Compiled from staff and wire reports

Adams protesters won't be charged

WEST UNION - Adams County Prosecutor David Kelley said Wednesday that he will not file criminal charges against the 32 people detained this week as they protested removal of monuments bearing the Ten Commandments from the county's four public high schools.

"The people who protested ... did so peacefully and without creating any physical damage or personal injury," Kelley said.

"If the American Civil Liberties Union wishes to take issue with me about this, they know where to find me," he said.

ACLU attorney Scott Greenwood said Kelley's statements imply that he is "trafficking in anti-ACLU, pro-religious-extremist sentimentality."

"We represent protesters," Greenwood said. "We don't request that they be charged."

A federal magistrate ordered the removal of the Ten Commandments displays from public school grounds after the monuments were considered in violation of the separation of church and state.

Key grant to fund concluding exhibit

A $500,000 donation to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will help it fulfill one of its major missions: encouraging visitors to take active roles in promoting freedom.

The gift from the Key Foundation, presented Wednesday, will help fund the Freedom Center's concluding exhibit, "Reflect, Respond and Resolve."

Spencer Crew, the Freedom Center's executive director and CEO, said visitors entering the exhibit will view a montage of images they saw earlier in the center, which focuses on the informal network that helped slaves reach freedom in the years leading to the Civil War.

Man indicted in Web site hacking

A computer hacker illegally accessed Hamilton County's government Web site and tried to access the sheriff's office Web site, an indictment alleges.

Jesse Tuttle, 23, of Montgomery, bragged about his hacking abilities, Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen said.

An investigation into what Tuttle did with the information he saw on the Web site is continuing.

A grand jury indicted Tuttle on Tuesday on six counts of unauthorized use of property stemming from incidents in January and February and 10 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor.

The pandering charges relate to child pornography images discovered during a search of Tuttle's computer, which sheriff's deputies seized as part of their investigation.

Beth Myers named common pleas judge

Gov. Bob Taft has named Cincinnati attorney Beth A. Myers as Hamilton County's newest Common Pleas Court judge.

Myers, from Cincinnati, will take the bench June 30. She is replacing Robert Taylor, who resigned in April. Myers is a partner in the litigation department of Frost Brown Todd, LLC.

She received a political science degree from Miami University, where she graduated cum laude and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

She graduated from law school at the University of Cincinnati, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and was the Law Review editor.

Southeast Ohioan killed by grenade

WASHINGTON - A soldier from southeast Ohio was killed by a grenade in Iraq, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.

Army Pfc. Gavin L. Neighbor, 20, of Somerset, was off work from guard duty in Baghdad and had been resting on a bus when a rocket propelled grenade round was fired from a nearby house. Neighbor suffered head trauma and died Tuesday.

Neighbor's death is considered the result of enemy fire, Maj. Steve Stover said.

Neighbor is the eighth Ohio soldier killed in Iraq since the war started March 19.

He had been stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., and was a member of Company C, 3rd Battalion, 325th Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division.

Norwood approves renovation plans

NORWOOD - Council members unanimously approved development plans Tuesday to renovate a four-story building at Ross and Section avenues.

Developers Neyer Properties and The LandBank Group of Lakewood, Colo., want to renovate the 52,800-square-foot building, which once belonged to American Laundry, so that it can provide revamped office space.

Norwood Venture, a LandBank effort, is to occupy 20,000 square feet. The remainder will be marketed to other tenants.