Compiled from staff and wire reports

Man dies, couple hurt in four-car wreck

WHITEWATER TOWNSHIP - Stewart Davenport, 33, of Ludlow, died Friday in a four-car pileup on U.S. 50, near Lawrenceburg Road.

The crash, which occurred at 5:22 p.m., left several people trapped and a Morrow couple hospitalized. Onlie Gulley, 67, and his wife, Myra, 64, were listed Saturday in fair condition at University Hospital.

According to deputies with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, Mr. Davenport was westbound on U.S. 50 when he crossed the center line and crashed into Mr. Gulley's eastbound car.

Mr. Davenport was not wearing a seat belt.

Police seek robber in holdup of motel

GREEN TOWNSHIP - Deputies with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office are looking for the man who threatened to kill a Tri Star Motel clerk Friday before robbing the motel of an unspecified amount of money.

Investigators said the man entered the motel in the 5200 block of North Bend Road shortly after 11 p.m., showed a gun and said: "You need to do what's on the note or I'll kill you."

Wearing a blue, hooded "bubble coat," he was last seen running westbound on Monfort Heights Drive. No one was injured.

To leave an anonymous tip, call the sheriff's office, 825-1500, or Crime Stoppers, 352-3040.

Police arrest three in attempted theft

NORWOOD - Police said they arrested Friday the armed trio that tried to steal more than $1,200 of store merchandise from Pager Plus One in the 4000 block of Montgomery Road.

Police arrested Quinn Johnson, 19, of Madisonville, and two juveniles, whose names are not being released, and charged them with complicity to aggravated robbery. The juveniles face an additional charge of aggravated robbery.

Investigators are seeking two other juveniles who may have been involved.

Family of boy left on bus sues for $1M

COLUMBUS - The family of a 10-year-old disabled boy who was left alone on a parked bus for four hours is suing the city school board for more than $1 million.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, alleges that Immanuel Hodge suffered emotional distress, loss of self-esteem, and medical and psychological expense after a bus driver and teacher's aide left him in the bus Nov. 4.

The bus had been parked at a compound 6 miles from Immanuel's school, Georgian Heights Alternative Elementary School.

Shirley Adams, the boy's grandmother and his guardian, described the abandonment of Immanuel, who has Down syndrome, as a betrayal of trust.

She declined Friday night to comment about the lawsuit, referring questions to her attorney, Michael Moses, who could not be reached. No one from the district could be reached Saturday.

The suit asks for $1 million in actual damages and $500,000 in punitive damages.

Harold Baird, the bus driver, resigned after the incident. School aide Dorothy Martin was fired.

Taft to visit Mexico on trade mission

COLUMBUS - Gov. Bob Taft plans a trade mission to Mexico in mid-May, his fourth international trip since taking office in 1999.

Mexico is Ohio's fastest-growing trading partner and second-largest after Canada, with exports to the country tripling since 1996, said Kirk Merritt, the state's director of international trade.

Ohio sent $2.1 billion worth of goods to Mexico in 2001 and $1.5 billion through Sept. 30 this year. Top exports were aluminum, automotive parts, chemicals, iron and steel, machinery, plastics, rubber, glass and optics.

Mr. Taft is expected to lead a group of state officials and business leaders on the trip, which will come as the governor and lawmakers struggle with another expected deficit for the two-year budget due by July 1.

Mr. Taft earlier led delegations to Japan, South America and Germany. Those taxpayer-paid trips generated $348 million in sales and investments, International Trade Division figures show.