Compiled from staff and wire reports

Drive-through clinic to offer flu shots

NORWOOD - Forget about fast food or banking. Now some people can get their flu shots without getting out of their cars.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, people can visit the "Drive-Thru Flu Clinic" at the Fidelity Professional Building, 4557 Montgomery Road.

It's the latest attempt by the Greater Cincinnati Flu Collaborative to make it as easy as possible for people to get flu shots.

Traditional shots will cost $10. Flu-Mist, a nasal-spray form of the vaccine, will cost $50. The shots will be administered by licensed nurses.

Payment must be cash or check only; no credit cards.

For information on flu clinics in Greater Cincinnati, call 931-SHOT or visit www.931shot.org.

Emergency heat assistance offered

LEBANON - As the winter months approach, Warren County Community Services is offering qualifying residents help with paying heating costs.

The United Way agency is scheduling appointments for emergency assistance, which starts Saturday.

It gives eligible households a one-time cash payment when there is a disconnect notice from a utility company and they have less than a 10-day supply of bulk fuel.

Assistance will be offered through March 31, 2004.

For more information or to schedule an appointment for emergency heating help, call 695-2100.

Mt. Orab blaze leaves man dead

MOUNT ORAB - An unidentified man was killed in a fire that destroyed a home here Tuesday morning.

A Mount Orab police officer discovered the fire, which had engulfed the garage and spread to the house at 413 S. High St. about 9:45 a.m.

The officer smelled smoke and called for help.

Officers suspected someone was inside at the time of the blaze, but the fire was so hot they could not go inside until firefighters arrived.

The victim was alone inside the home at the time of the fire, authorities said. The cause is under investigation.

Bush adds visit to Ohio factory

WASHINGTON - President Bush will extend his fund-raising trip to Ohio this week with a stop at a Columbus aluminum plant to promote the federal energy bill, the White House announced Tuesday.

The president plans to talk to employees of Central Aluminum Co. on Thursday afternoon about how the country needs a safe, reliable energy source.

Company officials declined to comment on the president's visit, which comes after lawmakers stalled last weekend on completion of the energy bill.

Bush first will attend a $2,000-a-person fund-raiser lunch at a downtown hotel, hosted by Gov. Bob Taft.

The visit will be Bush's 13th to Ohio as president. He already has raised more than $84 million for his re-election campaign.

Barge accident damages 5 boats

SAYLER PARK - The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating a barge accident that damaged five boats Monday.

Between 3 and 4 p.m., seven barges being pushed by a towboat crashed into boats docked at Mariner's Landing Marina.

The barges, loaded with cement, were owned by American Commercial Barge Line.

One barge was damaged and will have to be repaired before it can be loaded again, said Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Nick Meyers.

The pilot and master of the towboat were required to be tested for drugs after the accident, he said.

"The company agreed to replace the pilot at the wheel when it happened and to have him checked out medically," Meyers said, adding that the company was very cooperative with the investigation.

"It's just an unfortunate thing that it happened," he said.

Ex-deacon faces sex-abuse lawsuit

TOLEDO - Two men who say they were molested by a former Roman Catholic deacon filed a lawsuit against the church Tuesday.

The men, both 44, said they were abused over a period of years in the 1970s by Glen Shrimplin, a retired dentist who left the ministry in 1987.

Shrimplin denied the allegations.

"It's not true. That did not happen," Shrimplin said. "I am just so upset with all of this. It's all so terrible."

David Barciz, who now lives in Raleigh, N.C., and another man who did not release his name filed the lawsuit against Shrimplin, the Toledo Diocese and two parishes in Toledo.

Former Toledo Bishop James Hoffman apologized to Barciz in a letter sent last year, the Blade reported Tuesday.

Another letter said Shrimplin "was removed from active diaconal ministry in the diocese of Toledo."

Shrimplin, now 69, said he left the church on his own.

He was a deacon, which is an ordained position in the Roman Catholic Church.

Deacons, who can be married and hold other jobs, can officiate at baptisms, weddings, wakes and funerals.