Compiled from staff and wire reports

Two men indicted in Pepper case

Two men accused of abducting and robbing Cincinnati City Councilman David Pepper were indicted Tuesday on multiple charges related to the Oct. 17 incident.

CLOSE CALL: A Sycamore Township sheriff's deputy looks at a truck that flipped following a crash with a school bus in the intersection of Snider Road and Kemper Road in Sycamore Township on Tuesday. No injuries were reported. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

Michael Watkins, 18, and Michael Lee Gray, 21, each face six charges: two counts each of aggravated robbery, two counts of robbery and one count each of kidnapping and attempted kidnapping. Mr. Pepper was accosted at gunpoint as he was getting into his vehicle in Mount Adams. He was forced to drive around and withdraw money from two ATMs, and then was let go.

If convicted, the two men could face more than 30 years in prison.

Test blast scheduled at stadium Thursday

A pound of explosives will be detonated at Cinergy Field on Thursday as part of a test to help prepare for next month's implosion of the 32-year-old stadium.

The detonation will occur between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. and is being done to help a demolition team customize explosives for the ball park and determine where to drill and place explosive charges. The boom reportedly will sound like a shotgun being fired at close range.

County spokeswoman Laura Whitman of Dan Pinger Public Relations said the concussion will be a fraction of the blasts that shook downtown during last week's FBI exercise.

The test will not be visible from outside the stadium, which is scheduled for implosion Dec. 29.

Mallory promoted to state Senate post

COLUMBUS - State Sen. Mark Mallory, D-Cincinnati, was named an assistant minority leader after a private vote of the Senate's Democratic caucus Tuesday afternoon.

It is a promotion from his previous leadership post, minority whip.

The move becomes official in January when the new Ohio Senate is sworn in. Republicans will outnumber Democrats 22-11.

Mr. Mallory won a second term Nov. 5 unopposed. .

Barnes & Noble joins The Streets

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Barnes & Noble Booksellers is the latest tenant of a $100 million lifestyle center on the southeast corner of Union Centre Boulevard and Interstate 75.

A store with a cafÈ would open sometime next year at The Streets of West Chester, said David Deason, a vice president of development with the New York City-based chain.

Teen indicted in rock-throwing case

A 19-year-old Colerain Township man was indicted Tuesday on two counts of felonious assault, accused of throwing a rock through the windshield of a van, injuring the driver.

Mark Holtman could face up to 16 years in prison if convicted.

He is accused of throwing a large rock at a van driven by Charles Hoffman as it passed along Springdale Road, Oct. 29.

Authorities said Mr. Holtman was tossing rocks from a creek bed near the 3200 block of Springdale Road.

Mr. Hoffman was knocked unconscious, officials said.

Vehicle sought that hit, killed pedestrian

Police searched Tuesday for the vehicle that struck and killed an 84-year-old man Monday night as he was attempting to cross a street in Madisonville.

James Dixon , who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, was struck by an eastbound vehicle while trying to cross in the 6400 block of Madison Road, police said.

The victim, who had wandered away from his Madison Road home, was taken to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Witnesses gave two possible descriptions of the vehicle, police said.

One was a 1990-94 dark green Ford Explorer with a bug shield.

The other was a newer-model Chevrolet Blazer or Trailblazer, black or dark colored, with a bug shield and a Bicentennial license plate.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Cincinnati Police Department's traffic section at 352-2514 or Crime Stoppers at 352-3040.

CSU police chief accused of soliciting

DAYTON, Ohio - The campus police chief of Central State University was charged Tuesday with soliciting sex from an undercover police officer, authorities said.

City prosecutors filed the misdemeanor charge against Everett Williams, 48, in Dayton Municipal Court.

He is to be notified by mail of the charge and is to appear later for arraignment, said Deidre Logan, the city prosecutor.

Officials at the university, located in Greene County east of Dayton, placed Chief Williams on paid administrative leave while the case is pending, university spokesman Jim Cleveland said.

Chief Williams was off duty and in an unmarked university car that he was not authorized to use when the alleged solicitation occurred Saturday, Mr. Cleveland said.

Chief Williams could not be reached for comment Tuesday. He did not return a telephone message left for him at the university police office.

He has been Central State's director of police and safety for about six years.