WestChesterBuzz.com

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday.

Construction starts on Millikin Road – Beginning last Monday, Millikin Road in Liberty Township closed between the north and south legs of LeSourdsville West Chester Road for an improvement project. During the construction, local access to the closed portion of Millikin Road will be maintained for residents living within this section only. All other motorists and thru traffic will be required to use the posted detour. The road is tentatively scheduled to reopen the week of June 4, 2012.

Lakota West softball coach wins 300th game – WestChesterBuzz.com reported last Monday that longtime Lakota West softball coach, Keith Castner, won his 300 game that past Saturday. He became the 31st softball coach to accomplish the feat in the state of Ohio, according to the Ohio High School Athletic Association record book.

Conrad breaks Lakota strikeout record – WestChesterBuzz.com reported last Monday that Lakota East ace Michael Conrad broke the Lakota school district career strikeout record. The previous record had been held since 1980. Conrad, who The Cincinnati Enquirer baseball player of the year and the Greater Miami Conference baseball player of the year last spring, has signed on to play ball at the University of Cincinnati.

Former county auditor begins paying off $4M penalty – Sheila McLaughlin reported last week that former Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers has to shell out $58,967.74 from her savings to start paying off a $4 million tab in a fiberoptics scandal that landed her in federal prison. Federal authorities wanted to garnish all of the money — $250,000 — from Rogers’ retirement accounts. But Rogers had argued that her children needed something to live on and pay the mortgage while she was in prison for two years.

Mellow Mushroom to open location in West Chester – Mellow Mushroom, a pizza restaurant and pub chain with a bit of a hippie vibe, will open an outpost in West Chester this summer. Kevin Molony, who also owns the Mellow Mushroom in Wilder, is shooting for a mid-July opening at the former Rafferty’s, 9238 Floer Drive and Union Center Boulevard.

Townships announce policy on weather warning sirens – It was announced last week that West Chester and Liberty Townships have negotiated an intergovernmental agreement and policy for the activation of its outdoor weather warning sirens. Under the proposed policy, sirens will be activated under slightly different parameters in each jurisdiction.

Lakota West volleyball team off to best start in school history – The Lakota West volleyball team broke its record for best start to a season and most consecutive wins. The team had won 12 straight before losing abbreviated matches last weekend. The team’s coach, Christy Switzer, also passed the 100-win mark for her career at Lakota West.

Fox’s Pizza Den to open in May – Fox’s Pizza Den, a pizza chain started in Pittsburgh in 1971, will have a Cincinnati location this spring when it opens at the Bridgewater Falls shopping complex in Fairfield Township. Vaughn Lewis, owner of Fox’s Pizza Den, is aiming to open the location by the end of May.

Lakota East defeats rival to take top spot in GMC – Lakota East snapped a four-game losing streak against Lakota West and moved into sole possession of first place in the Greater Miami Conference after a 3-1 victory at the Hawks Nest Thursday. Only a game separates the two rivals in the GMC standings.

Posted in: Business, Crime, News, Sports, Spring sports |

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Kay Rogers covers her face as she walks out of federal court in downtown Cincinnati after being sentenced to two years in prison on fraud charges in July of 2011. Photo taken by Liz Dufour.

Sheila McLaughlin reports

Former Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers has to shell out $58,967.74 from her savings to start paying off a $4 million tab in a fiberoptics scandal that landed her in federal prison.

Federal authorities wanted to garnish all of the money — $250,000 — from Rogers’ retirement accounts. But Rogers had argued that her children needed something to live on and pay the mortgage while she was in prison for two years.

Rogers’ attorney Konrad Kircher said the settlement, signed by a magistrate on Friday, was reasonable.

“They understand the family situation. They understand that Kay has suffered tremendously already,” Kircher said Monday. “There’s no sense in beating her down so far that she’ll never get up.”

The settlement takes $25,000 from Rogers’ 401(k) and $33,967.74, which is everything in her IRA account.

Kircher has said that Rogers’s 26-year-old son, Sean, is handling family finances while his mother is in prison and was using the retirement account to pay the mortgage and care for the other children, including two minors. Rogers is a single mother of six.

Rogers pleaded guilty more than three years ago to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud to to filing a false income tax return. She was sentenced last July.

Federal authorities wanted Rogers’ money to pay back some of the $4 million that banks lost in the Dynus case. The scandal reached into Butler County government and resulted in four convictions, including Dynus executives.

Rogers was accused of signing several documents on behalf of the county wrongly certifying that Dynus had a multimillion contract for a 100-mile fiber optics network. Her signature allowed Dynus executives to walk off with the money.

The recent settlement involving Rogers guarantees that federal officials won’t go after her retirement accounts provided no significant deposits are made into them.

