Taft again refuses clemency for Byrd

        COLUMBUS — Gov. Bob Taft denied clemency again Friday to John W. Byrd Jr., who is scheduled to be executed next week for a slaying 19 years ago.

        The decision came the day after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stop Tuesday's execution or hear Mr. Byrd's appeal that an accomplice committed the crime.

        Late Friday afternoon, the Interfaith Coalition to Stop Executions, a group of central Ohio clergy, asked the Ohio Supreme Court to postpone Mr. Byrd's execution, claiming he is innocent. The court likely will not rule on the request before Monday, spokesman Jay Wuebbold said.

        Ohio Public Defender David Bodiker, whose office represents Mr. Byrd, said he had nothing to do with the coalition's filing. He said he had not decided whether to pursue further court action on Mr. Byrd's behalf.

        However, Amnesty International said it would appeal to Mr. Taft to spare Mr. Byrd. The governor is empowered to grant clemency at any time up to the condemned inmate's death.
       

Sewer district pact has agency approval

        The U.S. Department of Justice and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency have approved a consent decree with the Metropolitan Sewer District aimed at eliminating discharges of raw sewage.

        The decree has not been filed in federal court in Cincinnati, and will be published in the Federal Register within 10 days.

        After publication in the register, there will be a 30-day public comment period on the decree.

        It initially forces MSD to spend $74 million in eliminating sewage overflows but could cost ratepayers up to $1 billion over three decades.

        The decree means a 6 percent annual increase for MSD customers.

        The decree requires the MSD to eliminate 17 of its most highly active overflows over the next five years, then come up with a plan to eliminate the other 90.
       

Warren commission hires defense counsel

        LEBANON — Warren County commissioners have agreed to pay a former deputy state attorney general and GOP campaign consultant $13,200 to defend the board against a lawsuit filed by The Cincinnati Enquirer.

        Attorney Mark Weaver, of Isaac, Brant, Ledman & Teetor in Columbus, will represent the commissioners who are accused of conducting closed-door sessions in violation of Ohio's Open Meetings Law.

        The Enquirer sued commissioners after the board allegedly called an executive session Jan. 22 to discuss personnel matters and litigation, but met instead with the county mental retardation agency to discuss a possible levy.

        The newspaper contends the gathering is part of a pattern of abuses since last March.

        Board President G. Michael Kilburn said Thursday: “The Cincinnati Enquirer thinks we like to break sunshine laws ... You have to talk and you have to find out what's going on and these things don't happen by osmosis.”
       

Judge in abuse case sets March trial date

        HAMILTON — A judge on Friday untangled a legal mess and set a trial date in a controversial Butler County child abuse case.

        Butler County Common Pleas Judge H.J. Bressler refused requests for sanctions against attorneys in the case of Tiana Centers, and also said that the defense lawyer's objection to a court reporter's production of a transcript for the prosecutor's office was a moot issue.

        The judge set a March 27 trial date for Ms. Centers, 20, a Middletown woman who is accused of permitting child abuse that led to the death of her 3-year-old daughter, Courtney, last month.

        Judge Bressler has set a May 6 trial date for Ms. Centers' boyfriend, Kevin Charles Miles. The 27-year-old Woodlawn man is charged with murder and felony child endangering.
       

Woman indicted on identity-theft charges

        HAMILTON — In the latest in a series of indictments for identity-theft crimes, a suspect has been accused of wreaking considerable havoc in a single weekend.

        Judy M. Hughes, 52, is scheduled to appear March 8 in Butler County Common Pleas Court on a count of identity theft and 32 counts of forgery.

        In an indictment issued this week, Ms. Hughes, of Cincinnati, is accused of assuming the identity of a Hamilton County woman then cashing about $16,500 worth of checks in Butler, Warren and Hamilton counties.

        The checks, all bearing the victim's name, were drawn against the First National Bank account of a Middletown business and were processed through First National branches July 28-30 last year, said Lee Oldendick, Butler County assistant prosecutor.

        The checks, he said, were apparently computer-generated.

        Ms. Hughes, arrested in December in regard to several Butler County incidents, was released from the Butler jail on Wednesday.
       

Homicide, carjacking case closed by police

        Cincinnati police have closed an unusual homicide case with arrests of seven Dayton, Ohio-area men.

        Timothy Powell, 18, was shot Sept. 17 outside his apartment complex on Roe Street in Madisonville. The assailants then took his car with the intention of heading back to Dayton, police said.

        The last arrest was of a 17-year-old male charged with aggravated robbery and murder. Four of the seven have pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and involuntary manslaughter and are awaiting sentencing.

        Two more, Othello Harrell, 20, and Marq Barker, also known as Marq Harris, 19, have been indicted on aggravated robbery and aggravated murder charges.

        The group came to Cincinnati for the sole purpose of carjacking, police said.

        It's a strange case, said Lt. Kurt Byrd, Cincinnati police spokesman. Rarely do carjackings end in homicide. And rarely does a single homicide involve seven people, he said.
       

PRESIDENTS DAY CLOSINGS
Postal service ....... No delivery
Library ....... Open
Banks ....... *Closed
Trash collection
• Cincinnati: One day delay
• Rumpke: Regular schedule
• CFI: Regular schedule
Metro ....... Regular schedule
Parking meters ....... Coins required (Cincinnati)
Courts ....... Closed
Government offices
• Federal ....... Closed
• City and county ....... Closed
• State ....... Closed
Stock markets ....... Closed
*Fifth Third and Firstar in-store branches will be open. The Fifth Third Banking Center at the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport will be open.

       

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