Compiled from staff and wire reports

Art Academy names team for new facility

OVER-THE-RHINE - The Art Academy of Cincinnati announced the design and construction team Friday for its new, $10.5 million facility on 12th Street.

The campus, which expands studio and classroom space, is expected to attract hundreds of students who will live and study in Over-the-Rhine in 2005.

The architecture/construction team includes Design Collaborative, Inc., of Baltimore., McGill Smith Punshon, Inc., of Sharonville and Miller Valentine Group of Dayton.

The art academy is moving to the same district as the School for Creative and Performing Arts. The current facilities, built in the 1880s and 1890s, are out of date and too expensive to renovate, school officials said.

NAACP to discuss education disparities

EVANSTON - The local and state branches of the NAACP will host a meeting Monday, 6-9 p.m., to discuss racial disparities in education nearly 50 years after the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision.

The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at 3457 Montgomery Road.

Topics include overrepresentation of minorities in special education, underrepresentation in gifted and talented programs, disparities in access to early childhood education and disparities in suspensions, expulsions and dropout rates.

For more information, call the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP at 281-1900.

Allen Road bridge widened, reopens

WEST CHESTER TWP. - The Allen Road bridge reopened Friday after it was widened as part of a construction project along Interstate 75 from just north of Tylersville Road to Kemper Road.

Additional Ohio Department of Transportation road crews have been brought in to ensure the other two overpasses now closed in West Chester are completed as scheduled, according to the West Chester Community Improvement Corp.

The West Chester Road overpass should open in mid-November.

The Crescentville Road overpass is expected to be complete by mid-December.

Batavia man killed in I-275 car wreck

UNION TWP. - A Batavia man was killed Thursday night in a one-car crash along Interstate 275 near Ohio 125, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Thomas T. Lach, 44, was driving a 1997 Honda Civic southbound along I-275 when he apparently drove off the highway, near the Ohio 125 exit ramp.

Lach's car collided with a large piece of construction equipment. He was the only occupant of the car and was wearing a seatbelt, officials said.

The crash is under investigation.

Union Twp. warned about phone scam

UNION TWP. - Residents in this western Clermont County township are being alerted about a possible telephone scam.

This month, a Union Township resident received a call from someone soliciting donations for a "Union Township Police Benevolent Group."

Police said the caller told the resident that any funds collected would be used to benefit retired or injured officers. No such group exists, said Union Township Police Lt. Mark Griffith.

The only legitimate police-related organizations that solicit in the area are the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the Ohio Troopers Coalition, he added.

Residents who receive any questionable call should obtain a name, address and return telephone number for the solicitor and then report the call to police.

Man, 20, indicted in teen's shooting

AVONDALE - A 20-year-old man was indicted Friday for the fatal shooting of a teenager in June.

Kerwin Banks of Avondale faces charges of murder and possessing weapons while under disability. He is being held at the Hamilton County jail and is scheduled to appear in court next week.

Michael Dean, 19, was killed June 27 about 11:05 p.m. in the 800 block of Hutchins Avenue in Avondale, police said.

Campaign finance reform lunch planned

AVONDALE - In contrast to Carl Lindner's fund-raiser lunch Tuesday for President Bush, campaign finance plan proponents are holding a noon lunch of their own that day at First Unitarian Church, 536 Linton St.

The Fair Elections Coalition, Common Cause Education Fund and the Interfaith Alliance are sponsoring the event. A box lunch will cost $5.

The sponsors also sent President Bush a letter inviting him to attend the luncheon to share his views on political reform and "renewing democracy in this country."

Blimp floats into town to escape hurricane

DOWNTOWN - Those who spotted a blimp over downtown Thursday were not seeing things.

The dirigible, owned by Saturn and promoting its new ION, made an impromptu visit from the East Coast to Cincinnati on Sept. 19 to escape the clutches of Hurricane Isabel.