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Product: ENQUIRER PubDate: 04-26-2006 Zone: Final
Time: 04-26-2006 00:11 User: dhooven
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L I F E D1
Move over, coffee: ‘Tea is the new luxury’
THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER
CINCINNATI.COM
FINAL NEWS/SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2006
CiN WEEKLY
ON NEWSSTANDS TODAY
Meet the up-andcoming stars of the
local comedy scene.
Bush announces moves to fight prices at pumps – A2
Waives clean-air rules
Halts filling of reserve
Calls for tax-break repeal
The president authorized 20-day waivers of
anti-pollution rules in states to relieve local
gas shortages, if they develop.
Bush suspended until fall purchases for the
U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve,
reducing demand slightly.
He urged Congress to end $2 billion in breaks
for oil companies, which are reporting large
profits, and new breaks for hybrid cars.
EASING OFF THE GAS
Home sales here
on record pace
Sales of existing homes in
Southwest Ohio, Northern
Kentucky and Southeast
Indiana in the first quarter
of the year climbed to
7,063, up about 4.4 percent
from the same time a year
ago. That puts the region
on pace to break last
year’s record.
BUSINESS A12
Lindners donate
$1.2M for park
The Cincinnati Astronomical Society will have an
open house to show off its
new headquarters. The society says its West Side location is darker than other
areas within the Interstate
275 beltway, allowing for
optimal stargazing.
LIFE D1
Chernobyl disaster
marked in Ukraine
Ukrainians today commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl
disaster, the worst nuclear
accident in history.
WORLD A10
Ball bounces Reds
way vs. Nationals
The Cincinnati Reds
edged Washington 6-5.
SPORTS B1
COMING
THURSDAY
The Enquirer’s guide to local golf courses – and
charity golf tournaments
that feature celebrities.
SPORTS
WEATHER
High 60°
Low 40°
Mostly sunny
COMPLETE FORECAST: C8
INDEX
Five sections, 166th year, No. 17
Abby .............. D2 Lotteries ......... C2
Business ...... A12 Movies ........... D7
Comics .......... D6 Obituaries ...... C4
Editorials ........ C6 Sports ............ B1
Kids’ Corner .... C8 TV .................. D2
Classified .................................... E1-18
First Run Classified ........................ A10
Copyright, 2006, The Cincinnati Enquirer
Portions of
today’s Enquirer
were printed on
recycled paper
Ex-mayors sue county
to stop developer pick
Enquirer staff writer
Must reads inside
today’s Enquirer
Gaze at the stars
on the dark side
Lawsuit
asks halt
to Banks
By Kimball Perry
Up Front
Financier Carl Lindner
and his wife, Edyth, have
donated $1.2 million to
Norwood – the town
where he grew up – to improve Waterworks Park.
The Harris Avenue site
will be renamed Carl H.
and Edyth Lindner Park.
LOCAL C1
50 CENTS
The Enquirer/Michael E. Keating
To save money on gas and reduce emissions, Crystal Cottrill (left) and Rachael Belz often ride to work together.
Drivers looking
for alternatives
By James McNair
Online: Think you save money by driving
pooling to and from work and riding the city
bus.
Ed McKendry, owner of Cincinnati Cartridge in Blue Ash, bought a motor scooter
for his delivery runs.
But Eric Peguero took the biggest step of
the three: He moved. His commute to work
in Covington is half what it was.
Their timing was impeccable. Gas prices
are rising again. Another dime, and regular
is at $3 a gallon.
Some people whine and complain. Others
do something about it.
Belz, for one, decided that there are ways
to get from her home in Northside to her job
in Walnut Hills other than by driving alone.
In September, she started taking a Metro
bus about half the time. For $1.25, she catches the No. 17 bus to Hughes Corner, then the
No. 31 to Walnut Hills. Her $2.50 round-trip
costs less than what most employers reimburse for the distance she travels.
On other days, Belz carpools with Crystal
Cottrill, a co-worker who recently moved to
Northside. But all too often, she has no transportation options.
Enquirer staff writer
around, trying to find a cheaper price for
When gasoline prices grew too high, dif- gas? There’s a calculator that can help you
figure out if it’s worth it. Find it at
ferent people took different steps.
Rachael Belz of Northside started car- Cincinnati.Com. Keyword: gasoline
Princeton High grad
Snow to become
Bush spokesman
Fox News commentator
Tony Snow will be named
White House press secretary, possibly today, administration officials say. Snow
grew up in Sharonville and
graduated from Princeton
High School in 1973.
NATION A5
See DRIVERS, Page A8
Two former Cincinnati mayors sued the
Hamilton County Commissioners Tuesday,
asking a judge to bar the county from selecting a developer for the Banks project.
“This suit states that the politics must end,”
said lawyer Marc Mezibov, who filed on behalf of David Mann and Bobbie Sterne. Mann,
a Democrat, served on City Council for about
18 years; Sterne, a Charterite, served almost
25 years. Both left City Hall in the 1990s.
The suit is the first court challenge to the
county’s process since commissioners assumed responsibility for the Banks in June.
