The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 35

4- -w -m- EDITOR: KERRY KLUMPE, 369-1003 THE CINC INNATI ENQUIRER WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1989 SECTION In briefD-2 Lottery numbersD-2 Mahoney trialD-3 ObituariesD-7 Designated driver could be a life saver Jim iCv Rohrer Drinking and driving in Ohio 67 of all drunk drivers are between the ages of 1 6 and 35. 88 of drunk drivers in fatal crashes are males. Most alcohol-related fatal crashes involve drinking drivers who do not have a prior DUI violation on their record. One of 500 drunk drivers is arrested on any given night. Source: the Ohio Department ot Highway Safety during the Christmas holidays," Denihan said.

Last December, 54 Ohioans lost their lives in 1,639 crashes in which a driver had been drinking. Increased public awareness of the dangers of driving under the influence and heavy patrols of key Ohio interstate sections are two reasons for decreased alcohol-related traffic deaths, Denihan said. The safety director referred to the fiery Carrollton, bus-truck crash of May 1988 that killed 27 people that has been labeled the nation's worst alco- (Please see DRINKING, Page D-2) fatal traffic accidents is alcohol-related. Although Ohio's rate is lower, Denihan says that's nothing to cheer about. State figures show 43.8 of 1988 Ohio traffic fatalities were alcohol-related.

The rate was 44.8 in 1987 48.3 in 1986.. Increased awareness During the past Thanksgiving weekend, nine people were killed in drunk-driving accidents in Ohio, compared to more than 20 alcohol-related traffic deaths the last several Thanksgiving holiday periods, Denihan said. "We hope the trend continues BY FREDERICK BERMUDEZ The Cincinnati Enquirer Safety officials want designated drivers at every holiday gathering this year, in the hopes that Ohio's declining rate of alcohol-related traffic deaths continues to decline. Law-enforcement officials from Hamilton County, Cincinnati and the Ohio Highway Patrol, along with state and city officials, held a news conference Tuesday at Caddy's, a downtown bar, to kick off the holiday safe-driving campaign, with its slogan: "Be the LIFE of the Party Be the Designated Driver." William M. Denihan, Ohio Highway Safety director, said the effort focuses on the designated driver idea and its support by alcohol-selling establishments.

Nationally, every 22 minutes a person is killed by a drunken driver, Denihan said. "This is, without a doubt, the biggest killer of our youth up to the age of 34. We've got to be a more responsible driving society." Nationally, one of every two Animal contest my lies case delays by police criticized i 4. i Ax 1 A 1 It ''V J- tv, 5 l-O is'- 'V. '4 1.

Time elapses on happy hour; push is for ban For a start, outlaw "happy hour." Surely those evil ways should be gone. Public officials everywhere, it seems, talk about the drunken-driving problem being a "top priority," or of bringing on "a change in public attitudes" encouraging talk until you look at statistics so horrifying there can be only one conclusion: Drunken drivers are killing us at rates that defy logic. The bad old days are now, still. So, when Ohio's director of highway safety came to Cincinnati Tuesday to promote the state's "Designated Driver" program for the holidays, the attitude should not have been, "This is what is being done" but, more properly, "What more can be done?" DUI arrests increase Isn't happy hour an invitation to drink more at workday's end right before driving home? Tying red ribbons on cars, publicizing designated-driver programs, stiffening the penalties for DUI, even posting more cops along major highways to arrest more drivers who drink have done some good. But just some.

"We're starting to backslide," said Cincinnati Police Chief Larry Whalen. "We used to have about 4,000 DUI arrests a year in Cincinnati, then the average went to about 3,500 (with more enforcement, that means there were fewer drunks on the road), but the figures are starting to go up again. Last week, we had four people killed by drunk driving." "We arrest about 1,000 drunk drivers a year," said Col. Ray Hoffbauer of the Hamilton County Sheriffs Department. "Add our figures to Cincinnati and to the figures of the smaller municipalities, and you can see what a problem it still is." "The courts have to get tougher," said Lt.

Ben Joehnk, Batavia post commander for the Ohio Highway "A lot of these drunk drivers we take so much time to arrest are back out on the road quicker than we are." Younger drivers drinking In Ohio, about 43 of all traffic fatalities are alcohol-related. Accidents involving drunken drivers are the leading cause of death for men up to age 34. Drivers 16-21, who are only 8 of all Ohio drivers, are involved in 17 of all alcohol-related fatalities. Should the driving age be raised? "Statistically, you can make a case for raising the driving age," said William R. Denihan, the state's director of highway safety.

