Compiled from staff and wire reports

Morrow man treated, released after wreck

HARLAN TOWNSHIP - A 26-year-old Morrow resident was treated for minor injuries after the sport utility vehicle he was driving slid off a slick road in Warren County Saturday afternoon.

Jason Davidson was taken by helicopter to University Hospital, where he was treated and released, according to a nursing supervisor.

Mr. Davidson failed to navigate a curve on Morrow Rossburg Road at 2:30 p.m. and hit a tree, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Officers said excessive speed on slick roads contributed. Mr. Davidson was wearing a seat belt.

Police said ice was forming at the time of the wreck.

Food distribution tops 2001 Thanksgiving

Despite an uncertain economy, more food was collected for the Tristate's largest food pantry this Thanksgiving than last year.

More than 241,794 pounds of food were dispersed by the FreeStore/FoodBank in its annual three-day Thanksgiving distribution. That exceeds the group's 2001 total by 15,862 pounds.

The number of households served also jumped: 5,526 vs. 5,750 in 2001.

Organizers worried that the economic downturn would affect how much food would be donated.

The group is now focusing on replenishing its pantry for Christmas. The FreeStore/FoodBank resumes regular operations Monday.

Nonperishable food items can be dropped off at 112 Liberty St. in Over-the-Rhine. Cash donations can be mailed to 1250 Tennessee Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45229. Information: 482-FOOD.

Highway Patrol will switch to white cars

COLUMBUS - The Ohio State Highway Patrol is changing the color of its cruisers from charcoal to white in the hope that motorists will spot them more easily.

"We work outside municipalities, so we don't always have streetlights," Lt. Gary Lewis said. "Visibility is a big issue."

The patrol will gradually switch beginning in late December.

Lt. Lewis said the current dark color tends to blend in with the roadways during the day and is especially hard to see at night.

The deaths of two troopers in fewer than three years is a factor, officials said.

On May 15, 2000, Trooper Robert Perez was filling out paperwork on a routine traffic stop on the Ohio Turnpike in Sandusky when a speeding car hit the cruiser from behind and killed him.

On Nov. 5, 2001, Trooper Frank Vazquez was approaching a car on Interstate 270 around Columbus when a sport utility vehicle hit him, the cruiser and the car he had stopped. The trooper died the next day.

Cruisers were white from 1976 until 1983 in celebration of the U.S. bicentennial. They became silver in 1983 and then charcoal in 1993.

Converting the 979 cars could take years. The charcoal cars will be phased out normally after about four years and 100,000 miles.

Deputy recovering after being struck

GREEN TOWNSHIP - Deputy James Felker, 57, of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, was in fair condition Saturday night at University Hospital, recovering from injuries he sustained Friday after being struck by a vehicle in the 5900 block of Lawrence Road.

According to deputies, Deputy Felker had walked across the eastbound lane and was waiting for traffic to pass when a vehicle driven by Aaron Bubenhofer, 18, of Delhi Township, hit him at 9:50 p.m. Friday.

Mr. Bubenhofer, who was not cited, apparently did not see Deputy Felker, officials said. The deputy was transported to University Hospital by the Green Township Fire Department.

Westcott House work restoring structure

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The hammer's steady bam, bam, bam escapes from deep within Westcott House, echoing through each room.

Scaffolding hugs the outside of the home, making the surgery difficult to see from the corner of High Street and Greenmont Avenue. But the changes are there.

And they're dramatic.

Those restorations include a half-finished historically correct roof, the opening of formerly closed porches and structural reinforcement.

"All the additions have been removed, and the full cantilever of the porches is visible," said Courtney Vandiford, restoration project coordinator with the Westcott House Foundation, a group working to restore the house Frank Lloyd Wright designed in the early 1900s to its original splendor.

Inside, layers of age are being ripped away. Mr. Wright's original vision has begun to peek through holes in faux-finish wall coverings and brightly colored paint that was slathered on in the five decades the house served as an apartment complex.

The home is being restored to its turn-of-the-century look. Construction was finished in 1908.

Contractors are nearly finished with the first phase of the three-phase project to be completed in the spring of 2004. The first phase includes roof and structure work so the house will be protected during the winter. The group needs $4.55 million to restore the house.