Pleasant Ridge fire does $125,000 damage

Fire did an estimated $125,000 in damage Saturday to a Pleasant Ridge house. But no one was hurt.

The fire at 5707 Lester Road broke out at 6:45 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke coming from windows in the basement and first floor.

They soon had to call a second alarm to bring more manpower as the fire spread to the second and third floors, said District Chief Howard Reed.

It took firefighters 90 minutes to extinguish the flames, he said.

The cause is being investigated.

Mardi Gras bash is homeless fund-raiser

And you thought the Mardi Gras parties were over.

Tonight, 25 restaurants offer samplings of their menu favorites at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, accompanied by music from the Pete Wagner Dixieland Jazz Band, live and silent auctions.

The 12th annual Mardi Gras Fundraiser for Homeless Children runs from 6:30-10 p.m. Honorary king and queen are WLW talkie Bill Cunningham and Reds part-owner Marge Schott.

Proceeds benefit four agencies: Bethany House Services in Cincinnati, Bright Center's Homeward Bound in Covington, Mercy Franciscan at St. John and Welcome House of Northern Kentucky in Covington.

Tickets are $40, available at all four agencies or by calling (859) 291-NKRA.

Police hunt for driver who struck pedestrian

Cincinnati police are looking for the car that hit and seriously injured an elderly pedestrian in Over-the-Rhine Saturday night, then drove off.

Henry Meyer, 79, was hit in the 1300 block of Elm Street about 9:45 p.m. He was taken to University Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition Sunday night.

The car that hit the man, police said, was a newer Ford Focus or Toyota Camry, possibly gray or light green and possibly with Ohio Bicentennial plates.

Police ask anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers, 352-3040.

Police seek young pizza robber in OTR

Cincinnati Police were searching Sunday night for an 11- to 13-year-old boy who robbed a pizza delivery person in Over-the-Rhine.

The robbery occurred about 4:15 p.m. near the intersection of 14th and Race Streets, police said. The boy, who had a handgun, fled with $75 and three pizzas.

The suspect was described as about 5-foot-4 and wearing a black coat.

Tonight is just for teachers at Imax

Tonight is Teachers Night Out, where the people who spend their days in Tristate classrooms can get ideas on how to whisk their students out of them.

The 5:30 p.m. event at US Bank Imax Theatre in Newport on the Levee is a one-stop shopping spot for field trips.

It's hosted by Imax Theatre, the Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Krohn Conservatory.

"And as an added bonus we are showing the teachers that attend a free screening of Into the Deep-3D," said Jennifer Roberts, US Bank Imax marketing manager.

To make a last-minute reservation, teachers should e-mail their names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and school districts to: usbankimax@hotmail.com. Information: (859) 957-1305.

Chemical, biological bunker busters tested

DAYTON, Ohio - A system that would use cruise missiles with warheads to pierce bunkers containing chemical or biological weapons and then safely eliminate those weapons is being tested at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Dayton Daily News reported Sunday.

The research is being conducted as the United States prepares for possible war with Iraq. The Bush administration claims Iraq has amassed chemical and biological agents in violation of United Nations resolutions.

The goal of the program being tested is to destroy stockpiled chemical or biological weapons without causing contamination, the newspaper said.

Special explosives or neutralizing chemicals would be used to destroy chemical or biological agents inside bunkers after they had been penetrated by the warheads, the paper said.

Man kills wife, woman, takes own life

ANDERSON, Ind. - Police said a man fatally shot his estranged wife and another woman outside a rural central Indiana nightclub early Sunday before taking his own life.

About 75 people were leaving the Fall Creek House after a night of music and dancing when gunfire erupted about 1 a.m. in the parking lot, said Maj. Ron Richardson of the Madison County Sheriff's Department.

Richardson said Gregorio Llanas, 27, killed his wife, Gloria Llamas Llanas, 27, then fatally wounded Oralia Llamas Contreas, 36, before shooting himself in the head. A fourth person was slightly wounded.

Gloria Llanas was pronounced dead at the scene, while Gregorio Llanas and Contreas died at Saint Johns Hospital in Anderson about 30 miles northeast of Indianapolis.

Investigators were uncertain Sunday what triggered the shootings.

"There was some indication that Mr. Llanas was there earlier in the evening. There apparently were no problems and he voluntarily offered to leave," Richardson said.

- Compiled from staff and wire reports