Compiled from staff and wire reports

Taft leads tribute to departing Finan

COLUMBUS - Gov. Bob Taft, House Speaker Larry Householder and other leaders paid tribute Tuesday night to Senate President Richard Finan, who is leaving the Legislature after 30 years.

Mr. Finan, a Republican from Evendale, took over leadership of the Senate in 1997, one year after seeing the fruit of what he called his greatest accomplishment - the opening of the renovated Statehouse.

The Senate Finance Hearing Room will be renamed the Senator Richard H. Finan Finance Hearing Room.

Mr. Taft praised Mr. Finan's tenacity as a negotiator.

"He knows how to take the heat. He also knows how to generate some heat of his own," Mr. Taft said.

OFF THE LEDGE: The driver of this car and his wife escaped injury when they drove off of a ledge in a parking lot at Hamilton Avenue and Galbraith Road in North College Hill Tuesday morning. Two tow trucks working in unison managed to lift the car off of the ledge without much additional damage. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

Mr. Finan also received a check worth $175,000 for his scholarship fund to help educate teachers for inner city schools at his alma mater, the University of Dayton.

Fairfield approves road-widening work

FAIRFIELD - City Council approved a nearly $2 million construction agreement Monday with the Ohio Department of Transportation for a widening project on Mack and Muhlhauser roads and Ohio 4.

Construction will run from Ohio 4 to Ohio 747 on Muhlhauser, and from Seward Road to Furniture Fair Drive on Ohio 4, said David Hoffman, Fairfield's construction services manager.

Lanes on Ohio 4 will be reconfigured, and turn lanes will be added at Ohio 4 and Muhlhauser and Mack roads.

The project is scheduled to begin this spring and last up to 18 months. Muhlhauser Road, which also is being widened from two to five lanes from Ohio 4 to Ohio 747, might be closed to through traffic for nearly nine months, though entrances to businesses will be accessible.

A bridge over the CSX railroad tracks on Muhlhauser also will be built as part of the project, Mr. Hoffman said.

Public comment sought on guardrail

The Ohio Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting Dec. 13 on installing new guardrails along Interstate 75 in Butler and Warren counties.

ODOT officials will be on hand to answer questions and address concerns about the project, which will place about 14 miles of tensioned cable guardrail in the median of I-75, from Hamilton-Mason Road to just south of Ohio 73.

The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at ODOT District 8 headquarters, 505 S. Ohio 741 in Lebanon. For further information, call Brenda Bragg at (800) 831-2142, ext. 279.

Orthopedists rejoin insurer networks

Two orthopedic physician groups that had previously dropped out of the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield provider networks have agreed to rejoin.

As of Sunday Anthem networks will include Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine and Wellington Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine. The groups signed a two-year contract through a joint venture formed in June called New Millennium Orthopaedics.

The contract enables an estimated 13,000 patients of the two groups to get coverage for most Anthem health plans. The deal does not include the Blue Priority HMO and Anthem Senior Advantage. Terms were not disclosed.

Mason court clerk fired after 2nd DUI

MASON - Municipal Court Clerk Neal Huffman lost his job this week in the wake of his second drunken-driving conviction in six years.

The firing comes less than two weeks after Mr. Huffman finished serving 10 days in the Warren County Jail. He pleaded guilty to a DUI charge in early November.

Municipal Judge George Parker, who signed an entry dismissing Mr. Huffman late Monday, declined comment.

Grocer helps sponsor toy drive Saturday

DEERFIELD TWP. - Area residents are encouraged bring new, unwrapped toys to Bigg's on Mason-Montgomery Road, for the local Toys for Tots drive Saturday. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot. Officials will be on hand to take children's fingerprints and photographs as a safety measure, and firetrucks and rescue equipment will be on display.

Last year, the community donated more than $2,000 worth of toys and donations.

Toys for Tots is sponsored by the Marines. The local drive is also sponsored by the township trustees, the Warren County Sheriff's Office DARE program, the township fire rescue department, Marine Corps reserve and Bigg's.

Church allowed among businesses

DEERFIELD TWP. - The township trustees voted 2-1 Tuesday to let the Jehovah's Witnesses build a church in the Governor's Pointe North business park, overruling the zoning commission.

Church officials remain at odds with the trustees over whether they will have to make tax-increment financing payments that are required of companies in the business park. Churches are exempt from property taxes, and TIF payments are required in lieu of taxes in some developments to cover the cost of road improvements and other infrastructure.

Trustee Bill Morand voted against the site plan, saying a business park was not a good location for a church.

Former coroner to fight seizures

Former Clermont County Coroner Nico Capurro gave federal authorities notice Tuesday that he will fight their efforts to seize more than $235,000 of his cash and property.

Authorities disclosed two weeks ago that they think the assets are proceeds from the illegal sale of prescription drugs at clinics supervised by Dr. Capurro.

Investigators have said undercover FBI agents found that patients paid bribes of as much as $300 to clinic employees to see Dr. Capurro, who then gave them cursory medical exams and prescriptions for painkillers.

Although Dr. Capurro has not been charged with a crime, federal law allows authorities to seek forfeiture of assets they suspect are linked to illegal activity.

Dr. Capurro filed a notice in U.S. District Court on Tuesday stating that he intends to contest the forfeiture proceedings.

Man is hurt in 2nd drive-by in a week

A man hurt in Monday's triple-victim drive-by shooting in Over-the-Rhine was also shot last week.

Anthony Wells, 22, of the West End, was hit in the back of his right thigh Monday when a white van with three or four men inside drove up Vine Street and opened fire in the 1300 block. Police said he told them the man who shot him might have been the same one who slightly wounded him the previous week.

Mr. Wells and another man, Larding Marong, 49, were not seriously hurt Monday. The third victim, Anthony Stuckey, 23, of Westwood, remained in critical condition Tuesday at University Hospital.