Saturday, June 20, 1998
ANDERSON TOWNSHIP -- Congressman Rob Portman, R-Terrace Park, will hold a town meeting today at Anderson High School.
The meeting will be 10-11:30 a.m. in the school's fine arts room, 7560 Forest Road.
Residents of Mr. Portman's 2nd Congressional District are invited to share opinions on issues facing Congress, such as the tax code and the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security and Medicare, and the federal budget.
Clifton Heights crash victim identified
Police have identified the victim in a Thursday night fatal accident in Clifton Heights as a 32-year-old Clifton man.
J.R. Gieske, of the 2300 block of Rohs Street, was declared dead upon arrival at University Hospital, Cincinnati Police Sgt. Bill Coombs said.
Mr. Gieske was driving on West McMicken Avenue when his car went left of center and hit a semi trailer about 9:50 p.m., police said. He was apparently traveling at high speed, Sgt. Coombs said.
The trailer, parked without a tractor, was in the 600 block of West McMicken. The car was crushed under the trailer. It took rescue workers nearly an hour to remove Mr. Gieske from the wreckage.
Property taxes due in Hamilton County
Hamilton County property owners have until midnight Monday to pay second-half real estate taxes. Late payments are subject to a penalty.
Treasurer Robert A. Goering has extended office hours. The office will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday. A street-level deposit box has been set up in the lobby of the county administration building, 138 East Court St., to accept payments until midnight. Property owners can also pay their taxes at most Cincinnati-area banks.
Children's appoints acting surgeon-in-chief
Children's Hospital Medical Center has named a new acting surgeon-in-chief. Dr. Robin Cotton, director of otolaryngology and maxillofacial surgery, will succeed Dr. Moritz Ziegler, who has accepted the position of surgeon-in-chief at Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Cotton, who attended the University of Cambridge and the University of Birmingham in England, is a past president of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology.
He is one of the nation's experts on the diagnosis and treatment of airway abnormalities.
Couple to celebrate at Garfield's grave
CLEVELAND -- Ernest and Sally Horvath are going all out to celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary: a limousine and carriage ride, and live music from the Ohio Chamber Orchestra.
There's also dinner in the cemetery where President James A. Garfield is buried.
The Bedford Heights couple won a contest aimed at raising awareness of the monument at the site where Garfield is buried. More than 750 people wrote 50-word essays on why they would want to have dinner at the monument, which overlooks Cleveland.
The Horvaths' entry explained that they became engaged at the monument during the summer of 1949. Mr. Horvath said he proposed at the monument because he was "struck by the beauty of the place." Garfield, who was from the Cleveland area, was assassinated in 1881 by a disappointed office seeker and buried at Lake View.
Indictment charges Indian site damage
COLUMBUS -- A man who organized a motorcycle rally in the Wayne National Forest has been indicted on a charge of damaging ancient American Indian campsites.
The U.S. attorney's office said it was the first time a criminal charge was filed in the Southern Ohio District in connection with a 1979 law that protects archaeological resources.
A federal grand jury indicted Drew Wolfe, 39, of Nelsonville, on Thursday. A second count accuses him of damaging the southeast Ohio forest.
If convicted of both counts, he could be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.
The 1996 rally had more than 100 motorcycles. Motorcyclists drove over the Indian sites, said Fred Alverson, a spokesman at the U.S. attorney's office.
