The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 5

Tomorrow: ROTC proposal A proposal to begin an ROTC program in the Northwest school district is being studied by a school board com- SUBURBS News tips: Editor: Nancy Bcrlier 768-8395, Fax 768-8340 WEST COVKMNG COUN'IY WKST OF 1-75 Thk Cincinnati Enquikkr Saturday, January 21, 1995 B3 TD YOUR TOWN iae: No liability, no SWAT Host cities might have to assume risk by sheila Mclaughlin The Cincinnati Enquirer BLUE ASH Communities that don't insurance is limited, he said. Greg Niehaus, HCPA president and a Blue Ash police captain, said he thinks the proposed plan is a "workable solution" and one that won't be too difficult to sell to the suburban communities because it shouldn't cost them additional money. The plan must first pass the HCPA board, which meets next month. Norwood Councilman Joe Hochbein said he hadn't seen the agreement, so he wouldn't comment on specifics. "I would have to see the alternatives, what the city could derive from it and if it would cost the city anything more," he said.

21-agent squad, but returned them in late December. Cities donate officers to SWAT and pay their insurance. The lawsuit stuck them with legal fees some thought should be covered by the police association. Friday's meeting was tiie second time the groups met in a month after city managers told the HCPA to look for insurance for SWAT or turn over the organization to the sheriff's department. Osborn said the group first looked at obtaining insurance for SWAT, but found it too costly.

It was going to cost $75,000 a year for $1 million of coverage." Also, the number of companies that provide the The Hamilton County Police Association (HCPA), which runs SWAT, will pitch the idea to 45 communities, said Spring-dale City Manager Cecil Osborn. Under the plan, communities that reject the proposal will be left on their own. Currently, all suburban communities in the county are eligible for aid even if they don't contribute an officer to the team. SWAT's future has been uncertain since October, when a Lincoln Heights grocery owner and his employees filed a $1 million lawsuit claiming a SWAT raid on the Sugar Shack violated their rights. Concerned about insurance liability, three communities pulled officers from the agree to pick up liability for SWAT operations in their areas could be stripped of help in hostage situations.

A group of city managers and police officials worked out a tentative plan Fri day, calling for a host city to assume liability for the SWAT operation each time it asks for the agency's help. rJil Yi IK n' A i. Green Twp. seeks answer for vandals GREEN TOWNSHIP Trustee Tony Upton wants to establish a "vandalism hot line" for residents who have tips for police. "In the last five or six years, vandalism seems to be escalating," Upton said.

"There seems to be a thrill in damaging property, and I don't know what that thrill is." The cost to the township would be mostly for a new phone line. It would be answered in the police department during the day, Upton said. A recorder would pick up information in the evenings. "If you could catch one or two or three vandals a year and knock the problem out, it would pay for itself," Upton said. He asked Police Chief James Suder about the possibility of a vandalism hot line.

Upton said he'd like to see one operating in about a month. Suder said vandalism, theft, and breaking and entering are the main crimes in Green Township. "We're not exactly a high-crime area," Suder said. "We don't have a lot of rapes, robberies and murders. So most of our crime is juvenile-related." Suder said he is working with the phone company to find out what services are available for the hot line.

N. College Hill orders vehicles NORTH COLLEGE HILL The city has placed an order for two police cruisers and one fire vehicle to replace outdated cars, said Jerry Thamann, city safety service director. North College Hill is buying Chevrolet Caprices through the state joint-purchasing program. The base price of each car is $16,444, Thamann said. It should take 90 to 120 days to receive the vehicles.

Health fair set for today FOREST PARK Dayspring Church of God is sponsoring a health fair for the public from 9 a.m. to noon today in the gymnasium, 1060 Smiley Ave. The fair will feature exercise-equipment companies, low-fat and non-fat food, and health-screening booths, including blood pressure and cholesterol screening. There will be a fee for some screenings. Baby-sitting will be available.

Entrepreneurial skill awarded SPRINGDALE Almost 100 students won prizes after Springdale Elementary School's Toy ConventionCompetition Thursday. The students, in grades 1-6, competed for 25 awards as part of a school program designed to teach entrepreneurial skills. Katie Sullivan, a fifth-grader, was the overall winner for best entrepreneurialmarketing strategy with her rainy-day hopscotch quilt. The program, supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a center for entrepreneurial education in Kansas City, was developed to teach students "to create a job instead of taking one," Principal Noel Taylor said. Toys, games and board games were judged on the basis of craftsmanship, creativity, originality and technological insight.

