Girl, 11, reports rape in Price Hill

        Cincinnati police are looking for a man who raped an 11-year-old girl Tuesday afternoon in Price Hill.

        The girl says the man forced her to the Judah Touro cemetery on Sunset Avenue near Rapid Run Park about 4 p.m.

        About four hours later, the girl went to a neighbor's house and told about the incident. The neighbor called police.

        The girl was taken to Children's Hospital Medical Center to be examined.
       

Trial delayed for police lieutenant

        The trial date for a Cincinnati Police lieutenant accused of misappropriating grant funds from the Boy Scouts of America has been postponed.

        Lt. M. Aaron “Mel” Taylor had been scheduled for trial next Monday. It was delayed because his attorney, Kenneth Lawson, is involved in marathon negotiations for mediation of a racial profiling lawsuit against the City of Cincinnati.

        The case returns to court March 25 before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Crush to set a new trial date.

        Lt. Taylor was indicted in July on multiple counts of theft in office, tampering with records and having unlawful interest in a public contract.
       

City residents can get free trees

        Neighborhood leaders and residents still have time to request free trees from the Cincinnati Park Board's Re-leaf program.

        The program, established in 1988, encourages people to plant trees on private property near public rights of way where trees can't be planted.

        This year, about 500 trees are on order in five species at a cost of about $12,000. Public and private funds pay for the trees. Cinergy Corp. is the 2002 sponsor.

        Hundreds of trees are still available, said Sandy Cesarov, who coordinates placement for the park board. Planting sites must be approved by Friday before trees can be picked up in April.

        The trees must be placed within 30 feet of the road, and are available only to Cincinnati residents.

        For information, contact a local community council, or the park board at 861-9070.
       

Police charge teacher with public indecency

        BATAVIA — An Amelia man who is a teacher at Georgetown High School was arrested and jailed on charges that he drove alongside women, exposed himself to them and followed victims on at least two occasions, the Clermont County sheriff said Wednesday.

        Scott Senter, 30, was arrested late Tuesday on two counts of public indecency and two counts of menacing by stalking, Sheriff Tim Rodenberg said.

        A judge set bond at $10,000 for Mr. Senter on the misdemeanor charges Wednesday in Clermont County Municipal Court.

        Victims said a man would drive along Ohio 125 alongside of women, expose himself and masturbate in their presence, Sheriff Rodenberg said.

        After receiving a report that it happened again on Monday, investigators were given a license plate number that they traced to Mr. Senter.

        Several women identified him as the person they saw performing the indecent acts, Sheriff Rodenberg said.
       

Man on the lam after Westwood bank heist

        A man who indicated he had a weapon robbed the Westwood Homestead Savings Bank on Harrison Avenue in Westwood Wednesday morning.

        The man entered the bank at 3002 Harrison Ave. at 9:55 a.m., showed the teller a note and demanded money from a cash drawer, police said. No weapon was seen.

        The robber, described as a black male, 30 to 35, about 6-foot and 160-170 pounds with a ruddy complexion, fled with an undisclosed amount of cash and was last seen in the area of Montana and Hazelwood avenues. He was wearing a dark gray jogging type jacket, navy blue bandana and had a bandage across his nose.

        Wednesday's bank robbery was the 11th robbery of a financial institution in Cincinnati this year.

        Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to call the Cincinnati Police Department's criminal investigations section at 352-3542 or Crime Stoppers at 352-3040.
       

Bill would allow flagpoles in yards

        COLUMBUS — Homeowners associations and other groups would not be able to bar members from flying the American flag under a bill introduced Wednesday in the Ohio House by Rep. Tom Raga, R-Deerfield Township.

        The bill was prompted by a Springboro subdivision that forbids flagpoles in yards. However, it would not apply to rules already in existence.
       

Town's only beggar retires his sign

       MEDINA, Ohio — The lone panhandler in this fast-growing Cleveland suburb is calling it quits after the city outlawed aggressive soliciting.

        “I'm quitting,” said James Bradley, 56, believed to be Medina's only panhandler, who stands with a handmade cardboard sign that reads “Will Work for Food.”

        Mr. Bradley said he recently qualified to receive federal assistance.

        He said that money helped convince him to stop asking for help.

        Mr. Bradley also said he was tired of the abuse he sometimes gets from motorists, including name-calling and having food and coffee thrown at him.

        Council recently prohibited certain forms of aggressive soliciting.

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