The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 14

B2 Tuesday, Novkmukk 29, 1994 METRO. The Cincinnati Enquirer AROUND THE TRISTATE Expert: Defendant not competent Man charged in slaying is deaf, retarded to his hands, arms, chest and face, hospital spokesman Bob Fitzsimmons said. KENTUCKY Turnout lowest in U.S. FRANKFORT -Kentucky's election turnout was lowest in the nation, Secretary of State Bob Babbage said Monday. He cited figures from the non-partisan Committee for the Judge Ann Marie Tracey of Hamilton County Common Pleas Court will hear more expert testimony before ruling' on Stanley's competency.

Today, a Hamilton County psychologist will testify for the defense that Stanley is Wednesday, a psychiatrist will tes-S: tify for the prosecution that he is; able to stand trial. Last month, two expert wit-j nesses offered differing views on Stanley's competency: One said he could communicate and answer! questions, and the other said Stan-1 ley is functionally illiterate. 1 BY KRISTEN DELGUZZI The Cincinnati Enquirer Fred Stanley is not competent to stand trial on charges that he murdered a 73-year-old Clifton Heights woman in 1990, an expert in mental retardation testified Monday. Caroline Everington, an associate professor of educational psychology at Miami University, said Stanley does not fully understand the charges against him and cannot help prepare for trial. Everington, who has a doctorate j-AiHl The Cincinnati EnquirerFred Straub Mason's community service officer, Mike Downey, left, and Sgt.

Matt Connor hand out police trading cards to third-graders at Western Row Elementary School. Cop Cards latest kid craze Mason police hope students collect all 21, learn about officers in March by the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals. A new trial was ordered because a bailiff answered legal questions for jurors. Defense law Stanley yer Cathy Cook said that during his first trial, Stanley understood only 10 percent of the court proceedings. Interpreters used sign language to relay the proceedings to Stanley.

I by Jan. 19. Downey said each officer has 2,000 cards, which are also available at some Mason businesses. He said the cards work well in connection with KidsCop, another police department program in which children in Mason schools "adopt" their own officer. One or two police officers are assigned to certain grade levels.

The officers will move on to the next grade each year with their students, staying with them throughout their school years, Downey said. So far, KidsCop is being used the third grade at Western Row and in all grade levels at St. Susanna School and Mason Heights Elementary. Officers visit the schools often. On Monday, Downey went to Western Row to eat lunch in the cafeteria with his students.

Donna Adams, a third-grade teacher at Western Row, said the students are excited to see their special police officers coming into the building. "Their eyes automatically follow the officers," she said. "They want to know what it's like to be a police officer in Mason. They really are fascinated." The Senate led the opposition to a lengthy construction wish list Jones proposed earlier this year. There were voices of restraint on Monday.

"This rush to see who can out-promise who may blow up in our faces at some point," said Rep. Marshall Long, D-Shelbyville, the chairman of the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee. "Everybody needs to know that it's not going to be without a little pain." Little attention was paid to the cost of the cuts on Monday. Jones said elimination of pension taxes would mean the loss of $60 million annually, which he said his administration has already saved by cutting the payroll and growing the state's economy. Rose also said growth in state revenue in the coming biennium could be used to avoid making cuts in state spending.

in special education, developed a test in 1984 to determine whether mentally retarded persons are competent to stand trial. Stanley, 20, is deaf and mildly retarded. This is his third competency hearing; during the first, he was found incompetent to stand trial. Later, a judge found him competent, and he was tried on a charge of murder. At his trial last year, Stanley was convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for stabbing to death Thelma Beck.

But his conviction was overturned tilt I lv- Ml' Cop Cards, baseball-style trading cards, show Mason police officers in action. the department's community service officer. "We also have some fun with it. We'll give prizes to the kids who collect all 21 cards." Officers started distributing starter packs of five cards Nov. 21.

Starting Thursday, two officer cards will be featured at schools each week, until all officer cards have been distributed paid by private entities. Details are not worked out, but Jones' plan for exempting pension taxes appeared less sweeping than the idea put forth by the Senate Democrats. Jones said he would have to be convinced the state budget could withstand the loss of such a large chunk of revenue. But Senate President John "Eck" Rose said Jones was ignoring a political reality. "I think it's very evident that these things are going to be done at some point," Rose said.

Jones added to the mix by proposing the special session approve construction of a new convention center in Northern Kentucky, an addition to the convention center in Louisville and construction of a history center in Frankfort. The convention center projects cost an estimated $25 million each and the history center would cost $17.5 million. Annual debt service would be an estimated $6.5 mil- f'1 i i4-- in Study of the American Electorate, which said 29 percent of Kentucki-ans 18 years or older went to the polls Nov. 8. The national rate was 39 Babbage percent and the highest rate was 60 percent in South Dakota.

