The Cincinnati Post is reporting that thefts from autos have jumped 3.5 percent in the first three months of 2005 over the same time period last year.

From the story:

With thefts from auto break-ins up dramatically in downtown Cincinnati, police hope a forum for downtown parking lot owners later this month could help reverse the trend.

Lt. Mike Neville, commander of the Downtown Services Unit, said he hopes the May 31 forum, to be held at Downtown Cincinnati Inc., 617 Vine St., attracts property owners, residents, representatives of the neighborhood resident council and others.

"It's not truly an off-the-hook problem," Neville said. "But I don't want the image of Cincinnati tarnished in any way."
Part of the message Neville wants to send is that he takes the thefts seriously.

"These are something that I don't want to see ignored," he said.

In addition to uniformed officers on the lookout for people who break into cars, the Police Department already has undercover cops trying to nab thieves.

Part of the problem, Neville said, is that a car break-in takes only a couple of seconds - less if the car is unlocked.

As part of the forum, Neville hopes to describe measures that have helped slow crime in other places, but he also plans to listen, he said.

Police don't have all the answers, Neville said.

"Tell me what you think we can do," he said.

The Post reports that the increase in thefts from cars came to light this week in the first quarter "State of the Downtown" report. Among concealed handgun license-holders, the report prompts still more concerns that a provision in Ohio's law which requires firearms to be stored in a locked container in "plain sight" if left in a vehicle is leading to increases in gun thefts. CHL-holders are often forced to leave their firearms in their cars outside locations posted as "no-guns" victims zones, creating easy pickings for criminals wishing to steal firearms.

Related Story:
One Critical After Polaris Area Shooting
COLUMBUS, Ohio - One man is in critical condition after being shot after leaving a bar, NBC 4 reported. A night of bar hopping in the Polaris area for a friend's birthday came to an abrupt end at 2:30 a.m. Saturday. After leaving a bar, a group of men saw two men trying to break into a car. They confronted them and chased them out to Lazarre Road. Minutes later, the men came back with a gun and one started firing at the group, NBC 4 reported. One man was wounded in the arm, another was shot in the chest, a witness said. One of the men who were fired upon said a bullet nearly missed his head. One man is in critical condition at Ohio State Medical Center and another is in fair condition at Riverside Hospital.

The Dayton Daily News is reporting that Kettering police confiscated a muzzle-loading .50-caliber rifle from a Van Buren Middle School teacher Friday who was demonstrating a Civil War lesson and accidentally shot off a round in front of about 30 students outside the school.

From the story:

Kettering police said seventh-grade social studies teacher Thomas Saylor apparently didn't know the weapon was loaded as he showed how difficult it was to load a black powder muzzle loader in Civil War days, according to Kettering Police Public Information Officer Larry Warren.

Warren said Saylor jammed the powder into the gun barrel, squeezed the trigger and the gun went off, sending a round 586 feet across the field, piercing a construction tool trailer near the football stadium stands. A construction worker standing nearby said later he heard a small explosion but did not see the bullet go in.

No one was injured, Warren said.

But the incident raised questions about why a teacher was allowed to bring such a weapon to school at a time when many schools have zero tolerance for students carrying weapons to class.

"It's horrible," said Superintendent Robert Mengerink, who was out of town Friday. "We don't follow a zero tolerance policy here for every rule. There is zero tolerance against violence and crime. We punish that. But if it's a mistake or accident, we don't follow zero policy."

Mengerink said Saylor was "trying to show, in a history lesson, how battles and war" have changed over the last 150 years, and "how much time it took for a soldier to load and fire off three shots. He didn't even know it fired a live round."

He called Saylor "an excellent teacher who was trying to do a good thing."

Mengerink said the district doesn't have a policy that says guns aren't allowed on school grounds, "but it's implied. I believe he thought he had permission" to demonstrate his lesson. "But (permission) did not come through central office."

J.C. Benton, a spokesman for the state board of education, told the newspaper that since the 1980s guns have been prohibited in schools "but in educational instances that can be flexible." In such instances, the teacher should have clearance from the school board and superintendent and should not use live ammunition, he said.

Mengerink told the DDN he expects Saylor to be in school Monday. "He's a fine teacher and I know he did this with the best of intent. We're not going to be doing any disciplinary actions at this time. We're going to be investigating to see what happened and what did occur," he said.

Again, from the story:

Kettering police first learned of the incident after getting a call from a construction worker at the site around noon who said his trailer had been shot.

"He thought maybe it had been hit during the night," Warren said.

Lackey said Saylor had no idea he had fired a live round until the police came to the school.

Warren said the police will be investigating to see if there's any reason for criminal charges. He called it "a very valuable lesson," especially since "everybody is safe."

"It could have been bad," Kettering police Officer Mike Pittman said. "People were very close to where the round went in."

Jointogether.org, which was originally founded to combat substance abuse, began supporting gun control efforts after having received funding by the anti-gun Joyce Foundation in 1996, and again by the David Bohnett Foundation in 2001.

Last week, JoinTogether.org announced that, as of May 30, it would cease its practice of publishing gun violence news. Since no explanation is given, this announcement begs for speculation:

Did JTO decide to stop publishing gun violence news because they:

A) Finally realized publishing story after story about how criminals with guns were hurting people was actually promoting gun ownership among law-abiding citizens?

B) Realized far more people die as a result of accidents by doctors in hospitals than from accidents with firearms, and needed the space on their website to start publishing “doctor safety” advice?

C) Lost their big money grants from subversive anti-gun foundations?

Inquiring minds want to know…

Less than a month after rabid coyotes attacked several people in a Cleveland MetroPark, Dayton’s WDTN.com reported further proof last week that concealed carry in parks is a necessary defense against (two AND four-legged) predators:

From the story:

Monday we told you about bobcat sightings in Germantown. It's a different story in Preble and Butler counties though.
Officials at Hueston Woods State Park say wild boar are roaming the area. They believe the boars are responsible for $5,000 worth of damage to the park golf course. Our crews tried to find the animals yesterday but had no luck. “They’re very elusive nocturnal in the evenings, but if you happen to come across them and they have young, I’d say beware and stay away from them,” said Lonnie Snow.

Park officials say the boar, which weigh up to 350 pounds, aren't going away soon. They expect them to stay around for at least a few years and then migrate away from the park. In fact, some have already been spotted up near I-70.

Related Story:
Coyote attack in public park