Friday, August 13, 1999
TRISTATE DIGEST
p8 Woman pleads guilty in theft of $6,000
A 53-year-old former teacher pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing $6,000 from Golf Manor's recreation fund.
Michelle C. Nazarovech of Golf Manor entered the plea to one count of theft after prosecutors agreed to drop a second charge of theft in office.
She faces a maximum possible sentence of 11/2 years when she returns to Hamilton County Common Pleas Court on Sept. 9 for sentencing before Judge Steven Martin.
Prosecutors say Ms. Nazarovech, a former substitute teacher, was a volunteer at the recreation commission. They say she took over as treasurer in March 1997. Over 18 months, prosecutors say, she stole $5,000 to $6,000.
Bond set at $1 million for man held in slaying
A judge set a $1 million bond Thursday for the Avondale man accused of killing Laquitta Elliott last year.
Raymond Akins, 25, is charged with murder, robbery and theft. Prosecutors say he strangled Ms. Elliott, 24, before stealing her purse, cellular phone and Pontiac Grand Am.
Ms. Elliott, who was last seen alive in early October, was found dead in her Bond Hill apartment on Oct. 23.
Prosecutors say Mr. Akins was arrested three weeks later in Dekalb County, Ga., after police spotted him driving Ms. Elliott's car. Georgia authorities returned him to Ohio last week.
At his arraignment Thursday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, assistant county prosecutor Gerald Krumpelbeck said Mr. Akins has given detectives a statement that links him to Ms. Elliott's death. Judge Richard Niehaus set the bond.
Judge refuses to dismiss assault charges in fight
A judge refused Thursday to throw out assault charges against a Symmes Township man.
The charges stem from a fistfight in 1997 between John Maupin, then 17, and two other teen-agers. Mr. Maupin says the fight occurred on his property after he warned the others not to approach.
His attorney argued that the charges should be dismissed because authorities led him to believe he was the victim in the case and would not be charged with a crime.
Mr. Maupin argued that it was unfair for prosecutors to use his testimony against the others and then charge him with assault.
But visiting Judge John Crouse ruled that prosecutors did nothing wrong. “The conduct of two people, one against the other, can constitute the commission of a crime by both,” the judge wrote. “This is true even though it appears to be awkward.”
The judge also said he put little stock in a sworn statement from former assistant prosecutor Joni Statzer, who had claimed the prosecutor's office acted improperly.
Judge Crouse said Ms. Statzer left the prosecutor's office under adverse circumstances and represents Mr. Maupin in a civil case.
Sunman man dies when car crashes into tree
YORK TOWNSHIP, Ind. — A Sunman man died Wednesday night after driving his Jeep off Happy Hollow Road and into a tree.
David Zeiser, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene by Dearborn County Coroner George Ross. He had been partially ejected from the overturned and open Jeep.
Mr. Zeiser was not wearing a seat belt, said Dearborn County Sheriff's Dept. Bill Wagner. The crash occurred at 8:40 p.m.
Government aware of Piketon plutonium WASHINGTON — Officials have known about limited plutonium contamination at southern Ohio's Piketon plant, but it received little attention because nobody from the public was at a hearing last year, a state official said Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiated an investigation of sediment contamination in 1996 that led to the 1997 discovery of evidence of plutonium, said Carol Hester, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
At a public meeting in Piketon last September, the DOE's presentation “did include information about plutonium but there were no residents there,” she said. “In the last two or three years, we have had very little public interest and little or no attendance at these meetings.”
The plutonium evidence also was mentioned in a report the DOE released in February, she said.
The contaminated sediment is about to be removed; remediation methods have been studied and a plan for its extraction and disposal is due in September.
Park over the river considered
Dalai Lama, followers coming to Indiana
Other events with Dalai Lama's visit
First test of sex offender law in place
Man identified as hit-skip driver
Pursuit of 'deadbeat' parents paying off
The secret world of America's teens
RECONNECTING WITH TEENS
Study looks at teen sex
Closing the generation gap
Covered walkways may lose roofs
Inmate can have abortion
Refusal to sell abortion pill meant firing, suit says
Use of gun would deny bail
Campbell's land valuator is indicted
No cause found for Florence fire
County prodded on hiring minorities on stadium
Cruisers prowl accident-prone I-71
Madisonville woman abducted, raped
New tests could speed E.coli detection
Number of E.coli cases rises
Pipe bomb discovered at construction site
Conan's sidekick says good night
Game creator not in it for money
GET TO IT
Lilith Fair loosens up
Marsalis tops reduced CAA season
'Riverdance' leaves audience breathless
Aronoff charged with DUI after crash at Statehouse
Child agency levy on ballot
Colerain proposes heftier road levy
CPS schools change schedules
Habitat finds home of its own
Hamilton refuses to join Butler in running airport
Judge dismisses Broadnax drug fine
Judge's arrival caps move to courthouse
Law director now deputy city manager
Lebanon may get assistant city attorney
Mayor goes back on Klan rally deal
Mayor threatens to pull critic off committee
Racism in police hiring alleged
Some avoid waterline assessment
Symmes official vows to protect turf
TRISTATE DIGEST
Truants will need doctor's note in Lebanon
Y2K plan angers city workers