But that doesn’t get Rogers off the hook completely, Kircher said.

She’ll have to get a job and set up a payment plan with the government “to try to work off $4 million,” he said.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: attorney Konrad Kircher, Butler County Auditor, Butler County crime, crime, Dynus, Dynus case, Jim Smith, Kay Rogers, Konrad Kircher, Liberty Township crime, Sandra Beckwith, u.s. district judge sandra beckwith, West Chester crime

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday. (Stories are listed in order of date)

Lakota schools’ budget ax falls – The Lakota school board approved just more than $10.5 million in budget cuts for next school year at its meeting last Monday. Overall the school district will cut 141 teaching, classroom specialist, school nurse and school staff positions, in addition to nine school and central office administrators, according to The Enquirer.

Kay Rogers pleads to keep her savings – Former Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers’s attorney asked a federal judge to intervene last Monday to stop federal prosecutors from following through with the garnishment of about $250,000 in retirement savings, according to The Enquirer. According to her attorney, without her savings she will be “unable to support her family” upon her release.

Parents worry about Lakota’s future – The Enquirer’s education reporter Michael D. Clark wrote a story about the parents and their concerns after the Lakota school board made roughly $10.5 in cuts last Monday.

Lakota freshman visits spring training as MLB.com writer – An exceptionally gifted writer from Lakota West Freshman School in West Chester visited spring training sites last week and interviewed dozens of baseball players for MLB.com.

Lakota East students make video to stop cyber bullying – Lakota East and Butler Tech digital media arts students are participating in The Great American NO BULL Challenge in order to fight and bring awareness to cyber bullying. The NO BULL Challenge is a video contest where teens create a two-to-five minute video on how to combat cyber bullying. The local students’ solution is simple – “Post Positive.”

Lakota West grad Matt Klinker retires from pro baseball – After bouncing between the Cincinnati Reds’ AAA and AA minor league teams for the past three seasons, West Chester native Matt Klinker has decided to retire from the game of baseball and is currently training to become a salesman for Pipe Products.

NoLakota spokesman booted after controversial blog post – A blog posted by Rich Hoffman, who up until last week was the spokesman for the anti-school tax levy group NoLakota, went viral and offended many community members. In the post, Hoffman was very descriptive on his opinion of Lakota mothers, who he referred to as “prostitutes.” After The Enquirer featured the post’s content in a separate article, Hoffman was banned from further association with NoLakota. Hoffman has since responded to The Enquirer article on his blog Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom.

Local businesswoman Liz Rogers in the news again – Liberty Township resident Liz Rogers was in and out of the news this past week after she surrendered to authorities on a warrant related to a debt. Later in the week, she would pay off the debt and criticized the media. Rogers’ financial situation has become newsworthy after the city of Cincinnati decided to give her and her husband nearly $1 million in funds to open a soul food restaurant at The Banks.

Lakota West community mourns the loss of a student -A Lakota West junior died and four other students were injured in an automobile crash Friday night. Ezekiel “Zeke” Stepaniak of Liberty Township was the junior who died. Lakota West sophomore Ashley Stacy, 16, was treated for serious injuries at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton. According to the school district, her condition has improved. The school district is making counselors available this week at both Lakota West High School and Lakota West Freshman School.

Posted in: Board of Education, Crime, Levy news, News, Schools, Sports, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Ashley Stacy, Butler County Auditor, Butler County crime, Butler Tech, Cameron Winters, Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati Reds baseball, Cincinnati Reds spring training, crime, Cyber Bullying, cyber bullying Butler Tech, cyber bullying Lakota East, Dynus, Jim Smith, Kay Rogers, Lakota, Lakota athletic cuts, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota elementary cuts, Lakota high school cuts, Lakota junior high cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota preschool cuts, Lakota preschool program, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, Lakota West, Lakota West baseball, Lakota West sports, Lakota West student death, Liberty Township business news, Liberty Township crime, liz rogers, Liz Rogers Liberty Township, mahogany's bar and grill, mahogany's bar and grill banks, Matt Klinker, Matt Klinker Cincinnati Reds, Matt Klinker retires, Meggie Zahneis, Nathan Phu, NO BULL Challenge video contest, No Lakota, No Lakota levy, NoLakota, NoLakota Levy, Rich Hoffman, Sandra Beckwith, the banks, the banks Cincinnati, The Great American NO BULL Challenge, u.s. district judge sandra beckwith, West Chester crime, Zeke Stepaniak

Liz Rogers speaks during a press conference at The National Underground Freedom Center announcing the opening of Mahogany's restaurant at The Banks development in the spring of 2012. Photo taken by Leigh Taylor in January 2012.

