The Cincinnati Post from Cincinnati, Ohio • 1

I8A county The Cincinnati Post Wednesday June 30 1912 Accrediting group criticizes rehabilitation program redouble their efforts to provide quality programs This additional responsibility has created a certain amount of dissatisfaction This has led to some morale The Butler County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities operates under its own board of directors and according to Harris "conforms to the management principles of the Board of County Commissioners (which) plays a vital role in the activities of the County Commissioners Donald Schlrmer and Arthur Relff said they were unaware of the findings in the report by the national accrediting organization THE REPORT concluded: decisive and timely action is taken the service quality of the facility will continue its downward In response Mueller said think doing an excellent Job in reversing our current if they found the conditions to be that By Dick Perry Pott Stiff Ptpontr HAMILTON The vocational rehabilitation facilities operated by the Butler County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities offer "only marginal to adult clients according to a national accrediting organization current administrative structure is dls-functional staff turnover high morale low and service benefits claims a report prepared by the Commission of Accreditation of Rehabilitation Centers of Tucson Ariz The accrediting group put the local programs "on abeyance" last November withholding accreditation for a year to give the county agency time to meet its standards THE BUTLER COUNTY Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities received $13 million in local state and federal tax dollars in 1981 to operate its adult training pro grams in Middletown and Fairfield A staff of 27 supervises 220 clients The report by the Tucson group did not question other programs operated by the board of mental retardation Lloyd Harris director of the county programs said "The board has made or is in the process of making any necessary changes to meet standards It is our anticipation this year will indicate The rehabilitation centers are not in danger of being closed because they lack approval by the national accrediting group MEET STATE standards so we will continue to said James Mueller supervisor of the adult program Mueller said Ohio is unlike other states in that the legislature mandates how facilities such as the rehabilitation centers must operate Accreditation by the national group would be required if Butler County received funds through the Ohio Rehabilitation Service Commission Mueller and Jack Nichols associate director of the national organization agreed Butler County does not receive funds from the state commission according to a spokeswoman In its report on the Butler County vocational rehabilitation facilities the accrediting organization said in part that staff morale at all levels is extremely low Many qualified and effective employees have resigned and in one location the turnover rate has been 95 percent over the past COMMENT WAS a surprise to all of Mueller said Imagine 95 percent I would have to go back into the personnel files and check I know of anyone who has checked into that About low Mueller said see any negative Harris said existing staff will have to 'V- Mental examine sought Fairfield debates court nj jfei FT sf' FAIRFIELD Several city council members apparently still are cool to the idea of making Fairfield Municipal Court fulltime Judge James Walsh asked council Feb 8 to consider establishing a full-time court but a majority of the seven-member council opposed it STERLING Uhler again Introduced legislation this week to have a full-time court He was supported by Linda Haas and John Davison in an unsuccessful attempt to suspend council rules so it could be approved or rejected Immediately The legislation now be considered again until next month compared figures on the caseloads of courts in neighboring communities and I feel a full-time court here is said Mrs Haas people are asking for Jury trials today which clogs the "IT JUST came back too said Councilman Algln Foster Foster said the court should not be made full-time now because of the uncertainty of the financial condition due to the economy Unittd Ptttt tnttmnontl BROOKSVILLE Fla A Hernando County Judge must decide whether to appoint a psychiatrist to examine Robert Dale Henderson a drifter accused of slaying three hitchhikers Henderson 37 may have been suffering from a disorder" and was unaware of his actions when he shot the three hitchhikers in February said Assistant Public Defender Jack Sprlngstead in documents filed last week defense attorney asked for the psychiatric examination Tuesday THE WYOMING prison parolee Is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying