Compiled from staff and wire reports

SYMMES TWP. - The Ohio Elections Commission ruled for a second time Monday that there was no proof to support Township Trustee Eric Minamyer's claim that challenger Michael Howell lied on a website for voters.

Minamyer was upset that the commission refused to act on the first complaint involving Howell's statements that he currently served on a township committee that is defunct and that he had endorsements from several former trustees. Last week, Minamyer refiled the complaint.

Howell maintained he simply forgot to update information he posted on the League of Women Voters' website during the last election about his membership on the now-disbanded Law and Safety Committee. Howell said he received support from three former trustees in the past race and figured their endorsements were still valid. He has refused to name them.

Police investigate rash of business break-ins

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Police are investigating a rash of break-ins over the weekend at nine businesses in an industrial park at Crescentville and Cincinnati-Dayton roads.

The burglaries occurred between Friday night and early Monday, police records show. In some cases, the bandits gained entry by breaking or removing windows and took miscellaneous tools, West Chester Township police Sgt. Steve Oakes said.

The thieves appeared to be on the hunt for cash, he said.

Six of the nine businesses did not have alarms or surveillance equipment, Oakes said.

Detectives were able to lift fingerprints left behind on open cash drawers.

Many of the businesses still were tallying up the damages on Monday. Some were reporting losses as high as $15,000.

Mother comforts family of crash victim

JACKSON TWP. - Kathy McRoberts can sympathize with Brandie Baker's family.

"I know what they're going through because we just went through this ourselves," said McRoberts, a friend of Baker's family. Baker, 28, of Goshen Township, and Kimberly D. Hall, 41, of Fayetteville, died Thursday in a head-on crash on Ohio 131 in Clermont County. Baker's 2-year-old nephew, Dustin Baker, died Sunday.

The crash also injured Baker's children, Ashley Reid, 3, and Anthony Reid, 9, and Rylan Harcourt, 20, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers said. McRoberts wants to help comfort the family. Her daughter, Jennifer, was one of four Goshen High School students killed in a single-car crash in Clinton County in 2002.

Donations can be made to the Brandie Baker Children's Memorial Fund at any Huntington National Bank.

Tickets available for Schwarzkopf speech

HAMILTON - The sale of tickets to hear retired Army Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded U.S. forces in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, has been opened to the public.

Schwarzkopf will speak at a Nov. 19 leadership dinner hosted by five Butler County chambers of commerce. The event will be held at the Sharonville Convention Center. The theme of Schwarzkopf's talk will be the importance of leadership in difficult times.

The dinner and speech will follow a social hour that starts at 5 p.m.Tickets cost $125 per person. Tables of eight and 10 are available. Those interested can call 844-1500 or visit the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce's Web site at www.hamilton-ohio.com.

Vote on making Sycamore St. two-way

OVER-THE-RHINE - Sycamore Street would become a two-way street between Central Parkway and Reading Road, under an ordinance scheduled for a vote by Cincinnati City Council Wednesday.

The traffic change is part of the city's effort to support the Main Street Entertainment District by making it easier for traffic coming from Interstate 71 to get to nearby parking on Sycamore Street. Sycamore is now a one-way street.

Luken, Kharkiv renew sister cities agreement

DOWNTOWN - Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken and the mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine, renewed their cities' sister city agreement Monday in a ceremony at Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park.

The two cities have had a friendship agreement since 1989, when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.

"We've had an agreement for 15 years, but they've had some changes in government and have been struggling with a free market," Luken said.

Hamilton man named to two seniors boards

HAMILTON - Steve Schnabl, executive director of Senior Citizens Inc. in Hamilton, has been appointed a board member of the National Institute of Senior Centers and of the Ohio Association of Senior Centers.

Schnabl will be Ohio's representative on the National Institute's board, which promotes the growth and development of centers serving senior citizens. He will serve on that organization's public policy committee, which develops positions on the needs and interests of senior centers.