Cemetery volunteers to make final push

NORTHSIDE - Legions of volunteers have cleared the weeds and cut the grass on most of Wesleyan Cemetery's 24 acres in the weeks since Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken said the city did not want to take on the responsibility for it.

Now, volunteers are requesting help for one last push to finish the job. They have lined up food and beverages and are requesting that volunteers bring lawn mowers and turn out between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday.

Also, the Friends of Wesleyan Cemetery, a nonprofit group, is seeking donations to help it maintain the cemetery once the overgrowth is cleared. Checks can be made out to Friends of Wesleyan Cemetery and sent to North Side Bank & Trust Co., 4125 Hamilton Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45223, or dropped off at any of the bank's six locations.

Closing completed on White Pillars sale

LOVELAND - One of the most controversial pieces of city-owned property in Loveland changed hands Thursday when developers closed on a deal to buy White Pillars for $3.2 million from the city.

City Manager Fred Enderle said Hines-Griffin Joint Venture and Parrott & Strawser also paid Loveland its first installment on $225,000 promised for renovation of the historic building there. The site was the home of Loveland's first settler, Col. Thomas Paxton.

City officials will next hire an architect to draw up plans, and Enderle said he expects the developers will begin work soon on the 69.7-acre subdivision that will include more than 200 houses and condominiums.

The sale of White Pillars was held up for nearly two years after a group of residents balked at a zoning change to allow commercial development at the residential site. The group successfully sued the city to put a referendum on the ballot, and voters later forbid commercial activity at White Pillars.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay off $2.3 million the city owes on the property and to begin economic development projects that were placed on hold, city officials have said.

Butler Co. still wants minor league baseball

HAMILTON - Minor league baseball will thrive in Butler County, according to a feasibility study commissioned by Butler County Entertainment LLC, a group that wants to bring baseball to Hamilton.

Terry Bridge, a leader in the pursuit of a Frontier League team for the city, said Friday that the effort is "very much alive."

"I do know that Hamilton will be a good place to put this baseball team, and we've never wavered from that, never," Bridge said.

The next step is to take the feasibility study, a business plan, and partnership agreement to the state to ask for stadium funding. Bridge estimates construction costs will be between $5 million and $6 million.

He is not discouraged by the recent hardships faced by the Florence Freedom, a minor league team in Kentucky. The Frontier League took over management of the team this week and work has stopped on their stadium after $3 million in liens were filed against it.