Compiled from staff and wire reports

Seniors can get help to stop smoking

Ohio is one of seven states where seniors can get Medicare help to quit smoking.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Thursday announced a pilot program that will test various combinations of smoking cessation strategies with seniors. The yearlong programs include counseling in person or over the phone, nicotine patches, a prescription smoking cessation drug and educational materials.

Normally, Medicare does not cover smoking cessation therapy, but it will for those who enroll in this study. For information, call (866) 652-3446.

Results of the study are expected in 2005.

Fernald expands disposal facility

Cells 800 feet long and 400 feet wide will hold low-level radioactive waste from the former Fernald uranium processing plant for decades to come.

The U.S. Department of Energy and Fluor Fernald announced this week theyhave completed two disposal cells, the fourth and fifth of seven such depositories to be built at the 1,050-acre site.

The cells hold contaminated soil as well as scrap and rubble from demolished buildings and equipment. Since December 1997, crews have been filling the cells at a rate of 200 truckloads a day.

Drug charges filed against sleeping man

A man found asleep at the wheel early Thursday along the Norwood Lateral was arrested after police found crack cocaine and a gun in the car.

Terry Coleman, 26, of Bond Hill, was sitting in his car at Ohio 526 and Paddock Road about 4:30 a.m., police said. They found 62 grams of crack and a loaded 9mm semiautomatic Glock handgun, according to court documents. The gun was on the floorboard.

Cincinnati police filed charges of drug trafficking, drug possession, carrying a concealed weapon and having a weapon illegally because of a previous drug conviction.

Mr. Coleman's total bonds were set at $40,000, two of them $15,000 cash. He remained in the Hamilton County Justice Center on Thursday.

Ach agrees to pay income-tax bill

Cincinnati Park Board member and businessman Roger Ach pleaded no contest Thursday to a minor misdemeanor charge and agreed to pay a disputed city of Cincinnati income-tax bill.

Mr. Ach said he had "paid my taxes as agreed," but declined further comment. Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Kevin Donovan said Mr. Ach has paid at least $8,000 on the bill.

Dayton told siren system is outdated

DAYTON, Ohio - This city in the heart of a tornado-plagued region may get rid of the sirens that warn residents of twisters.

A Dayton official said Wednesday he plans to ask city leaders for permission to disable the half-century-old siren system.

Bill Hill, director of information and technology services, echoed the sentiments of departed City Manager Valerie Lemmie in saying the city system is outdated and too costly to fix or replace.

Mr. Hill estimated that a new siren system would cost at least $500,000. Without sirens, the city could save $37,000 a year in maintenance.

"It's absolutely not financially feasible to maintain," he said. "It wouldn't be worth it."

Dayton has been encouraging residents to invest in weather radios.

But in Van Wert County, where tornadoes on Nov. 10 left a path of death and ruin, officials are skeptical about relying totally on weather radios.

"People outside don't have monitors strapped to them." said Rick McCoy, director of the Van Wert County Emergency Management Agency.

Tornado detritus found far from home

NAPOLEON - Residents are collecting old pictures, canceled checks and bank statements found in yards and plan to send the items back to people who lost them in tornadoes that hit more than 40 miles away.

The items have turned up since the tornadoes swept through northwest Ohio on Nov. 10. The items are from the Van Wert area, south of Napoleon.

Post offices and the Napoleon Northwest Signal newspaper are collecting the items.

Two issues filed for February ballot

By Thursday's filing deadline for the Feb. 4 election, only two issues had been filed for voters to consider in Butler and Warren counties.

In Butler County's Talawanda Local School district, voters will be asked to approve a 2.5-mill bond issue to build a school to replace Stewart Elementary. The bond issue would be paid back over 27 years and cost the owner of a $100,000 house an additional $76.56 annually in new taxes.

In Springboro schools in Warren County, voters will be asked to renew a $1.4 million and a $600,000 emergency levy, both due to expire at the end of 2003. There would be no increase in taxes if the five-year renewals were approved.

Medical machines aid surgery here

The Mayfield Clinic & Spine Institute demonstrated recently-installed high-tech devices Thursday at three area hospitals that have helped advance the quality of neurosurgery in Greater Cincinnati.

Good Samaritan Hospital is using a VectorVision global positioning system developed by BrainLAB Inc. It helps guide surgeons to remote areas of the brain and spine.

Christ Hospital is using MobileSCAN, a portable CT scanner made by Ohio Medical Instruments that can provide live images during spinal surgery.

University Hospital is using VectorVision and an Interoperative MRI machine that allows surgeons to get live MRI scans during brain surgery.

Swindler suspect skips court date

HAMILTON - Police are looking for a 36-year-old Middletown businessman who failed to appear in court Thursday on a 23-count indictment accusing him of securities fraud and check-kiting schemes involving more than $1 million, officials said.

Chad P. Copeland faces charges of allegedly victimizing Tom and Connie Kerr, who invested in a company he owns, and First National Bank of Southwestern Ohio, where one of Mr. Copeland's companies banked.

Assistant Prosecutor Dan Ferguson said Mr. Copeland would likely forfeit the $7,500 cash bond he had posted earlier this year, and that warrants had been issued for his arrest.

A bad-check scheme using one of his companies allegedly cheated First National out of $1.6 million, authorities said. The bank has recovered a substantial amount of that money.