Lakota East boy gets probation for pie toss

        HAMILTON — A 17-year-old Lakota East High School student apologized and was placed on probation Tuesday in Butler County Juvenile Court for throwing a pie at football coach Greg Bailie.

        The Enquirer is not naming the teen because he is a juvenile.

        He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.

        “He is on track to graduate early next year and completely understands the inappropriateness of his action,” said Jeffery Meadows, the West Chester Township attorney who represents him. “His actions took on a life of their own. ... He knows he was wrong.”

        Mr. Meadows said the boy wrote a lengthy letter of apology to Mr. Bailie.

        Magistrate Barbara Infantino put the boy on probation, assigned him to 20 hours of community service, and fined him $50 plus court costs.

        The boy was suspended from school for 10 days. An expulsion hearing is scheduled for Friday.
       

Inquiry clears agency in Olympics grant

        The Ohio Office of the Inspector General has found no wrongdoing in how the state Department of Development issued a $250,000 grant to Cincinnati 2012, the nonprofit group that tried to bring the summer Olympics to Cincinnati.

        The inspector general conducted a review of the grant after receiving an anonymous complaint saying the state Controlling Board had to approve such a grant.

        “We found no impropriety with DOD utilizing funds out of its operating budget to award the grant without seeking approval from the state Controlling Board,” the inspector general's report says.

        The report also says DOD has issued similar grants to other organizations such as the National Pro Football Museum Inc. and the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce.

        “Additionally, we found no wrongdoing in the administration of the grant,” the report says. “In our view, DOD's intent was to award a grant to an entity whose goal was to promote and market Ohio as an Olympic-site venue.”

        Cincinnati 2012, which returned more than $99,000 of the grant to the state, was one of eight cities competing to become the U.S. candidate city and compete internationally for the 2012 Summer Games. The Queen City was knocked out of that competition when the field was pared to four cities in October.
       

Victim's husband says killer's time is up

        COLUMBUS — The husband of one of Alton Coleman's victims said Tuesday that his wife's killer has sat on death row long enough for her 1984 beating death.

        Harry Walters, 60, told the Ohio Parole Board that after 17 years he is tired of waiting for the state to execute Mr. Coleman, who was convicted of four mur ders and faces death sentences in Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.

        “I am told that the scales of justice are blind. I know she must also be deaf because the legal system has not yet heard the cries for justice by the victims of Alton Coleman,” Mr. Walters said, banging his fist on a desk for emphasis.

        Mr. Coleman, 46, of Waukegan, Ill., is scheduled to die April 26 for the murder of Marlene Walters, 44, who was strangled July 13, 1984, after being attacked along with her husband in their Norwood home.

        The parole board is to make its recommendation to Gov. Bob Taft by early next week, and Mr. Taft then can either reduce Mr. Coleman's sentence or allow the execution to proceed.
       

Forest Park police win 3 years of raises

        FOREST PARK — This city's 34 sworn police officers have been promised pay increases for the next three years.

        By a 6-0 vote on Monday, City Council members renewed the Police Department's three-year contract, which stipulated 4 percent pay raises for this year and 2003 and a 3.5 percent raise for 2004. Salaries will range between $39,412 and $53,243 under the new contract.

        Negotiations began in November but were stymied by disagreements over health insurance, said Tye Smith, the city's human resources director.
       

Proposal for Norwood complex clears hurdle

        NORWOOD — Planning commissioners voted Monday to recommend approval for the “Cornerstone of Norwood” plans submitted by Al Neyer Inc. and Ackermann Enterprises.

        No date is set for City Council members to review their recommendation. Developers need approval of the planned application to proceed on their $30 million development.

        If it comes to fruition on 4 acres wedged between Interstate 71, Williams Avenue and Smith Road, Cornerstone would have a five-story office building, three-story retail building, a restaurant and a two-level parking garage for 669 cars.

        The garage's top deck, or plaza level, would accommodate 168 more parking spaces. The plaza level would have a one-story retail building.
       

Change in permits for square up for vote

        Cincinnati City Council will vote today on a proposal to overhaul the process for getting a permit to demonstrate on Fountain Square.

        The most significant change would be to establish a period of “exclusive government use” of the square from mid-November to early January. That provision would have the effect of preventing the Ku Klux Klan's controversial attempts to put crosses on Fountain Square.

        The Law and Public Safety Committee unanimously passed the proposed ordinance Tuesday without debate. Civil liberties lawyers have threatened a lawsuit over the new permitting plan.
       

Verdicts criticized in fake-Viagra case

        HAMILTON — Accusations of an Internet scheme to sell bogus Viagra imported from China have ended with an acquittal of one man and the conviction on a misdemeanor for another.

        In a decision that Assistant Prosecutor Craig Hedric called “disappointing,” Common Pleas Judge Matthew J. Crehan on Tuesday acquitted Nassim F. Nwaisser, 37, but convicted his brother-in-law, Hassib Selbak, 50, of Liberty Township, on a misdemeanor possession of a dangerous drug charge.

        The men, indicted in October, had faced more than four years in prison if convicted of the felonies they had faced. Mr. Selbak now faces a maximum of six months in jail. Sentencing is set for June 4.

        Mr. Hedric said the judge indicated that the evidence did not prove that Mr. Selbak knew the blue pills he was selling were counterfeit.
       

New planning, zoning chief starts Monday

        WEST CHESTER TWP. — The planning and zoning director in Union Township, Clermont County, for nearly four years begins work Monday in this booming Butler County suburb.

        Brian E. Elliff, who will earn $70,000 a year, is a former trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Housing and Development and a former private practitioner in land-use litigation.

        He holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Denver and a law degree and master's degree in urban planning from the University of Illinois.
       

Rehab is ordered in prescription case

        LEBANON — A Warren County judge agreed Tuesday to erase drug charges against a 40-year-old Indian Hill businessman if he successfully completes a residential rehab program for his addiction to painkillers.

        James J. Allen, who manages a business in Mason, is accused of photocopying a legitimate prescription several times to illegally acquire Vicodin in December and January.

        He pleaded guilty in February to three felony charges of illegal processing of drug documents, and asked Judge P. Daniel Fedders to allow treatment in lieu of conviction.

        Mr. Allen has been receiving outpatient treatment. Judge Fedders insisted that he attend an in-house program.

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