Cab rides are free for overimbibers

        Care Cab, a joint effort of AAA Cincinnati and MADD of Southwestern Ohio, will again provide free cab rides home for New Year's celebrants who had too much to drink.

        The service operates inside the Interstate 275 beltway in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. It will be available from 6 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday night.

BANK ROBBERY NO. 55: Cincinnati police investigate at Cincinnati Federal Savings & Loan on Glenway Avenue, Price Hill, after it was robbed Thursday. Two men got away with an undisclosed amount of money. It was the city's 55th bank robbery this year. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        For a Care Cab, call 768-FREE (3733).

        According to AAA Cincinnati, one in four fatal crashes in Ohio in 2000 involved alcohol.

        Care Cab will take intoxicated drivers to a residence. Care Cab will not provide rides to another business.
       

Two Brown County men die in crash

        CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — Two Brown County, Ohio, men were killed when their pickup truck pulling a camper went out of control and crashed on Interstate 75 in Georgia, authorities said.

        Killed were Harold E. Ernst, 68, of Sardinia, a retired teacher, and Ronald D. Mathis, 59, of Georgetown, former Brown County auditor. Both were riding in the pickup Wednesday.

        The truck and camper swerved across three lanes before overturning in the median, the Georgia State Patrol said. Information on which man was driving was not available.

        “The only thing I can say right now is his trailer began to sway,” Trooper A.E. Wilkins said. “From what witnesses say, the trailer became loose and (the driver) lost control.”

        The accident occurred near the downtown exit to Cartersville, northwest of Atlanta.
       

Firefighter award open for nominations

        Syrian Shriners and Shriners Hospitals for Children are accepting nominations for the first Syrian Shrine Firefighter Awards.

        Nomination forms must be returned by Jan. 18.

        The awards will be presented during National Burn Awareness Week, Feb. 3-9, to individuals who have performed outstanding firefighter service in their communities.

        Recipients will be honored at a ceremony Feb. 6 at Shriners Hospitals for Children, a pediatric burn center in Avondale.

        Nomination forms can be found on the Internet at www.syrianshrine.com or by calling 872-6383.
       

County agency has interim director

        Lois Reynolds, deputy director of the Hamilton County Department of Administrative Services, has been named interim director.

        Ms. Reynolds is filling in for Suzanne Burke, who will take over as director of the county Department of Job and Family Services on Tuesday.

        Ms. Reynolds has been the deputy director of administrative services for 11 years. She was finance director for Forest Park for 12 years.

        “We have the utmost confidence in the team in place within administrative services and in Lois Reynolds' ability to guide the department until a new director arrives,” said County Administrator Dave Krings.

        The county is conducting a national search for a director.
       

Group sues over OSU animal research

        COLUMBUS — A national activist group sued the National Institutes of Health on Thursday, demanding the release of documents from an Ohio State University experiment to test the effects of drug abuse on cats infected with feline HIV.

        Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said the documents would show NIH fails to thoroughly screen grant applications to prevent needless animal experiments.

        The Freedom of Information lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington.

        The group objects to experiments by OSU veterinarian Michael Podell, who is infecting cats with the feline version of the AIDS virus and injecting them with methamphetamines to see if the drug speeds the virus's degenerative effects on the brain.
       

Man, wife killed in home, police say

        DAYTON, Ohio — The bodies of a married couple were found Thursday in their home on the city's east side, police said.

        “It is definitely a double-homicide investigation,” Dayton police Sgt. Tom Flanders said. “There appears to have been a struggle of some sort. Our investigation does not point to murder-suicide.”

        The bodies of the 61-year-old man and 68-year-old woman were found by the couple's son, Sgt. Flanders said. There did not appear to be any sign of forced entry into the home, he added.
       Officials at the Montgomery County coroner's office said their names were not immediately available.
       

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