Neighbors' tips lead to caches of drugs

WESTWOOD - What started as neighbors suspicious about late-night traffic on their dead-end street ended Wednesday night with two brothers arrested for a smorgasbord of drugs.

People living on Homestead Place wrote down license plates and repeatedly called police about cars that stopped on the street but did not stay long.

When the Cincinnati police Major Offenders Squad arrived Wednesday night with the SWAT team, the District 3 Violent Crime Squad and a search warrant, they found a pound of pot, crack, money, heroin and a revolver. They arrested Fred Jordan, 51, and charged him with drug possession and illegally having a weapon.

At almost the same time, about 8 p.m., another team went into the house of Jordan's brother, Ronald, 46, on Mapleleaf Avenue in Pleasant Ridge. There, investigators say they found 10 pounds of pot, heroin and two guns. The younger Jordan was charged with drug possession and illegally having guns.

13 arrested after neighbor's complaint

NORTHSIDE - Two days after a woman complained at the community council meeting about drug dealers, Cincinnati police dropped in to the neighborhood Wednesday and made 13 arrests - including two for an aggravated robbery that happened in front of them.

The woman at Monday night's meeting asked Capt. Paul Humphries for help around Witler Street, a popular drug marketplace. Humphries sent his Street Corner Unit there, with the district's Violent Crime Squad.

Officers made arrests for crack and marijuana, and arrested one man, Nicos Chapman, 18, of Westwood, for carrying a concealed pistol. They chased and caught two men after an aggravated robbery in a Hamilton Avenue apartment.

Warren planners back Wal-Mart project

LEBANON - The executive committee of the Warren County Regional Planning Commission recommended approving with several conditions a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter and surrounding retail in Deerfield Township Thursday.

But before the township allows the project to move forward, the committee recommends a legal review of the zoning. The property was originally zoned by the county; Deerfield Township now does its own zoning.

The committee's decision was made at a standing-room-only meeting attended by residents concerned about traffic and additional development on Mason-Montgomery Road.

The plan must be approved by the township zoning commission and the township trustees.

Meeting planned for region's gay youths

The third annual Greater Cincinnati Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (GLBTQ) Youth Summit will be Saturday at Northern Kentucky University.

Workshops will cover a range of topics, including gay organizations, the work force, political activism, relationships and history. The evening will conclude with dinner and social activities.

Registration for the free event begins at 8:30 a.m. Information: www.cincyyouthsummit.org.

Caracole losing its long-time leader

The longtime director of a Greater Cincinnati HIV/AIDS housing provider announced her resignation Thursday.

Sue Butler will leave Caracole in January to take a position with the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

For 15 years, Butler has served as executive director for the agency, which finds housing and provides helps to local families and individuals affected by HIV/AIDS.

Driver charged with vehicular homicide

UNION TWP. - A 31-year-old Bethel woman has been charged with one count of vehicular homicide for allegedly causing an Oct. 3 crash along Eastgate Boulevard.

Anna Kuttler is free on her own recognizance, officials said.

She was the driver of a car that struck another vehicle carrying Barbara Kelsey, 60, also of Bethel.

Kelsey was turning onto Eastgate Boulevard from the westbound exit ramp of Ohio 32, when the crash occurred.

She and a 16-year-old passenger were taken to Mercy Hospital Anderson, where Kelsey died.

Kuttler could face 30 days in jail and a $250 fine if convicted.

MU Middletown plans bigger student center

MIDDLETOWN - With enrollment nearly doubled in the past 20 years, Miami University's Middletown campus plans to build a $5 million building to serve students and the community.

The 21,600 square-foot center would expand the existing Johnston Hall building on the southwest Ohio campus, about 25 miles north of Cincinnati.

The Hawk Haven, a student lounge and study area in the building, would be renovated and account for 7,850 square feet of the new building's space, school officials said Wednesday.

Enrollment was about 1,500 when a lecture hall was renovated into the Hawk Haven 20 years ago. Today it is nearly 3,000.

University officials hope donors and state capital appropriations will pay for half of the center's cost. A fund-raising committee has been formed.

Construction could start in the fall of 2004, officials said, and would take about 15 months.