Compiled from staff and wire reports

Post office mystery men still missing

MIDDLETOWN - Authorities on Friday said they still were trying to find four men who acted suspiciously at the post office here Thursday.

The FBI and other law agencies have been alerted to be on the lookout for a tan Chevrolet Venture minivan with a Georgia license plate: 8301AHN.

The men had been seen unloading a box out of the back of the van; when they entered the post office, postal employees approached them and asked if they needed help. But the men left without responding, taking the package with them.

Initially the men were described as being Middle Easterners, but Police Maj. Mike Bruck on Friday said it was possible they may have been Hispanic instead.

"They haven't broken any laws that we know of," he said. Still, he said, police would like to talk to them becaqse "a lot of people are concerned."

As of Friday afternoon, there were no confirmed sightings; anyone with information was being asked to contact police or the FBI, Bruck said.

6 awards presented at chamber event

WEST CHESTER TWP. - The Southeastern Butler County Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 27th anniversary Friday evening at the Cincinnati Marriott North at Union Centre.

Six awards honored businesses, their contributions and community service:

• The Larry Schumacher Beautification Award - Large Company: U.C. Physicians.

• The Larry Schumacher Beautification Award - Small Company: Encore Cafe, Paul and Pam Sturkey.

• The Dorothy & Art Roth Citizen of the Year Award: Mary Raffel, West Chester Township.

• The Jerry Bryan Chamber Member of the Year Award: Larry Hutchinson, John Hancock Financial Service.

• The Carlos Todd Businessperson of the Year Award: Craig Rambo, McGill Smith Pushon.

• The GBI Community Support Award: Patti Alderson, Community Foundation of West Chester/Liberty.

Burned woman upgraded to serious

HAMERSVILLE - The condition of a Hamersville woman who was burned while trying to save her sister in their burning mobile home Monday was upgraded Friday.

Elizabeth Lake, 22, is now in serious condition at University Hospital. She had been in critical condition since being flown to the hospital from the fire.

Lake was burned on her face, hands, arms and legs after she tried to return to the burning home in an attempt to save her sister, Florence, 21, who died in the blaze.

The women shared the home.

Mason man jailed for beating wife

LEBANON - A 50-year-old Mason man was sentenced this week to 30 days in jail and three years of probation after pleading guilty to beating his wife, who has multiple sclerosis.

Judge Neal Bronson, of Warren County Common Pleas Court, granted Thomas Spangler permission to leave the jail each day on work release.

Spangler, of the 1000 block of Olympia Drive, faced up to 18 months in prison. He was arrested July 28 after Karen Spangler's relatives rescued her from the couple's home and told police that she had been beaten and neglected by her husband and that the beatings had escalated as her condition worsened.

A police report said the woman had black eyes and bruises on her face when an officer interviewed her. The Spanglers have since divorced.

Free college fair is Sunday at Xavier

High school students and parents can explore college options with more than 150 colleges and universities at the third annual Cincinnati Area Spring College Fair on Sunday. The free event will be from 1 to 3 p.m. at Cintas Center, Xavier University, Evanston.

Information or directions to campus: Web site.

Women get 4 years in stabbing attack

HAMILTON - A Butler County judge on Friday sentenced two women to four years in prison each in connection with a stabbing at a Middletown tavern.

Common Pleas Judge H.J. Bressler imposed the sentences on Linda K. Cramer, 41, and Cathleen Sheiding Hatton, 33, both of Middletown.

A jury in January had convicted Cramer of complicity to felonious assault and found Hatton guilty of felonious assault in the Oct. 12 stabbing of Tammy Flack, 39, at Jeepie's Bar in the 1700 block of Central Avenue.

Flack, who survived four stab wounds, attended the sentencing hearing, where her attackers had faced sentences of two to eight years. Flack gave a written statement to the judge but declined to give a verbal victim-impact statement.

Bressler said he doubted Hatton's assertion that she had prayed for Flack's recovery because both suspects were caught trying to flee to Canada.

"You weren't worried enough to stay at the scene ... so your concern about the victim is questionable at best," he told Hatton.