The public is invited Monday to a national Town Hall meeting on race and policing, to be shown on Court TV.

        The 6 p.m. program, at the Omni Netherland Hotel downtown, is part of a two-day training session on eliminating bias from policing put on by the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.

        Organizers are expecting more than 150 Tristate officials to attend. Starting Monday morning, they'll talk about ways to remove bias from police work and how to collect and analyze race data from traffic stops.

        “We'll be talking also about ethnic profiling, as well as racial profiling,” said Ron Davis, an Oakland, Calif. police captain and vice president of NOBLE. “These are very important topics right now.”

        Among the conference participants: U.S. Rep. John Conyers, the Michigan Democrat promoting a bill to ban racial profiling; representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; attorney Heather MacDonald, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, who has extensively researched racial profiling; and chiefs from various departments, including the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Arlington, Va., and Montgomery County, Md.
       

Warehouse fire causes $50K damage

               A five-alarm fire broke out in a vacant warehouse in Winton Place early Saturday, causing about $50,000 in damage, said Cincinnati District Fire Chief Gary Scott.

        Firefighters continue to investigate what caused flames to break out on the third floor of the multi-level building, 4901 Spring Grove Ave., just before 2 a.m.
       

Beating went on as woman lay unconscious

               The Price Hill deli owner beaten Thursday afternoon was hit dozens of times, police said, with various objects, including fists and her cash register, before being robbed of $219.

        Chom Bernard, 57, remained in critical condition Saturday at University Hospital. Police said her attacker, Ivey Nixon, 37, of Price Hill, entered Braun's Deli on West Liberty Street about 3:30 p.m., punched her and knocked her down.

        He then hit her repeatedly on her face and head, according to his arrest report, then threw the cash register onto her as she lay unconscious. He then beat her with a wooden club, the report said.

        Lt. Roger Wolf, homicide unit supervisor, called it the worst beating he can remember.

        Mr. Nixon appeared in court Friday morning on charges of aggravated robbery and attempted murder. He was still in the store when officers arrived.
       

Middletown crash kills motorcyclist

               MIDDLETOWN — A motor cyclist died Saturday, shortly after midnight, when he lost control of his cycle along Breiel Boulevard, struck the inside median and flew into a tree.

        The driver, whose name was not available from police Saturday, was speeding, said Middletown Police Sgt. Don Henson.

        A coroner pronounced him dead at the scene. An investigation continues.
       

Restaurant vial wasn't hazardous

               WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP — The unknown substance found in a vial at a Frisch's restaurant here has tested “negative for biologicals,” Patricia Burg, administrative director of the Butler County Health Department, said Friday.

        Ms. Burg said the Ohio Department of Health's Columbus office did the testing and the FBI informed her of the result Friday morning.

        Further testing, which would be needed to identify the substance, probably will not be conducted, she said.

        An employee of the Frisch's on Cincinnati-Dayton Road reportedly tasted the substance on Monday night, then developed a rash and red eyes — a report that Ms. Burg said now appears to be false.

        On Tuesday, Frisch's employees called police because they were suspicious that a couple who had left the small, one-ounce vial had returned to retrieve it. The report led to the restaurant's daylong closure; more than two dozen people were quarantined inside for several hours.

        Hazardous-materials personnel, wearing protective gear, quadruple-bagged the substance as a precaution.
       

Auditor weighs in on court reporting

               HAMILTON — Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers on Friday issued a searing opinion detailing why the county should discontinue using county employees to transcribe audio recordings of court proceedings.

        “In my opinion, there must be a better way to serve the court and the public than the current system,” says Ms. Rogers' letter to Judge Matthew J. Crehan, the court's administrative judge.

        Ms. Rogers was responding to Judge Crehan's Oct. 6 letter in which he defended the current system and questioned Ms. Rogers' opinion that transciption services should be subject to competitive bidding.

        Judge Crehan's letter said: “What exactly do you expect from (the) competitive bidding process since the (state law) provides only for the court to make appointments and fix the compensation?”

        Ms. Rogers said she expected that competition could save the taxpayers money and ensure “detached, professional neutrality.”

        Judge Crehan, reached in Florida on Friday, said he couldn't comment much since he hadn't seen Ms. Rogers' letter.

        However, he said: “We're operating under the law. If changes should be made, we'll make them.”

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