Compiled from staff and wire reports

Men who held up check-casher at large

ANDERSON TWP. - Hamilton County sheriff's deputies are searching for two men who robbed a Check Into Cash store in the 8300 block of Beechmont Avenue.

Shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday, robbers brandished semiautomatic handguns and took an undisclosed amount of money from the cash drawer. The two white men in their 30s, with bandannas over their faces, were last seen driving south on Eight Mile Road in a mid-sized maroon vehicle.

No one was injured.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 352-3040.

Two arrested in parking-lot robbery

LIBERTY TWP. - Trenton police officers caught a pair of men accused of grazing their truck against a woman in a grocery store parking lot, then stealing her purse.

The truck's driver, Nicholas Dunham, 19, of Alexandria, Ky., was charged with robbery and his passenger, James Coffey, 18, of Hamilton, was charged with complicity to robbery, Butler County Sheriff's Lt. Mike Craft said Friday.

About 2:15 p.m. Thursday, Mary Flynn, 67, of Hamilton, was pushing a grocery cart toward a cart corral at the Kroger store, 5420 Liberty-Fairfield Road, when a truck sped past her. A side-view mirror struck her, and one of the occupants snatched her purse, Craft said.

Trenton police heard a radio broadcast about the incident, and stopped the truck on Wayne-Madison Road, Craft said; authorities recovered the woman's purse, but she said two $100 bills were missing.

Building code used to close trouble houses

HYDE PARK - A joint effort Friday by city inspectors and police ended with houses ordered closed here and in Madisonville - two spots officers said drew many complaints.

The house on Marburg Avenue near Wasson had no water. Inspectors also found other code violations. Two people were arrested there - one for an outstanding warrant, another for possession of drug paraphernalia, Sgt. Brian Ibold said.

In Madisonville, the house at Erie and Roe avenues had neither electric nor water. About half a dozen vehicles were parked in the yard. Three people were arrested there - for drug possession, outstanding warrants and a dog violation, Ibold said.

Signs were posted on both that said no one should enter.

"These are places where we get complaints and where people don't know what's wrong, they just know something's not right," said District 2 Capt. Michael Cureton. "These are quality-of-life issues."

Woman dies after being hurt in crash

MILFORD TWP. - An elderly Dayton, Ohio, woman has died after a Butler County traffic crash in which she was a passenger.

A medical helicopter flew Janet Voorhees to Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton, after the crash Thursday.

The crash occurred about 2:30 p.m. at U.S. 127 and Somerville Road.

The Butler County Sheriff's Office said Daniel M. Staley, 48, of Camden, failed to yield at the intersection. His vehicle pulled into the path of a vehicle that Pamela Tynes, 33, of Englewood, was driving. Voorhees was a passenger in Tynes' vehicle, along with Tynes' two infant children.

Medical crews took Staley, Tynes and the youngsters to McCullough-Hyde Hospital, Oxford, for treatment.

As of Friday, the crash remained under investigation.

Murder charge against teen dropped

LINCOLN HEIGHTS - Murder charges against a 16-year-old Lincoln Heights boy accused of killing 40-year-old Spencer Ewing earlier this year were dropped Friday after witnesses failed to come forward and a death certificate was incomplete, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office.

The teen, arrested at the Tri-County Mall Oct. 10, was scheduled Friday for a hearing in county Juvenile Court. Without witnesses, the hearing could not go forward.

County Juvenile Court Judge Sylvia Hendon said charges could be re-filed.

The teen, who also has charges of assault and violation of a previous court order pending against him, is being held in the county Juvenile Detention Center.

Open meeting on MSD consent decree

LOCKLAND - The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati will hold its last community meeting regarding the Global Consent Decree from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Monday at the Lockland Municipal Building, Recreation Center at 101 N. Cooper Ave.

The program will provide an overview of the decree and how, if accepted, it will affect customers and the community's environmental health. Information: www.msdgc.org.