Check weather radio for hazardous spills

        Emergencies involving hazardous materials will be broadcast on weather radios beginning Aug 15.

        The move was announced this week by representatives from the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, National Weather Service, American Red Cross and the Greater Cincinnati Hazardous Materials Unit.

        Hamilton County is the first county in Ohio to draw up a plan for broadcasting warnings directly from the National Weather Service in Wilmington.

        For the past 25 years, the radios have broadcast warnings for tornadoes, other severe storms and flash floods.

        In order to be broadcast, the release of hazardous materials would have to be considered a threat to human life and property.

        Charlie Perry, commander of Greater Cincinnati's hazardous materials response team, said Hamilton County hasn't dealt with such an emergency since December 1998, when a plume of nitric acid from a leaking truck was released over B.F. Goodrich Hilton Davis' Langdon Farm Plant and spread over neighboring homes.

        Kenneth Haydu, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Wilmington, said Hamilton County residents cleared the shelves of weather radios, which sell in stores for up to $70, after a deadly tornado tore through the Blue Ash area in 1999. The increase in radios helped save lives in the recent flash floods, he said.

        Without the radios, the floods may have taken 20 lives instead of the three that were lost, he said.
       

Man arrested in waffle shop holdup

        WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP — West Chester police have arrested a 21-year-old Hamilton man in connection to a Waffle House robbery in May.

        Charles D. Bradley of the 6600 block of Forest Hill Lane is charged with aggravated robbery. He was being held at the Butler County Jail on Friday evening. Bond had not been set.

        The Waffle House on Kingsgate Way was robbed May 11 by two men. One was armed with a gun and another carried a knife.
       

Colerain man accused of molesting

        COLERAIN TOWNSHIP — A 51-year-old Colerain Township man was arrested Friday afternoon on child molestation charges, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department.

        David E. West of the 6200 block of Harrison Avenue is charged with two counts of rape. He is being held at Hamilton County Justice Center. Bond had not been set as of Friday evening.

        Mr. West allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with two girls, ages 6 and 8, at his home, according to an arrest report.
       

Bond set in case alleging rape of girl

Bingman

        BLUE ASH — Charles W. Bingman, 69, charged with sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl, remained in jail Friday after bond was set at $100,000.

        He will appear back in court Aug. 6.

        Mr. Bingman, of the 9600 block of Ash Court, was charged by Blue Ash police of raping the girl at his home July 11 while she was there for piano lessons.

        Police said Mr. Bingman gave private piano lessons in his home.

        Records of Mr. Bingman at the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts show he had only four minor traffic offenses from 1991 to 1998.

        Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Detective John Ladd at the Blue Ash Police Department at 745-8555.
       

Reynolds nomination advances in Senate

        WASHINGTON — The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Friday approved the nomination of Mercer Reynolds III to be ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

        The committee sent the nomination to the full Senate for confirmation.

        Mr. Reynolds, of Indian Hill, is a close friend and former business partner of President Bush. He raised money for Mr. Bush during the presidential campaign and the inaugural.

        Mr. Reynolds and his business partner, William O. DeWitt Jr., lead a Cincinnati-based investment company.
       

Four youths charged in Colerain assault

        Four juveniles were arrested Friday by Hamilton County sheriff's deputies in an assault two days earlier in woods near the 2300 block of Chopin Drive in Colerain Township.

        The same juveniles were arrested on robbery and assault charges in a July 2 incident at the same location. All four juveniles — ages 15 through 17 — are from Colerain Township. One of the 17-year-olds is charged with felonious assault, robbery and assault. The other 17-year-old is charged with two counts of assault. The 16-year-old is charged with two counts of assault, and the 15-year-old with one count of assault.

        All four juveniles were taken to the Hamilton County Detention Center.

Police seek robbers of Highland Ave. Bigg's

        COLUMBIA TOWNSHIP — Hamilton County Sheriff's deputies were searching for three people who robbed the Columbia Township Bigg's on Highland Avenue late Friday.

        The three were described as a bearded man, a heavy-set woman and a barefoot woman.

        At 10:47 p.m., Bigg's security reported three people stealing beer. A store guard told police he was hit with a hammer during the robbery, but he refused treatment.

        A police dog unit was searching for the trio early this morning.
       

3 Ohio natives saved after ocean ordeal

        DAYTON, Ohio — Three men from suburban Centerville were rescued by the Coast Guard in waters off Cape Cod after a 16-hour ordeal.

        Christopher Moler, Chad Stevens and Scott Farrell struck a lobster trap in their 21-foot speedboat Tuesday evening.

        The boat began to sink and the radio quit working, forcing the three 21-year-old men to swim to shore.

        “We were just swimming in darkness for hours with 7-foot swells, hoping for the best,” Mr. Moler told the Boston Globe.

        After three hours of swimming in life jackets, the men spotted a buoy and climbed onto the platform until daybreak.

        Wednesday morning, they left the buoy and started swimming for shore. When Messrs. Stevens and Farrell spotted a Coast Guard cutter in the distance, they decided to swim back to the buoy. Mr. Moler pressed on.

        A Coast Guard helicopter spotted Mr. Moler and pulled him from the water with a cage. Mr. Moler directed the helicopter to the buoy, where his friends were rescued.

        “We walked away without a scratch, and that's a gift,” Mr. Farrell said.
       

Lottery winner(s) officially a mystery

        CLEVELAND — The second winning ticket in the Ohio Lottery's record $54 million Super Lotto Plus jackpot July 11 was claimed in trust Friday, protecting the identity of the owner.

        A game ticket worth half the jackpot was sold at Clark Avenue Groceries in Willoughby. The player chose the lump-sum option rather than installments, resulting in a lump-sum amount of $11.6 million. After federal and state taxes, the trust will get about $8 million.

        A trustee made the claim on behalf of the Lucky Ladies Trust. As a result, the lottery is unable to disclose the identity of the winner or whether more than one person will benefit.

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