Man, 18, charged in hotel fires

MILFORD - An 18-year-old Union Township, Clermont County, man was charged Sunday with setting an early morning fire that caused $2.5 million damage to Hawthorne Suite Hotel under construction on Chamber Drive.

Cody C. Moore, who a firefighter noticed watching the fire from nearby Round Bottom Road with a gas can in the bed of his pickup truck, was charged with aggravated arson, Milford Police Chief Larry C. Lantman said. A subsequent investigation resulted in a second charge of aggravated arson for Moore for another fire at the hotel construction site on March 23, the police chief said.

According to police, the second and third floor of the hotel were engulfed in flames when firefighters and police arrived at the site at 600 Chamber Drive. Milford firefighter Bill McNamara notified police officers at the scene of a suspicious person he noticed parked on nearby Round Bottom Road.

When officers questioned Moore, he admitted to setting the blaze that was reported at 4:30 a.m. Sunday. A subsequent investigation resulted in Moore being also being charged for the March 23 fire at the hotel site. Moore was also charged with four counts of breaking and entering and one count of grand theft auto in connection with several burglaries in Milford, Union Township, Indian Hill, Mariemont and Madeira.

A second subject, a juvenile, was involved with Moore in the burglaries, police said.

The Miami Township, Union Township and Terrace Park fire departments assisted the Milford Fire Department in fighting the fire.

Shots fired in restaurant lot

FAIRFIELD - Shots were fired Sunday afternoon during an altercation in the parking lot of the Golden Corral restaurant on Kolb Drive, but there were no reported injuries.

Police said the incident occurred at 2:50 p.m. in the parking lot in the 400 block of Kolb Drive. The suspected shooter and another vehicle left the parking lot before officers arrived.

Police are looking for two vehicles - a white 1980s Ford Bronco with a license plate in the rear window and tape over the driver's side window with three male occupants, and a light brown or silver-colored Chevrolet Impala with two occupants.

Anyone with information on these vehicles is asked to call Fairfield police at (513) 639-7820 or Crime Stoppers at (513) 350-3040.

Middletown man accused of firing shots

A Middletown man was arrested for attempted aggravated murder Saturday after officers saw him with a gun and heard shots.

Officers were at the intersection of Lincoln Street and South Verity Parkway a little after 5:15 p.m. when they heard multiple shots.

They saw Derrick Snowden, 21, of Yankee Road, standing with a handgun on the driver's side of a minivan. He ran when he saw officers, police said.

Officers found Eric Beson, 25, the van driver, with gunshot wounds in his leg. He was taken to Middletown Regional Hospital.

Snowden, who was caught after a short foot pursuit, was being held without bond.

Cash prizes offered for river essays

Let the words flow like a mighty river.

Students can win cash prizes for poems, short stories or essays on "What the Ohio River Means to Me" in a contest sponsored by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (Orsanco).

A $50 U.S. savings bond will be awarded to a winner from each grade, 3-12. There will also be one grand prize of a $500 savings bond.

Mail entries to: Creative Writing Contest, Orsanco, 5735 Kellogg Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45228. Entries must be postmarked no later than May 1.

Information: go to www.orsanco.org/comm/contest.htm or call (513) 231-7719.

UC program aims to attract minorities

University of Cincinnati is starting a four-week program to attract more minority medical students to surgical residency programs.

Students will train and work with surgeons at UC Medical Center, University Hospital, Christ Hospital, Veteran's Affairs Medical Center and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

The Minority Student Development Program, modeled after similar practices at Harvardand Mount Sinai, is targeted at fourth-year medical students. UC will debut the program Thursdayat the Student National Medical Association's convention in Washington.

Motorcycle club to hold benefit

The Warthogs motorcycle club invites all riders to join them Saturday in a benefit run for the children of a fallen Cincinnati firefighter.

The "Run for Oz" begins at noon from the American Legion Hall, 10700 Campbell Road, Harrison. To ride: $10 per bike, $15 with a passenger.

Oscar "Ozzie" Armstrong, 25, died March 21 in a fire in Bond Hill. He is survived by two young sons and a pregnant fiancee.

- Compiled from staff and wire reports