There are only six council members who now believe that Officer Stephen Roach told the truth about the night he shot Timothy Thomas in a dark Over-the-Rhine alley.

        Five of them are in Evendale. The other is Cincinnati City Councilman Jim Tarbell.

Tarbell

        Mr. Tarbell, long a defender of rank-and-file street cops, cross-examined Police Chief Tom Streicher last week about the internal investigation that found Officer Roach changed his story and lied to investigators.

        But because the transcript of Officer Roach's criminal trial was sealed after he was acquitted, deputy city solicitor Robert H. Johnstone Jr. told Mr. Tarbell not to proceed with his line of questioning.

        If he hadn't been stopped, Mr. Tarbell said, he would have quoted from homicide detective Charlie Beaver's interrogation of Officer Roach three days after the shooting:

        “I don't want to doubt you, but it just don't add up ... You've got your family to worry about. I'll be straight up with you. I think this was an accident ... I can see myself doing the same thing. You're startled. I'm telling you, you can stick with your story if you want. I just don't want to see you jammed up like a few other coppers are jammed up.”

        After meeting with Fraternal Order of Police lawyer Stephen Lazarus for an hour, Officer Roach changed his story. Instead of an intentional shooting in response to a perceived threat, he said he was “spooked” into accidentally pulling the trigger.

        Mr. Tarbell said the questioning shows Officer Roach's initial account — that he thought he saw a gun — was probably true all along.

        Parkopolis: It started as a dispute over a $250,000 budget cut, but the rift between Cincinnati City Council and the Board of Park Commissioners seems to be growing ever wider.

        Consider this exchange between Parks Director Willie F. Carden Jr. and Finance Committee Chairman John Cranley on Monday:

        “The park board, to its credit, doesn't have any fat,” Mr. Carden said. “It's pick your poison. It's either going to be green space maintenance, or Krohn Conservatory ...”

        “I wish you wouldn't do that,” Mr. Cranley interrupted. “It's scare tactics.”

        Later, Charles D. Lindberg — a library board member and husband of Park Board President Marian Lindberg — got into the act.

        “I'd ask the committee to cut out the rhetoric,” he said. “What I'm troubled by, frankly, is I always thought the city and the park board were friends. I am very unhappy to hear the park board being slammed today.”

        The episode left Councilman Pat DeWine to propose abolishing the independent Board of Park Commissioners — a key feature of Cincinnati's charter — and bringing the parks department under the control of the city manager and the “strong mayor” system.

        Forgetful: Tom Jackson, a city development officer, collected $8,056 — mostly in checks — from parking and vendor licenses at Findlay Market since 1999.

        He took them back to his office, stuck them in a desk drawer, and forgot about them — for two years.

        Mr. Jackson was suspended for a week, and the Civil Service Commission upheld his punishment. Now he's appealing to the courts, saying he was overworked and that a helpful co-worker had left the job, so he “no longer had anyone to remind him.”

        Gregory Korte can be reached at 768-8391 or gkorte@enquirer.com.

Husband arrested in fatal stabbing
Pilarczyk: Good work of priests overlooked
Pressure mounting for race-relations progress
UC tuition increases 9.5 percent
Actor says city's woes not unique
'Get yer cold beer, veggie dog!'
One councilman believes Roach
Program helps teens speak out against racism
School board, council form collaboration
Tristate A.M. Report
'Tuna' smells like success to critics
UC names new dean of med school
BRONSON: Fightin' words
HOWARD: Some Good News
SAMPLES: In loving tribute
SMITH AMOS: City book project
Bike trail would link Miami rivers
Professor gets good reaction
Trial starts for mother in death of 3-year-old girl
Warren GOP a diverse lot
Classmates grieve friends' death
Panel named for mentally disabled
Tanker spill shuts down stretch of 32
Dad of 12 fights to have sex
House Speaker deems budget plan a 'deal killer'
Ragland jury sees video of interview
Residents build 'no call' list
Security ramped up for Derby
UK urged to split college