like President Clinton's Labrador. More than 100 of the school's fourth-graders colored pictures of German shepherds and suggested names. Ashley Pinney picked Buddy.

        Biggs and Milk-Bone donated the $5,000 to buy the dog.

        The police division has six canines now. When Buddy will arrive isn't certain.
       

Pignapping results
in two indictments

               Two 26-year-old Massachusetts tourists who tried to steal the Bengals pig in September now have something they didn't expect from the prank — indictments.

        Glenn Grammar and Brian Kelley, both of Woburn, Mass., were indicted Friday by a Hamilton County grand jury on theft charges. If convicted, they each face up to six months in jail and $1,000 fines.

        The two men allegedly broke “Pigskin” off its base at Fifth and Elm streets Sept. 14 and tried to sneak it into the Regal Hotel on Fifth Street. When spotted by a security guard, they dropped the pig and ran into their room.

        Prosecutor Mike Allen said the alleged theft could turn out to be an expensive prank, especially for Mr. Grammar. He is suspended without pay from his job as an animal control officer for the Woburn Police Department.
       

For sale: Pieces
of Cinergy Field

               Diehard Reds fans who want a piece of the action — literally — will have a chance to buy pieces of Cinergy Field todayas part of a seven-hour sale by the company contracted to tear down the ballpark. The sale starts at 8 a.m. at O'Rourke Wrecking Co., 660 Lunkenpark Drive in Linwood. It includes bits of Astroturf, along with outfield seats.

        Demolition of the Reds' second home began in August to make way for a new ballfield.

        O'Rourke, contracted by Hamilton County for the removal of 14,000 outfield seats and the stadium's demolition after the 2002 season, plans to eventually sell all memorabilia.

        “When we go back and demolish the balance of the stadium, we'll try to market (sections of) the turf, the dugouts — anything we can sell,” Mike O'Rourke, president of O'Rourke has said. “We'll take an inventory of everything that might have value.”

        Collectors estimate a former Cinergy seat would be worth about $100 to $200.

        For more information on the sale, call 871-1400 or go to O'Rourke's Web site at www.orourkewrecking.com.
       

Planetarium show
marks 50th year

               CLIFTON — Cincinnati Parks will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wolff Planetarium from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

        The planetarium is in the Trailside Nature Center in Burnet Woods on Brookline Avenue. Enter from Ludlow Avenue.

        Each of three free shows will be conducted by a naturalist with the Spritz A-1 star projector, the original star machine purchased in 1950. The winter constellations will be featured along with the mythology behind them. Show times are 1, 2 and 3 p.m.

        Refreshments will be served.

        For information, call 751-3679 or go online to www.cinci-parks.org.
       

Taft hopes voters
approve Issue 1

               COLUMBUS — Gov. Bob Taft is betting that Ohioans will embrace his idea to clean up polluted plant sites for redevelopment and set aside farmland and other green space for parks, bike paths and other recreation.

        It's a deal that will spruce up his image as an environmentalist as well.

        With images of sparkling streams, lush parks and new construction where abandoned buildings once stood, the media campaign promises a beautiful Ohio if voters approve state Issue 1.

        “It's hard to understand why anyone would oppose it,” Mr. Taft said after a recent rally at a local park.

        A few groups — including the Sierra Club and Ohio Citizen Action — have lined up against the $400 million bond issue on Tuesday's ballot. In addition, some conservatives are worried about communities giving up control to the state and about the price tag. An analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Budget Office found the interest paid over the life of the bonds could reach $300 million.

        Support has come from an unlikely coalition of manufacturers, environmental groups, the farming industry and a majority of Ohio's legislators.

        Television ads promoting Issue 1 are worth $600,000.

High court to hear
utility competition

               COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court said Friday it will hear a consumer advocacy group's appeal of a plan to allow FirstEnergy Corp. to enter the competitive electric power market. The court set an expedited schedule for the case. The transition to competition is scheduled to begin Jan. 1.

        The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved FirstEnergy's transition plan July 19, after the Akron-based utility reached a deal with its largest customers, the Ohio Consumers' Counsel and some of its potential competitors in Ohio's $11 billion electric power industry.

        Under rules approved in 1999, at least 20 percent of FirstEnergy's customers must switch suppliers or the utility will be subject to customer rebates of as much as $500 million. The idea is to give FirstEnergy an incentive to share its capacity with competitors.

        The plan allows FirstEnergy to count customers who switch to its wholly-owned marketing subsidiary, FirstEnergy Services, toward that 20 percent.

        However, Pittsburgh-based Citizen Power thinks that gives the utility an unfair edge.

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