Vernon David Odom 27 Frances Dickey 23 and Robert Dawson 18 The trio from Mississippi was traveling through Florida when Henderson allegedly picked them up near Tallahassee In February Henderson led Hernando County deputies to the shallow graves where he buried the three All were shot once In the head Henderson already has been convicted of murdering Doroty Wilkinson 50 an East Palatka Wester wear shop clerk and retired Dr Murray Ferderber 79 of Satsuma Jan 25 Paroled from Wyoming State Prison last year after serving a sentence forrobbery he surrendered In early February at a Punta Gorda shopping mall to a startled Charlotte County depu-1 ty He told the officer he was for homicide in HENDERSON TOLD authorities he killed a dozen people during an 18-day murder spree in five states beginning in Adams County Ohio where he faces murder charges for the killings of his parents and their 11-year-old son He also faces murder charges in Charleston SC Port Allen La and Pascagoula Miss He also has been charged with raping a Valdosta Qa woman and assaulting her 12-year-old daughter but he denies the accusation WWarMm MUCC CMKN Sun Ind uses an old paint sprayer to apply insect dust Bug Assault his vegetable garden Charles Craig of Rising hie iMnAtahlA Slain man may have been Foster believes council should hold off on making the court full time until January 1984 when the new term begins Voters will elect a municipal court Judge in November 1983 State legislators set the salaries of the Judges according to Walsh A full-time Judge now makes $45750 That will be increased by $7000 in 1983 he said The final decision on making the Fairfield court full time will be up to legislators he said WALSH now makes $24700 as a part-time Judge He said he puts in more than 20 hours a week The Judge said the city now pays 60 percent of the salary out of the general fund Butler share is 40 percent Walsh is proposing to increase court costs $2 this year and $360 next year to help cover the expenses of a full-time court pawn' police official said There have been indications the police sources said that the brutal beating Gilbert was subjected to before he was shot three times was an attempt to extract information from him about the other grand Jury appearance The last confirmed time Gil- bert is known to have been alive was at about 1 pm Saturday May 22 when he stopped at a supermarket in Maysvllle Ky to buy cigarettes His nude body was discovered in a ditch along Swope Road near Bethel more than 29 hours later Initially investigators were pursuing theories that the death was either connected to a robbery or a crime of passion met the man at Greater Cincinnati International Airport and drove him to the federal courthouse "THAT MAY HAVE been biggest mistake in his life Because if he was seen with (the man) certain people may have got the idea that he knew what (the man) was here to talk said a family member who requested anonymity saying he feared for his safety Grand Jury proceedings are secret and U8 Attorney Christopher Barnes declined comment on whether the man testified Gilbert was not involved in underworld or illegal activities police stressed man was one unidentified appearance March 5 before a federal grand Jury in Cincinnati may have been a factor in dpath think it (the grand Jury appearance) is a major lead in the explained one of the police sources very well could be a cause and effect here with Gilbert caught in the middle" The source said that the killing could have been designed to frighten the man from testifying and to him back here for (Gilbert's) funeral so they could pick up his The man who formerly lived in Brown County lives on the West Coast the source said Police sources and members of family said Gilbert By Ramon McLeod Pott Staff Rtporttr Police are pursuing a theory that Permon Gilbert was killed to keep another man from testifying in a federal grand Jury probe of organized crime sources close to the investigation have told The Cincinnati Post Gilbert according to a police source may have been a pawn used to send a message that is what happens to you if you keep your mouth shut Police also said that the man whose name they refused to reveal is not considered a suspect in the May 23 shooting death of Gilbert 46 Hamersvllle BUT POLICE BELIEVE the news briefs Doctors say Ruppert had mental problem Unittd Pmt Inttmitiontl tlons Ruppert was Insane when Acting Judge Larry Deis sentenced Phillip Franzone Jr 32 752 Shay Lane Mason to 90 days in Jail on one assault charge Dels sentenced Franzone to concurrent terms of 90 days each on a second assault charge and a charge of resisting arrest Franzone also was fine $300 on each of the assault charges and $100 on the resisting arrest charge Deis granted Franzone permission to begin the Jail sentence in