Tag's closed by health officials

        WEST CHESTER TWP. — One of the oldest watering holes in Butler County has closed indefinitely because of several health and building code violations, township officials said Tuesday.

        Tag's Tap Room, in business on U.S. 42 in Pisgah since 1961, shut down at the urging of the Butler County Health Department, said Maryann Santel, the township's senior code enforcement officer.

        The closing came after inspectors discovered water up to 4 inches deep covering the floor behind the bar from a caved-in roof, Ms. Santel said.

        Township officials are due back in West Chester Area III Court with Tag's owner, Earl Leary, on July 1 over what they say are several longstanding violations.

        Mr. Leary has said he has listed the business for sale because he cannot afford to make the necessary repairs.
       

Interim chief named for Butler Co. agency

        HAMILTON — The Butler County Transportation Improvement District will name Rick Bailey as its interim director Thursday, according to Dave Gully, the agency's secretary-treasurer.

        Mr. Bailey retired last year after a 24-year career with the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments. In his last 19 years with OKI, he served as division manager of the program administrative services.

        Mr. Gully said that Mr. Bailey, who lives in Oxford, hasn't decided if he wants to become a candidate for the permanent director's position.

        Mike Samoviski, the Transportation Improvement District's director, is leaving to become Hamilton's city manager.
       

Priests' statement asks for forgiveness

        Priests in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati issued a statement Tuesday asking for forgiveness from people sexually abused by clergy members.

        About 220 priests from the archdiocese have gathered for a three-day meeting this week in Indianapolis to discuss the declining numbers of priests available for ministry.

        Participants at the gathering said they hope to find possible solutions to the problem and to issue a statement about that subject after the meeting.

        “As we look to our future this week, we must also acknowledge the past,” the priests' council said. “Despite our own sins and failings, we stand with all persons who have been victimized as children, especially by our fellow priests.”

        “We cannot undo the harm done to them, nor can we truly understand their inner turmoil. We ask for their forgiveness.”

        The archdiocese has 320 priests, with 231 involved in active ministry to serve about 500,000 Catholics in 19 southwest Ohio counties.
       

Bond set at $2M in attack on woman

        Bond was set at more than $2 million Tuesday for William David Boyles, 26, the ex-boyfriend of Sara Ridder, who was found shot to death April 15.

        Mr. Boyles is accused of attacking Ms. Ridder a month before her death.

        Mr. Boyles has not been charged with Ms. Ridder's killing. He was on house arrest at the time. Police have yet to arrest anyone for the 24-year-old Westwood woman's death.

        His trial date is set for Aug. 5.
       

Nurses' union approves strike

        Nurses at University Hospital have approved a strike if negotiations fail to produce an agreement before July 1. But both sides say they hope it doesn't come to that.

        University Hospital is the only Greater Cincinnati hospital with a nurses' union. The Registered Nurses Association includes 884 nurses. Its contract runs through June 30 this year.

        The union's main concerns are working conditions, such as nurse staffing levels, and mandatory overtime policies, said Mike Haas, RNA co-chairman.

        The strike notice, filed Tuesday after a vote Monday, was given to comply with federal law requiring a 10-day notice for a health-care strike, Mr. Haas said. The RNA and two other unions representing hospital employees plan to hold a rally in front of the hospital at 3:15 p.m. today.

        Hospital officials would not discuss contract issues.

        “We are in continued contract negotiations with the union and would like to anticipate a successful conclusion to those negotiations. We will continue to strive to provide uninterrupted care to our patients at University Hospital throughout this process,” said hospital spokeswoman Amy Bomar.
       

Pre-pay tuition program raises prices

        COLUMBUS — For the fourth time in a year, the state's prepaid college tuition program is increasing its prices because of higher tuition at state universities and the uncertain economic outlook.

        The increase to $78 a unit by the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority means that during the past 10 months, the cost of one college tuition credit in the Guaranteed Savings Fund has increased 53 percent.

        The increase takes effect July 1. Under the program, parents buy guaranteed credits for future tuition at current costs.

        Last September, the cost was $51 a unit before an increase in October adjusted it to $56.

        In January, the price became $59.50 in response to midyear tuition increases at several of the state's four-year universities.

        The program increased the cost per credit to $69 in April to reflect continued uncertainty about future tuition costs because of declining state support for higher education.
       

Teen critical after pool accident

        A 14-year-old boy was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday night after he was pulled from a Roselawn apartment complex swimming pool.

        Firefighters responded to the 6900 block of Glen Meadows Lane about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and found a teen-ager who had been pulled from a swimming pool by some other youngsters, a fire official said.

        The teen, Allan Harris, was transported to Children's Hospital Medical Center, where he was being treated late Tuesday.
       

Man gets 36 years for beating clerk

        Ivey Nixon's parents pleaded for mercy Tuesday, but a Hamilton County judge sentenced their son to 36 years of his life in prison.

        “If you ever get out of prison, and it's my hope that you do not, you do have certain rights of parole,” Common Pleas Judge Steve Martin told the 39-year-old Price Hill man.

        Mr. Nixon was convicted earlier this month of one count each of attempted murder and aggravated robbery and two counts of felonious assault for the Oct. 11 beating of a shopkeeper.

        The victim, Chom Bernard, 57, is still under care at the Drake Center.

        Her store, Braun's Deli at Iliff Avenue and West Liberty Street, has been closed.

        Mr. Nixon beat her with his fists and the store's cash register. He took about $200 and then fled, but later returned and continued to beat the woman with a metal-tipped wooden club. The elder Mr. Nixon said his son suffered mental problems and begged Judge Martin to place his son in a facility that would provide him with medical treatment.
       

Driver indicted in road rage case

        A Springdale man would face more than 50 years in prison if he is convicted of shooting at another car during a June 8 “road rage” incident on Chesterdale Drive.

        Billy Ray Dixson, 26, was indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury Tuesday on four counts of felonious assault. He is accused of firing seven shots at another driver's car, striking the car five times.

        Prosecutors say the shots were fired after Mr. Dixson and the occupants of the other car got into an argument. They say four people, including an infant, were in the other car, but none were injured.

        Police say they recovered a 9mm handgun under Mr. Dixson's car seat.

        Mr. Dixson faces up to 32 years in prison if he is convicted of the felonious assault charges, and another 20 years because he is accused of using a gun during the assault.

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