Semi-truck accident snarls I-275 traffic

An RTR Transportation truck tipped Wednesday coming off the northbound Interstate-75 ramp to eastbound I-275, blocking eastbound lanes for several hours. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        SHARONVILLE - A Cincinnati man escaped serious injury but snarled interstate traffic for hours Wednesday afternoon when the loaded semi-truck he was driving flipped onto its side on Interstate 275 at I-75.

        Lawrence Brightwell, 24, of William Howard Taft Road was treated at Bethesda North Hospital. He was alone in the truck, which didn't hit any other vehicles.

        Preliminary investigation indicates Mr. Brightwell may have been going too fast on the ramp from north I-75 to east I-275 when the truck flipped, Sharonville police said. The truck, which blocked all three lanes of east I-275, was destroyed. It was loaded with about 43,000 pounds of graphite.

        The accident remains under investigation, police said.

        East I-275 was closed at I-75 for about four hours while the accident was cleaned up.

Westwood man dies of gunshot wounds

        A Westwood man who was shot Saturday in Roselawn has died, while police continue to search for his vehicle.

        Robert L. Johnson, 39, died Monday at University Hospital.

        Shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday, he was found in the 5900 block of Rhode Island Avenue, in the front yard of an apartment building.

        The Cincinnati Police Division's homicide unit is attempting to find his vehicle, a four-door, brown, 1987 Cadillac Deville.

        The suspect was last seen driving toward Langdon Farm Road. He is described as black, in his 20s, about 5-feet-8-inches tall and 150 pounds. He was described as having a light complexion and a pointy nose. He was wearing a white T-shirt, black jogging pants and gray boots.

        Those wanting to leave an anonymous tip can call Cincinnati Police Division's homicide unit, 352-3542, or Crime Stoppers, 352-3040.

Children's Hospital wins private grant

        Children's Hospital Medical Center has been selected as one of a dozen medical centers nationwide to receive a private grant to pursue “perfect” health care.

        The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement will distribute more than $20 million in grants as part of a program called "Pursuing Perfection: Raising the Bar for Health Care Performance.”

        Children's Hospital is expected to develop two programs, one focusing on comprehensive care for children with cystic fibrosis and the other focusing on best ways to treat bronchiolitis. The amount the hospital will receive depends on a seven-month competition among the 12 medical centers.        

Ex-offenders program gets $150,000 boost

        The Vision of Hope Outreach Center has received a $150,000 grant to expand substance abuse, anger management and parenting support services to ex-offenders and their families.

        The grant was provided by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. The Vision of Hope program was started in 1994 by Darimelle Davis as a faith-based program to reunite families broken apart by substance abuse, violence and poverty.

        For information about the program, call 948-9333.        

Edgewood teachers get salary increase

        TRENTON — Teachers in the Edgewood Schools are getting a pay raise retroactive to the start of school following approval of a new master contract.

        The three-year agreement provides teachers a 4 percent pay raise this year and the next two. Starting salary for a beginning teacher with a bachelor's degree and no experience will increase from $25,960 to $26,383 annually, said Treasurer Ryan Slone.        

Officials seek source of infection outbreak

        TOLEDO — Warnings on how to prevent an E. coli outbreak were taken seriously by the Wyandot County Fair this year, the fair board president said Wednesday.

        Portable hand sanitizers were placed near the livestock barns and food stands. But they didn't stop an outbreak that likely has infected at least 44 people.

        Three outbreaks in little more than a year have been linked to county fairs in Ohio. Outbreaks at fairs around the nation have pushed health departments to focus more attention on fairs, petting zoos and other animal exhibits.

        E. coli infections can develop from eating contaminated food or water, or petting an infected animal. Inadequate hand washing can spread it.

        Wyandot County Fair officials this week are working to identify the source of an E. coli outbreak that infected at least 20 people. Another 24 likely were infected, county health officials said.        

Parents stock up on tuition credits

        COLUMBUS — Parents are buying more credits for Ohio's prepaid college tuition programs before one of the program's largest rate increases takes effect Monday.

        “Just like any other shopper, they want to get the best bargain they can,” said Judy Cunningham, spokeswoman for the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority.

        The program, which oversees the five investment funds that allow parents to buy their children's future tuition at current prices, sets the cost per credit of tuition each year based on the average cost of tuition at the state's public universities.

        This year, for the first time in 10 years, lawmakers removed a tuition cap, which last year was set at 6 percent. That meant that Ohio's public colleges and universities could increase tuition as much as they wanted, thereby also inflating the cost of the program's tuition credits.

        The cost of one tuition credit in the prepaid tuition programs will increase 9.8 percent, from $51 to $56, about 2 percentage points more than the nearly 8 percent average tuition increases at Ohio's 13 public colleges and universities.
       

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