Two people hurt in Cheviot house fire

        CHEVIOT — Two people were injured Friday morning in a house fire on Lovell Avenue.

        Nicole Sexton, 32, was listed in serious condition at University Hospital, while Rod Wilson, 29, was listed in fair condition.

        The two were rescued from the second floor of the home after a fire started in a bedroom about 6 a.m.

        Fire Chief Don Clark said the two suffered smoke inhalation and had cuts on their arms from having broken out a window to escape.

FIRE AT MOTEL: A Trenton firefighter climbs a ladder to remove a fire hose as one of the rooms of the Monroe Econo Lodge at Ohio 63 and Interstate 75 burns out of control Friday. Crews from Middletown, West Chester, Liberty Township and Trenton helped Monroe crews battle the blaze, which threatened to destroy the newly renovated motel. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        The cause of the fire was under investigation. It caused about $35,000 in damage to the single-family, two-story house.

        Firefighters brought the fire under control in about two hours, Chief Clark said. It was contained to the bedroom.
       

Taft cousin picked to advise Powell

        WASHINGTON — President Bush on Friday tapped William Howard Taft IV, a first cousin of Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, for a top State Department job.

        The White House said Mr. Bush intended to nominate Mr. Taft to be legal adviser to Secretary of State Colin Powell.

        Mr. Taft was born in Washington, D.C., and lives there.

        He is a partner with the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, and has held several government positions.

        He served as U.S. permanent representative to NATO from 1989 to 1992, and deputy secretary of defense and general counsel of the Department of Defense during the Reagan administration.
       

Toxic metal released in factory accident

        ELMORE, Ohio — Traces of a potentially toxic metal were released from a chemical reaction inside a barrel at a northwest Ohio factory, state environmental officials said.

        The amount of beryllium in the air Thursday was safely below the state's limits, said Brush Wellman Inc. spokesman Larry Chako.

        Beryllium is a metal used in the defense, automotive and electronics industries. Long-term exposure to its dust can cause a fatal lung disease.

        The reaction inside the 55-gallon barrel containing chips of beryllium sent smoke spewing from the factory.

        Workers inside the plant, about 20 miles southeast of Toledo, were moved away from the smoking barrel, and seven homes were evacuated for about four hours. No injuries were reported.

        Ohio Environmental Protection Agency supervisor Mike Czeczele said moisture inside the sealed barrel may have caused the reaction.

        Sand was poured into the barrel to stop the reaction, Mr. Chako said.
       

New mall planned for suburban Toledo

        TOLEDO — The nation's second-largest mall developer wants to build a two-story mall in suburban Toledo that would include an ice rink and four anchor department stores.

        General Growth Properties Inc. of Chicago said it hopes to break ground in the summer and open the mall in November 2002. It would be built in Maumee along Interstate 475.

        It would be the area's largest shopping complex and the first indoor mall built in the Toledo area in more than 20 years.

        Maumee officials must approve the project.
       

Hand injury forces violinist to cancel

        Violinist Pamela Frank, scheduled to perform Sunday and Monday with her father, pianist Claude Frank, in the Linton Music Series, has canceled because of a hand injury.

        Ms. Frank's husband, violinist Alexander “Andy” Simionescu, will step in to perform Beethoven's “Archduke” Trio with Mr. Frank and cellist Peter Wiley. Mr. Frank will perform Beethoven's Piano Sonata, Op. 111, instead of the previously announced violin sonata.

        Performances are at 4 p.m. Sunday at First Unitarian Church, Linton Street and Reading Road, Avondale, and 7:30 p.m. Monday at Congregation Ohav Shalom, 8100 Cornell Road, Montgomery. Tickets: $27.50. Information: 381-6868.
       

More uranium on the way to Piketon

        RICHLAND, Wash. — The first of more than 40 new shipments of surplus uranium from the Hanford nuclear reservation is due to arrive Monday in Ohio.

        “We made a commitment to get these surplus uranium billets off site, and we're doing it,” Keith Klein, the Energy Department's manager at the Hanford reservation, said Friday. “This is another step in restoring the river corridor and moving ahead with cleanup.”

        The uranium is being sent to an interim storage warehouse in Piketon, Ohio.

        J. Dale Jackson, director of the Energy Department's uranium management division in Oak Ridge, Tenn., said the Hanford shipments, about 235 metric tons in all, will be comprised entirely of usable uranium, not waste material.

        “These are materials that have some potential reuse value,” he said.

        The uranium could be used by research reactors or saved for some other government purpose.

        The Piketon site already is storing about 3,300 metric tons of surplus uranium, mostly from a former government plant in Fernald, near Cincinnati. Though the interim warehouse is in Piketon, home to the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, the uranium now in transit is not of the type used to make fuel for electricity generating plants. The gaseous diffusion plant is to process power plant fuel until June.
       

Clifton Heights blaze hurts woman

        A Clifton Heights woman was seriously burned Thursday night when her apartment caught fire.

        Stacy Porter, 25, stayed home while her boyfriend went to get dinner for them. When the boyfriend, Daniel Campbell, returned to the apartment above King Wok a little before 10 p.m., he found her overcome by smoke, said District Chief Glenn Coleman.

        Mr. Campbell rescued Ms. Porter, taking her out onto the third-floor landing, where firefighters found her. She suffered second- and third-degree burns over the top half of her body.

        The fire caused an estimated $20,000 damage to the building, at 203 W. McMillan Ave., including water damage to the restaurant. The cause was not yet determined Friday.
       

Mason schools to seek tax boost for operations

        MASON — The Mason City Schools Board of Education voted Friday to place language on the ballot for a May 8 operating levy.

        The operating levy would be phased in from 2002 to 2004, starting at an estimated 6.95 mills in 2002, increasing to 8.45 mills, and then to 9.95 mills.

        Cost to the owner of a $100,000 home would be $213 in new taxes the first year, increasing to $259 and then to $305.

        Operating levies pay for daily school operations, such as teacher and staff salaries, supplies and other materials.
       

OSU students lose posts over night out

        COLUMBUS — Ohio State University said it has removed eight student government leaders from their posts for lying about $2,250 they spent on an evening out.

        Some of the students also destroyed more than 10,000 copies of the campus newspaper carrying a front-page story on the spending allegations, the school said.

        The students spent the money on limousines, champagne and steak dinners for 12 people in December and claimed that it had been allocated as a payment for one member's hard work, said William H. Hall, interim vice president for student affairs.

        The cash actually was taken from an account to be used for the student body or student government, the university said. The student senators had to approve the spending.
       

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