Motorcycle wreck kills man from Price Hill

A 28-year-old Price Hill man was fatally injured Thursday when he lost control of his motorcycle and struck a tree and a parked car in the 1100 block of Iliff Avenue in Price Hill, police said.

Christopher Jedding, of Iliff Avenue, was transported to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Jedding was operating a 1996 Kawasaki motorcycle south on Iliff about 5:35 p.m. when he lost control, causing the motorcycle to fall on its right side, police said. He was not wearing a helmet.

Police investigating speed in crash

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP - Police are still investigating whether speed was a factor in a Wednesday night crash that seriously hurt a Mason teen and injured three others.

Nikki Duffin, 16, was in stable condition Thursday after being airlifted to Miami Valley Hospital.

The driver, Steven Smith, 18, has been cited for failure to maintain control of his vehicle, police Chief Gene Duvelius said.

Smith's 1990 Chevrolet Lumina was heading west on Grandin Road just past Striker Road when it left the road and struck a tree.

Employee accused of taking drugs to prison

TURTLECREEK TWP. - A Lebanon Correctional Institution food service employee is accused of bringing drugs into the prison.

Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers charged Calvin B. Phillips, 34, with conveying drugs onto the grounds of a correctional facility, a third-degree felony, plus two counts of drug possession, both fifth-degree felonies.

Acting on a tip, troopers and prison officials searched Phillips and found five packages of drugs concealed in his shoes. The packages contained about 87 grams of marijuana and 3 grams of cocaine, police said.

Phillips was being held in the Warren County Jail. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

Police holding auction of seized property

HAMILTON - Among more than 300 items up for auction today at the Hamilton Police Department: "Two Martha Stewart (brand) outdoor cookers, still in the box."

"Since there've been indictments on Martha, maybe the price will increase. Hey, could be a collector's item," Officer Dave Crawford quipped Thursday, a day after America's paragon of home-style perfectionism was indicted on securities fraud and other charges.

The items are part of the police department's periodic auction of seized and unclaimed property.

For the first time, the auction also will include automobiles: a 1989 Pontiac Grand Prix, 1989 Acura and a 1985 Nissan, Crawford said.

A sampling of other articles to be auctioned: computers, bicycles, clothes washer and dryer, a flat-screen TV, car stereos, VCRs, DVD players, a couch, a chair and an entertainment center.

Items will be available for a preview at 9 a.m. behind police headquarters, 331 S. Front St. Bidding begins at 10 a.m. and lasts until everything is gone, Crawford said.

Whorley Auctioneers will conduct the sale and will accept cash, checks and credit cards.

Walk, Shop & Roll to benefit disabled

FAIRFIELD - "Walk, Shop & Roll," a walk-a-thon to raise to help people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities, is set for Saturday in the Village Green area.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. at the library; the walk begins at 9:30. People can either walk or "roll" in wheelchairs; merchants along the route will provide special offers.

Supporters of the event include city police and fire forces. The walk will benefit Friends of Citizens with Disabilities, a political action committee that raises funds for education about Butler County programs for people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

Greenhills buying new $518,000 fire truck

GREENHILLS - This Hamilton County village of 4,100 residents is getting a new fire truck, allowing the volunteer fire department to retire a truck that has served for 23 years.

At a Tuesday session, village council members approved the $518,000 purchase that will feature a 75-foot aerial ladder and "Jaws of Life" equipment.

It will take about a year for the truck to arrive. The volunteer fire department has two trucks.

Medina police chief labeled sex predator

MEDINA- A former police chief was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday for forcing a woman to perform a sex act.

Rick Schmidt, 37, the former police chief in Lafayette Township, also was labeled a sexual predator by Medina County Common Pleas Judge James Kimbler.

Schmidt pleaded no contest in January to sexual battery, gross sexual imposition, criminal trespass and attempted intimidation of a witness. Prosecutors dropped a rape charge as part of a plea agreement.

- Compiled from staff and wire reports