"The numbers show that younger drivers are more likely to drink and more likely to be involved in crashes. "What is going on is that young people are learning about two things at the same time drinking and driving." Denihan said there is no political support in Ohio to raise the driving age. A more realistic proposal, he says, is to mandate a 90-day waiting period from the time a license is issued until a person can drive, or require young drivers to drive 1,000 miles with their parents before they drive alone. Law not impossible One thing could be done quickly, though. Denihan would like to see happy hours end.

"They concern me and I talk about them every time I speak to tavern owners," he says. Doesn't the institution of happy hour at bars seem an affront in an enlightened age, an invitation to drink more for less cost? Karen Schneider, owner of Caddy's and Caddy Combs Comedy Club, concedes her club continues to have a happy hour, though it pushes the designated driver idea. "I don't think happy hour is a problem here," she says. "All our personnel are trained not to serve drunks and to make sure those who are intoxicated have a safe way home. "We try to make other things here the focus of coming to Caddy's, not just SORTA acts on report Consultants to tackle Metro discrimination BY TERRY FLYNN The Cincinnati Enquirer Outside consultants will be hired to help the Metro bus system carry out recommendations made in a report about racial discrimination.

Following a IVi-hour private session Tuesday, the Southwestern Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) board approved the entire report, which was done by retired Ohio Supreme Court Judge Robert M. Duncan, and called for all 12 recommendations in it to be implemented. "We have the utmost confidence in our (Metro) management people," SORTA board chairman Richard Lamping said. "But we feel at this time we need an independent approach to the situation." Duncan's 50-page report, several months in preparation and released last week, found racial discrimination in the Metro system, especially in the areas of manager-driver relations, and promotions. Duncan was hired by SORTA, the agency that governs the city's transit system, to investigate and report on complaints by black bus drivers about longstanding discrimination in Metro.

Committee to make choice A committee, headed by SORTA board member Peter Swenty, will develop a program for hiring the necessary consultants, outside the Metro management family, to deal with the "This will be done ASAP, immediately," Lamping said. Among the 12 recommendations of the Duncan report are: Revise the Metro promotions procedure. Make a special effort to encourage women and blacks to become qualified applicants for supervisory positions. Consider employee transfers that might reduce management-employee tension. Maintain up-to-date statistics, specific to race and gender, on all disciplinary actions.

Lamping said the outside consultants would report directly to the SORTA board. "We feel it's the board's responsibility to oversee implementation of the 12 recommendations." Stephen Reece, a public relations consultant who has represented the black bus drivers since the complaints were aired last winter, said the drivers were pleased with the board's announcement. "We hope the board will move swiftly to make the necessary changes," Reece said. "We will work with the board and the consultants in any way possible." )T i n1" of ft BY NANCY FIROR The Cincinnati Enquirer Covington police investigating the death of Jenny Sue lies took samples of Michael Funk's hair in May, the woman who lived with Funk said Tuesday. And they took clothing in August from the Norwood apartment that Funk and Theresa Soukup shared.

But, Soukup asks, why did the police wait until Dec. 1 to charged Funk with murder in the April 21 death of the 7-year-old Covington girl? She said Covington police told her Funk must have driven her car from his apartment in Norwood to Covington. But Funk cannot drive, Soukup said. was indicted by a Kenton County grand jury for capital murder and first-degree burglary in the death of Jenny. Her body was found May 1 in an abandoned building on Chesapeake Avenue in Covington.

Covington Police Capt. Thomas Schonecker, who headed the lies investigation, could not be reached Tuesday for comment. But Schonecker and commonwealth Attorney Don Buring, who said he would seek the death penalty in the case, have refused to comment on any evidence used to seek the indictments. Funk, since April 25, has been serving a four- to 10-year sentence for gross sexual imposition on a 19-month-old in Norwood. Police took samples of his hair in May, Soukup said.

If it had matched any hair found where Jenny's body was discovered, an arrest should have been then, she said. Police searched the couple's Norwood apartment on Aug. 8, Soukup said. They took a wood chip that was wedged in one of Funk's boots, some dirt from a workshop vacuum cleaner and eight pairs of blue jeans two of which were hers, Soukup said. She said that if any of the evidence had linked with the crime.investigators would have known long before Dec.

1. "I think Covington's a crock The Cincinnati EnquirerGlenn Hartong Judy Hoffman, of Milford, with her dogs Chummy, left, and Boomer. Clermont seeks top dog Humane Society encourages owners to buy tags test sponsored by the county auditor and the humane society. As of Tuesday, 35 Clermont County owners had entered their pets. Contest deadline is Friday.