John Johnston reports

Liz Rogers, who has a deal with the city of Cincinnati to bring her Mahogany’s restaurant to The Banks, settled an old debt on Friday by forfeiting a $3,104 bond that was paid on her behalf.

A Butler County court in April 2010 ordered Rogers, of West Chester Township, to pay $3,000 plus 4 percent interest to Queen City Computer Press Inc. of Blue Ash. The company had done work for a business Rogers formerly owned, Brooklyn Spa Services in Forest Park.

On Tuesday, Rogers surrendered at the Butler County Jail on a warrant related to the debt. She was released after her husband, Trent Rogers, posted $3,104.22 bond on her behalf.

Before a scheduled hearing on Friday in Butler County Common Pleas Court, the parties agreed that the bond would be forfeited to Queen City Computer Press, and the case was dismissed. Rogers did not appear.

Bob Welch, Queen City Computer Press president, declined comment.

Rogers’ financial situation has drawn scrutiny because of her deal with the city of Cincinnati to open a Mahogany’s at The Banks, which would make her the first minority business owner at the riverfront development. Rogers also owns a Mahogany’s in Hamilton.

On Feb. 29, Cincinnati City Council approved a $300,000 loan for furniture and equipment and a $684,000 city grant to cover restaurant design and construction. Afterward, it was revealed that Rogers and her husband owe $49,000 in personal taxes. The couple paid off a $3,900 delinquent property tax bill before the deal with the city was approved.

Roger said in a statement earlier this week that all her financial issues, including the case involving Queen City Computer Press, were disclosed to the city while she pursued The Banks deal.

Posted in: Business, Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: 20 professional women to watch in 2012, Liberty Township business news, liz rogers, Liz Rogers Liberty Township, mahogany's bar and grill, mahogany's bar and grill banks, the banks, the banks Cincinnati, the enquirer

Janice Morse and Jane Prendergast report

The owner of Mahogany’s restaurant, whose financing deal with the city of Cincinnati has stirred controversy, said on Wednesday she feels picked on.

Liz Rogers, president and executive chef of Mahogany's Bar and Grill, was recently named among The Enquirer's 20 Women to Watch in 2012 list. Provided photo.

“It appears that I have become the subject of a heightened level of scrutiny and several unfavorable media reports pertaining to my business and my character,” said Liz Rogers of Liberty Township. “I am unclear as to why and would like to once again put these issues to rest.”

Sean Rugless, president of the African-American Chamber of Commerce, emailed her statement Wednesday.

Rogers’ $984,000 deal with the city to open a soul-food restaurant at The Banks generated controversy after revelations about her finances. She and her husband, Trent, recently made good on back property taxes, but the couple still owes the IRS about $49,000.

On Tuesday, Rogers turned herself in on a year-old warrant issued because she failed to show up in court regarding a debt that Queen City Computer Press Inc. is trying to collect from her.

Queen City had designed a website for her now-defunct Forest Park business, Brooklyn Spa & Salon. Rogers said the court case “stemmed from a dispute regarding the quality of services” provided.

But on Wednesday, Bob Welch, Queen City Computer Press president, said, “That would have meant she disputed it with me, which she did not.” No mention of such a dispute appears in court records.

Rogers asserted “there may be no merit to the case.” But a Hamilton County judge ruled she owes Welch’s company $3,000 plus interest. The case has been pending since 2009.

A hearing in the case is set for Friday in Butler County Common Pleas Court.

Rogers said “these issues were disclosed along with all relevant credit information” during her a yearlong negotiation with Cincinnati leaders. She also said it’s all unrelated to her plans to open Mahogany’s at The Banks.

“Despite the events of the past couple of weeks, I remain excited about the possibility of bringing new jobs to the city of Cincinnati, as I have done in Hamilton,” said Rogers, who runs a Mahogany’s restaurant there.

Rogers was recently named one of The Enquirer’s “20 Women to Watch in 2012.”

Posted in: Business, Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: 20 professional women to watch in 2012, Liberty Township business news, liz rogers, Liz Rogers Liberty Township, mahogany's bar and grill, mahogany's bar and grill banks, the banks, the banks Cincinnati, the enquirer

Liz Rogers of Liberty Township speaks during a press conference at The National Underground Freedom Center announcing the opening of Mahogany's restaurant at The Banks development in the spring of 2012. Photo taken by Leigh Taylor in January 2012.

Statement from Liz Rogers

Janice Morse and Jane Prendergast report:

A restaurateur, who recently obtained a deal worth up to almost $1 million in Cincinnati funds for a soul food eatery at The Banks, surrendered Tuesday to authorities on a warrant related to a debt.

