COLUMBUS — Opponents of a comprehensive smoking ban in Lucas County say an Ohio Supreme Court ruling in favor of the ban would lead to a rush of similar laws around Ohio. Health officials disagree, saying most communities are still reluctant to impose total bans.

        The Supreme Court was scheduled to hear arguments in the case today .

        “I don't think there'll be any watershed change at all,” Deborah McConville, executive of the Ohio Association of Health Commissioners, said Monday. “Many, many communities in Ohio are probably not ready to entertain an outright ban or take that next step.”

        By a 7-1 vote, the Toledo-Lucas County Board of Health in June approved the ban, which outlaws smoking in all indoor public places, including bars and restaurants.

        At stake is whether health boards can impose anti-smoking rules, thus bypassing elected officials and making it easier to put smoking bans in place.

        The court will determine whether Ohio law allows a local health board to prohibit smoking in all public places and, if so, whether that violates the Ohio Constitution.

        The Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, which opposes such bans, predicts that a state Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Lucas County ban will mean an increase in such bans.

        Malcolm Adcock, the Cincinnati health commissioner, said health boards won't overreact.

        “There are many communities and boards of health that will not consider such a ban, because community standards will not be in favor of doing so.”<

Middletown man gets life term for murder

        HAMILTON — A Middletown man has avoided the death penalty, but will serve life in prison without possibility of parole for killing a 37-year-old man and stealing his ATM card and $1.

        Derrick Bird, 21, received the sentence Friday from a Butler County three-judge panel that had convicted him Wednesday on charges of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery in the May 2001 death of Marion Gilbert Emmett.

        Mr. Emmett's partially clothed body was found in the rear of a cemetery; he had been beaten to death.

        Besides the life sentence, Mr. Bird also was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the aggravated robbery conviction.

        Mr. Bird's co-defendant, Brad Isbell, also 21, of Middletown, continues to face a possible death sentence. His trial is set for June in Common Pleas Court.

Meeting to introduce two new principals

        Cincinnati Public Schools' foreign language community committee will hold a meeting today to introduce the public to two new principals: Carol Walsh and Stephen Hoyt.

        Ms. Walsh will be principal at the new Withrow International High School, one of Cincinnati Public Schools' redesigned high schools, while Mr. Hoyt will be principal of the Academy of World Languages.

        The meeting will be held at Withrow High School in room 600 beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Bond Hill man dies after crash on I-75

        A 27-year-old Bond Hill man died early Monday after he was injured in a one-vehicle crash on northbound Interstate 75, south of the Mitchell Avenue exit.

        The crash occurred about 2:55 a.m. The driver, Ronald C. Bryers of Franklin Avenue, was taken to University Hospital and pronounced dead at 3:30 a.m., police said.

        The vehicle hit a guardrail on the right side of the roadway between the Interstate 74 and Mitchell Avenue exits, police said. The vehicle then crossed the northbound roadway and struck the concrete center median off the left side of the roadway.

        The Cincinnati Police Department's traffic unit is investigating.

Suspect indicted on eight rape counts

        A Hamilton County grand jury Monday returned an eight-count rape indictment against a 47-year-old Springfield Township man, already indicted on charges that he had improper sexual contact with a teen-age girl.

        Edward Duskin, formerly of the 1500 block of Meredith Drive, is accused of assaulting five girls between the ages of 5 and 13.

        Police say Mr. Duskin lived in the same apartment complex as the girls.

        He befriended the girls or their parents, sometimes buying gifts and pets for the girls, said Springfield Township Police Det. Pat Kemper.

        Mr. Duskin, a former nurse's aide, was indicted last month on nine counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor for separate incidents involving a 13-year-old girl.

        Police say he has a prior conviction for a sexual offense and had served about three years in prison in Maine. The offense happened at least 10 years ago, police said.

        Mr. Duskin is in the Hamilton County jail with bond set at $100,000 cash.

        If convicted as charged he could be sentenced to more than 70 years in prison.

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