Dayton Daily News

Odot Details Plans for 750 Work Zones ; $1.7 Billion to Be Spent On the Projects; Area Counties in District 8 to Get $244m in Construction.

The orange barrel season of 2007 officially kicked off Wednesday. Ohio Department of Transportation officials on Wednesday outlined plans for construction projects statewide. Overall, Ohio motorists will see barrels at 750 work zones over the next eight months. The projects come with a $1.7 billion price tag.

Ex-Landlord Loses Bias Case, Owes $535,000

DAYTON -- A former landlord accused of discriminating against blacks has been ordered to pay $535,000 in damages to 26 victims. The award against Roger Matusoff, who owned apartment complexes in Xenia, Troy and Sidney, is the second highest award ever obtained by the Justice Department in a Fair Housing Act case, second only to a $1.1 million ruling in Kansas City three years ago.

From the Police Blotter

A roundup of unusual and noteworthy items from area police departments: Man wakes up with missing keys, vehicle

Bill Would Make Assault Against Elderly a Felony

State Sen. Steve Austria hopes a bill he introduced will protect the elderly and deter assaults against them. The Beavercreek Republican introduced the Elderly Protection Act in the Statehouse on Tuesday. It would increase assault from a first- degree misdemeanor to a fifth-degree felony when the victim is age 70 or older.

Lawsuit Seeks to Improve Juvenile Correction System ; 2004 Class-Action Claim Accuses Guards of Brutality. Attorneys Want Stay Lifted so Problems Can Be Addressed.

Attorneys for juvenile delinquents in lockups across the state asked a federal judge Wednesday to reopen a dormant class-action lawsuit claiming the Ohio Department of Youth Services is allowing kids to be brutalized by guards and other delinquents in what the attorneys called a "systematic, statewide crisis." "We keep getting serious reports of violence and abuse," said lead attorney Al Gerhardstein of Cincinnati. "The state is failing these kids."

Harry Belafonte has to Cancel His Town Hall Appearance ; Belafonte Suffered a Spine Injury; Singer/Actress Della Reese Will Take His Place.

DAYTON -- It is every Town Hall chairman's worst nightmare. "We got word on Monday that Harry Belafonte has had an injury to his spine and cannot walk, cannot travel and cannot appear for Town Hall this week," said Agnes George, the volunteer chair of the Junior League's popular lecture series.

Weather Hinders Search for 2 Men ; Investigators Found Problems with the Steering Mechanism of the Boat the Father and Son Were On.

BATAVIA TWP., Clermont County -- The search for two Warren County fishermen missing and presumed drowned at East Fork Lake State Park was scaled back Wednesday because of cold weather. Charles Chippendale, 74, of Franklin Twp., and his son Scott Chippendale, 38, of Lebanon, are believed to have fallen into Harsha Lake at the park Monday morning while on a fishing trip.

Anchor to Be a Stay-at-Home Mom

Sallie Taylor has resigned after 19 years as a WHIO-TV Newscenter 7 reporter and anchor. "I am working for a new boss," Taylor said, with laughter in her voice. "My son."

Local Headlines

105,000 more Ohioans can join discount drug plan COLUMBUS -- An additional 105,000 Ohioans now qualify for the Ohio Best Rx prescription drug discount program, Helen Jones- Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, announced Wednesday.

Mack: Schools Helped Register Thousands

DAYTON -- School officials say thousands of Dayton parents have registered to vote through a joint effort of the district and its levy campaign. Superintendent Percy Mack said the campaign committee compared voter registration rolls obtained from the Montgomery County Board of Elections with a list of school district parents and guardians and found more than 10,000 who were not registered. The district has about 16,400 students. The deadline to register for the May 8 election is Monday.

Ud Throws Support Behind Strickland Plan for Early College Classes

COLUMBUS -- A top University of Dayton official on Wednesday strongly endorsed a goal shared by Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and Republican House Speaker Jon Husted: giving more high school students the chance to take college courses. Thomas J. Lasley, dean of the School of Education and Allied Professions, told members of the House Finance Committee's Higher Education Subcommittee that as such opportunities expand, a system should be developed to assure that courses meet college standards.

Mortgage Case Centers On Dead Witnesses ; 12 Property Transactions Were Made by Those Who Died Days or Weeks Before Purchase.

DAYTON -- The case against a former mortgage broker centers on 12 property transactions from 2002, but none of the purchasers will testify at trial because they all died days or weeks before those purchases were made, according to prosecutors. "Guess which 12 names aren't on the witness list," assistant county Prosecutor Jonathan Horwitz said Wednesday during his opening statements to a jury in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. "None of these people could have attended the closings or sig...

Police & Court Headlines

Coroner investigator says man shot only once by police officer DAYTON -- The Montgomery County coroner's chief investigator on Wednesday clarified some details about Monday's fatal shooting of a man by a Dayton police officer.

Dayton Business Owners Welcome Street Plan That Eliminates Only Six Parking Spaces

When Matt Selhorst, the project manager for Tetra Tech Inc., presented design alternatives in December for converting downtown Dayton streets from one-way to two-way traffic, he got a surly reception from some business owners. The two proposals presented then would have speeded up projected future traffic somewhat, but would have devastated the on-street parking scene.

Intruders Shoot, Kill Dayton Man ; No Suspects yet, but Three Gunmen Also May Be Linked to Home Invasion Three Miles Away Where Woman Was Shot.

DAYTON -- Brandy Hurston lay on the living room floor as a stranger pointed a gun at her 18-year-old brother in a back room. Moments before, about 11:40 p.m. Tuesday, three gunmen had forced themselves into the family's home at 1637 Harold Drive, according to Hurston. While Hurston, 25, and two others were being held in the living room at gunpoint, her father, Dwayne K. Burg Sr., was in the back room with his paraplegic son, Dwayne Jr., 24, the 18-yearold and a 4-year-old grandchild. Burg Sr....

Sub-Freezing Temperatures Could Go Into Saturday Morning ; the Cold Air Mass Will Continue to Spread Across the Valley, Pushing Overnight Lows Into the 20s.

The National Weather Service in Wilmington on Wednesday warned that a very cold air mass prompted the freeze watch for the Miami Valley that continues today. The service warned also that every night through Saturday morning could produce subfreezing temperatures that will kill early budding plants.

Few Laughing at the 'Jokes' in Student Newspaper

It was the college paper gone wild -- now the Wittenberg Torch is answering big questions about a little fun. There's even a push by some university faculty for a suspension of the student newspaper.

Carroll Pleads No Contest to Hoax Involving Foster Son

CINCINNATI -- Liz Carroll, convicted of killing 3-yearold foster son Marcus Fiesel, sobbed through a written apology Wednesday about the hoax to stage the toddler's disappearance from a suburban Cincinnati park after he had been dead two weeks. "I would like to apologize for the lies and the pain this has caused," she said after pleading no contest in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. "Even though the words were untrue, the love, pain and fear were very real to me.

Dayton Oks $93k Settlement

DAYTON -- City commissioners Wednesday approved an expenditure of $93,530 as part of its court-ordered settlement with a former Civil Service Board administrator. The U.S. District Court awarded the board's former assistant chief examiner, Susan Fisler Silberstein, $6,000 in damages in January after she was fired in 2002 for criticizing the city's diversity plan.