Hamilton increases share of bridge cost

HAMILTON - The city has kicked in an additional $128,000 so construction can start early next year on the $16.4 million High Street bridge (Ohio 129) linking downtown to Main Street.

The Ohio Department of Transportation asked the city to increase its share because bids opened Nov. 5 were 6.7 percent higher than estimated.

The city will pay a total of $419,630 for utility-related work on the six-lane bridge, says City Manager Mike Samoviski.

Kokosing Construction Co. of Fredericktown, Ohio, the low bidder, will start by building two lanes immediately north of the existing four-lane structure.

The High Street bridge opened in 1915, two years after a Great Miami River flood destroyed a metal truss bridge.

The target date for opening the new bridge is October 2005, said Ralph Reigelsperger, city public works director.

Ex-President Bush to appear for Portman

WASHINGTON - Former President George Bush will come to Cincinnati on Feb. 19 to help a local congressman raise money.

Bush, father of the current president, will raise money for Rep. Rob Portman, a Terrace Park Republican who worked in the first Bush administration.

Tickets to Bush's afternoon speech at the Aronoff Center will cost $200. Tickets to a special reception will cost $2,000, Portman said Tuesday.

Portman throws "one big-bang event" every two years to help him raise money for re-election, the congressman said.

In January 2002 for his major fund-raiser, Portman brought in Vice President Dick Cheney - one of Cheney's rare public appearances following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Talawanda bond issue is last vote in doubt

HAMILTON - No municipal, township or school board election outcomes changed Tuesday when the Butler County Board of Elections certified the Nov. 4 election results.

The only unresolved issue is the $9.2 million Talawanda Schools bond issue to replace Stewart Elementary School. Talawanda officials are awaiting an official count today of 64 votes in neighboring Preble County.

With the unofficial Preble County vote included, the issue passed by only 16 votes - which will require an automatic recount in both counties.

Three Warren votes require recounts

LEBANON - Warren County election officials said Tuesday that two races and one ballot issue from this month are close enough to warrant a recount under Ohio law.

Susan Johnson, director of the Warren County Board of Elections, said the votes for two candidates in the Mason Board of Education race - for school board President Eric Kantor and challenger Deborah Delp - will be recounted on Nov. 25 because a little more than two dozen votes separated the two, with Delp leading.

The Salem Township trustee race also will be recounted the same day, as will votes for a local liquor license issue in Wayne Township.

About five votes separated candidate Robert Glancy from Paul Wolfe, said Johnson.

Little Miami Schools to hold public forum

HAMILTON TWP. - Residents of Little Miami Schools are invited to discuss the Warren County school system's future Thursday night during a special meeting of the board of education.

The public forum is designed to gather public opinion on the 3,200-student district's rapid growth in recent years - Warren County is the second-fastest-growing county in Ohio - and what Little Miami officials should do to accommodate a continuing influx of new students.

The Little Miami Board of Education will meet at 7 p.m. at the Little Miami High School Media Center at 3001 U.S. 22/Ohio 3.

Firefighters to get gift of thermal camera

CORRYVILLE - University Hospital will give $10,000 today to the Cincinnati Fire Department to buy a new thermal imaging camera.

The devices detect body heat, which allows firefighters to find victims in dark or smoky places.

The hospital's donation is part of the Rotary Club of Cincinnati's Campaign for Sight in the Dark, which seeks to equip each of the Cincinnati Fire Department's fire engines and trucks.

Traffic watch

For 24-hour traffic information call ARTIMIS at 333-3333 or 511 from Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky.

Interstate 275

Westbound will be reduced to one lane near the Interstate 75/71 interchange from 9 p.m. tonight until 6 a.m. today and Thursday.

Deerfield Township

Irwin-Simpson Road will be closed between Snider Road and Wilkens Boulevard and Wilkens Boulevard will be closed between Natorp Boulevard and Irwin-Simpson Road until Nov. 26. Follow posted detours.