Compiled from staff and wire reports

Woman is accused of abusing son, 4

A 35-year-old West Virginia woman was indicted Thursday on two counts of felony child endangering.

Mrs. Craft

Authorities said Barbara Craft, of Charleston, is accused of abusing her 4-year-old son.

Police said that on Sept. 30 the Craft family admitted the boy to Children's Hospital with a serious illness. The cause of the illness was later deemed suspicious by medical staff and the police were called.

According to the indictment, the acts of alleged abuse took place Oct. 10 and Oct. 16.

If convicted as charged, Mrs. Craft could be sentenced to a maximum 16 years in prison.

The prosecutor's office declined to comment Thursday.

Mrs. Craft is being detained in the Hamilton County jail, police said.

AIDS group begins Spanish outreach

As Greater Cincinnati's Latino population continues to grow, so does the demand for Spanish-speaking services - including help for people with AIDS.

AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati, an agency that provides a wide range of support services for people with AIDS, has named Carrie Schmid, a Spanish-speaking social worker, to lead an outreach program called "Team Latino."

Efforts include translating printed education materials, targeting prevention efforts to Latino groups, promoting HIV testing among Latinos, and recruiting more Spanish-speaking volunteers.

AIDS is a growing problem among Latinos, who make up about 13 percent of the U.S. population but account for 18 percent of reported AIDS cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For information about Team Latino, call 618-2019 or e-mail cschmid@ohcare.org.

Firefighters offer rides for voters

HAMILTON - For the fourth election in a row, Hamilton firefighters and paramedics are offering free transportation to the polls on Election Day.

Firefighters, who are seeking a levy on Tuesday's ballot, do not have campaign materials with them and the firefighters "do not discuss politics with our riders," said Bill Quinn, president of the local firefighters union.

"This is separate from our issues,'' he said. "In our line of work, we have witnessed up close and personal the difficulties some of our residents have in getting out (to vote). This is our way of helping in this very important part of American democracy."

Anyone who lives in Hamilton and needs a ride to the polls may call 893-1731 between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday; an off-duty firefighter or paramedic will provide transportation to the polling place.

Hospital releases man with heart pump

A former school official on Thursday became the first person in nearly two years to go home after receiving a portable heart-pumping device from surgeons at University Hospital.

Jimmy Slater, 67, is a retired assistant superintendent of the Elmwood Place-St. Bernard schools. He suffers from severe heart failure.

On Oct. 1, Mr. Slater was fitted with a HeartMate left ventricular assist system, made by Thermo Cardio Systems. The portable device helps a failing heart continue to pump for as long as several months while the patient awaits a heart transplant.

Mr. Slater's discharge Thursday marked the first successful implant of the device at University Hospital since January 2001, shortly before the hospital's heart transplant program closed for a year.

Mr. Slater becomes the fifth patient at University Hospital to receive the device since the hospital's first case in October 1996.

Man in shootout was bipolar, mother says

DAYTON, Ohio - A man killed in a courthouse shooting with deputies had been diagnosed with a brain disorder, his mother said Thursday.

The condition, bipolar disorder, causes unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy and ability to function.

Authorities said Keshia Jemel Newell, 34, grabbed a deputy's gun and fired a shot Wednesday in the lobby of the Dayton-Montgomery County Courts Building. Mr. Newell was shot and a deputy was wounded in the calf after officers followed him outside the building.

Mr. Newell, who was shot several times, died at a hospital. The deputy, Matthew Wright, was treated and released.

Earline Newell, 66, said her son did not own a gun but had tried to buy one earlier this year.

"He said people in his condition needed some kind of protection," she said. "They wouldn't issue a permit because of his condition."

She said he was unemployed and received disability assistance from the Veterans Administration for the brain disorder. He was diagnosed in the early 1990s after he began to lose weight and suffer terrible headaches.

"He was very depressed," she said.

Cycling robber arrested, police say

The man who robbed a downtown Provident Bank branch Thursday morning used a bicycle as his getaway vehicle and was arrested two blocks from the bank, police said.

The robber entered the bank branch at 100 E. 6th Street at 9:28 a.m. and showed the teller a note demanding money, police said. The teller complied and the robber exited the bank and fled on a bicycle. He was arrested five minutes later on Fountain Square by a police officer who had been working security detail at the bank.

Police charged Ronald Bruce Bullock, 53, of the 2000 block of Westwood Northern Boulevard, Westwood, with aggravated robbery.

Nine counties start Amber Alert system

CLEVELAND - Nine counties have started the Northern Ohio Amber Alert system, which eventually will be used in coordination with a statewide missing child alert system.

The Northern Ohio Amber Alert, the fourth regional alert system in Ohio, has already been used to rescue a 5-year-old girl in Cuyahoga County.

Gov. Bob Taft signed an executive order in August creating a statewide system to broadcast information quickly about a child abduction by a stranger. His order requires the system be in place by January.

The Amber Alert system is named for a Texas girl who was murdered in 1996. At least 14 other states have a similar alert system.

Ohio also has regional Amber Alert systems in the Cincinnati area, the Columbus area and Tuscarawas County.