Compiled from staff and wire reports

HILLSBORO - Three Hillsboro men face charges of felonious assault after a mentally disabled man was beaten.

Shortly after 7 a.m. Friday, emergency workers and police found Robert E. Duffy, 29, of Hillsboro, along Mount Zion Road in Hamer Township. He was bleeding badly from his head.

Duffy was taken to Highland District Hospital then flown to Miami Valley Hospital with serious injuries.

After Highland County sheriff's deputies interviewed Duffy and several others on Friday, they learned he'd been beaten at a residence on Riber Road, taken from the house and then thrown from a car.

Detectives charged Samuel M. Ross, 25, Mark J. Vaught, 22, and Jason R. Poor, 26, with felonious assault. They are to appear today at Hillsboro Municipal Court.

Boy, 5, found dead in bed at home

DRY RIDGE - A 5-year-old Kentucky boy who had a medical history was found dead in his bedroom Sunday morning, police said.

Family members called police at 10:20 a.m. when they found Austin Ray Ollier unresponsive in his bed.

Grant County Coroner Mary Lee Willoughby pronounced the boy dead at the scene. Although the cause of death remains undetermined, police do not suspect foul play.

A spokeswoman for Kentucky State Police said the boy recently had been sick, but she didn't specify the illness.

$450K raised for fight against breast cancer

DOWNTOWN - The American Cancer Society raised more than $450,000 Sunday at its seventh annual national Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk.

The society said the noncompetitive walk through downtown and Northern Kentucky is its most successful walk for breast cancer.

More than 6,000 participants walked the five-mile route.

The walk started in 1993 in Boston. Last year, more than 518,000 walkers collected more than $18.5 million in more than 80 cities.

Over-the-Rhine party a Halloween alternative

OVER-THE-RHINE - New Prospect Baptist Church hosted a block party Sunday at Elder and Findlay streets as a Christian alternative to traditional Halloween festivities.

The fifth annual party had music, games and free vision screenings, and hats and gloves for children. Several local health agencies and associations were on hand to offer free medical advice.

Members of the Xavier University women's basketball team signed autographs.

Phantom's good deeds spreading in Ohio

COLUMBUS - Ron Farthling was ready for some type of trick when his doorbell rang and no one was at his front door. After all, it is almost Halloween.

Instead of finding his trees covered in toilet paper, he found a treat.

"We got a pumpkin pie on our porch," Farthling said.

The Farthlings had been hit by the Halloween Phantom.

Dropping a bag of candy here, a plate of cookies there, the phantom is engaged in a reverse trick-or-treat campaign in central Ohio neighborhoods.

In a twist on chain letters and stealthy Christmas-gift givers known as Secret Santas, the Halloween Phantom is anonymously spreading holiday cheer and coaxing others into the game, whimsically uniting neighbors.

Farthling's pie was accompanied by a note instructing his family to hang a "You've been struck" sign on the door and follow the phantom's lead by giving treats to two neighbors in the same mysterious manner.

JoAnne Corcuera, who lives in Farthing's subdivision in suburban Dublin, said neighbors have continued the tradition for several years.

Firefighter sentenced for setting barn fire

DELAWARE, Ohio - A volunteer firefighter was sentenced to 60 days in jail and two years of probation for setting a barn fire that he reported to authorities.

David Jeremy Miller, 22, of Ostrander, was sentenced Friday in Delaware County Common Pleas Court.

Visiting Judge Richard Markus also ordered Miller to serve 120 hours of community service and pay restitution up to $500 for hay damaged in the fire and up to $350 to the state fire marshal for investigative costs.

Miller was convicted in July of one of eight charges he faced related to a string of barn fires that began in August 2001.

Gun-wielding man fatally shot by police

ROCKY RIVER, Ohio - A man who ignored repeated warnings to drop a gun was shot and killed by police.

Rafat Elghaffar, 51, was shot three times in the chest on Saturday, Rocky River Detective Sgt. Carl Gulas said on Sunday. He was pronounced dead at Fairview General Hospital.

Elghaffar had gone to Nu Look, a tailoring and dry-cleaning shop where his estranged wife worked, confronted the owner and fired one shot, said police in this Cleveland suburb.

The owner, Peter Zaky, 54, ran into a neighboring store. Elghaffar followed him and fired two more shots, Gulas said.

Two officers arrived and repeatedly told Elghaffar to put his weapon down. The officers shot Elghaffar after he raised his gun at them, Gulas said.