Until then, the project had
been under the auspices of the
Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority and the
private Cincinnati Center City
Development Corp.
Mann
The Hamilton County Common Pleas Court suit comes as
an advisory team was expected to recommend a preferred
developer for the $600 million
residential, commercial and
retail project between the two
riverfront stadiums. Commissioners had said they would Sterne
select a developer this week.
Mann and Sterne wrote Prosecutor Joe Deters, a Republican, last week asking him to investigate whether commissioners violated agreements to develop the Banks with the city.
The suit was filed because Deters indicated
that his office wouldn’t be able to complete an
investigation until next week, Mezibov said.
“The commissioners have violated these agreements by, among other things, engaging
in unilateral efforts to select a master developer for the Banks project and in the process
misapplying public funds,” the suit charges.
Commissioner Pat DeWine expressed disappointment at the suit. “It’s too bad that
these folks can’t work so hard to actually build
something. You would think they’d want a
first-class development on the river.”
Added Commissioner Phil Heimlich: “I
think county taxpayers expected the action to
be on the riverfront, not in the courtroom.”
E-mail kperry@enquirer.com
The Enquirer/Patrick Reddy
“It’s ridiculous,” Jeremy Shepherd of
Lawrenceburg says as he gases up
his Saturn in Erlanger. The price: a
tenth of a cent below $3.
More on gas prices
m Q&A on fuel costs. A2
m Gas-saving tips. A8
m Tracking the spikes: Comparing local and
national prices in last year. A8
What the suit seeks
m A judgment that the commissioners’ unilateral selection of a developer violates prior countycity agreements.
m An order preventing the county from violating
the agreements.
m To have commissioners detail public money
they have spent in selecting a Banks developer
without city input.
m Lawyers’ fees for Mann and Sterne.
City, county miss out on casino winnings
By Jon Craig and Marla Rose
Enquirer staff writers
Argosy owner says it wants best bet on ballot
COLUMBUS – Cincinnati and Hamilton County
would have shared $20 million in annual gambling profits from a downtown site that
was dropped Monday from
the latest plan to bring slot
machines to Ohio.
Statewide, net profits to
the state for scholarships and
to local governments for development are expected to
top $2.8 billion a year, based
on 31,400 slot machines making $250 a day. Slots in nearby
states reportedly earn $200 to
$400 a day.
The original proposal by
the Ohio Learn and Earn
Committee envisioned an
electronic slot machine parlor at Broadway Commons.
That plan was dropped under pressure from Penn National Gaming, lobbyists and
horse-track owners say. Penn
National owns Argosy casino
in Lawrenceburg and Raceway Park in Toledo.
Proponents are pushing
only for legalized slot machines, not a full-scale casino
including poker, roulette and
other table games.
Two rival ballot proposals
were submitted by Education
Yes, a group seeking slot machines at racetracks only, and
the Greater Cleveland Partnership, which wants slot parlors in Cleveland.
“We’re in this to win,” said
Eric Schippers, Penn National’s vice president of public affairs and government relations.
See CASINO, Page A8
Victim’s family finds no solace in sentence
By Sheila McLaughlin
Enquirer staff writer
Restaurant owner gets no jail in crash death
WEST CHESTER TWP.
– Scott Snow is better known
for paying $13,000 to buy one
of Marge Schott’s World Series trophies at auction last
month than he is for killing a
man in a car crash earlier this
year.
In a Butler County courtroom Tuesday, that’s one detail the children of Glen Saxbury wanted a judge to
consider when Snow was sentenced to 120 hours of community service for Saxbury’s
death.
They felt Snow’s gleeful ap-
pearance over
the trophy on
TV and in
newspapers
March
31
showed that
the 51-year-old
Glen Saxbury restaurant
owner
had
moved on with his life without
looking back at what he had
done to theirs.
“He was such a big part of
all our lives,” Janine Saxbury
of Middletown said of her father Tuesday. “It was just a
bad time for (Snow) to speak
out publicly.”
They also thought Snow
should serve his hours speaking against cell phones and
driving – a combination police
said contributed to Saxbury’s
death Jan. 4.
The Saxburys walked away
with a handshake and an apology from Snow, but little else.
“I was hoping more would
be said about cell-phone use
being dangerous,” Janine Saxbury said.
“Everywhere we go, someone’s got their cell phone up
to their ear and they’re driv-
ing,” Dennis Saxbury added.
Snow, in a 2004 bright yellow Hummer, was reaching
for his ringing phone when he
ran a red light at Muhlhauser
Road and Centre Pointe Drive
and broadsided Glen Saxbury’s van. The 71-year-old
semiretired systems analyst
from Middletown was headed
to lunch. He died instantly.
Snow pleaded no contest
earlier to a misdemeanor
The Enquirer/ Tony Jones
charge of vehicular manslaughter.
Scott Snow (left) with one of his lawyers, Brian Anten, in
court Tuesday. Snow was sentenced to 120 hours of
See SENTENCE, Page A8
community service for vehicular manslaughter.