Man gets 6 months for pirating cable TV

The Avondale Community Council vice president will spend six months in the Hamilton County jail for illegally rigging cable television to his house without paying for it.

Hamilton County Judge Patrick Dinkelacker also sentenced Fulton Jefferson, 46, to three years probation and ordered $245 in restitution to Time Warner Cable.

Jefferson was arrested in October after police discovered the illegal cable hook-up. Authorities said Time Warner Cable discovered the illegal service in September and disconnected it, only to find it reconnected the following month.

The jury was unable to come to a verdict on a similar charge related to Jefferson's bar in Over-the-Rhine. A hearing on that charge is scheduled for March 2.

Cop's firing reduced to 30-day suspension

Cincinnati again is being forced to take back a fired police officer.

Joshua Phillips had his punishment reduced from termination to a 30-day suspension. Phillips was involved in a police chase in his personal truck in 2002 and admitted later he lied during the investigation of the incident.

Arbitrator Terry Bethel ordered Phillips' reinstatement, saying a month off work "is a substantial enough penalty to warn (Phillips) and other officers about the importance of honesty and the consequences of lying to a superior.'' But it also gives Phillips, 29, a chance to salvage his career, he wrote. Phillips joined the department in 1998.

The decision continues the city's streak of losing arbitrations over police firings. Two years ago, City Council started hiring outside attorneys to handle the arbitration cases in hopes of bettering the city's record.

The incident happened the month after Chief Tom Streicher issued in March 2002 his zero-tolerance policy on dishonesty. He said recently, however, that because of such arbitration decisions, no officer he has let go for lying has remained fired.

Feds to help probe Middletown fire

MIDDLETOWN - The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has agreed to investigate a fire that destroyed the Recker Custom Woodworking building on Sunday.

Middletown Fire Chief John Sauter said Wednesday his department requested help with the investigation because of the size of the fire and the city's limited manpower to investigate it. ATF investigators were to begin today.

He did not indicate there was anything suspicious about the fire.

"There is no presumption of guilt or anything with them coming here," Sauter said.