The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 1

MEW EES I If Arts a HQfsunn Spares Rods dice Dodgors Belcher strong in 11-1 show a Gymnast invited to camp II Schlichter may have to sit NFL fight heads to court Section 3t Gas pricos climb Cost could jump 5tG-l Electronic campaigns A-18 At bat with statsE-1 Condos with extrasH-1 Watergate's legacyI-1 Dot, cat, hat Can the sequel be equal? Newton-John's return Max Rudolph recalls CSO a 'Lady' reprises Holiday Section THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER MO FINALSingle-copy price $1.50 They come from all walks of life and all different age groups. They are the faces behind Cincinnati rising homicide statistics. yi TP TO BY TONY SCOTT A The Cincinnati Enquirer Sandra Curry of Bond Hill plans to help troubled teens again someday but she isn't sure when. Memories of her 24-year-old son are too strong. Indianapolis Colt Shane Curry was shot dead outside a Roselawn bar May 3.

"Shane was my life and now he's gone, and I feel like it's all been a waste," said Curry, who has since taken time off from her job as a social program specialist with Ohio's Department of Youth Services. "I spent 16 years trying to stop kids like the one who shot my son." Artise Anderson, 15, of Springfield Township has been charged in Curry's death. Curry is among 24 homicide victims in Cincinnati this year through June 6. That knows life will never be the same for her since the death of her daughter, 11-year-old Markeca Mason. Markeca, a fifth-grade honor student at Anderson Place Elementary, was killed Jan.

26 in a fire with Mykila and three other children when, police say, a burglar tried to cover up a theft by burning down the English Woods town house where the five were staying. "I'm still real angry even though I've had a chance to get it out," Jackson said. "I feel really bitter, and I don't feel any remorse for the man who killed my daughter. He's going to get his judgment from someone higher than those who are holding him downtown." Details of many victims' lives are as sketchy as their unsolved police cases. Investigators are still struggling to fig-(Please see VICTIMS, Page A-8) ENQUIRER Dec.

26 shooting death of Carl Cordell, 18, of Walnut Hills. Police still are investigating his death. "I remembered when Floyd graduated from Hughes High School, our family was so proud we were almost thrown out of the auditorium for cheering too loud," said his mother, Diane Davis of Avondale. Marshandra Jackson of Madisonville compares to 17 during the same period last year. Victims are as diverse as 8-year-old Mykila Mack, killed in a house fire police think was arson, and United Dairy Farmers clerk Frances Messinger, 56, shot to death by a robber.

Each tragedy brings with it feelings anger, sadness, perplexity, fear that CLOSE UP I remain with loved ones long after the victims are buried. Floyd Davis, 23, was killed near his Avondale home while awaiting trial on voluntary manslaughter charges in the Winner gets wet Kroger cunts prices, joins in food fight Kroger targeted items consumers buy most often for price cuts under its new strategy. Examples: Tide detergent: From $7.99 to $4.99 for 70 ounces. Dannon yogurt: From 859 to for 8-ounce tub. Chiquita bananas: From 599 to 39 a pound.

Pampers diapers: From $1 8.99 to $1 6.99 for 60- to 88-count packages. Heinz baby food: From 39 to 239 for small jar. BY PATRICIA GALLAGHER The Cincinnati Enquirer Get ready for grocery price wars. After three days of hinting, area Kroger Co. stores opened today with permanently lower prices on bread, diapers, detergent and more than 3,500 other items.

The reason for the move: tough competition. Those competitors aren't likely to ignore Kroger's move to "Everyday Low Prices." As Kroger works to dispel its image as Cincinnati's highest-priced grocer, other chains will promote prices, too. On Friday, Thriftway Inc. bought two pages of advertising space in The Enquirer and the Cincinnati Post to tout low prices. And IGA stores will "remain competitive in the Cincinnati marketplace," said John Dietrich, director of retail services for Super Food Services which grants IGA franchises.

