Arguments to begin in morgue photo trial

        Opening arguments are expected to begin at 2 p.m. today in the trial of Mount Auburn photographer Thomas Condon and pathologist Dr. Jonathan Tobias.

        On Tuesday, prosecutors and defense attorneys spent the day choosing a jury of 12 and four alternates from among 45 prospective jurors.

        Mr. Condon and Dr. Tobias are charged with multiple counts of gross abuse of a corpse. Mr. Condon is accused of taking photographs of 14 bodies in various stages of autopsy at the Hamilton County morgue and posing them with various objects.

        Dr. Tobias, who lives in the West End, is accused of giving Mr. Condon access to the bodies. He is also charged with theft in office because of allegations he gave Mr. Condon crime scene photos.

        The trial is expected to last three weeks.
       

Drug force seizes 47 kilos of cocaine

        A regional police drug task force Tuesday announced it seized 47 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of more than $7 million, the largest cocaine bust ever during an investigation initiated in Greater Cincinnati.

HOW NATIVE AMERICANS MADE POTTERY: Dixie Heights High School art students Chelsea Long (left), Amanda Spears and Chris Keener roast marshmallows, biscuits and other food over a fire pit in which they are firing pottery. Art teacher Terri Schatzman said the students built the fire pit to learn about Native American pottery techniques. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        On Sept. 28, agents of the Regional Narcotics Unit (RENU) along with officials from the Columbus Police Division and the Drug Enforcement Administration, arrested Lewis Lee Dacus, 35, of Sycamore Township, and two others, Lindsay Sheafe, 36, of Columbus and Vanessa Hughes, 21, of Cincinnati. Police seized 12 kilograms of cocaine.

        Officials also seized 35 kilograms of cocaine in a Columbus apartment and arrested Tommy Lovett, 36, of Long Beach, Calif. and David Williams, 42, of San Pedro, Calif.

        All were charged in federal court with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
       

United Way effort has "a long way to go'

        With less than four weeks to go in the 2001 United Way campaign, a total of $26,735.358, or 44.5 percent of its fund-raising goal of $60,050,000, has been raised.

        “We are continuing to move forward, but we have a long way to go to reaching our goal,” campaign chairman John F. Barrett, said Tuesday.

        Any company that would like to hold a first-time campaign, or anyone that hasn't been contacted for a contribution can call the United Way at 721-7900.

        The campaign ends Oct. 26.

City claims right to limit election signs

        The city of Cincinnati argued in federal court Tuesday that it has a right to regulate the display of political signs.

        In a brief filed in U.S. District Court, city attorneys said the city allows various forms of political signs and does not restrict anyone's free-speech rights.

        The city's arguments were in response to a lawsuit filed last week by an anti-tax group. The group claims that the city's regulations of political signs are so restrictive that they violate the group's constitutional rights.

        The group challenged rules barring signs larger than 32 square feet or more than 90 days before an election.
       

Couple sues police over apartment search

        A Cincinnati couple sued four city police officers Tuesday, claiming the officers held them at gunpoint and in handcuffs during an improper search of their Over-the-Rhine home.

        Dennis and Kenya Pierre filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court. They claim the officers broke into their 29 Mulberry St. apartment on Oct. 27, 1999, with a warrant to search the apartment of one of their neighbors, a suspect in a drug case.

        The lawsuit claims the officers searched several apartments in the building, even though their search warrant should have limited them to the suspect's apartment.

        The lawsuit, filed by attorney Robert Newman, seeks unspecified damages.
       

Louisville case prompts rally here

        The Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, a civil rights pioneer, will join a delegation of activists and ministers from Louisville who are conducting a protest and prayer vigil at Fountain Square at noon today.

        Representatives of the Kentucky Justice Resource Center in Louisville are expected to file a petition in federal court, alleging rampant abuse and killings by police in Louisville and a lack of legal representation by the prosecutor and the courts there, the Rev. Mr. Shuttlesworth said.

A QUIET RALLY: George Zee of Western Hills holds a flag Tuesday at a Fountain Square rally to support disaster relief in New York and Washington. The event was organized by the Cincinnati Concerned Citizens Association. “We wanted people to bring their hearts to the heart of the city to help the victims of the tragedy,” said the Rev. Raymond Jones, executive director of the association. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        “The Cincinnati community is experiencing the same problems of ... unnecessary police killing of blacks and ... racism in the prosecutor's office, and the recent terrible judicial decision freeing an officer who killed a black man with no weapon and fleeing from the police,” he said.
       

Leadership group gets two grants

        Public Allies Cincinnati received $40,000 from The Procter & Gamble Fund toward its 2001-02 year budget and it received $10,000 from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation to add an AmeriCorps Leader position.

        Public Allies trains diverse groups of young leaders, ages 18 through 30, through 10-month apprenticeships in community organizations. More than 50 people have participated since 1998.

Auto Zone plans store on bank site

        CHEVIOT — Property at 3916 Harrison Avenue — site of the former Centennial Bank and longtime seasonal home to the city's Christmas nativity scene — is slated to become an Auto Zone store.

        Once the city's building department approves the plans, demolition of the existing structure and construction of a new building could begin as early as January, said Steve Neal, the city's safety service director.
       He said discussions are under way to place the nativity scene there.
       

E-Check stations to close Monday

        Ohio E-Check stations in the Cincinnati area will be closed on Monday for Columbus Day. They will reopen at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, 30 minutes early. Call 1-800-CAR-TEST for more information.

Police seek help in robbery of woman

        FAIRFIELD — Police are seeking the public's help in looking for a pair of suspects in the robbery of a woman at a cash-dispensing machine.

        They said a woman was robbed at the Fair Oaks Plaza ATM after withdrawing money about 2:15 p.m. on Sept. 22.

        A man grabbed the woman from behind, pushed her to the ground, then dragged her for 50 to 75 feet before taking cash from her hand.

        The attacker was described as black, in his mid-20s, 5-feet-10, 160 pounds, with short black hair, clean-shaven, wearing a blue football jersey and jeans.

        He got into a blue four-door Chrysler with Kentucky plates, driven by a white woman in her 20s, about 5-feet-6, 160 to 190 pounds, with straight brown hair past her shoulders. She was wearing a plain white shirt.

        Anyone with information is asked to contact Officer Amy Gruenemeier at 896-8250.
       

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