Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 17

REGION TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2003 DAYTON DAILY NEWS B3 Club raids yield liquor, cash, computers Alan gives 90-year-old a big thrill Dale Huffman COMMENTARY Total Xposure, Diamonds focus of state, local inquiries and Diamonds Cabaret, 960 Miamisburg-Centerville Road, in Montgomery County's Washington Twp. Investigators coordinated their raids of the clubs, which are under common ownership. No arrests or charges were filed. Five officers from the Ohio Investigative Unit and eight deputies from the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office served the search warrant at Diamonds Cabaret; a team of 16 Troy police officers and four OIU officials conducted the raid at Total Xposure with the help of two canines from Tipp City and Huber Heights. Diamonds Cabaret, may allow patrons to bring their own alcohol inside the club.

But if patrons put their alcohol in the clubs' care before consuming it, the clubs are not allowed to charge storage or handling fees, Ehrhart said. She declined to confirm if such fees were a reason for the raids. Devery said the Diamonds Cabaret raid focused exclusively on allegations of illegal sales of alcohol. "They can still take their clothes off and dance up there," he said. "We weren't investigating any of that." Adams declined to say if suspicions of illegal alcohol sales were Brent Devery, agent in charge for the Cincinnati district of the Ohio Investigative Unit, said agents seized several thousand cans and bottles of beer and liquor from Diamonds Cabaret during a four-hour raid.

Besides alcohol, investigators seized computers and cash from the club, OIU spokeswoman Julie Ehrhart said. The Troy raid lasted about 5V4 hours, with police identifying everyone present and doing a routine warrant check, Troy police Capt. Chuck Adams said. Neither club has a liquor permit, Ehrhart said. Clubs without permits, such as Total Xposure and the sole reason for the Troy raid.

He also declined to say what Troy police seized besides alcohol. Miami County Prosecutor Gary Nasal said the investigation of Total Xposure followed a WHJ.O-TV, Channel 7, report about the club. The investigation had been under way for six months, according to Troy police. Both clubs were closed temporarily during the raids, but have since reopened for business. The clubs' owners, Luke Liakos and Scott Conrad, did not return a telephone message Monday.

Staff writers Nancy Bowman and Katherine Ullmer contributed to this report. EmmaDegen-hart of Fair-born still is floating on air after her Alan Jackson experience Sunday By Ben Sutherly Miami County Bureau Police raided and seized alcohol from two Miami Valley adult clubs during the weekend as part of investigations into possible illegal sales. The seizures followed the serving of search warrants about midnight Saturday at Total Xposure, 1615 Haworth Court, Troy, States Nutter Peace Bridge events this week Organizer sees less of race gulf in youths H(P? BFTrAmP IWB HHMhte 'fflr 531 HnHir Jar A I I H. BILL REINKEDAYTON DAILY NEWS Mexican celebration Students celebrated Cinco de Mayo on Monday at Stebbins High School in Riverside. Traditional Mexican crafts, food and dancing were available in the student activity center.

Virginia Tipton is blindfolded to take a crack at the pinata. Poll: Disapproval of Taf at new high Center. Emma, who is 90, said she didn't get in until after midnight after the concert and planned to sleep in Monday. "But who in the world could sleep after something like that?" she asked. "It was, simply put, one of the most exciting nights in my life." On Sunday, in an open letter in this column to Alan Jackson, who headlined a bill that also featured Martina McBride and Joe Nichols, we asked those with access to Jackson to let him know that Emma was a gigantic fan.

She owns every CD, watches television programs featuring Jackson, reads magazine articles and likes the Ford truck commercials. "People think it is unusual for an old soul that is going on 91 years old to be so tied up in one singer," she said. "But, oh, he moves me. That shyness. Those beautiful eyes.

That devilish smile. His kindness." Knowing that Jackson gets dozens of requests to honor fans at every venue where he appears, we told Emma that she should not count on it, but we would try to get him to acknowledge her from the stage with a "Hello, Emma" greeting. Emma got a forewarning that it might be her night when her son-in-law, Jack Luce, was delivering her to Nutter. "I pulled up at one of the gates, and a nice young man stopped the car," Luce said. "He told me I could not enter that way.