If all three players move to Everyday Low Prices, Cincinnati will be a bargain-lover's paradise. Already, chains like Bigg's, Wal-Mart, Drug Emporium and Sam's have driven down prices. And Meijer, a Michigan retailer similar to Bigg's, is scouting for Cincinnati sites. Those competitors inspired Kroger to cut prices on 3,500 to 4,000 items in its 89 Cincinnati and Dayton stores. "They're revolutionizing the business," said Robert Hodge, The Cincinnati EnquirerGlenn Hartong Harvard's Men's Varsity-8 rowing team tosses coxswain David Weiden into Harsha Lake after he led them to the National Collegiate Rowing Championship Saturday at East Fork State Park.

Story C-10 employees told job cuts possible president of the CincinnatiDayton division. Kroger changed prices to protect sales, Hodge said. While Kroger still ranks at No. 1 in Cincinnati and Dayton, other retailers have been gaining ground, he said. Kroger attracts about 39 of all Cincinnati grocery dollars, according to the 1992 Directory of Supermarkets, Grocery and Convenience Stores.

Thriftway's share is about 31. Bigg's claims 15. A figure for IGA wasn't available. The CincinnatiDayton division is the second within Cincinnati-based Kroger to trim prices. Kroger's Savannah, division made the move earlier this year.

How changes came aboutB-1 letter A leader of one of three unions representing workers said the hiring freeze and loss of overtime has begun to hurt services. "If a call comes in at 'the end of a shift, it has to wait (rather than having an employee answer it on overtime)," said Mike Gilligan, business manager for Local 1347 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Gilligan said the letter was intended to answer questions and end rumors about possible layoffs, but had the opposite effect. "The letter "just heightened the anxieties of people." Cost-cutting measures began last month, after the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio gave $114.6 million of a $204.8 million request. ing freeze, has restricted travel and eliminated all but emergency overtime, but that may not be enough, Jackson Randolph, chief executive officer, said in a letter Friday to the utility's 5,400 employees.

Other possible cutbacks might include offering voluntary early retirement and reorganizing some areas "to result in an additional reduction of the work force," the BY ELIZABETH NEUS The Cincinnati Enquirer Cincinnati Gas Electric Co. officials have warned employees that the utility may be forced to cut jobs, a move union leaders say could erode services. has taken in $90 million less this year than expected because most of a rate-increase request was rejected in May. The company already has a hir Yeltsin letter fuels 40-year resolve Boone Co. man thinks childhood friend held by Soviets since 1950 I Nine sections.

152nd year. No. 66 Copyright, 1992, The Cincinnati Enquirer PI NationWorld Pi Arts Leisure Nation On the record F-5 World Books F-6 nl Metro Business Lotteries B-2 NYSE stocks G-4-5 Obituaries B-11 Amex stocks G-7 Sports PI Home I Goif C-4 Price guide H-2 C-1 1 Classified H-7-48 PI Tempo "1 PI Forum Volunteering E-10 Travel 1-5-11 Senate Select Committee on POWMIA Affairs and one of the recipients of the letter, said a joint team was "investigating whether or not some Americans might have survived up until the present." No names have been released. "For 40 years I've been fighting to get the truth," Schwalbach, 63, said Saturday from (Please see POW, back page, this section) Experts: 50 unaccounted forA-20 bers by a Swedish fishing vessel that was then captured by the Soviet navy. On Friday, for the first time, it was acknowledged that U.S.

planes had been shot down by the Soviets during the early 1950s and that 12 U.S. airmen had been imprisoned. In a letter to two U.S. senators on Friday, Russian President Boris Yeltsin wrote: "The records show that as of Aug. 1, 1953, eight American citizens were held in Soviet prisons and prison camps, and four others were held in special psychiatric hospitals." Sen.

John Kerry, chairman of the BY LEW MOORES The Cincinnati Enquirer Is Frank Lloyd Beckman alive? Did the naval air crewman from Newport, survive when his plane was shot down over the Baltic Sea by Soviet aircraft on April 8, 1950? For 40 years, Larry Schwalbach has been working to keep the memory of Beckman alive, convinced that his childhood friend survived the crash and was plucked from the water with seven other American crew mem Larry Schwalbach: "For 40 years I've been fighting to get the truth. I've written four presidents." Weather: Showers. High 84; low 62. Details, A-2..