Compiled from staff and wire reports

COLERAIN TWP. - A 17-year-old Colerain Township driver was killed and three passengers were injured early Sunday in a one-car crash on Hanley Road here.

Matthew Pahner, of the 7800 block of Dennler Lane, was pronounced dead at Franciscan Mount Airy Hospital following the 12:51 a.m. crash, Hamilton County sheriff's deputies said.

Pahner was driving a 1995 Chevrolet Camaro east on Hanley just east of King James Court when he lost control of his vehicle, left the road and struck a utility pole, deputies said.

Injured were: Andrew Jackson, 19, and Michael Pahner, 19, both of Cincinnati, who were transported to University Hospital; and Jeff Snyder, 28, of Cincinnati, who was treated at the scene by the Colerain Township Fire Department.

Matthew Pahner and Jackson were ejected from the vehicle. None of the occupants of the car was wearing a seat belt, deputies said.

Canoeist's body found in Little Miami River

HAMILTON TWP. - Rescuers recovered the body of an apparent drowning victim from the Little Miami River in Warren County Sunday afternoon.

The male victim, whose name was being withheld pending notification of relatives, had been canoeing on the river, police said.

The body was recovered from the river in the area of Grandin Road. Police had no further information Sunday night.

Camp for young heart patients has openings

The Heart Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has about two dozen openings for its first summer camp.

Camp Hopeful Hearts will be open for youth ages 8 to 17 who have heart disease. The camp, which runs Aug. 11-15 at Joy Outdoor Education Center in Clarksville, Ohio, will include around-the-clock medical supervision by cardiologists, nurses and respiratory therapists.

For more information, call 636-7257.

Bodies from capsized boat are recovered

The bodies of two men whose boat capsized Friday after going over a low-level dam on the Great Miami River at Hamilton were recovered Sunday by searchers.

Butler County Sheriff's Office helicopter staff spotted the body of Danny Brodnick, 49, of Miamisburg at 7:25 a.m. Sunday - 21/2 miles south of the dam where the accident occurred.

A firefighter walking the river banks at 7:15 p.m. Sunday spotted the body of Kevin Lodder, 24, of Hamilton, about 100 feet from the dam.

The boat apparently lost power and drifted over the dam. Brodnick was on a test ride in the 26-foot cabin cruiser that he planned to buy from Lodder Marine in Fairfield, deputies said.

None of the three appeared to be wearing life jackets, officials said.

Transplant program on track despite death

A national clinical trial that is testing whether damaged hearts can be repaired by transplanting muscle cells from the leg will not be delayed by the recent death of its first patient.

Charles Emrick, a 71-year-old resident of Middletown, got more than 300 million of his own leg muscle cells injected into his heart June 5 during his second cardiac bypass operation. He died June 17.

An autopsy and related tests indicate Emrick died of a heart attack that was not related to the experimental procedure, according to a statement from Dr. Dean Kereiakes, the principal investigator in the study.

Five other patients - of 10 slated to receive the therapy - are close to having transplants. One case could occur this week in Cincinnati.

Indiana governor forms Indian panel

INDIANAPOLIS - Gov. Frank O'Bannon plans to create an American Indian commission by executive order this week, keeping a promise he made last month when he vetoed legislation that would have formed such a commission.

O'Bannon said he vetoed Senate Enrolled Act 337 because its definition of "Indian" would have excluded Indiana's Miami Indians, who are not a federally recognized tribe.

Omitting the Miami Indians also likely would preclude the commission from addressing issues relating to Miami archaeology and burial grounds, O'Bannon said.

But O'Bannon will keep a promise he made to form the Native American Indian Affairs Commission by creating it through executive order this week, said an executive assistant to the governor.

The Native American Indian Affairs Commission will have about 20 members, Compton said.

YMCA executive killed in airplane crash

A former Cincinnati YMCA executive was killed Saturday when his ultra-light plane crashed near Huntsville, Ala.

Layne Scott's plane went down about 9:30 a.m. in a wheat field near Moontown Airport, authorities said. Scott, 48, was alone in the home-built aircraft, called a MiniMax.

Scott, a native of Anderson, Ind., is a former associate vice president of the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati and executive director of M.E. Lyons branch on Clough Pike in Anderson Township.

He moved to Huntsville from Cincinnati in 1997 after being named president of the YMCA there.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the cause of the crash.