HAMILTON COUNTY

Wrong-way crash kills 2 women

Two cars collided head-on Saturday on a Cincinnati-area highway, killing two women.

Police in Springfield Twp. say they believe that Angela Travillian of Cincinnati went over a median around 3 a.m. and was driving west in the eastbound lanes of Ronald Reagan Highway near an interchange with Interstate 75.

Travillian’s minivan van hit another minivan going the right way on the highway, killing both her and the other driver, identified as Angela Cox of Maineville.

The accident is under investigation.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Travillian worked as a business and data news assistant at the newspaper.

COLUMBUS

Man dies trying to save boy, called a hero

A Columbus man who died trying to save a little boy from drowning is being hailed as a hero who may have been thinking of his own young son when he sprang into action.

James Jenkins was on his way home with his girlfriend on Thursday evening when he saw a 5-year-old boy struggling in a pond.

Witnesses say the 30-year-old jumped out of the car, dove into the pond and was trying to keep the boy’s head above water. But the two of them went under amid freezing temperatures.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that four police and firemen who arrived soon after also jumped in but weren’t able to find the pair.

Divers pulled them both from the water about an hour later. Jenkins died and the boy, whose name has not been released, was in life-threatening condition Friday night at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

TOLEDO

Officers cleared in deadly shooting near

Police in northwestern Ohio say they’re closing the case on an officer-involved shooting in October.

Wood County Prosecutor Paul Dobson said Friday that a grand jury this week declined to indict Lake Twp. police Sgt. Scott Sims and former Officer Shannon Badgett.

The Toledo Blade reports that both officers fired their guns after responding to a domestic violence call on Oct. 16 in Lake Township, killing Jorge Duran III.

The 24-year-old Toledo man had just killed his ex-girlfriend, 26-year-old Amber Jones, and the couple’s 3-year-old son.

Dobson says that police shot Duran as he pointed his gun at officers arriving on the scene.

Dobson says “the grand jury did exactly the right thing, as the police, officers did as well.”

CINCINNATI

2K pets up for adoption

Organizers of a major pet-adoption event in the Cincinnati area this weekend are trying to put a dent in the high number of animals euthanized in the region and the country.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the second annual My Furry Valentine will be held at 36 sites in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky on Saturday and Sunday.

The sites include pet stores, shelters and rescue centers, with about 2,000 animals in all up for adoption.

Last year, 266 animals were adopted during the event.

The No Kill Advocacy Center in Oakland, Calif., says Cincinnati historically puts down about 70 percent of its shelter animals, worse than the national average of about 50 percent.

In all, more than 3 million animals were euthanized nationwide last year.

CLEVELAND

Teen charged in girlfriend’s killing

A 16-year-old Cleveland girl has been shot to death, and police have arrested and charged her teenage boyfriend in the killing

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that 16-year-old Jennifer Zacarias was fatally shot in the head, neck and torso in her backyard early Friday morning.

Her father found her soon after.

A 16-year-old boy, described as Jennifer’s boyfriend by a family member, has been arrested and charged with aggravated murder.

He is being held in the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center.

The boy’s name was not released.

Police said there are no other suspects.

SANDUSKY

Agencies stage Lake Erie drill

The U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies staged a large-scale rescue exercise Saturday on the ice of Lake Erie off Sandusky.

More than two dozen agencies participated in the morning drill off Marblehead.

The Coast Guard says the exercise — called “Icy Resolve 2013” — involved the simulated crash landing of a commuter plane with 50 passengers aboard on ice-covered Lake Erie.

The exercise was designed to test coordinated emergency response among federal, state and local authorities, including communications, emergency medical care and other elements of mass rescue procedures.