The Chillicothe Gazette is reporting that a business called Check Into Cash was robbed at gunpoint Thursday afternoon.

The newspaper did not report that the criminal walked right past the business' "no-guns" signs in order to commit his crime.

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According to the story, an employee reported to police a man entered the store in Central Center with a gun and rushed toward her as he demanded money. The man then retrieved the money from the cash registers while the employee lay on the floor.

The amount of money stolen was not reported, and the incident remains under investigation. The suspect remains at large.

Contact information for this business, and other discriminatory and unsafe businesses, is available on OFCC's Do Not Patronize While Armed database.

For an extensive listing of crimes committed at "no-guns" businesses, click here.

Is advertising that customers and employees inside your business are defenseless really such a "safe" idea?

The Dayton Daily News is reporting that Fifth Third Bancorp (NasdaqNM: FITB) experienced a 60 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings. The DDN notes the announcement came the same day two other Ohio banks posted quarterly gains.

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The Cincinnati-based bank holding company announced that fourth-quarter net income was $176 million, or 31 cents per diluted share, compared to $442 million, or 77 cents per diluted share, for the same period in 2003.

For the full year, the paper notes, earnings per share were $2.68, a 7 percent decline over last year's earnings of $2.87 per share.

Robberies at Fifth Third branches have filled the headlines in 2004, after the bank posted signs ordering customers with Ohio Concealed Handgun Licenses (CHLs) to stay away when armed.

(The photo at right, which appeared on the front page of the Willoughby News Herald in June, depicts a law enforcement agent dusting for fingerprints next to a "no-guns" sign at a Fifth Third bank.)

Another Ohio financial holding company, National City Corp. (NYSE: NCC) of Cleveland, reported fourth-quarter net income was $960 million, or $1.46 per share, up from $544 million, or 88 cents per share, in 2003.

For the year, notes the DDN, it reported a net income of $2.8 billion, or $4.31 per share, compared to $2.1 billion, or $3.43, per diluted share for 2003.

After briefly considering posting discriminatory signs banning CHL-holders, National City listened to the concerns of its customers, and has not posted the signs.

In the wake of the shooting death of Officer Bryan Hurst in a robbery at a Columbus Fifth Third branch, the company has been responding to customer complaints with a growing list of desperate excuses. Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that a 21-year-old female Cincinnati State student reported being raped in a college building Thursday night.

The report says officials are releasing few details about the attack, but that a Friday e-mail to faculty and staff said the student was assaulted by a young man who offered to show her around the school's new Advanced Technology and Learning Center.

According to the newspaper, the email told students the man forced the woman into a third-floor classroom and sexually assaulted her about 10 p.m.. Michele Imhoff, a spokeswoman for the 8500-student college, told the paper that afterward, the woman either phoned a friend or was discovered by the friend. The friend called a Cincinnati State security guard, who then notified Cincinnati police.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.