In addition to designing a prototype, students were to develop strategies to market the toys. -V'? A The Cincinnati EnquirerDick Swaim Bob Hawkins looks over his work on a bufflehead drake in the basement of his Anderson Township home. He is a featured carver at a Hamilton County Park District exhibit. Birds to take wing at park Carvers give 'life' to wooden creatures rw ry 7 'a .7 rr v- J' 5 J'' I fS County parks add 299 acres Director: Preservation was goal of expansion BY LEW MOORES The Cincinnati Enquirer SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP The Hamilton County Park District added almost 299 acres last year, bringing total acreage in its 16 parks to 12,263. Most of the new land 248.2 acres was bought from a farm family in Whitewater Township and added to Miami Whitewater Forest.

The park district paid $1.4 million, using money generated by a 1-mill levy passed by voters in 1988. The acreage is next to the southeast part of the park, said Jack Sutton, planning director of the district. It brings total acreage at Miami Whitewater already the district's largest park to 3,897. About 120 acres is bottomland and was used in farming, said Sutton. The remaining 128 acres features wooded hillsides and ridge tops.

"Our primary goal is preservation, and we're looking at the bottomlands to see if there's any recreational potential there," said Sutton. During the year, the district also bought 32.9 acres in Cincinnati next to Embshoff Woods Nature Preserve, most of which is in Delhi Township. "The primary reason for acquiring that was to preserve the hillside and increase the amount of natural area for Embshoff," said Sutton. It also forms a land bridge connection between Embshoff and Cincinnati's Bold Face Park in Sedamsvile. "It's preserved open space along the hillside above the river," said Sutton.

"That's all part of what's called the western wildlife corridor that extends along the bluffs. So we've helped preserve part of that corridor." The park district also bought 4.54 acres and added that to Woodland Mound in Anderson Township, acquired another 10.85 acres for Mitchell Memorial Forest in Miami Township and added 2.33 acres along the Little Miami River corridor. Lockland to increase water rates BY SUE KIESEWETTER Enquirer Contributor LOCKLAND A 6 percent increase in water rates will take effect with February bills. The minimum charge for residential customers is for 650 cubic feet of water. It will increase 65 cents per billing cycle, from $10.50 to $11.15, said Greg Newcomer, village administrator.

Additional water use will be at a rate of $1.60 per 100 cubic feet of water. "We spent more money than we took in in 1994," said Mayor Jim Brown. "Even with the increase, we're still providing the cheapest water around here." Newcomer said the increased fees are expected to raise about $50,000 to $60,000 a year, which should be enough to operate the water department in the black. In 1994, the department paid off a $30,000 note, which is why more money was spent than was taken in. The increased rates were approved by city council this week to avoid a 1996 deficit.

It is the first time since 1990 that water rates were increased and only the third time they've been raised since 1982, Brown said. Rates will increase again in February 1996, Newcomer said. The minimum bill will increase 35 cents, from $11.15 to $11.50 for up to 650 cubic feet of water. For every 100 cubic feet thereafter, residents will be charged $1.65, an increase of five cents over the newly approved 1995 charges. Money from the rate increase will be used strictly for operations, Newcomer said.

Capital improvement projects the village is considering will be paid for with grants or loans. The Cincinnati EnquirerDick Swaim Some of the carvings of Anderson Township artist Bob Hawkins are on display in his basement studio. DAYBOOK quired for the following lectures because space is limited. Call 521-7272. Ray Kunz on interpretive bird carving at 1 p.m.

Thursday. Bob Hawkins on carving decorative songbirds at 1 p.m. Jan. 27 and 28. Dick Motzer on carving the decorative decoy at 7 p.m.

Jan. 27 and 28. If you go Where: Farbach-Werner Nature Preserve's Ellenwood Nature Barn. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Thursday. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Jan. 27-28.

Noon to 4 p.m. Jan. 29. Cost: Admission is free, but a motor vehicle permit ($1 daily; $3 annual) is required to enter Farbach-Werner. Registration: Advance registration is re BY LEW MOORES The Cincinnati Enquirer An Eastern bluebird is perched on a coil of barbed wire.

A Carolina wren clutches a branch, its tail at a rakish angle, while a cardinal considers the landscape from a stump of tupelo. The birds are carved from basswood in exquisite detail, down to primary and secondary feathers. For 25 years, Bob Hawkins has taken hunks of basswood and tupelo, and has made songbirds and waterfowl emerge from wood. In his Anderson Township basement studio, he burns the details of feathers onto the wings of a decorative decoy canvasback. A finished bufflehead decoy rests nearby.