August Franzone is scheduled to undergo surgery The Judge suspended 90-day sentences on an assault charge against wife Lois 32 Cindy Dyer 21 215 North East St Bethel and John Hunk 36 748 Shay Lane Mason Dels also fined each of them $300 on the assault charge and $100 on a charge of resisting arrest Pleasing visitors prime goal at lake BROOKVILLE Ind Bob Felix carries the title of property manager of Brookvllle Reservoir but he feels his primary responsibility is not to the property but to the people the property is serving The 7790-acre lake which stretches from Just north of Brookvllle in Franklin County to west of Liberty In Union County a distance of 203 miles has become one of most popular recreational facilities since it opened In 1975 Each year the reservoir has set new records In the numbers of persons who have visited the facility An estimated 80 to 90 percent of the Brookvllle Lake users are from Ohio Felix said While most of the major construction at the facility has been completed for the time being Felix and his staff have been keeping busy with lesser projects all designed to make the lake and surrounding facilities more useful and attractive feel our goal should be to do whatever we can to make a visit to Brookvllle Lake the most gratifying to the visitor that It can Felix said the reason that for the past few years Felix has been placing a heavy accent on the appearance of roadsides entrances campgrounds beaches and boat ramp areas Court will not take control of ballots FAIRFIELD Judge Henry Bruewer of Butler County Common Pleas Court denied a request Tuesday to Impound the ballots on the issue of splitting the Tala wanda school district The issue was on the June 8 ballot Supporters of a new school district had asked that the ballots poll books and tally sheets be Impounded The proposal to establish a new school district made up of Relly Hanover and Milford townships in northwestern Butler County and parts of Preble County failed by 596 votes according to the official results of the county board of elections Supporters of the Independent school district wanted the ballots removed from a locked safe in the office of the director and put under the control of the court The board of elections will conduct a hand recount of the Talawanda split results at 9 am Friday Savings and loan in Fairfield held up FAIRFIELD Police say a young man got away with an undetermined amount of money in a holdup at the Permanent 8avlngs and Loan Association branch office 311 Nllles Road Tuesday afternoon Police said the man handed a teller a note demanding the money Officers said no one saw a weapon but the man kept one arm under the counter The man fled on foot Police said the incident is under investigation Mason man three others before judge FAIRFIELD A Mason man was sentenced and fined Tuesday in Fairfield Municipal Court on charges in connection with an Incident April 4 at Port Union and North Gilmore roads Three other persons received fines and suspended sentences on charges i the shootings he is accused of occurred Ruppert is on trial a second time for killing 11 members of his family on Easter Sunday 1975 in Hamilton He had been convicted by a panel of three Judges but the conviction was overturned and he was ordered to stand trial again RUPPERT IS being tried in Hancock County on a change of venue with Ashland County Common Pleas Court Judge A Ross Siverllng hearing the case on assignment During cross-examination session Butler County Prosecutor John Holcomb contended that Ruppert was a perfectionist who planned things down to the last details and stood to inherit the family fortune The prosecution last week tried to show that Ruppert committed the mass killings so he could Inherit money from his mother and brother PROSECUTION witnesses testified that the brother was worth about $250000 but no definite estimate was made on the wo'- cf FINDLAY Ohio Two psychiatrists have testified that James Ruppert was suffering a type of paranoia-schizophrenia at the time he is accused of killing 11 members of his family seven years ago Dr Donald Ormlston of Cincinnati told a Hancock County Common Pleas Court Jury Tuesday that Ruppert 48 Hamilton had suffered mental illness for years prior to 1975 'He said that Ruppert with him the belief that his parents wanted a when he was born and that he subsequently hated his parents ORMISTON examined Ruppert on March 31 1975 the day after the shootings His testimony corroborated that of Dr Philip Mechanlk of the University of Pennsylvania who testified Monday Under cross examination by Butler County Assistant Prosecutor James Irwin Ormlston testified that in his opinion Ruppert was sane and rational moments before and after the shootings that he Is accused of committing However Ormlston also said that by legal deflnl-.