Center to offer diabetes care

CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati plans to announce next week the opening of a diabetes center to improve treatment for a growing community health problem. UC officials decline to discuss details of the project before a news conference Tuesday, other than to say that Dr. Barbara Ramlo-Halsted has been named director of the new center. More than 18 million people nationwide have diabetes, which means their bodies cannot properly control blood sugar levels. That figure could rise to 39 million people by 2050, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Diabetes is the nation's sixth-leading cause of death - and the fifth-leading cause of death in Ohio. It also is the nation's leading cause of kidney failure, blindness and limb amputations.

Pollution fines recycled as grants

More than $106,000 has been awarded to four local environmental groups by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's "Education Fund." The grants are funded from half of the civil penalties collected by EPA for air and water pollution violations. The local grant recipients are:

• The Mill Creek Restoration Project, $48,002 to provide courses for property owners and local government administrators to reduce soil erosion and water pollution in Butler and Hamilton counties.

• The Ohio River Foundation, $31,480 to bring 600 middle-school students to the river for field study of mussels, fish species, plankton, river chemistry, ecosystems, pollution and more.

• The Clermont County Office of Environmental Quality, $11,850 for a one-day workshop for planners, developers, engineers and contractors on how to reduce runoff of pollution from roads, subdivisions and farms into waterways.

• Miami University's department of zoology, $15,200 to provide four weeklong workshops to teach Ohio teachers about water resources.

TRAFFIC WATCH

The center lane of the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge is closed as the resurfacing project enters its second phase. One lane remains open in each direction. Beginning Wednesday, the bridge's sidewalk will be closed for six weeks for repair.