Portune presses NFL on stadium

Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune wants NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to clarify whether he will meet with Mr. Portune to discuss the Bengals lease with the county on Paul Brown Stadium.

In a letter Wednesday to Mr. Tagliabue, Mr. Portune also challenges the league's decision not to extend a stadium loan to Hamilton County.

"The big thing is the disclosure that the league has made $650 million available to eight other cities through its loan program," Mr. Portune said Thursday night.

Mr. Portune wants a loan from the league to the Bengals that funnels to the county. It would begin to make up for what Mr. Portune calls lost county revenue, the result of poor attendance at Bengals' home games.

Mr. Tagliabue wrote to Mr. Portune on Tuesday, saying he was busy this week. The Super Bowl is Sunday.

"If he's telling us he wants to get involved to reach a resolution, we will accommodate his schedule," Mr. Portune said. "If all he is saying is, `Let positive change happen because of the new coach' (Marvin Lewis), no, we've had 12 years of that program."

As a Hamilton County citizen and taxpayer, Mr. Portune said he would sue the Bengals and the NFL next week if they do not voluntarily renegotiate the lease.

UC search team draws profile

The search committee for the next president of the University of Cincinnati held its second public meeting Thursday afternoon.

For about an hour, members discussed the presidential profile they are drafting. It will be used to help recruit Joseph Steger's successor.

Woman robbed at ATM downtown

An Internal Revenue Service worker was robbed in downtown Cincinnati early Thursday - the second government employee attacked this week on their way to work.

The woman, 44, was taking money out of an ATM at Seventh and Main streets when a man tried to take her purse about 5:45 a.m. and hit her in the head with a gun. She wasn't hurt, according to a Cincinnati police report.

The robber was described as having medium brown skin, in his 20s, about 5-foot-7 and slender. He was wearing a dark skullcap and dark coat and was armed with a small, black handgun.

Earlier this week, a 50-year-old city employee was on his way to City Hall about 6:45 a.m. when a man told him to hand over his wallet or he'd shoot him. The wallet contained credit cards and $6. Hewas not hurt.

Man kills wife, then himself in wreck

TOLEDO - A man strangled his wife with a scarf and then fled before driving into the path of a tractor-trailer, authorities said Thursday.

George Ream, 36, of Toledo, was killed instantly. The Lucas County Coroner's Office ruled his death a suicide.

Officers went to Mr. Ream's house Wednesday to notify the family and found the body of his wife, Susan, 33.

Mrs. Ream had been beaten in the face and was strangled, Coroner James Patrick said.

Witnesses told police that Mr. Ream was driving at a high rate of speed and pulled directly into the truck's path.

Doctor indicted on fraud charges

CLEVELAND - A federal grand jury has indicted a doctor on charges of $530,000 in insurance fraud for apparently overbilling and performing unnecessary eye surgery procedures, the government said Thursday.

James J. Edwards, 55, of Akron, an ophthalmologist with an office in nearby Parma, was charged in a 96-count indictment with overbilling Medicare and private insurers.

Murder suspect surrenders to police

A West End man surrendered to Cincinnati police Thursday night and was charged with murder in connection with a homicide Jan. 4.

Decorian Rice, 28, of Findlay Street was charged in connection with the death of Robert Eason, 50, West End, who was found beaten at 1715 Linn St. on the evening of Jan. 4. He died later at University Hospital.

The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information can call the Criminal Investigations Section at 352-3542 or Crime Stoppers at 352-3040. Callers can remain anonymous and may receive compensation for their information.