The competition was designed to encourage purchase of Clermont County dog tags, on sale between now and Jan. 20 for $8, Auditor Gary G. Vogelgesang said. There are 14,000 dogs licensed in the county, he said, and after Jan. 20, owners of unlicensed pets are apt to be cited to court.

Puppy perks The county's top dog gets dog tag No. 1 for 1990, plus a year's supply of dog food, a gift certificate and other prizes. A panel of volunteers from the Clermont County Humane Society stands ready to rip through the stack of entries and pick a winner. (Please see DOGS, Page D-2) Dog tag registrations, Page D-2 BY JIM CALHOUN The Cincinnati Enquirer Imagine the look of amazement on Judy Hoffman's face when she finally figured out what was happening between her two dogs. "Chummy," her 18-year-old Sorder Collie, simply sat there every time the befuddled Milford master called her pet to come outside.

But one morning, when Hoffman gave the customary command for Chummy to do her business, her other dog, "Boomer" (no connection with the Bengals' quarterback), sprang into action. "He senses, somehow, that (Chummy) has lost her hearing. Boomer goes over, looks her in the eye and wags his tail. And then she gets up and follows him outside," Hoffman said. Boomer, who has been doing it ever since, is "like a nurse for her." i Now Hoffman hopes the canine's uncanny sense of compassion will qualify Boomer for the honor of Clermont County's top dog.

She entered the 7-year-old mutt in an essay con Soukup said. "Their cred- (Please see ILES, Page D-2) Funk transfer today, Page D-2 Democratic hopeful Celebrezze has Tristate pit stop consideration is Cincinnati Mayor BY HOWARD WILKINSON with questions about his switch ly," Celebrezze said. "The only poll I've seen was one the Right-to-Life drinking. As long as every other bar offers a happy hour, we have to do it, too. A law banning happy hour is not as impossible as it sounds.

Who would have thought 10 years ago, for instance, that Charles Luken. Luken, who was on stage with Celebrezze Tuesday, said he "hasn't given a lot of thought" to rumors in the Ohio Statehouse he might run for lieutenant governor or another statewide office. "Maybe it's not the right time; maybe my name is too much like (U.S. Rep. Donald E.

Luk-ens," the mayor said. Lukens a congressman from Middletown, was convicted earlier this year of contributing to the delinquency and unruliness of a minor. "The name would probably hurt me statewide, because of the confusion," Luken said. "People in Cincinnati know I'm not Buz Lukens, but I don't know about the rest of the state." The Cincinnati Enquirer Democratic gubernatorial candidate Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr.

didn't want to talk about the abortion issue on the Cincinnati stop of his 14-city Ohio tour Tuesday. But he didn't get his wish. Early Tuesday, about half a dozen anti-abortion protesters picketed outside the Vernon Manor Hotel, where Celebrezze told about 150 supporters his plans to run for the 1990 Democratic gubernatorial nomination. He made the initial announcement Monday in Cleveland. Celebrezze, a former anti-abortion advocate who announced Dec.

2 his new pro-choice position, did not mention abortion in his speech, but was peppered by reporters afterwards. "I don't make these kinds of changes easily," the two-term Ohio attorney general said. "This was done with a lot of thought, a great deal of study of the issue. I hope as we move on in this campaign we will be able to talk about some other issues of importance to Ohio-ans. Celebrezze said he is still personally opposed to abortion, and wants to "be able, as governor, to create the kind of support systems that allow women to choose life over abortion." Critics have accused Celebrezze of changing his anti-abortion stance in response to polls showing the public mood shifting to a pro-choice position.

"I began rethinking this in Ju Ohio would raise its drinking age to lit people showed me. Looking for running mate Joyce the Ohio president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), has said she believes Celebrezze's switch was politically motivated. But representatives of NOW and other pro-choice groups, such as the Cincinnati Women's Political Caucus and Planned Parenthood, were on hand Tuesday wearing Celebrezze stickers. Celebrezze, the only announced Democratic candidate for governor, said he is preparing a list of potential candidates for lieutenant governor and will make a decision on a running mate next month. One of those known to be under fy rVAr Anthony J.

Celebrezze Raising the drinking age and other programs haven't been enough. Every 22 minutes, someone is killed by a drunk. The bad old days are with us still. Happy hour surely deserves to go the way of "one for the road" and the "pub crawl." Jim Rohrer's column appears Sunday, Wednesday and Friday..