I told him I had a 90-year-old fan in the car." Is that the Emma in today's newspaper?" the attendant asked. "It sure is," Luce answered. "He stopped traffic for us, and I dropped Emma off right at the door." Reader Darlene Braunsch-weiger said she met Emma. "I saw an older woman and I just had to ask," Darlene said. "She is adorable.

Just so sweet. And she told me that no matter how many people are around, when Alan Jackson sings, he sings only to her. She was a hoot." Todd Boltin of the promotions and production agency Variety Attractions Inc. said he had read the open letter to Jackson and forwarded the information to Jackson's road manager. Chris Menke, working at Nutter, said he handed the newspaper column to Jackson and his manager when they got off the bus before the concert.

"Later I saw others handing him the same article," Chris said. One way or another, the man in the white cowboy hat and the devilish smile got the message. Midway through his concert, he did the deed. "He not only mentioned Emma's name, but he made a big deal about it," Darlene said. "The crowd went wild.

I don't know if he saw her standing and waving or not, but I can tell you I was watching Emma and her face lit up the room. You should have seen her. It was truly a magical moment." Emma said that she was treated like a celebrity after the concert. "I had my picture taken with a whole bunch of nice folks," she said. "I can tell you it was living a dream." Monday morning she was still in awe.

"I may never come down," she said. "What a kind and sweet man he is. He really touched my soul. He made this old lady feel like she is really somebody." We send a "thank you" to Alan Jackson, and to all those who arranged the special moment. It was a kind thing to do, and it gives insight into why he is so successful.

It's good to know that no matter how high on the ladder some stars climb, they still take time to touch lives. Dale Huffman wants your suggestions and story ideas. Send an e-mail to Huffman at dalehuffmancoxohlo.com or write to him at 45 S. Ludlow Dayton, OH 45402. Fax: 225-2489.

Phone: 225-2272. Meanwhile, approval rating of president soars about 58 percent of the vote. Most of this year, however, he and the legislature have been struggling with a budget crisis. 'We continue to make tough decisions on how to raise revenues and cut services in a way that puts our budget back into balance! OREST HOLUBEC TAFT SPOKESMAN Bob Taft By Joanne Huist Smith Dayton Daily News DAYTON For decades, the Third Street Bridge stood as a symbol of the separation between the mostly white population of East Dayton and predominantly black West Dayton. Organizers of the 15th annual Peace Bridge Celebration believe it also can be common ground where people of different races come together.

The Peace Bridge celebration begins at noon Thursday with the theme, Let It Begin With Me. "A bridge spans differences. A bridge connects two different shores. The more of us that come together, the stronger we'll be," event organizer the Rev. David I.

Fox said. A 2001 Brookings Institution study found that the Dayton-Springfield metropolitan area which includes Montgomery, Greene, Miami and Clark counties is the nation's 15th most segregated. The study is based on the 2000 Census. "We want everybody demonstrating as a community that we can work together," said Marc R. Levy, co-chairman of Peace Bridge 2003.

The event draws its name from the first bridge celebration in 1989, when the Rev. William Augman, pastor of McKinley United Methodist Church, urgeu that the Third Street Bridge be renamed the Peace Bridge. Fox points to the youth of the Dayton area as proof that the event has made a positive impact. Tve been working in the peace business for 17 years and I've seen little improvement among adults, but I've seen great improvement among young people," Fox said. "They've learned about peace initiatives and mediation techniques and taken that information across America." Contact Joanne Huist Smith at joanne or 225-2362.

PEACE BRIDGE ACTIVITIES What: Peace Memorial interfaith prayer service. Whon: 7 p.m. Wednesday. Whara: Wright-Dunbar Gateway (park on west side of Third Street Bridge). Bring: Memento of anyone you wish to remember.

What: Youth breakfast. Whan: 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday. Where: Sinclair Community College, Building 12. Cost: Student groups, $9 a person; general public, $1 1 a person.

Information: 220-66 1 0 What: Peace Bridge celebration. Whtn: Noon to 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Whara: Third Street Bridge. What: Vineyard Gathering picnic.

Whan: Noon Saturday. Whara: Old River Park, behind NCR. Information: 227-9485. in," said Eric Rademacher, co-director of the poll. Those polled mentioned some aspect of Taft's budget proposals 28 percent of the time when asked why they disapproved of his performance, far more than any other reason.

