A celebration at Swifton Commons in Bond Hill Sunday previewed the June 10 groundbreaking of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

        Church choirs, a high school marching band and a youth mime group entertained a crowd of about 200.

        Ed Rigaud, president of the Freedom Center, said: “This thing was a vision and an idea, and it's now totally for real.”

Man hit by train may have been drifter

               WOODLAWN — Police Sunday identified the man who was struck by a train and killed Saturday night as Chris L. Edmonds, 40, who police say appears to to be a drifter.

        Mr. Edmonds was pronounced dead at the scene after the 7:12 p.m. crash.

        He was walking north on the side of the railroad tracks south of the Marion Road crossing when he stepped in front of a northbound CSX train, police said.

        Mr. Edmonds was carrying a Mississippi driver's license, but attempts to notify relatives were unsuccessful, police said.

        Anyone with information about the man is asked to call Woodlawn Police at (513) 771-8480.

Man shot four times, expected to recover

               A 22-year-old man was in fair condition Sunday at University Hospital after he was shot four times in his car about 3:30 a.m. in the 5900 block of Chandler Street, Madisonville, Cincinnati police said.

        Issac Diggs, of Madisonville, is expected to recover, a nursing supervisor said. He told police he was in his brown 1983 Buick Riviera, picking up a female friend from a house nearby, when a man opened fire.

        Mr. Diggs suffered gunshot wounds to his right knee, elbow and left thigh, but was able to drive himself to a United Dairy Farmers store to call police.

        Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 352-3040.

Driver injured in single-car crash

               A Springdale man was critically injured early Sunday after being ejected from his car on southbound Interstate 75 at the Glendale-Milford Road exit. The crash may be alcohol-related, Evendale police said.

        Rolando Vazquez, age and address unknown, was airlifted to University Hospital shortly after the 2:30 a.m. crash and listed in critical condition Sunday.

        He was not wearing his seatbelt, said Evendale police Sgt. Steve Niehauser.

        After Mr. Vazquez's purple 1995 Plymouth Neon went off the left side of the expressway, he overcorrected, crossed all three southbound lanes and slammed into the median head-on, Sgt. Niehauser said. When the car flipped over, Mr. Vazquez was ejected and landed in front of the car.

Man arrested 2nd time in school thefts

               An O'Bryonville man accused of breaking into Summit Country Day School in March was arrested Friday after a police officer caught him rummaging through a student's book bag during a second break-in.

        David Tramber, 32, of the 3000 block of Cinnamon Street, faces two counts of breaking and entering. He is being held at the Hamilton County Justice Center and will appear in court today.

        He is accused of removing a wallet containing credit cards and other items from a coach's locker March 15 at the Hyde Park school, court records show.

        After entering the Grandin Road property through an open side door near the gymnasium Friday, he was going through a student's book bag when a police officer confronted him, authorities said.

        Mr. Tramber also was charged with using the stolen credit cards recently at a video store.

County wins award for its Web sites

               Hamilton County has won an award for having the best information superhighway.

        County officials were awarded the first Seal of Good eGovernance award earlier this month. It recognizes best practices and innovation in county-level electronic governance initiatives.

        Hamilton County was the only county in the United States awarded the eGovernance Award of Excellence, the highest award granted and designated by a Gold Seal.

        Twenty-nine counties applied for the award and the counties were grouped into seven categories, based on population. Award applicants were scored based on seven criteria addressing things such as innovation use of technology for service delivery, privacy and security, and participation of multiple government sectors.

        “We were constantly looking for ways to improve our service. making use of e-comm is one of our strategies,” Hamilton County Administrator Dave Krings said. “It's a rather pleasant surprise to be recognized as the best.”

        Hamilton County was in a category of counties with a population of 500,000 to 1 million. The county serves more than 845,000 people.

        Hamilton County links information on more than 50 county-related web sites and more than 80 sites of public interest to its residents and the Internet Community. The site currently links the public to 11 public service categories available through the Internet.

Forums discuss 2 health initiatives

               United Way of Greater Cincinnati will host a community forum April 30 to seek comments about its new projects to improve behavioral and oral health in the region.

        The United Way considers both projects key parts of a revised strategic plan to improve community health.

        It begins with the behavioral health discussion at 5:45 p.m. at the United Way office, 2400 Reading Road. Oral health discussions begin at about 6:50 p.m.

        For information, call 762-7173.

50 Hoover workers clean up in lottery

               NORTH CANTON — About 50 Hoover Co. employees have the state record $75 million winning lottery ticket, a spokeswoman for the vacuum manufacturer said Sunday.

        Jacquelyn Love confirmed the employees have the ticket, but said she could not release the winners' names. The winners share $22.9 million after federal and state taxes. Split by 50, that's $458,700 apiece.

        The ticket was the only one to have all six numbers for the Super Lotto Plus jackpot Saturday night, Ohio Lottery spokeswoman Mardele Cohen said.

        Lottery offices are closed on Sunday. The first opportunity to redeem the ticket would be todayMonday.

        The ticket — with numbers 17, 25, 29, 31, 32, 35 — was sold at Woodlawn Market in Canton. The store gets $75,000 for selling the ticket.

        Manager Peggy Martin, 39, of Canton, said Sunday she had not heard from any of the winners, but she did remember selling the winning ticket to the workers.

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