Newborn given to county anonymously

        A 2-day-old girl has been dropped off at a Tristate hospital as part of the Secret Safe Place for Newborns program.

        “Infant Jane Doe” was left shortly after noon Monday at Mercy Franciscan Hospital-Mount Airy by a woman claiming to be her mother.

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WORK UNDER WAY: The interior of a first-grade classroom at Glenn O. Swing Elementary School in Covington was damaged by an explosion June 6. Work is under way to repair the school. Superintendent Jack Moreland said this week that the school should open on time in the fall. The explosion occurred as two Cinergy workers were repairing a gas meter. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        On Tuesday, Hamilton County prosecutors obtained a court order granting temporary custody of the child to the county. The child will become eligible for adoption in about three months if the birth parents do not come forward.

        The Secret Safe Place program was launched in Hamilton County in August 2000 as a way to prevent child deaths by allowing distraught parents a safe way to give up a baby they can't handle. If a baby up to 3 days old is brought unharmed to a hospital, authorities agree not to ask names and not to pursue child abandonment charges.

        So far, the Hamilton County program has received three infants, the first two of whom have been adopted, officials said. A similar program in Butler County took in its first baby in August 2001.
       

Police say man tried robbing bank twice

        The would-be robber looked so familiar. When he got out of the taxi Thursday in front of Franklin Savings and Loan in Covedale, employees recognized him. He'd robbed them two days before and gotten away with it.

        This time, they locked the door. Frustrated, the man left in the cab. Employees called police, who caught up with the taxi in nearby Price Hill.

        Officers charged Richard William Engel, 48, who listed no home address, with robbery for the Tuesday hit on the bank.

        Then, the teller was handed a note that said, “Give me the money and no one will get hurt.”

        She did. The robber left on foot, walking down Glenway Avenue.

        Police are “absolutely certain” it was the same man both days, said Lt. Steve Kramer, “as hard as it is to believe.”

        But Mr. Engel wouldn't be the first recent accused holdup artist to hit the same bank twice. Last week, Cincinnati police arrested Riley Smith on a charge of robbing the Fifth Third branch behind City Hall. He'd gone to jail in November 1999 for trying to rob the same place.
       

Hospital names new anesthesiology head

        Nearly a year after closing two of its 16 operating rooms for a lack of anesthesiologists, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has named a new director of anesthesiology

        Dr. C. Dean Kurth takes over July 1 as director of the anesthesiology department and anesthesiologist-in-chief. He replaces Dr. Theodore Striker, who plans to continue as a member of the anesthesia department.

        Dr. Kurth was associate director of anesthesia at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. One of Dr. Kurth's priorities will be to build clinical capacity at Cincinnati Children's, officials said.
       

Mobile vet clinic fixes cats for $30

        SILVERTON — For $30, cat caretakers can get their felines spayed or neutered at a Mobile Animal Sterilization Hospital. The first of a series of opportunities is Saturday.

        The mobile hospital is operated in an 18-foot trailer designed to be a clinic for cats, featuring two veterinarians and a technician. The clinic will also be available July 27, Aug. 31, Sept. 21, Oct. 5 and Nov. 2.

        The clinic is located at the Deer Park-Silverton Firehouse, 7050 Blue Ash Rd. in Silverton. For more information or to make reservations, call 561-6274.
       

Loveland city manager gets 4 percent raise

        LOVELAND — City Manager Fred Enderle will receive a 4 percent raise to his base annual salary of $85,000.

        Council members approved the raise at a Tuesday session.

        Mr. Enderle's pay increase goes into effect in July. He began serving as the city's top administrator in January 2001.
       

Teen returns home after missing for a day

       UNION TOWNSHIP — The anxiety ended at 2:45 p.m. Thursday when the 14-year-old girl came home to a tiny street crowded with police vehicles.

        For 24 hours, the teen, whom The Enquirer is not naming, had been missing from home as at least 50 law enforcement officers and fire officials — and at least as many neighbors — searched for her and passed out fliers in and around the McGuffey Lakes subdivision.

        The girl told her family upon her return that she had spent the night with a friend and failed to call them, Union Township officials said.

        But Thursday night, 22-year-old Jeffrey Reno of Batavia was in Clermont County Jail, charged with corruption of a minor — a felony. He was arrested just 45 minutes after the girl returned home Thursday, Clermont officials confirmed.

        The search — fueled by media attention on the case of a 14-year-old girl snatched from her bedroom in Salt Lake City last week — included divers and K-9 units.
       

Man killed after being ejected from car

        WAYNE TOWNSHIP — Authorities are investigating a fatal traffic crash that forced a segment of Ohio 73 to close for two hours Thursday.

        Robert V. Cochran, 72, of Eaton, Ohio, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred around 1 p.m. Thursday just east of Ohio 503.

        Mr. Cochran was driving a 1985 Pontiac that was reportedly moving erratically before it crashed into a mailbox in the 3100 block of Ohio 73. He was ejected from the vehicle and thrown into a westbound tractor-trailer driven by James Abner, 42, of Laurelville, Ohio. Mr. Abner was uninjured.
       

New director named for film commission

        The Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Film Commission named Kristen Erwin its new executive director Thursday, succeeding founder Lori Holladay.

        Ms. Erwin is only the second executive to lead the film commission in the 15 years since it was launched as a volunteer effort based out of Ms. Holladay's home.

        Ms. Erwin has been acting director since Ms. Holladay stepped down from full-time duty four months ago.

        Recently elected commission Chairman Jack Streitmarter said the board considered a number of candidates before choosing Ms. Erwin. She promised to continue marketing the Tristate as a filming site and to help develop the local production community.

        The commission operates on an annual budget of about $250,000 from state and local government grants, corporate and arts donations, memberships and fund-raisers.
       
       

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