Compiled from staff and wire reports

Judge to stay on in clergy abuse case

A Hamilton County judge decided Tuesday that she could hear arguments in a clergy abuse case despite her background as a lifelong Catholic.

Common Pleas Judge Melba Marsh said she would remain on the case after the parties involved raised no objections.

Last month, Marsh told those involved in the case that she was willing to step aside if they were concerned about her activities in the Catholic church.

The case is one of the first filed against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati since the clergy abuse scandal erupted early last year.

The lawsuit claims the archdiocese failed to protect children from the Rev. Lawrence Strittmatter, a former principal at Elder High School accused of molesting more than 20 teenage boys in the 1970s and 1980s.

Three more join panhandling suit

The federal panhandling lawsuit against the City of Cincinnati expanded Tuesday to include two men who had their belongings bulldozed in August to make way for Riverfest parking.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Donald Henry against the City of Cincinnati, added the names of Ronald Sexton and Glenn Dominy, who had their belongings on city-owned property Aug. 30. That property had been leased to a private company for Riverfest parking.

Lost in a pile of dirt was bedding, medications, clothing and books.

The amended complaint also adds Ed Ritchy, who is a homeless advocate and Chief Executive Officer of the Homeless Hotline of Greater Cincinnati.

Hearing to consider food service fees raise

CORRYVILLE - A public hearing will be held Oct. 28 at the Cincinnati Health Department on a proposal to raise permit fees next year for more than 2,700 restaurants and other food services.

The proposed changes, affecting 20 categories of food service, range from bumping fees for temporary charity food booths from $48 to $50 to increasing annual fees for large restaurants from $968 to $1,098.

The hearing will be held at 6 p.m. at Health Department headquarters, 3101 Burnet Ave.

Teen pleads no contest in tutor's rape

HAMILTON -- A 17-year-old boy wasconvicted Tuesday after pleading no contest to charges he beat and raped a 57-year-old literacy tutor at the YWCA here earlier this year.

The teen pleaded no contest to charges of rape and felonious assault in Butler County Common Pleas Court. Judge Matthew Crehan found him guilty and set sentencing for Nov. 18.The teen faces up to 10 years in prison on the rape charge and two to eight years on the felonious assault.

The woman who reported being attacked in a basement classroom of the YWCA on March 7 was hospitalized for two days after the attack.

Three injured in Hamilton Twp. crash

HAMILTON TWP. - Two Little Miami High School students were injured after school Tuesday when their car crashed into another vehicle.

The two female teens were in a Mustang headed south on Morrow-Cozaddale Road shortly before 3 p.m. when the car when off the road slightly when rounding a curve. The driver, who had only had her license for a few weeks, overcompensated, and steered the car into the other lane, Police Chief Gene Duvelius said.

The minivan hit the passenger side of the Mustang and sent it off the road.

The Mustang's passenger was airlifted to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio with serious injuries. The two drivers were taken by ambulance to Bethesda North Hospital. No conditions were available.

Man indicted in shaking death of baby

A 29-year-old Avondale man is accused of shaking his baby girl to death.

A Hamilton County grand jury indicted Frederick Williams on a charge of murder and two charges of felonious assault, accusing him of killing Sanajah Walton.

Cincinnati police say Williams violently shook his 3-month-old daughter on Sept. 23 at his home. The baby was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital, where she died two days later, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office.

Witness helps locate bank robbery suspect

SHARONVILLE - A 37-year-old alleged bank robber was arrested Tuesday after witness descriptions of the getaway car helped police find the suspect near Arlington Heights.

Richard Shields of Cincinnati is accused of jumping over the teller's counter and robbing the Huntington National Bank, 12122 Lebanon Road, about 11:30 a.m. No one was injured.

Officers stopped Shields at Tennessee Avenue and Paddock Road after they observed him traveling southbound on Interstate 75. Shields was jailed late Tuesday, charged with robbery.