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Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Harrison, West Harrison, Crosby, Harrison & Whitewater TWPs.
Charges filed in burglary spree case Police hunt for accomplice
Harrison Police made an arrest Thursday night, Sept. Patricia Huelseman Press Staff Writer 18, in connection to three Harrison phuelseman@registerpublications.com burglaries, three attempted burglaries in the same area, and three auto thefts. Ronald Luke Wallace II, 33, Harrison allegedly burglarized three houses, attempted to burglarize three others, and stole three cars allegedly in cahoots with Shaina Perkins, 27, Harrison, for whom a warrant has been issued. Wallace and Perkins also are charged with shoplifting from the Colerain Walmart. Though Perkins is still at large, Wallace was arrested and confessed, linking Perkins to his Harrison crimes, said Harrison Detective Norb Koopman. Ronald On Friday, Sept. 12, they broke into a house Wallace II on Etta. Then on Sunday, Sept. 14, another Etta house was hit. On Monday, Sept. 15, a house on Featherwood Drive was broken into. Between the 12th and 14th, Wallace admitted they attempted to burglarize two houses on Etta and another on Lellan Avenue, said Koopman. As the weather cools, many residents shut off their air-conditioning and open windows, making houses easy targets. Returning in late morning, they would make sure a house was empty by knocking on the door. If someone answered, the two would ask a “silly question,” said Koopman. “Isn’t this Sally and Stan’s house? Or something similar.” They then would move down the street until they found a suitable target. Without knowing it, a resident who answered the door talked to a burglar that morning on Sept. 18. Had the odd behavior been reported, perhaps a neighbor’s house would not have been ransacked, said Koopman. Nearly a month earlier on Saturday, Aug. 16, the two allegedly ripped off a Ford F-150. Then on Friday, Aug. 29, they stole a Chevy Silverado, and on Wednesday, Sept. 3, they stole a Buick Rendezvous from an elderly man, police charge. In the recent past, 10 cars have been stolen from the Harrison area. In every single case, keys were in the ignition. The cars are taken to Colerain or other areas where they are sold for “dope,” said Koopman. According to the Harrison Police database, thefts have fallen since 2012 when officers coded 297 responses as thefts, 2013 saw 267, and currently, 169 have been coded. Wallace was scheduled to appear before a Hamilton County grand jury Monday, Sept. 29. Harrison police are asking for help locating Perkins. If you have information, call 367-3715 or 825-2280.
Communities work out new fire, EMS protection contracts New fire protection and EMS contracts between Harrison, Dearborn County, and jawad@registerpublications.com Harrison Township, Ind., will put more cash in Harrison’s coffers, take financial pressure off Dearborn County, and require the Hoosier township to pay a little more for services. Harrison, which contracts fire protection and EMS to much of Harrison Township, and EMS to major parts of Logan and Kelso townships in Dearborn County, took the lead in correcting a long-standing entanglement that had left Dearborn County paying for township fire protection and the city undercharging for services. To untangle the situation, Harrison Police Chief Rob Hursong struct a deal with Dearborn County lowering the amount it pays for EMS to Harrison for all three Hoosier townships. For all Harrison services in 2013, Dearborn County paid $117,000, which has been reduced to $107,000 for 2014. Harrison Township, Ind., was required to reimburse the county $10,000 a year but the county initially did not received payment. Now, the township will pay Harrison $12,000 a year for three years, meaning the city comes out $6,000 ahead, Dearborn gets a $10,000 break, and Harrison Township, Ind., continues to receive fire See Fire, EMS, protection from Harrison. Harrison does not provide Page 10 Joe Awad Harrison Press Editor
photo by Amy Zwick/Harrison Press
A throng was on hand to honor Bennett Noble, a sixth-grader at Harrison Junior School Friday, Sept. 19, for saving a 3-year-old boy from drowning in a pond this past August.
