Police make arrests in Campbell flag thefts

        MELBOURNE — Campbell County police have arrested four teenage boys in connection to the Labor Day theft of American flags that fly along this small community's main drag.

        Three of the teenagers, all from Silver Grove, are charged with second-degree desecration of a venerated object and third-degree criminal mischief. Two are 16, and one is 15. The fourth boy, 17, of Melbourne, is charged with third-degree criminal mischief. The Cincinnati Enquirer is not identifying the suspects because they are juveniles.

        Detective Jason Faulkner said an anonymous tip led police to file charges against the boys Sept. 17.

        The theft of the flags angered many in the Tristate, and this town of 457 was soon flooded with donated Old Glories along with more than $1,000 for a special flag fund. The flags, which fly on lamp posts along Ky. 8, were replaced Sept. 11.

Health care center open house today

        BELLEVUE — HealthPoint Family Care will dedicate its newest health care center in the Bellevue Medical Arts Building at a community open house today.

        Residents can tour the center from 4 to 7 p.m.

        There will be a brief program at 5:30 p.m.

        HealthPoint Family Care, formerly known as Northern Kentucky Family Health, is a nonprofit health care organization that operates four primary care medical offices, five school-based health centers and a walk-in clinic for the homeless. Services are available to all patients, regardless of insurance or ability to pay.

        HealthPoint's new Bellevue center is housed in 7,000 square feet on the lower level of the Bellevue Medical Arts Building. The new health care center consolidates two smaller centers in Newport and Dayton.

        The center was furnished and equipped with help from donors that included the Scripps Howard Foundation, Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, the Procter & Gamble Fund and the Robert M. Butler Foundation.

Towns compete for free symphony gig

        HIGHLAND HEIGHTS — Starting next month, seven Northern Kentucky communities will vie for a chance to bring the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra to their town for a free concert.

        Conceived as a way to increase awareness and ownership in the KSO, the “City Nights” competition pairs a city and its residents with a particular concert within the KSO's 2002-03 subscription series. The city that brings the most people to its city's night at the KSO will win a free performance for that community.

        The winning city will be announced May 19.

        All City Nights concerts will take place at the Greaves Concert Hall on the Northern Kentucky University campus in Highland Heights. Single tickets cost $18 and $22.

        Programs and dates include “Feels Like the First Time” at 8 p.m. Oct. 11. Villa Hills residents will be competing for the largest attendance and the chance to win a free concert that night. Cold Spring and the neighboring city of Crestview will compete at the same program at 8 p.m. Oct. 12.

        The city of Fort Mitchell will try to get as many residents as possible to “Twists of Fate” at 8 p.m. Jan. 25. Highland Heights will compete with that program at 3 p.m. Jan. 26.

        Fort Thomas will try to get its residents out for “Noted Neuroses” at 8 p.m. May 9. Edgewood residents are asked to attend the following night's performance of that program at 8 p.m.

        For information, call (859) 431-6216.

Jails could report suicides, attempts

        FRANKFORT — County jailers may soon be reporting jail suicides and attempted suicides to the Department of Correction. Some think it will underscore how often they get inmates needing mental health care.

        “We have long known we are the largest housekeepers of the mentally ill,” Rodney Ballard, chief deputy jailer in Kenton County, said Tuesday.

        Jailers currently are required to keep a log of “extraordinary or unusual circumstances.” New rules endorsed Tuesday by a state commission that sets jail standards would require incident reports to be sent to Frankfort.

        Jail employees also would have to undergo some minimal mental health training. And jails would be required to have policies detailing what to do with inmates known to have attempted suicide or who are deemed to pose a suicide threat.

        The proposed rules follow a series of jail suicides.

Bring in deer heads for testing, Ind. asks

        EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Forget mounting the deer head. Hunters this year are being asked to donate deer heads to the state to be tested for chronic wasting disease.

        Biologists from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Fish & Wildlife will be at check stations this year to accept about 3,000 donated heads.

        The heads will be taken to special locations where brain tissues can be removed and sent to Purdue University and other laboratories. Only 1,000 samples will be tested initially.

        “If none is found, we will stop testing for the year,” said Jon Marshall, natural science manager for the division. “If there is even one positive, we will go back to the remaining 2,000 samples for more testing.”

        Indiana has a stable, healthy deer herd of about 300,000. About 100,000 are killed annually by licensed hunters. At this point, Mr. Marshall said, the issue is mostly one of keeping those deer healthy.

        The disease has drawn concern among the public because of its similarity to a group of diseases that includes the so-called “mad cow disease” in Europe, which has been known to spread to humans, Mr. Marshall said.

        It has been detected in two Canadian providences and some Western and Midwestern states.

'Vette for vote not legal, but car still flies

        BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana University's student government still plans to give away a new Corvette even after dropping plans to award it in a voter registration campaign.

        Instead, the winner of the cream-and-crimson sports car will be chosen in a campuswide drawing a few days after the election, said student body President Bill Gray.

        Mr. Gray said if students don't vote, Indiana will continue to underfund higher education and students can expect more big tuition increases.

        Indiana Deputy Secretary of State Todd Rokita said using a prize to lure voters to the polls violates federal law. If the drawing were held as planned, Mr. Rokita said the state would report the violation to the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI.

        The IU Student Association Congress last month appropriated $61,000 for the campaign, $50,000 for the car and the rest for scholarships. The money came from excess revenues from a student credit card agreement.

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