Tot out of hospital after falling into pool

        MIAMI TWP. — A toddler who fell into a swimming pool Thursday afternoon was released from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Friday.

        Justin Thompson, 20 months, spent the night in the hospital, a spokesman said.

        Authorities say the boy and his mother were in the back yard on Quadrant Drive in North Bend when the accident happened about 5:37 p.m.

        “The mother, I think, just became preoccupied in the yard,” Hamilton County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Barnett said. “She went searching and found the child in the in-ground pool.”

        The mother received cardiopulmonary resuscitation instructions from Hamilton County emergency dispatchers and the child was alert when deputies arrived, Mr. Barnett said.

        The child was believed to have been in the water for less than 90 seconds, Mr. Barnett said.
       

Man pleads guilty, gets 12 years in death

        HAMILTON — Brad Bowling, the third suspect in a November homicide, pleaded guilty to three charges Friday and was sentenced to a dozen years in prison.

        Mr. Bowling, 20, joins Marchello Garrett and Joshua James Hibbard in serving time in connection with the shooting death of Michael Wayne Garrett, 22, of Hamilton.

        Mr. Bowling pleaded guilty as charged to aggravated burglary and kidnapping and to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter, all first-degree felonies, said Craig Hedric, Butler County assistant prosecutor.

        Common Pleas Judge Patricia Oney sentenced Mr. Bowling to six years apiece on the burglary and kidnapping charges. A 10-year sentence on the involuntary manslaughter charge will run concurrent to those sentences, Mr. Hedric explained.

        Earlier this year, Marchello Garrett was convicted of murder with a gun specification, aggravated burglary and kidnapping in the slaying of his brother. A jury acquitted a second Hamilton man, 21-year-old Joshua James Hibbard, of murder and manslaughter charges, but convicted him of felonious assault.
       

Patient wins $2.2M for paralyzing error

        HAMILTON — A jury has awarded $2.2 million to a woman who filed a lawsuit charging that she was paralyzed by a medical mistake in 1996.

        The lawsuit filed in Butler County Common Pleas Court in 1999 claimed that Jean Philpot, 64, of Franklin, was paralyzed because Dr. Clyde Watson failed to perform the proper procedure to assist her breathing.

        The failure caused “abnormal blood chemistries that killed a portion of her spinal cord so that she could never walk again,” said Ms. Philpot's attorney, Richard Lawrence.

        The lawsuit was filed against Dr. Watson and Acute Care Specialists Inc., a medical corporation that serves Middletown Regional Hospital.

        The Butler County jury awarded Ms. Philpot the $2.2 million on Wednesday after a trial that lasted more than two weeks.

        Mr. Lawrence said Ms. Philpot was admitted to the hospital's emergency room for treatment on Jan. 15, 1996, and became paralyzed. She did not realize until months later that her paralysis was caused by a mistake, he said.

        He said medical records tracked the injury to a failure to intubate, which consists of inserting a tube in the larynx to assist breathing.
       

Anderson Fire Dept. swears in new chief

        ANDERSON TWP. — Mark Ober, who has been with the Anderson Township Fire Department since 1976, was sworn in Thursday night as the new fire chief.

        Chief Ober, 44, had been an assistant fire chief in the township since 1994. He joined the department as a volunteer in 1976, and became a full-time firefighter in 1977. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1982.

        Chief Ober succeeds Dan Esslinger, who retired May 4 after having served as chief since October 1996.
       

Milford plans citywide yard sale

        MILFORD — The citywide spring yard sale will be held May 31 to June 2. Residents can conduct yard sales at their homes without purchasing a permit.

        The city has issued guidelines for the yard sale, which includes not placing signs advertising the yard sales on telephone poles or within the city's right of way.

        Signs can be placed on private property with the owner's consent. All signs must be removed within 24 hours after the sale ends.

        For more information call the Milford offices at 831-4192.
       

Health information at Day for Women

        Women spend plenty of time worrying about their family's health. On Thursday, Tristate women can take some time for themselves.

        “Luka's Day for Women,” an event organized by the morning radio personality for WKRQ-FM, will offer information on several women's health concerns, including breast cancer, depression and domestic violence.

        The event will be held at noon Thursday at ProScan Women's Imaging Center, 4850 Red Bank Road, Kennedy Heights.
       

Youngstown diocese asked for abuse data

        YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County prosecutor is asking the Youngstown Roman Catholic Diocese for all records of sexual abuse allegations against priests to determine whether any still can be prosecuted.

        The diocese announced Wednesday that a search of files and other information had turned up new allegations of past child sex abuse by five priests. All the allegations date back at least 19 years, with the oldest going back to 1952, the diocese said.

        None of the priests named is still active in ministry.

        Prosecutor Paul Gains sent a letter Friday to Bishop Thomas Tobin asking for all the diocese's records of sexual abuse allegations.

        “Although the Diocese has maintained that the allegations of abuse occurred many years ago, it is not up to the Diocese to determine the applicable statute of limitations,” Mr. Gains wrote.

        Nancy Yuhasz, chancellor of the diocese, said, “Whatever Mr. Gains asks for, we will provide.”
       

Customers testify business stiffed them

        NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio — Customers of a defunct manufactured home company testified they gave the owner thousands of dollars for new homes but received nothing in return.

        Sixteen customers of Schwartz Homes Inc. Indoor Megastore testified on Thursday in Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court in the trial of former New Philadelphia businessman Steven D. Schwartz.

        Mr. Schwartz, 50, of Key West, Fla., is on trial for 24 theft, tax and business-related criminal counts.

        He is accused of failing to pay about $670,000 in sales tax between 1996 and 1999 to the state. He also is accused of taking about $270,000 from customers. The company shut down unexpectedly in April 1999.

        The defense contends that Mr. Schwartz tried to keep the business going but failed.

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