Flu bug forces school to close

WITHAMSVILLE - St. Thomas More Catholic School may be the first Tristate casualty of this winter's flu season. The school is closed today for the second day because of absences due to flu. Last year, Tristate schools didn't start closing for illness until the end of January. St. Thomas More, a K-8 school of 286 students, usually has eight to 10 students absent, but 40 were out on Friday and 60 missed classes on Monday, said Principal Peg Fischer.

Students trying to stage rally

DOWNTOWN - A group of high school students is trying to rally other students across Cincinnati to leave classes today at lunchtime to participate in a demonstration downtown. The effort is in protest to the Nov. 30 death of Nathaniel Jones, 41, of Northside, who died after a struggle with police. Cincinnati Public School officials warned Tuesday that anyone leaving school without parents would be considered truant.

Another bullet hole tied to I-270 shooter

COLUMBUS - A bullet hole found in a van has been linked to a string of shootings along a stretch of interstate, bringing the total number of cases under investigation to 15, authorities said Tuesday.

The shooting at Paydays used car lot on U.S. 23 was reported Nov. 15, 10 days before a woman was killed while driving on nearby Interstate 270, where most of the shootings happened.

It is the sixth shooting police have linked through ballistic tests, Franklin County sheriff's Chief Deputy Steve Martin said.

Ohio flu reports doubled in week

COLUMBUS - The number of suspected cases of influenza has more than doubled in Ohio since last week, and supplies of the flu vaccine are running low, the state Department of Health said.

As of Tuesday, there were 1,038 reports of flu and flu-like illnesses in Ohio, with 16 of those lab-confirmed as the flu, said Michelle LoParo, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health.

UK to get $5M from company, executive

LEXINGTON - A financial holding company and a member of its board will donate a combined $5 million to the University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics, UK President Lee Todd announced Tuesday.

BB&T Corp. and the BB&T Charitable Foundation each have pledged $1.25 million to UK's business college, while UK graduate C.M. "Bill" Gatton, the college's namesake and a member of BB&T's board, will donate $2.5 million.

Ind. seeks 20,000 more vaccine doses

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana health officials hoped to find up to 20,000 more doses of flu vaccine in the coming days to meet an unexpected demand from people worried about a nationwide outbreak that has swamped hospitals in some states.

State and county health agencies were working with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, distributors, doctors and other states to obtain the immunization doses, Indiana Department of Health spokeswoman Margaret Joseph said.

Even if they meet their goal, it might not be enough with so many people worried about the illness.