Compiled from staff and wire reports

Driver charged, jailed in fatal hit-skip

BATAVIA TWP. - A Brown County man was charged Thursday in the hit-and-run that killed a Batavia woman last week. She stepped into the roadway, police said.

Adam M. Franklin, 26, of Ripley, faces one count of failure to stop after a crash, a felony. He is in the Clermont County Jail

Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers arrested Franklin Wednesday.

He is accused of striking Donna Spangler, 45, on April 25 as she tried to cross Front Wheel Drive, near the intersection with Curliss Lane, in Clermont County.

Spangler had been trying to get to her 18-year-old son, Jason who had been involved in a two-car collision and was across the road.

Officials said Spangler was hit as she stepped into the road. The vehicle kept going.

A witness told authorities the vehicle that struck Spangler may have left the Suburban Bowl, located less than a mile away.

That led investigators to Franklin, who later turned himself into Ripley police.

If convicted as charged, Franklin could face a maximum year in prison.

Sixth Circuit judge tapped for Iraq duty

A judge from the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati will head to Iraq this month to help rebuild its judicial system.

Judge Gilbert S. Merritt of Nashville, Tenn., was chosen for the job along with 12 other legal experts. The U.S. Department of Justice put the team together in hopes that it would aid in the creation of a functioning, democratic government.

The team of judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys is expected to work with counterparts in Iraq, teaching them to build and maintain a judicial system.

Merritt, 67, has previously traveled to Russia and India to work with lawyers and judges.

Two women admit they ran tax scam

Two Cincinnati women pleaded guilty Thursday to tax fraud after admitting in federal court that they took part in a scheme to collect thousands of dollars in refunds from false tax returns.

Lachelle Lowe and Tecole Rasheed each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government. Each faces up to 10 years in prison when they are sentenced by U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel.

Prosecutors say the two women helped a former Hamilton County jail inmate, Tommie Lee Brown, recruit people who would allow their names and Social Security numbers to be used on the false returns.

IRS investigators say Brown, who has not been charged with a crime, fabricated W-2 forms and filed returns that were due large refunds. They say 19 people participated in the scheme, which netted more than $121,000.

No sentencing date has been set for Lowe and Rasheed.

Three men involved in beating are sought

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Police searched Thursday for three men suspected in an overnight beating that briefly hospitalized a 19-year old man.

The victim, David Dinn, was seriously beaten but does not have life-threatening injuries, said West Chester Police Sgt. Mike Quinn.

Dinn was treated at a hospital and released Thursday, Quinn said.

The 11:50 p.m. attack took place Wednesday outside Dinn's Dimmick Road house when an argument escalated to blows. Police received a report that a gun was involved but did not recover a weapon, Quinn said.

Anyone with information is asked to call West Chester police at 777-2231.

Kitchen fire causes $30K in damage

FOREST PARK - Food left heating on a stove sparked a fire that caused about $30,500 damage to a single-family home Thursday.

The three people in the house escaped, Forest Park Firefighter Jim Smith said.

Firefighters were called to the home in the 11000 block of Elkwood Drive shortly before noon and found smoke coming from the windows. Fire damage was contained to the kitchen, but the rest of the house had smoke damage, Smith said.

Springfield Township firefighters assisted Forest Park crews.

Hip replacement surgery being refined

An experimental surgical technique could help patients recover twice as fast from hip replacement surgery, says a surgeon at Christ Hospital.

Dr. Patrick Kirk said Thursday that he recently performed the hospital's first "two-incision minimally invasive" hip replacement. The procedure, which uses standard hip replacement joints but depends on new surgical tools, involves less cutting of the hip's muscles, tendons and ligaments.

The smaller incisions, in turn, mean most patients can recover within three or four weeks instead of six weeks or more, Kirk said.

Margaret Walters, a 67-year-old with rheumatoid arthritis, was the first Christ Hospital patient to receive the surgery.

In a statement she said, "After having this procedure, I have never felt better in my life. I did not need pain medication and I was walking again in only two days."