The legislature fared better than Taft did in the poll, pulling a 55 percent approval rating, 4 points lower than lawmakers received in July, the last time the poll asked about their performance. When asked specifically about how the governor and legislature are handling the budget situation, a majority of Ohioans said "don't know" or "know too little" to rate Taft (51 percent) or the legislature (66 percent). More Ohioans disapproved than approved of both Taft's and the legislature's handling of budget problems. The approval rating for both on this issue was 11 percent. Thirty-eight percent disapproved of Taft's efforts, while disapproval for the legislature stood at 24 percent.

Fifteen percent said they had heard a "great deal" about the state's financial situation, 42 percent said they heard a "fair 34 percent said "not too By William Hershey Columbus Bureau COLUMBUS Gov. Bob Taft's political love affair with Ohioans hit another sour note in the latest Ohio Poll released Monday. Taft's approval rating remained at 40 percent, the same as it was in a poll conducted in February. But his disapproval rating increased slightly to 50 percent, the highest recorded for a governor in the Ohio Poll dating to 1983. Taft's 48 percent disapproval rating in February had been the highest.

Also for the first time, the governor's approval rating among fellow Republicans dipped below 50 percent, to 49 percent. Taft's approval rating was 33 percent among Democrats, 44 percent among independents. Taft cruised to re-election in November, crushing Democratic opponent Tim Hagan by rollingup The new poll was based on phone interviews conducted with 840 adults throughout the state from April 11-25, except for April 20. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. While some of the changes from February fell within the new poll's margin of error, the results contrasted sharply with ratings for President Bush, also a Republican, in the same survey.

Bush's approval rating jumped to 76 percent in the new poll, a 13-point increase since February, resulting from his conduct of the war with Iraq and its aftermath. "Ohioans are looking at the president and thinking about foreign affairs and looking at the governor and thinking about the economy. As long as people are focusing their economic concerns on the state and the governor, it's a bad situation for Gov. Taft to be 9 percent said "nothing at all." The poll was taken after the House passed a $48.5 billion two-year state budget April 9, The Senate now is considering the budget. Orest Holubec, Taft's spokesman, said the poll results were not surprising.

"We continue to make tough decisions on how to raise revenues and cut services in a way that puts our budget back into balance," he said. Contact William Hershey at wllllam hersheydpcoxohlo.com or (614) 224-1608. Felon escapes halfway house in Warren First one to flee new minimum-security lockup months in prisons for the robbery of a Norwood convenience store in 1999, as well as burglary in 1995 and theft in 1997 in Hamilton County, according to state records. In June 1999, Couch escaped with cash from the United Dairy Farmers store in Norwood after threatening the clerk, according to Hamilton County court records. "Don't make me hurt you," Couch said, placing his hand on his pocket, according to court records.

In July 1999, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. But a month later, he pleaded guilty in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to aggravated robbery, according to court records. Contact Lawrence Budd at larry buddgJcoxohlo.com or (513) 932-6776. on three felony convictions since 1995, according to state records. On Monday, a Warren County grand jury indicted Couch on a charge of escape.

If convicted, he faces up to eight years in prison and a $15,000 fine. Halfway house officials reported his escape on March 26, a day after he failed to report back after leaving for work, authorities said. The halfway house is among those operated by Talbert House, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit managing a range of private detention centers, including the Community Corrections Centers of Butler, Clermont and Warren Counties, like the Turtle Creek Center, on Ohio 63 in Turtlecreek Twp. The Turtle Creek Center opened Jan. 15.

In January, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, which collaborated with the Talbert House on the halfway house, said the center was for low-level felons in need of skills preparing them for re-entering society. On Monday, state officials said that, in Couch's case, the halfway house was preferable to release directly into society. "Unfortunately, it didn't work. He didn't stay long enough for it to work," said Linda Janes, chief of the Ohio Bureau of Community Corrections. Couch was last released from prison in February to the halfway house after serving a prison term for violating his parole for aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel said.

Previously, he had served 25 By Lawrence Budd Warren County Bureau LEBANON Authorities are searching for Tony Couch, a convicted first-degree felon who escaped March 25 from a halfway house in Warren County. Couch, 29, most recently of Amelia, is apparently the first escapee from the Turtle Creek Center, a minimum-security lockup across the street from two state prisons west of Lebanon. Couch was most recently paroled in February to the halfway house. He has served prison terms REVIEW, E6 RON ROLLINS REVIEWS ALAN JACKSON'S CONCERT.