Hamilton renames street after university

HAMILTON - The name of Dr. John Pascal Paoli Peck, a 19th-century physician who helped found the First National Bank of Hamilton in 1862, soon will be removed from city streets.

Hamilton City Council voted to change the name of Peck Boulevard to University Boulevard. The request was made by Daniel E. Hall, director of Miami University Hamilton, the largest facility on the street south of downtown.

" 'University' conveys to future occupants what kind of neighborhood this is," Hall said in a letter to council last fall. The campus was built in 1968 on land known as Peck's Addition, an Appalachian community that had no city water, sewers or paved roads into the early 1980s.

Church to restore, donate old bicycles

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Eighty-six abandoned or unclaimed bikes have been donated by West Chester Police to the Vineyard Community Church's Team Vineyard Bicycles for Christ program.

Police had collected the bikes last year after receiving complaints from residents, says Gil Flick, assistant police chief.

"A lot of them are pretty well worn. They need the repair these people can give them," Flick says.

Members of the Springdale church restore the bikes and give them to underprivileged children, says Police Chief John W. Bruce.

Mason approves fireworks contract

MASON - Rozzi's Famous Fireworks will again provide the boom for the city's Red, Rhythm & Boom Fourth of July Celebration.

City council approved a $21,000 contract for the company, which has provided the fireworks for the event since 1999. The city paid the same price last year for a 20-minute show.

The city earlier had approved a $25,000 contract to have singer Don McLean, best known for the songs "American Pie" and "Vincent (Starry, Starry Nights)," entertain the 5,000 to 7,000 people at the July 3 event.

South Lebanon subdivision revised

SOUTH LEBANON - The village planning commission will discuss a revised plan for a subdivision that neighboring residents had protested.

The Homestead at River's Bend, formerly named Villages at River's Bend, will be discussed at the 7 p.m. meeting April 29.

Residents and the developer of the upscale Vista Pointe at River's Bend had raised concerns about earlier plans because of a proposed cut-through street they thought would bring traffic and drive down property values.

The new plans call for a limited-access development, according to Mayor Jim Smith.

Proud re-elected as development chairman

BATAVIA - Clermont County Commissioner Bob Proud has been re-elected chairman of the Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission, an agency that coordinates federal, state and local resources to encourage development in 12 southern Ohio counties.

Proud has been chairman of the regional commission for 13 years and has worked closely with the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Economic Development Administration and the Governor's Office of Appalachia to obtain funding for development projects in the region.

Williamsburg senior center fills up fast

WILLIAMSBURG - Clermont Senior Services said a new 36-unit affordable-housing apartment complex for seniors here is already full, a week after U.S. Congressman Rob Portman attended a ribbon-cutting for Lytle Trace Senior Housing.

The $2.8 million project was funded with a Housing and Urban Development federal capital advance and another federal grant.