Woman dies in wreck FALMOUTH -A Pendleton County woman was killed Monday morning when she was involved in a three-car wreck on U.S. 27 near Ky. 17 about five miles north of here. The victim was identified as Jean Farrar, 61, who lived on Ky. 330 just outside Falmouth.

Pendleton County Sheriff Bud O'Hara said the wreck remained under investigation. Family seeks witness LEXINGTON -An attorney for the family of a man killed while refusing to surrender his marijuana field to Kentucky State Police is using a computer network to seek help from potential witnesses. The lawyer, Ronald Coslick, also is asking for donations of money, services or "anything that you think might help" in the multimillion dollar lawsuit he has filed. Gary Shepherd was killed Aug. 8, 1993, after a seven-hour standoff in Rockcastle County.

The family's side of the story was sent through an Internet computer discussion group about Appalachia. INDIANA Missing couple dead LAKE STATION A mentally handicapped couple who disappeared Nov. 5 was found dead Monday in a wooded area in Porter County, police said. An unidentified friend was taken into custody and was expected to be charged with the murder of 20-year-old newly-weds Jason and Kimberly Tuzin-ski, said Lake Station police chief Roger Szostek. The cause of death was not determined, although both suffered blunt trauma to the head, he said.

Gaming hearings set INDIANAPOLIS The Indiana Gaming Commission will resume hearings on riverboat casino licenses for the city of Gary on Dec. 9 and may grant initial approval for the state's first two floating casinos. The commission conducted hearings in Gary three months ago but had been prevented from approving licenses because the riverboat gaming law was under legal challenge. That obstacle was lifted Nov. 21, when the state Supreme Court ruled the law constitutional.

Man charged in death WATERLOO -An 18-year-old Ohio man was charged with murder Monday in the death of a DeKalb County woman, whose daughter and grandfather also were fatally shot. Lawrence L. Lee of Hicks-ville, Ohio, was charged with murder in the death of Tina Marie Rhodes, 32. Charges still could be filed against Lee for the deaths of Rhodes' grandfather, Howard Oberlin, 78, and her 3-year-old daughter, said Deb Workman, an investigator with the DeKalb County prosecutor's office. News Tips: Call 24 hours a day to reach our recorded News Tip Hot Line: 768-8602.

If it's an emergency, press zero when the recording begins to be connected with an editor between 8:30 a.m. and midnight. OHIO Sex offender gets 6 months in county jail A Hamilton County Common Pleas judge sentenced to six months in jail a 23-year-old Oakley man who pleaded guilty last month to two counts of gross sexual imposition with two boys. David Bonnell will serve six months in the Hamilton County Justice Center, be placed on five years' probation and enter a sex-offender program. Judge Arthur Ney Jr.

also said Bonnell must not contact his victims or their family. Bonnell molested two Price Hill brothers, ages 5 and 11, in June while he was at their house. He could have received up to five years in prison and a $2,500 fine. Chief arrested for DUI SARDINIA -The police chief of this small town in Brown County was arrested on DUI charges the night before Thanksgiving, state police said. Brown County Highway Patrol Trooper John Tvrdy pulled Sardinia Police Chief John Hal-deman over on U.S.

68 Wednesday night. Haldeman was then arrested for drinking and driving. Code law tightened TOLEDO Judge Roger Weiher of the Toledo Housing Court says he is fed up with delays on housing violations and has decided to get tough on people who let homes fall to pieces. In the past, a penalty was the last resort for housing code violations. Sentences were delayed until a defendant complied with an order.

That took months, even years. Now, residents who have been cited will have one or two court hearings before they are found guilty or not guilty. Since the program began last month, the judge has been levying a 30-day jail sentence, a $250 fine and one year's probation for offenders. School seeks funds YOUNGSTOWN Youngs-town State University intends to begin a capital campaign and to step up its annual fund-raising efforts, university President Leslie Cochran said Monday. A goal for the capital campaign had not been set, but Cochran said it would likely be several million dollars.

The university hopes to increase annual giving from about $800,000 to about $2 million. Clerk found dead BRIMFIELD A convenience store clerk who was able to ring a silent police alarm early Monday was found dead a short time later. Brian Foguth, 23, was working the midnight shift at the store. He was found dead in a back room, with a bullet wound to the side of his head fired from close range, Brimfield Police Chief Dennis Holodnak said. Police were reviewing tapes from an in-store camera.

An undetermined amount of cash was stolen. Dorm resident injured MOUNT VERNON An explosion inside a Mount Vernon Nazarene College dormitory Monday injured one person and led officials to shut down two buildings as a precaution. A witness said Stephen Ball, 18, of Mount Vernon, lit a candle in his room just before the explosion. He was in serious condition in the intensive care burn unit at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus with second- and third-degree burns llJF'lllHlHllnff'iriP Source: Citizens Against Substance Abuse BY RANDY McNUTT The Cincinnati Enquirer MASON As Mason Police Sgt. Matt Connor walked through Western Row School on Monday, a crowd of 8-year-olds pursued him, backed him against a wall and demanded his autograph.

