Anthrax ruled out in postal case

        SYMMES TOWNSHIP — Tests revealed Saturday that a letter carrier at the Symmes Branch of the U.S. Postal Service, who was tested for anthrax, actually has the flu, a spokeswoman said.

        Bonni Manies, spokeswoman for the Cincinnati Postal District, said a spokeswoman at St. Luke Hospital West in Florence, where the postal employee was treated, told her that the employee has the flu.

        The unidentified postal employee was tested Thursday because he had a rash on his back and flu-like symptoms. The tests took 48 hours to complete.

        The employee was expected to be released from St. Luke late Saturday or today.

Couple dies in crash on Reagan highway

        MONTGOMERY — An elderly couple died Saturday morning when they entered westbound Ronald Reagan highway traffic in the wrong direction and crashed head-on into another vehicle just west of the Interstate 71 interchange.

        Driver Eugene Haggard, 88, of Springfield Township, and his wife Anna, 83, were pronounced dead at the scene, said Montgomery Police Officer Kevin Kilgore.

        James Park, 45, of Reading was driving the other car and was taken by helicopter to University Hospital, where he was in critical condition Saturday.

        Both cars were totaled, Officer Kilgore said. He was not sure how long the Haggards had been driving on the highway or from which interchange they entered Ronald Reagan traffic.
       

Prayer service seeks help for city

        Cincinnatians from different racial, religious, and cultural backgrounds are coming together at 3 p.m. today to join a one-hour prayer service at Schott Amphitheater at Sawyer Point, downtown.

        People Praying for Cincinnati, a diverse grass roots group, organized the event. Bob Crable, Moeller High School's football coach and religion teacher, will present the invocation.

        Representatives from Rockdale Baptist Church, Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church, the Cincinnati Islamic Center and Rockdale Temple will lead the prayers.

        The Rev. Rousseau O'Neal of Rockdale Baptist is eager “to call upon God to assist us in the healing of our region as well as a nation.”

        The Rev. O'Neal, 47, a lifelong Cincinnatian, said he has never seen the community so fractured. While he believes Cincinnatians need to work together to solve problems, he sees prayer as a means of helping them decide which course of action is best.

Police find body in Over-the-Rhine

        An unidentified body was found in an abandoned building Friday evening in Over-the-Rhine, said Cincinnati Police Sgt. Lisa Thomas, a homicide unit supervisor.

        Police are seeking help in identifying the body.

        A 911 call came in at about 5:40 p.m., directing police officers to East McMicken Avenue. They searched buildings before finding the body on the second floor of 142 E. McMicken Ave.

        Cincinnati Police said they cannot tell how the person died or whether the person is male or female. A Hamilton County Coroner is investigating.

        To leave an anonymous tip, call the homicide unit, 352-3542, or Crime Stoppers, 352-3040.

Columbus' cost from attacks: $265,000

        COLUMBUS — City officials estimate that the terrorist attacks have cost the city at least $265,000.

        Most of that money was for police overtime in the week after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon when police worked 12-hour shifts and racked up $250,846 in overtime.

        Since then, officers have returned to normal eight-hour shifts.

        At City Hall and nearby city buildings, security workers continue to put in as much as 12 hours a day to ensure entrances are guarded and visitors checked in. Overtime for those workers so far has cost more than $15,000.

        Much of the training and material firefighters are using was in place because Columbus is one of 26 cities that have received federal grants since 1997 to prepare for terrorist attacks.

        The city has received $1.1 million in federal anti-terrorism grants, said Barb Seckler, assistant public safety director.
       

Pension fund denies usual "13th check'

        CLEVELAND — A large public pension fund is telling more than 100,000 retirees that they won't get their customary “13th check” this year.

        Since 1980, the State Teachers Retirement System has paid more than $700 million in supplemental benefits checks that arrive in mid-December. The average check is for about $500.

        This year, the poor showing of the nation's financial markets means that check will not come.

        The system's executive director, Herb Dyer, said the fund's health is intact.

        The system has more than $53 billion in assets.
       

Crash kills two in Boone County

        UNION — A Union couple died shortly after midnight Saturdaywhen their vehicle crashed into a tree along southbound U.S. 42, south of Ransom Drive, said deputies with the Boone County Sheriff's Office.

        Driver John Richerson was pronounced dead at the scene. His wife, Rilda, was taken by helicopter to University hospital, where she was pronounced dead. An investigation continues.
       

Ky. makes appeal in Commandment case

        A Kentucky law calling for the creation of a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments outside the state Capitol is more about history than religion, a lawyer for the state argued before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

        Kentucky Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Carrico told the appeals court that U.S. District Judge Joseph Hood erred last year when he found that the law failed all three prongs of a U.S. Supreme Court test to decide whether government has violated the required separation of church and state.

        But David Friedman, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, argued that the law clearly endorses religion, that Judge Hood's ruling was correct and that the court should uphold it.

        The appeals court did not issue an immediate decision.

        The Ten Commandments have been at the center of several recent legal battles in Kentucky, including local efforts to post them in classrooms and courthouses.

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