Metro riders get 73 parking spaces

ANDERSON TWP. - Starting Monday, commuters taking Metro buses into downtown Cincinnati can temporarily use 73 parking spaces at the former Thriftway store behind the old Beechmont Mall on Five Mile Road, just north of Beechmont Avenue. Metro officials made the announcement Tuesday, more than a month after abruptly losing 300 parking spots for their park-and-ride service in the area. This fall, a $2.5 million transit center with plenty of parking for commuters will open behind the mall, now under redevelopment and called Anderson Towne Center. In the meantime, commuters also can park at Parkside Christian Church at 6986 Salem Road.

Surgeons back with health firm

UnitedHealthcare has renewed recently broken relationships with two of the area's most prominent groups of orthopedic surgeons: Wellington Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine and Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine. Both groups have agreed to contracts that took effect April 1. In addition, United and Beacon reached an agreement, effective June 1, that will cover services at Summit Surgical Center, an ambulatory surgical center Beacon owns in Sharonville. In April 2003, both groups pulled out of United's health plans, which cover about 500,000 people in Southwest Ohio, in a contract dispute.

TRAFFIC WATCH

• The ramp from westbound Ohio 32 to eastbound Ohio 125 in Hamilton County will be closed from 7 p.m. Friday until Monday morning.

• Watch for closures on Madison Road in Madisonville between Anderson Place and Ridge Avenue as crews pave from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly through Sunday night.

CORRECTIONS

• Carl Lindner originally gave $1.5 million toward the capital fund drive for the West End YMCA, and in March gave another $1.5 million as an endowment for children to attend. An incorrect figure was given in Tuesday's Local News section.

• A story in Sunday's paper incorrectly reported the date of a car accident that killed four Goshen High School students. The date was Aug. 12, 2002.