Hawkins, 66, will be one of eight artists displaying their carvings at Far-bach-Werner Nature Preserve in Cole-rain Township next weekend. Called "Winged Wonders in Wood" and sponsored by the Hamilton County Park District, the exhibition will run Thursday through Sunday at the park, at the corner of Colerain Avenue and Poole Road. "We try to sponsor a number of nature-related events that will attract people to the parks," said Penny Borg-man, a park district naturalist. "This is a good way to show off nature-related artistry here." Featured artists are Steve Burelison of Greenhills, who works in natural finish, creating birds from natural wood; Bob Furia of West Chester, who does decorative and working decoys; Ray Kunz of Dayton, Ohio, who works with walnut; Ralph Moller of Xenia, decorative decoys; Dick Motzer of Anderson Township, decorative decoys; Kenny Vermillion of Farmland, who does Community events Delhi Township: The exhibition "Unity and Diversity" is on display through Jan. 28 at the Studio San Giuseppe Art Gallery at the College of Mount St.

Joseph, Delhi Pike and Neeb Road. Includes poster designs created by students at the Parsons School of Design in New York. Admission is free. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Monday through Friday: 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. weekends. 244-4314. Price Hill: The Seton High School Alumnae Association holds Its annual Seven Card Stud Tournament al 7 p.m. in the Seton High School caleteria, Glenway and Beech avenues.

Proceeds benelit the Seton Alumnae Scholarship Fund. Cost is $50. Call Mary Ann Weber at 451-2484 for reservations. very tight grain," said Hawkins. "You can put detail in.

There's even better wood in Canada. It's a shorter growing season, and the grain is even tighter." What they try to achieve is a realistic rendering, something natural, something that you could imagine would take off at the slightest touch. It may take Hawkins three to four weeks to complete a piece. He never tries to do the same bird twice in a row. "If it becomes monotonous, it shows in the quality of the piece," he said.

"But I'm very enthusiastic about this. I love giving talks and lectures. I enjoy doing this, and I like to share that." songbirds; and Bill Anthony of Middle-town, decorative decoys. Hawkins makes songbirds, birds of prey and decorative decoys. This is his work.

He also teaches and exhibits at shows in states north of here and on the East Coast. He prefers working with basswood and tupelo a wood found along the Gulf Coast states because they are soft woods. He works with a knife, some grinders and burning equipment. He paints each piece, using mostly acrylics, and says that painting sometimes takes as long as carving. "It's a fairly soft wood, but it has a HOW TO REACH US Address 4820 Business Center Way, Cincinnati 45246 Telephone 860-7100, 1-800-336-7003 Fax 860-5190 Staff Directory Jim Rohrer 860-7114 Assistant Suburban Editor.

Tanya Albert 860-7110 Cincinnati State to buy Harrison airport Covers Delhi Township, Forest Park, breennws, Mount Healthy and North College Hill, Whitewater Township. Gina Gentry-Fletcher 860-7105 Covers Glendale, Lincoln Heights, Lockiana, bpnng-dale, Woodlawn and Wyoming. Kathleen Hillenmeyer 860-7117 Covers Finneytown, Lockland, Mount Heaitny, Norm College Hill, Northwest, Oak Hills. Princeton, St. Ber-nard-Elmwood Place, Southwest, Three Rivers, Win-ton Woods and Wyoming public and private schools.

cheval. On the site are two hangars, an administration building, a shophangar and a paved runway. Cincinnati State would install a building for classrooms, aviation laboratories and offices, and an attached hangar. The whole project, including purchase of the airport, would cost $4.1 million. Cincinnati State is using money from its share of 1994 state capital money.

"We've been looking for a site for our aviation program the last few years," said Imhoff. "The program has grown, and we really wanted to get them in an airport environment." Steve 733-1984 Deal depends on annexation OK by county commission BY LEW MOORES The Cincinnati Enquirer HARRISON Once the Hamilton County commissioners approve annexation of Cincinnati West Airport to the city here, most obstacles will be cleared for Cincinnati State Technical and Community College to buy the airport. The city of Harrison passed a resolution Tuesday letting commissioners know they will be able to supply utilities to the buildings the college will erect. The Clifton school formerly called Cincinnati Technical College wants to buy the airport from McKenna Air renovate it, and add a building for classroom use and an additional hangar for its aviation maintenance technology program. It will continue to serve as an airport, said school officials.

The 40-acre airport is in Harrison Township. Trustees do not oppose the annexation, said Greg Bybee, township clerk. Michele Imhoff, director of public information for Cincinnati State, said the school had to have access to the city's water and sewer service before the sale could proceed. "We are so pleased to have them come out here and be annexed into the city," said Harrison Councilwoman fc'udy Ker- Covers suburban police. BethMenge 860-7104 Covers Addyston, Cheviot, Cleves, Green lownsnip, Miami Township, North Bend and Dearborn County.

Lew Moores 860-7113 Covers Colerain Township, Harrison, Elmwood Place, Springfield, Crosby and Harrison townships. Forrest Sellers 860-7100 Government and school board listings..