Compiled from staff and wire reports

Blue Ash survey forms due Friday

BLUE ASH - Do residents want the city to build an arts center, expand golf facilities or buy and improve the Blue Ash Airport?

Those are just some of the choices Blue Ash residents are given in a survey due at city hall Friday to help officials plan capital spending for the next five years.

The city has asked residents to rate ideas for "discretionary" spending in preparation for a capital improvement plan to be presented to council Sept. 25.

City Manager Marvin Thompson said the responses will be tallied and favorites will be considered after the city decides what it needs to spend on roads and other infrastructure improvements.

Sue Bennett, Thompson's assistant, said Tuesday only 150 surveys had been returned to her office so far out of 5,300 sent out.

Previous surveys in the 1970s and 1980s led to construction of the city's recreation center and a major overhaul of its downtown.

Service academy nominations sought

HAMILTON - U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., nominates students each year who reside in Ohio's Eighth Congressional District for the Air Force, Military, Naval and Merchant Marine academies. Those interested in seeking entrance to one of the academies during the summer of 2004 should request an application packet in writing from the congressman's office.

Send the request to: Rep. John Boehner; 8200 Beckett Park Drive, Suite 202; Hamilton, OH 45011. Completed packets are due by Oct. 15.

The district includes all of Darke, Miami and Preble counties, most of Butler and Mercer counties, and the northeastern corner of Montgomery County.

Information: (800) 582-1001.

Woman charged with filing false reports

GREEN TWP. - A 21-year-old Green Township woman was arrested Tuesday and charged with four counts of filing a false police report and one count of theft by deception in connection with reports she made of four incidents that turned out to be false.

Arrested was Sara E. West, who allegedly made false reports to Green Township police and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office over five months, according to the sheriff's office and Green Township Police Chief Jim Suder.

Two of the reports involved alleged road rage incidents in which she was the alleged victim, the third involved an alleged break-in and assault in her residence, and the fourth a road rage incident in which she also claimed there was an assault.

The false report charges are all first-degree misdemeanors. The theft charge, a fifth-degree felony, was filed because West allegedly received insurance payments from the false claims. West will be arraigned today in Hamilton County Municipal Court.

Lynch seeks to end residency inquiry

Lawyers for independent Cincinnati City Council candidate Rev. Damon Lynch III have asked the Hamilton County Board of Elections to drop an inquiry into his residency and certify him for the ballot.

Republican candidate Pete Witte has challenged Lynch's residency, saying he believes the Black United Front leader lives in Woodlawn, not East Price Hill. The board had scheduled a hearing Friday afternoon.

Jene Galvin, a talk-show host and political activist now serving as a "senior adviser" to the Lynch campaign, called the challenge "the cheapest of political shots and, sadly, one with racial overtones."

Witte said he wasn't surprised Lynch's campaign played the race card, and said he would protest any nonresident's attempt to run for office in Cincinnati.

Man pleads guilty of leaving accident

BATAVIA - A 26-year-old Ripley man pleaded guilty Tuesday in Clermont County Common Pleas Court to one count of failure to stop after an accident that killed a 45-year-old Batavia woman.

Donna J. Spangler was killed April 25 as she attempted to cross Front Wheel Drive near the intersection of Curliss Lane.

Witnesses told police 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.

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

Shoplifting suspect indicted on drug count

LEBANON - A woman spotted allegedly shoplifting teeth-whitening strips in a Kroger store has been indicted for possession of heroin and robbery.

Annette Maclin, 34, is being held without bond in the Warren County Jail on the two felony counts.

The Dayton, Ohio, woman is accused of taking more than $600 worth of over-the-counter antihistamine and whitening strips from a Kroger in Springboro July 30, Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel said. Maclin also allegedly pushed security personnel. When police were called, officers reported finding a small amount of heroin in her car.