Portune drops idea of keeping Cinergy Field

        Great American Ball Park will be built after all.

        Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune, who last week suggested the county try to renegotiate its lease with the Reds to keep them playing in a revamped Cinergy Field, said Wednesday the issue was dead and the new stadium would be built.

        Reds' officials, who would have had to agree to abandoning the new stadium, said they're not interested.

        “I've been advised that the Reds do not desire to move forward with this issue,” Mr. Portune said. “I think that will put it to rest.”

FATAL CRASH: Fort Mitchell police Detective Ron Johnson (left) and Sgt. Tom Loos investigate a crash on northbound Interstate 71/75 near Buttermilk Pike Wednesday afternoon. Kelly A. Stephens, 36, of Cincinnati, died after slamming her car into the back of a semi tractor-trailer on northbound Interstate 71/75 near Buttermilk Pike. She was driving at a high rate of speed when she changed lanes and hit the truck shortly before 3 p.m., Fort Mitchell police said. Truck driver Charles Crum Jr., 53, of Tomahawk, Ky., was uninjured. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Mr. Portune said playing in a remodeled Cinergy Field would allow the community to save money and retire the debt from building Paul Brown Stadium early.
       

Body found near apartment complex

        COLUMBIA TOWNSHIP — Hamilton County Sheriff's deputies are treating as a homicide a body found in a wooded area near a Columbia Township apartment complex Wednesday.

        The body of Teresa Thomas, 45, of the 3400 block of Montgomery Road, Walnut Hills, was found by a pedestrian shortly after 11:30 a.m. The body was found off View Pointe Drive leading to the Hilltop Apartments, sheriff's spokesman Steve Barnett said.

        How long the body had been there was not known.

        No other details were available Wednesday night.
       

Driver in wreck had high blood alcohol level

        MIDDLETOWN — The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Wednesday a Miamisburg man who was driving the wrong way on Interstate 75 had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit during a Jan. 16 accident in which he and two others were killed.

        Authorities said Roshon Hamied, the driver at fault, was driving the wrong way in the northbound lanes of I-75 near Middletown when he collided head-on with a vehicle. Sylvia B. Gibson and Norma G. Cabral, both of Dayton, were killed.

        Mr. Hamied's blood alcohol content was 0.268, authorities said. The legal limit is 0.10.

Workshops to offer tips to lower heat bills

        Several organizations in Middletown and Hamilton are teaming up to conduct workshops on how to lower heating bills. Supports to Encourage Low-income Families (SELF) and Supporting Council of Preventive Effort (SCOPE) will present practical tips for consumers to lower their heating bills.

        • Middletown: Program is 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday at the Middletown Community Center, 800 Lafayette Ave. Representatives from Cincinnati Gas & Electric will explain programs available to consumers who are concerned about their heating bills. Information: (888) 432-7022.

        • Hamilton: SELF and SCOPE and the Second and Fourth Ward Hamilton will co-sponsor a workshop from 6:30-8 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Booker T. Washington Community Center, 1140 S. Front St. Information: 868-9300.

        Each workshop is free and open to the public.

Police question suspect in stabbing

        HAMILTON — Police on Wednesday questioned a suspect in a stabbing that occurred just after midnight in the 1100 block of Shuler Avenue.

        Sgt. Thomas E. Kilgour said Jeffery Rich, 21, of the 400 block of South Sixth Street, was stabbed in the upper left chest about 12:19 a.m.

        “We do have a suspect (who) has been arrested on unrelated misdemeanor charges,” Sgt. Kilgour said.

        Mr. Rich was treated at a local hospital. His injuries were not life-threatening.
       

Police ask for help in missing girl's case

        KETTERING, Ohio — On Wednesday, the two-year anniversary of the disappearance of 9-year-old Erica Baker, supporters held a candlelight vigil and police renewed their plea for anyone with information to come forward.

        “This case is still a priority with the Kettering Police Department,” said Officer Glen Evans, Kettering police spokesman. “We have not given up, nor will we give up. We believe there's someone who's out there who has information that we need, and it's just a matter of time before they find the courage to come forward.”

        Police have said they think Erica was abducted by a stranger — the first such case in the community in more than two decades.

        Supporters held a candlelight vigil near the Kettering Recreation Center, where Erica was last seen walking her dog on a rainy Sunday afternoon, wearing a pink raincoat and pink "Winnie-the-Pooh” sweat shirt.

        Officer Evans urged anyone with information to call the hot line at (937) 296-2570, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) THE-LOST.

        Erica's parents, Greg and Misty Baker, have been cleared of involvement, police have said.
       

Officials punished over inmate's treatment

        ORIENT, Ohio — Two more prison workers were demoted and a warden was reprimanded because an inmate was isolated without proper bedding and clothing for three months, the prison system said Wednesday.

        David Larsen, 38, was demoted from major to lieutenant, and Patricia Rice, 51, was demoted from lieutenant to corrections officer, said Andrea Dean, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

        Robert Beightler, warden of Orient Correctional Institution, was given a written reprimand.

        Willie Thomas, 67, was placed in isolation at Orient, a medium-security prison about 15 miles south of Columbus, after scuffling with corrections officer Vicky Wilder on Oct. 5.

        Isolation was warranted because Mr. Thomas violated prison rules, but he should have been given more than a steel slab on which to sleep and should not have been stripped to his underwear, said department spokesman Joe Andrews.
       

Ohio fined $8M over child support problems

        COLUMBUS — The state must pay an $8 million federal fine because of problems meeting federal child support requirements, a state official said Wednesday.

        The problems include a computer system that withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars in child support payments from some parents since 1996, said Jacqueline Romer-Sensky, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

        She acknowledged Tuesday that payments had been withheld, confirming a report by the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support, a Toledo-based national organization that works on child support issues.

        Gov. Bob Taft ordered Ms. Romer-Sensky to provide an analysis of the problem by Monday.

        Ms. Romer-Sensky said the Job and Family Service Department's computer calculated some child-support payments incorrectly. But no direct payments were lost and the missed payments were back payments that noncustodial parents had added to regular child-support payments, Ms. Romer-Sensky said.
       

Evidence taken from gunman's home
Gunman's letter to Enquirer described his despair
Text of Pickett's letter
Blackwell may join Bush team
Foundation lands ex-education chief
Gap opts out of deal with county
Drugs send six students to hospital
Edgewood teachers fear for jobs, fret about students
Hamilton man guilty of woman's murder
Suspect's statement describes slaying of girl, police say
Bacterial infection kills nine dogs in pound
Butler statue pays tribute
Fairfield might double political-sign season
Fund aims to preserve school aid
Improve special ed, auditors urge CPS
Teachers union warns schools not to retain Burton principal
Blessing wants job in Bush energy agency
Boone teachers might get $150
Campbell to hire planning director
Car hits officer; passenger dies after police fire on car
Council colleagues balk at new rules on donors
Downtown property tax increase floated
Eastern Ky. drug sweep casts light on area use
Ex-gov. $300M in hole
Family court plan clears Senate panel
Federal grand jury indicts wife
Heart transplant fails to save NKU student, 21
High-risk insurance pool up, running
Ky. warns parents who owe support
State receipts short of expectations
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report