He pulled out a few color photo cards that showed him with his cruiser and signed them quickly. "They're so cool," Ben Ertel said. "My older brother collects them," Kevin Lyons said. "I like them, too." For a moment, Connor knew how major league baseball players feel. "Every time we come by the schools, we get mobbed," he said.

"The kids are going crazy over our Cop Cards." Cop Cards look like baseball cards, but the subjects are Mason police officers. The cards feature photographs of each member of the police department in a law-enforcement activity. The reverse side features biographical information and a safety message from the officer. "It's a tool we use to get into the schools," said Mike Downey, Party assesses its losses at polls BY HOWARD WILKINSON The Cincinnati Enquirer We have met the enemy and he is us. That was the underlying message of a two-hour discussion Monday night sponsored by the Hamilton County Democratic Forum on what went wrong for Democrats in the Nov.

8 election. "It's not a matter of going out knocking on doors and asking Democrats where they were Nov. 8," said Gene Beaupre, a political science professor at Xavier University. Democratic voters in Hamilton County turned out Nov. 8 in numbers comparable to the last gubernatorial election four years ago.

"They were Beaupre said. Gilligan "The problem was they didn't vote for Democrats." Nationally, the Nov. 8 election was a disaster for Democrats, with the loss of both the U.S. Senate and House. In Hamilton County where the Democrats have been political underdogs for decades the news wasn't much better.

Incumbent David Mann lost in the 1st Congressional District, while Cincinnati Councilman Tyrone Yates failed to win in the 9th Ohio Senate District. The forum, attended by about 100 local Democrats, included political analysts like Beaupre, campaign managers Jeff Berding (Mann) and Brewster Rhoads (Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher), candidates Yates, Dusty Rhodes, re-elected county auditor; Melanie Bates, elected to the state board of education; and a 40-year veteran of election campaigns, former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan. The round table produced a raft of theories on what went wrong for Democrats, and much of the discussion came down to flaws in the Democratic message. "This year, the Democratic campaign came down to attacking Christians, attacking the most popular president of our generation and scaring senior citizens," said Rhodes, a self-described Democratic conservative.

"We have to get off this stuff." Gilligan, governor from 1971 to 1975, said the party needs to decide "what it is all about. We have to ask ourselves why we have a political party at all." The fact is, Gilligan said, "the great majority of the American people simply don't give a damn about the political process they are not bad people; but we need to have a message to reach them." Rhoads who ran the local campaign for Fisher, who lost to Republican Betty Montgomery said statewide candidates like Fisher and congressional candidates like Mann were done in, in part, by a weak gubernatorial candidate at the top of the Democratic ticket. Ohio Gov. George Voinovich, a Republican, was re-elected over Democrat Rob Burch with 72 percent of the vote. Berding agreed that Burch was a problem, but, for Mann, President Clinton's unpopularity particularly in Cincinnati's western suburbs was fatal.

Woods has served 20 years In prison J. i Gov. Jones, Senate Democrats jockey to be first with tax-cutting programs BY MARK R. CIIELLGREN eliminate income taxes on pensions lion. The Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky.

Gov. Brereton Jones and a group of Senate Democrats took turns Monday whacking away at Kentucky taxes. The rush to slash took on an air of urgency, with Jones hastily calling a morning news conference to beat one planned by the senators for the afternoon. And all of them came days after Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Forgy pledged similar cuts. The senators had the largest tax-cut package slashing $210 million or more by eliminating virtually all retirement income taxes, exempting the tax on inheritances for parents and children and doing away with most of the tax on intangible property, such as stocks and bonds.

Jones, a Democrat, did not rule out such a huge chunk, but said he would call a special session of the General Assembly in January to Drinking by children Deters wants paroled cop killer returned to Ohio Enquirer Columbus Bureau 20l tial hearing Deters was properly notified of that one was canceled and rescheduled. Deters claims he was not properly notified of the second hearing, which resulted in the board's granting parole. Woods has since moved to California. There was no indication from the court whether a hearing on Deters' suit will be scheduled or when a decision in before the Ohio Supreme Court completes the preliminary work in a lawsuit Deters filed in September. The court will now consider whether to hold oral arguments on Deters' request.

Woods was paroled Sept. 2 after serving 20 years in prison for the 1974 murder of Cincinnati Officer David Cole. Deters argues that his office was not properly notified of the parole board's hearing on Woods' release. Woods' ini COLUMBUS, Ohio Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters repeated on Monday his demand that Ri-cardo Woods be forced to return to Ohio and reappear before the Ohio Adult Parole Authority before his release from prison for the murder of a police officer is authorized. Deters' filing of a final legal brief The Cincinnati EnquirerM.

Eggerding the dispute might be rendered..