Legal defense fund for 2 cops tops $38K

        Contributions continue to flow into the legal defense fund established for two indicted Cincinnati police officers.

        The fund, established a month ago, now tops $38,000, said Keith Fangman, president of the Fraternal Order of Police.

        The union established the fund to help pay the legal bills for Officers Robert Blaine Jorg and Patrick Caton.

        They were indicted in the Nov. 7 death of suspect Roger Owensby Jr., who was asphyxiated during his arrest in a Roselawn gas station parking lot.

        Officer Jorg, charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony, and assault, was suspended without pay.

        Officer Caton remains off duty, too, but still gets a paycheck because his assault charge is a misdemeanor. Their combined legal bills are estimated to be $100,000, Mr. Fangman said.

        Donations are accepted at the Cincinnati Police Credit Union, 959 W. Eighth St., Cincinnati 45203.
       

Three men arrested in three burglaries

        HAMILTON — Three men have been arrested in connection with three burglaries Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

        The three men were each arrested Wednesday on three counts of burglary and two counts of theft.

        Arrested were: Truman Harrison, 39, of New Miami; and Samuel Harrison, 18, and Joshua Harrison, 21, both of Hamilton. Joshua Harrison also was arrested on seven warrants from Hamilton Municipal Court.

        Police said tools and food were stolen from homes on Greenwood, Shirley and Campbell avenues.

        Police said they found Truman Harrison's credit card at the scene of one of the burglaries.

        The stolen property was recovered by Detectives David Collins and Mark Hayes.
       

UC professors tape histories of blacks

        Two University of Cincinnati professors have begun taping oral histories of men and women descended from slaves and others involved in the Underground Railroad.

        If funding becomes available, they will use these interviews to produce a video documentary, Wade in the Water: Stories of Freedom, Slavery and the Underground Railroad in the Borderlands of the Ohio River Valley.

        Kevin Burke, an assistant professor of electronic media in the College-Conservatory of Music, initiated the project in 1999 with a UC grant.

        A year later, he brought in Keith Griffler, assistant professor of African-American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences.

        They hope to complete the video by the end of 2002.
       

4 plead not guilty to taped sex attack

        HAMILTON — Four men accused in a videotaped sexual attack on a 26-year-old woman pleaded not guilty to the charges Thursday in Butler County Common Pleas Court.

        The defendants are set for trial March 5-7 in the courtroom of Judge Keith Spaeth.

        Stephan Wesley Tremble, 23, of Lexington, who faces two counts of sexual battery and a count each of complicity to sexual battery and attempted sexual battery, is free on bond.

        His three co-defendants remain in the Butler County Jail.

        They are:

        • Daymon Eugene Anderson, 24, of Springfield Township, charged with three counts of sexual battery.

        • Michael Lynn Reid, 22, of Springdale, facing two counts of sexual battery and a count of complicity to sexual battery.

        • Justin Walker Bowman, 21, of Fairfield, accused of two counts of complicity to sexual battery and a count each of sexual battery and assault.
       

FBI looking for $500K that fell from truck

        CLEVELAND — A day after half a million dollars apparently dropped from an armored truck's open door on a busy city street, the whereabouts of the money remained unknown.

        FBI spokesman Robert Hawk said Thursday that agents were interviewing people and generating leads.

        An armored truck employee didn't notice his load was lighter until he discovered a door was ajar and about $500,000 missing about 8 a.m. Wednesday.

        Employees of the truck company, AT Systems, told FBI agents that three packages of cash fell out of the truck.

        Employees made the discovery after it traveled about half a mile from a Federal Reserve Bank dock to near Jacobs Field.

        FBI agents marched up and down the downtown most of the day Wednesday asking merchants and passersby if they had seen anything unusual.

        Agents also sought surveillance videotapes from businesses along the truck route.
       

Toledo Symphony given $2.2 million

        TOLEDO — An auto dealer is giving the Toledo Symphony $2.2 million to commission compositions and support musicians and solo artists.

        The donation is the largest in the symphony's 57-year history.

        Ed Schmidt, a Toledo-area auto dealer, told the symphony's musicians on Wednesday that he wanted to thank them for many wonderful performances.

        “We are investing in the future of this fine orchestra, recognizing its consistent progress in excellence, and unparalleled service to the entire region,” Mr. Schmidt said.

        The Toledo Orchestra Association will establish the Edward H. Schmidt Musical Arts Fund.

        The fund will also allow the orchestra to regularly bring in world-renowned composers to create symphonic compositions.

        Lowell Liebermann, the composer from the Dallas Symphony, has been selected to create the inaugural composition.

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