Compiled from staff and wire reports

Local boy home after medical treatment

Eric Page, the Whitewater Township boy who traveled to Chicago last month to begin an experimental treatment for Crohn's disease, is back home after successfully completing the first stage.

A two-day effort to harvest cells needed for a stem-cell transplant was completed Tuesday. He and his family expect to return to Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Feb. 26 for five days of chemotherapy. The treatment will destroy his malfunctioning immune system, then restart it with a reinfusion of his stem cells.

Eric, 15, has a severe form of Crohn's disease, an immune disorder that causes the body to attack its own digestive system. Well-wishers from Greater Cincinnati and elsewhere have contributed about $100,000 after the family's health plan refused to pay for the treatment.

UC, 3 other schools form biotech alliance

Four universities have set aside cross-border rivalries to launch a regional effort to promote biotech economic development.

The Ohio Valley Affiliates for Life Sciences was formed by the University of Cincinnati , Wright State University, the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.

The affiliate's first step will be a conference held in Cincinnati March 10 and 11 to discuss the challenges of commercializing research.

"This conference comes at a particularly opportune time, given the economic initiatives being launched in both states," said Dorothy Air, UC's assistant senior vice president for entrepreneurial affairs. "The combined research assets of the four universities would serve as a magnet for attracting related businesses and industries to the region."

Prosecutor's wife gets judicial seat

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft Thursday appointed Lisa C. Allen, wife of Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen, as the newest county Municipal Court judge.

Lisa Allen, who had been a magistrate in the county Common Pleas Court, began her term Thursday. She replaces Judge Robert Taylor, who was elected to Common Pleas Court.

Municipal Court handles misdemeanor cases, such as traffic tickets. Common Pleas handles felony and misdemeanor cases of a more serious nature.

The Hamilton County's Republican Party nominated Lisa Allen for the job. Mike Allen is a former head of the party.

Lisa Allen previously has been a law clerk with the Legal Aid Society, a private-practice attorney and a staff attorney for the county Department of Human Services. She also was staff attorney for the UAW Legal Services Plan and a senior assistant prosecutor for Cincinnati.

Woman, 72, charged with killing man

A 72-year-old Walnut Hills woman has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after a man entering her house was shot and killed early Thursday, Cincinnati police said.

Police said Odessa Lee told them she thought Randall Montgomery was an intruder entering her Wayne Street home just before 2:30 a.m. and shot him in fear.

Montgomery, 44, of Madisonville, knew Lee and her daughter.

Police found him lying outside. He was pronounced dead there.

Montgomery was the ninth homicide victim in the city this year.

Lucasville riot leader to be executed May 13

COLUMBUS - The Ohio Supreme Court set a May execution date Thursday for a prisoner identified as one of the leaders of the riot 10 years ago at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.

Carlos Sanders was sentenced to death in 1996 for his involvement in the riot in which nine inmates and guard Robert Vallandingham were slain.

Vallandingham was strangled on April 15, 1993, by two inmates under orders from Sanders, according to court records.

The Supreme Court said Thursday that Sanders had exhausted all available appeals. The court set a May 13 execution date.

Sanders, who has changed his name to Siddique Abdullah Hasan, claimed the state bore some responsibility for Vallandingham's death because officials would not negotiate in good faith.