FAIRFIELD - More than 100 Ohio National Guard soldiers, members of a local unit that's among the latest to be called up for service in Iraq, said goodbye to their families Saturday at a sendoff ceremony.

Members of HSC/216th Engineer Battalion, based in Fairfield, will leave todayor Monday for Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Ind. During their one- to three-month stay, the unit's 175 soldiers from Southwest Ohio will receive additional equipment and training. The unit will be deployed for a year to rebuild infrastructure in Iraq.

Speaker to address coal removal's effects

BLUE ASH - The Sierra Club is sponsoring a talk by a Cincinnati native on the environmental damage he said has been caused by coal mining during the practice of mountaintop removal.

Dave Cooper, a 1977 graduate of Wyoming High School, will speak at 7 p.m. Monday in Room 170 of Muntz Hall at Raymond Walters College.

Cooper said the practice of mountain top removal, when coal companies blow the tops off mountains, dump the rubble into valleys and sift through it for coal, has destroyed 500 miles of pristine Appalachian mountain and forest.

The practice has consequences for people in Cincinnati, he said. Chemicals used to wash the coal - both man-made and those naturally occurring in the mountain - flow into streams and eventually end up in the Ohio River, from which Cincinnati draws its drinking water.

Lebanon basketball league is forming

LEBANON - Lace up your sneakers - the city is forming a men's basketball league.

Playing at Berry Middle School gymnasium, the 10-game schedule and following tournament will use licensed officials for all games.

Registration costs $400 per team or $40 per individual and is due by Jan. 31. If you aren't on a team, the city will try to place you.

For more information, call Randy Duff, superintendent of the recreation department, at 228-3730.

Lowe's Superstore to hold grand opening

MIAMI TWP. - Residents of this western Clermont County community will now be able to shop at a new home improvement store.

Lowe's Superstore will have a grand opening Wednesday and open its doors to the public Thursday.

The new Lowe's, at the intersection of Romar Drive and Ohio 28 at the Interstate 275 interchange, stocks 40,000 different itemsto help customers build, improve and beautify their homes.

Officials consider it the "gateway" to the township's revitalization plan for old Ohio 28, which runs about 1.5-miles and is parallel to Bypass 28.

The Ohio 28 Redevelopment/Transformation Plan seeks to blend a pedestrian-friendly boulevard with green space and mixed uses of commercial, retail and residential spaces along the township's former business district.