The Cincinnati Airport Marriott has just been named the Hotel of the Year for 2003 by Marriott International Inc.

The local hotel won the honor over 300 full-service Marriott hotels nationwide, said Paul O'Connor, general manager.

"This is an excellent tribute to our staff and to our region,'' O'Connor said.

He said a special feature is "The Room that Works,'' with individual work stations in more than 200 of the 295 guest rooms. Other amenities include a business center, secretarial service and an executive fitness center. The hotel also has 15 meeting rooms totaling 14,000 square feet.

O'Connor said hotels are evaluated on financial results, staff surveys, guest comments and market share.

"We won the highest distinction among the other hotels by excelling in all four categories,'' O'Connor said.

The hotel opened in October 1999. It began providing wireless high-speed Internet access last year.

The hotel is managed by Cincinnati-based Winegardner & Hammons Inc.

Summer jobs

Youths ages 14-15 will be given a chance Saturday to discuss summer jobs along with how their education relates to career choices at a Worksite Fair.

Dorothy Jorden, executive director of the Citizen's Committee on Youth, said the organization is offering a new approach to summer job training this year.

"We want to offer students a chance to hear about the different types of jobs, companies and organizations along with the benefits available to them,'' Jorden said.

The Committee on Youth sponsors the Worksite Fair along with the Cincinnati Museum Center, Paramount's Kings Island, Cincinnati Recreation Commission and Impact Over-the-Rhine.

Jorden said the fair is designed to help teens explore careers.

Bobbie Wilson, a job developer for the Committee on Youth, is coordinating the fair. He said this year's process will make registration and job placement easier.

The fair will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the West End YMCA, 821 Ezzard Charles Drive, West End.

For more information, call 632-5100.

Dental work

A free dental service day will be 3-6 p.m. today at the Boys & Girls Club in Covington, sponsored by dentists Drs. Kevin and Darlene Wall.

The service day will feature free advanced oral-health screenings, oral-health education and an appearance by the Reds mascot, Gapper. Information, 421-8909, ext. 15

Health center wins grant

A $25,000 grant from the Ohio Valley Foundation follows Acts of Kindness that helped lead to the opening of a 40,000-square-foot Lincoln Heights Health Center next month.

The grant will be used to buy dental equipment.

It puts the final touches on a $5 million drive that began eight years ago to replace a converted community building. That location has become inadequate for the center, which serves nearly 20,000 patients a year.

"As the practice of medicine has grown in complexity and sophistication over the years, it became apparent a decade ago that our center's current facility was inadequate to meet patient needs,'' said Dolores Lindsay, president and CEO of the center.

Lindsay said such funding from the Ohio Valley Foundation has been key to the center realizing its dream.

In 1999, the center received a dose of kindness from the state with a $1.7 million windfall from the state capital fund.

Lindsay said Lincoln Heights Health Center has been the only primary health care provider in Hamilton County offering primary care to the medically underserved since 1967.