More protests at city police memorial

        About two dozen anti-police protesters, opposed by an equal number of counter-protesters, participated in a mostly peaceful event Thursday at Cincinnati's police memorial on Ezzard Charles Drive.

A woman calling herself Bahashah wipes her shoes with an American flag Thursday during a protest at Cincinnati's police memorial. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        The noon protest, held by a group calling itself The Black Fist, was called to dispute claims that marchers had “desecrated” the memorial to fallen officers by spitting and urinating on it during a rally Sunday.

        Kevin Brown, 37, of Evanston, was arrested on an assault charge for allegedly knocking a hat off the head of Paul Hilmer, a retired Cincinnati police sergeant, police spokesman Lt. Kurt Byrd said. It was the only disturbance that violated the law, Lt. Byrd said.

        Protesters mostly marched around and stood on the sidewalk in front of the memorial toting “No Justice. No Peace” signs and yelling anti-police and anti-white epithets.

        The event also drew about a dozen counter-protesters, who sat at the base of the police memorial statue holding “We support the police” signs.
       

Woolly mammoth remains on display

        HAMILTON — The leg bone and tooth of a woolly mammoth were placed on permanent display Thursday in the lobby of the Butler County Government Services Center.

        The bone and tooth were discovered in Schumacher Park, West Chester Township two years ago by a construction crew.

        The government center is at 315 High St., Hamilton.
       

Cash recovered, but bank robbers still loose

        SALEM TWP. — Warren County sheriff's detectives recovered the getaway car and much of the cash but continued to search for two men who robbed the Lebanon Citizens National Bank on U.S. 22/Ohio 3 at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

        Lt. Jerry Mays said Thursday that two men in hooded sweatshirts walked into the bank, forced their way behind the teller line, shoved two employees to the ground, then took an undisclosed amount of cash from the cash drawers. No gun was shown.

A NEW FACE FIELD TRIP: Jasmine Jamison, 6, a kindergartner at Washington Park Elementary in Over-the-Rhine, and Jonathan Tople, 8, a second-grader at St. Veronica School in Clermont County's Mount Carmel, check out a chicken during a field trip Thursday to Sunrock Farm in Wilder, Ky. Washington Park kindergartners and St. Veronica second-graders are part of a pen pal program, now in its seventh year, between the two schools. Sherry Dumford, a second-grade teacher at St. Veronica, and Donna Mitchell, a kindergarten teacher at Washington Park, got the idea as graduate school classmates at Xavier University. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        Two customers were in the bank at the time but were unhurt. The tellers who were knocked down suffered minor bruises and scrapes, Lt. Mays said.

        Deputies found the money in a plastic shopping bag along Ohio 123, about one-quarter mile south of the bank, on Wednesday. The robbers apparently ditched the cash after a dye pack exploded, Lt. Mays said.

        The getaway car, a black Chevrolet Beretta that was abandoned, was being searched for evidence Thursday.

        Wednesday's heist was the third time the bank branch had been robbed since September 1998.

        Authorities said they thought the 1998 robbery and another in October 2000 were committed by the same man, who is yet unidentified. That suspect wore the same disguise — a chin-length black wig and sunglasses, and flannel shirt — and uttered the same profanities during both incidents.
       

Charges might be filed in boy's shooting death

        HAMILTON — A grand jury will be asked to decide whether any charges will be filed in the case of an 11-year-old Butler County boy who died in an apparent accidental shooting last week.

        Butler County Sheriff's Lt. Mike Craft on Thursday said charges are possible for an adult in the case of Travis Payne, 11, of Morgan Township.

        He died April 3 at the Ross Township home of his friend, another 11-year-old, who was holding a shotgun when it fired.

        Lt. Craft said he doubted any charges would be pursued against Travis' friend.

        No date for the grand jury proceedings had been set as of Thursday afternoon.
       

Butler Co. sheriff warns against phone solicitors

        HAMILTON — The Butler County Sheriff's Office is warning citizens about misleading telephone solicitations.

        The sheriff's office is not currently seeking donations for bulletproof vests, Sheriff Harold Don Gabbard said. His office on Thursday received several calls from citizens complaining that telephone solicitors claiming to represent his office had treated them rudely. No such solicitation is sanctioned by his office, Sheriff Gabbard said.

        Anyone wishing to discuss this matter may contact the sheriff's investigations unit at 887-3031.
       

Blood supply low, especially O-positive

        If you have O-positive blood, Hoxworth Blood Center wants you to roll up your sleeve.

        Tristate blood supplies are running about 10 percent below normal, which isn't serious enough to call an emergency drive.

        However, supplies of O-positive blood are 35 percent below normal, and that is becoming a problem, Hoxworth officials say.

        If the situation worsens over the weekend, the Tristate's blood bank might need to call its first emergency appeal of the year on Monday.

        For information about donating blood, call 451-0910.
       

Cincinnati State gets tech donation

        Cincinnati State and Technical Community College has received a donation of more than $7.8 million in software, software support and training from EDS of Plano, Texas.

        School officials say it is one of the largest in-kind contributions given to Cincinnati State in its 33-year history. The gift is the first major donation in a four-year fund-raising campaign by the Cincinnati State Foundation.

        EDS is a global services company that helps clients manage the business and technological complexities of a digital economy.
       

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