Youth honored for saving child’s life US Bank recognizes hero
Bennett Noble, a sixth-grader at Harrison Junior School, was honored by US Bank and many phuelseman@registerpublications.com others on Friday, Sept. 19, for saving a 3-year-old boy from drowning in a pond this past August. Noble, 11, was at a picnic in Franklin County, Indiana, at the home of Jeff Kist. He was 4-wheeling near a pond just before dinner when he noticed the bottom side of a John Deere miniature tractor in the pond. He had remembered seeing a small boy riding the tractor earlier, and feared he might be under water. “I didn’t see him anywhere around, so I jumped in to see if he was there,” said Noble. “It was just instinct. I touched his arm, so I knew he was under there.” Noble immediately started screaming for help, and pulled the tractor to the side. Kist, the boy’s grandfather, jumped into the pond searching for the 3-year-old. Patricia Huelseman Harrison Press Staff Writer
Southwest ranked 74th out of 671 districts State ‘report card’ comes in strong
The Ohio Department of Education’s revised proficiency report cards for school districts phuelseman@registerpublications.com shows the Southwest Local School District earned the best ranking in its history, earned scores above most similar districts, and scored 74th out of all 671 districts in Ohio. “On the whole, we progressed a great deal in the last five years, this year kind of peaking at our highest performance index in history,” said Southwest Assistant Superintendent John Hamstra. The 2013-14 school year report, which now uses letter grades as well as percentages, is based on 24 standardized tests that measure reading and math in lower grades, as well as science, social studies, and writing in higher grades. The ODE determines how well each district is doing in: •achievement, which shows how well students did on the tests; •gap closing, which determines if every student is succeeding regardless of income, race, ethnicity, or disability; Patricia Huelseman Harrison Press Staff Writer
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An off-duty Cincinnati firefighter also was there, and the two found the boy seat-belted into the John Deere. Though the boy wasn’t breathing, he had a pulse. After only seconds of CPR, he was breathing again. “I saw him riding the quad earlier so when it was upside down … if I would’ve gone to check in the house, it would’ve been too late. That’s all that ran through my mind. I just jumped in. I had to see if he was in there. I couldn’t just leave without knowing,” said Noble. On Friday afternoon, Harrison US Bank Assistant Vice President Shannon Memory presented Noble with a Hometown Hero award at Harrison Junior School. Harrison Police Chief Chuck Lindsey and Fire Chief Rob Hursong also were there to commend Noble for his quick thinking. A representative of the U.S. Navy presented Noble with a Navy coin. The plaque from the bank states: “We applaud you, respect you, and look up to you for responding to the needs of another, without regard for yourself. Thank you for being a Hero.”
File photo by joe awad/Harrison Press
Southwest Assistant Superintendent John Hamstra is pleased the district scored 74th out of all 671 districts in Ohio on the The Ohio Department of Education’s revised proficiency report cards. Visit Education.Ohio.gov for charts and more.
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•progress, which calculates a district’s average progress for fourth through eighth grades in reading and math; •and graduation rate. The report also identifies K-3 literacy and success preparedness but that information is not yet available. In the past, students had to reach a grade of 75 percent or higher to be considered proficient. Now, 84.5 percent is required. “What’s changed is the expectation as far as students being proficient,” said Hamstra. The change, however, wasn’t overly difficult to meet for Southwest students and teachers, he said. “As a whole, we’re super proud of the results. It is our highest achieving year in the history of these standardized tests,” said Hamstra. Southwest’s results have improved in every single area except multi-racial students in math. Hamstra explained that rating came down to one student missing one question because the district has a very small multi-racial enrollment. Hamstra compared Southwest’s results with other districts to gauge overall performance. For this purpose, the ODE identifies districts similar in racial diversity, community median income, poverty levels, and more. The ODE has highlighted 22 districts in Ohio that are similar to Southwest with Talawanda and Edgewood school districts as the most similar locally. Overall, 95.8 percent of Southwest’s students passed the state tests compared to 70.8 percent of Edgewood students. Southwest earned a C with 75.1 percent in its ability to close the gap and ensure all children excel regardless of income, race, ethnicity, or disability. Edgewood earned a D with 61.4 percent. “Our goal is to be better than the like-districts,” said Hamstra. In facing Talawanda Schools, Southwest has more competition. “Talawanda and us, we’re pretty big rivals when it comes to this stuff,” said Hamstra. Matching Southwest exactly, 95.8 percent of Talawanda’s students passed the standardized tests. But ranking higher than Southwest, Talawanda received a B in gap closing with a 81.5 percent grade. “As a district, our performance index, which is a thermometer for how well the schools are See Report Card, performing, was higher than it’s Page 10 ever been in Southwest history,”
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