Man fatally shot out of prison just 35 days

A man found shot to death early Sunday in the West End had been out of prison just 35 days.

Joseph Avery, 27, was released from prison March 17, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. He had been sentenced to eight months in August 2002 for illegally having a weapon.

Avery, whose last known address was in Springfield Township, also had been in prison in 1997 and 1998 for possession of drugs, according to the prison records, and in 2001 for receiving stolen property.

He was found at 2:40 a.m. on the sidewalk in the 500 block of Livingston Street. He had at least one gunshot wound, police said. He was the 28th victim of homicide in the city so far this year - a 33 percent increase over the 21 victims at this time last year.

Colerain officer hurt when car hits cruiser

A Colerain Township police officer was injured Sunday afternoon when a vehicle, reportedly failing to yield to the emergency lights and sirens, hit his police cruiser.

Patrol Officer Jamie Penley, 24, was traveling westbound on Poole Road when the accident happened shortly before 1 p.m. A Grand Prix, driven by John C. Howell, 27, of Colerain Township, was turning left onto Brockton Drive when it hit the right side of the patrol car.

Penley lost control of the cruiser, which overturned and hit a utility pole in the 3700 block of Poole.

The officer was taken to University Hospital, where he was treated and released Sunday. Howell and two passengers in that car were not injured. Howell was charged with failure to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle.

Woman killed in Bromley car accident

BROMLEY, Ky. - One woman was killed and another was injured in an early morning crash Sunday.

A 1993 Chevrolet Cavalier was traveling north on Bromley Crescent Springs Road when it went off the right side of the road and hit a tree around 2:30 a.m. A female passenger was ejected from the car and pronounced dead at the scene, Kenton County police said.

The driver was taken to University Hospital by Air Care.

Neither woman's identities were released Sunday evening, though their families have been notified.

Health Alliance to auction kitchen items

The Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, with the help of auctioneers Semple and Associates, will be auctioning off kitchen equipment Tuesday.

The auction begins at 11 a.m. at Alliance Business Center, 3200 Burnet Ave.

Among the items up for bidding: A walk-in freezer, convection oven, dishwashers, cooking equipment and smaller house wares. Some images can be seen online at www.semplesells.com.

Bidders can pay with MasterCard, Visa, cash or check with identification.

Free parking will be in Lot 1 at Martin Luther King Drive and Harvey Avenue. Attendees should enter at the building's south entrance, go to the B-level and follow signs to the cafeteria.

Peace center awarded $1,000 grant for youth

The Center for Peace Education in Cincinnati recently was awarded a $1,000 grant from the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., that will be used to create a youth forum to teach tolerance.

The grant came specifically from the Alabama center's Teaching Tolerance education program, a nonprofit group that combats hate, intolerance and discrimination through education and litigation.

Vivienne Bross, director of the Center for Peace Education, said she plans to bring together a diverse group of students from various organizations to propose ways they can work together and make a stronger impact on the community.

The Center for Peace Education was founded in 1979 to teach peace in Cincinnati. Its educational projects include Peace Pals, in which community volunteers adopt a classroom and teach conflict management through children's literature.

Information: visit www.teachingtolerance.org and www.Cincinnati-peace.org.

Indiana spending low for testing of water

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana spends less than any of its neighboring states to monitor the safety of drinking water, The Indianapolis Star reported Sunday.

As a result, people often have no idea what may be in the water they drink, an environmental official said.

"What you don't know can get you sick. If you're not inspecting, you wouldn't know if there was bacteria contamination or some other acute health risk," said Charlene Denys, of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The agency has repeatedly warned the state that its program was inadequate.

Indiana has 10 field inspectors and 28 other full-time staffers to monitor 4,800 public water systems, ranging from large metropolitan utilities serving hundreds of thousands of people to single wells providing water for schools, churches or restaurants.

The $2.6 million annual budget for Indiana's program is about half of Kentucky's and about one-fourth of Ohio's. That works out to 12 cents per person, or about one-third what other Midwestern states spend to monitor their water, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management said.

Columbus veterans clinic is proposed

COLUMBUS - Leaders of a Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic have proposed a $65 million facility for this city, one of the nation's largest without its own VA hospital.

"I would hope we would be able to provide most of the things the veterans need," said Dr. Lilian Thome, director of the Chalmers P. Wylie Outpatient Clinic.

Thome last week submitted a proposal for a 260,000-square-foot facility to open in 2005 on the grounds of the federal Defense Supply Center. It would cost another $25 million to equip and offer outpatient surgery.

The center also could contract with a local hospital to provide inpatient beds when needed, she said.