Two local students are spending the weekend in New York, distributing more than 700 letters to firefighters, shop owners, police officers, teachers, businessmen, the homeless and ordinary people on the streets.

        Adana Forbes, 14, a freshman at St. Henry's District High School and Zachary Russieri, 8, a third-grader at Mary Queen of Heaven in Erlanger, gathered the letters from their schools last week.

        The children and their parents, Michael and Helen Sasso of Covington, boarded a plane Friday morning for New York.

        “Their uncle is a New York police officer,” Mrs. Sasso said. “He was off duty the day of the attack. The letters contain messages of love and support.”

A good news story happened in Avondale recently. Well, good for a while.

        Last month, a playground was dedicated in honor of William DeHart Hubbard, the first African-American athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event in 1924. Mr. Hubbard won the medal in the long jump.

        The playground, dedicated Sept. 15, is adjacent to Victory Neighborhood Serv ices at 870 Blair Ave., Avondale.

        The playground was built in August, sponsored by Free Coalition for Kids at Children's Hospital Medical Center and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission. They specifically built it safe because statistics show that Avondale has one of the highest volumes of injuries to children in Hamilton County.

        Mr. Hubbard was a track star at Withrow High school before going to the University of Michigan. To honor such a person may have been one of Avondale's finest hours.

        That is the good news part of the story. The bad part is that within a month, vandals have almost destroyed the playground.

        No arrests have been made.

        “We have to do something about getting the playground refurbished again,” said Tom Jones, president of the Avondale Community Council. “I can't imagine why someone would want to destroy something like this, which has that kind of historic significance to the black community.”

The memory of Monica Ilana Kuchmar, killed by rising flood water on July 18, will go on around Sycamore High School.

        Hills Communities, friends and faculty at Sycamore conducted a memorial walk/ride with proceeds going to the Monica I. Kuchmar Memorial Scholarship Fund.

        Monica would have graduated this year. She was killed when the SUV she was riding in was swept under by flood water. Three other occupants survived.

        To donate to the fund, send checks to Monica Kuchmar Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Hills Communities, 7420 Montgomery Road, , Cincinnati, Ohio 45236.

        Allen Howard's “Some Good News” column runs Monday-Friday and Sundays. If you have suggestions about outstanding achievements, or people who are committing random acts of kindness that are uplifting to the Tristate, let him know at (513) 768-8362; at ahoward@enquirer.com; or by fax at (513) 768-8340.

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