Liz Rogers, of Liberty Township, went to the Butler County Jail around noon, officials said. She was released after her husband, Trent, posted $3,104.22 bond on her behalf; she has been ordered to appear in Butler County Common Pleas Court at 1 p.m. March 16 for a hearing in which a creditor is attempting to collect on a debt she was court-ordered to pay in 2010.

Rogers, 42, owns Mahogany’s restaurant in Butler County and plans to open a second location in downtown Cincinnati. City Council approved on Feb. 29 a grant and loan totaling $984,000. Rogers and her husband agreed to first invest their own $50,000 before the city money would kick in.

The financing stirred controversy after revelations about financial issues involving the Rogers couple, including that they owe $49,000 in personal taxes. They also owed $3,900 in property taxes but paid them days before the deal was approved. Rogers formerly worked at the Procter & Gamble Co. Her husband worked at the Ford Motor Co. for 12 years and earned an economics degree at Florida A&M University.

The warrant for Rogers’ arrest was issued in March 2011 by a Butler County judge after she failed to show up for December 2010 hearing on a $3,000 debt she owed to a Hamilton County business, court records show. (more…)

Posted in: Business, Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: 20 professional women to watch in 2012, Liberty Township business news, liz rogers, Liz Rogers Liberty Township, mahogany's bar and grill, mahogany's bar and grill banks, the banks, the banks Cincinnati, the enquirer

Kay Rogers covers her face as she walks out of federal court in downtown Cincinnati after being sentenced to two years in prison on fraud charges in July of 2011. Photo taken by Liz Dufour.

Dan Horn reports

Former Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers says federal prosecutors will bankrupt her family and leave her children without a home if they seize her retirement savings as part of her punishment for fraud crimes.

Her lawyer described the attempt to take the money as a “draconian action” and asked a federal judge on Monday to intervene on Rogers’ behalf.

He said Rogers, who is serving a two-year prison sentence, would be unable to support her family or herself after her release if prosecutors follow through with the garnishment of about $250,000 in retirement savings.

“How much more can you destroy a person?” said her attorney, Konrad Kircher. “This garnishment goes way beyond punishment. This would prevent her from ever living a normal life again.”

Federal prosecutors could not be reached Monday, but they asked U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith last month to approve a request to seize Rogers’ retirement accounts. They said the goal is to help recover some of the $4 million lost in the Dynus fiber-optics scandal that shook Butler County and resulted in four criminal convictions.

Rogers, a single mother of six children, pleaded guilty more than three years ago to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and to filing a false income tax return. She was sent to prison last July.

Prosecutors described Rogers as a catalyst for the scandal and said she signed several documents on behalf of the county wrongly certifying that Dynus had completed certain work in a multimillion-dollar deal to recruit customers for a 100- mile fiber optics network.

Without her signature, prosecutors say, National City Bank would not have released about $4 million in loans for the project. The judge ordered all of the defendants to repay the money, which gave prosecutors the ability to seek assets wherever they could find them.

Kircher said taking Rogers’ entire retirement savings, including her 401K, would leave her “unable to support her family … and without incentive to become a productive citizen” upon her release.

He said Rogers’ 26-year-old son, Sean, is handling family finances while Rogers is in prison and is using the retirement savings to pay the mortgage and to cover expenses for the other children, including two minors.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: Butler County Auditor, Butler County crime, crime, Dynus, Jim Smith, Kay Rogers, Liberty Township crime, Sandra Beckwith, u.s. district judge sandra beckwith, West Chester crime

Sheila McLaughlin reports:

Former Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox was sentenced today to spend four years in prison.

Mike Fox during a press conference in 2008. Photo taken by Leigh Taylor.

He attended Monday’s court hearing in a wheelchair.

Fox, 63, had asked Beckwith to let him spend the four years on home incarceration because of multiple medical conditions and the need for 22 medications.

He had agreed to the term as part of a plea agreement in a public corruption case that stemmed back to about 2002.

Fox pleaded guilty earlier to complicity to mail and wire fraud and failing to filing a false tax return.

He said he was not surprised by the judge’s decision.

“It is what it is,” he said. “Some day you the get the bear and some day the bear gets you.”

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: Butler County Commissioner Michael A. Fox, Michael A. Fox

Sheila McLaughlin reports

Disgraced former Butler County Commissioner Michael A. Fox agreed to serve four years in a federal prison after he was accused of cheating the public.

Former Butler County commissioner Michael A. Fox leaving the Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse in March of 2011 when he received four years of prison time as part of a plea agreement in a federal corruption case. Photo taken by Tony Jones.

Now he wants to get out of it.

Starting Monday, U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith will listen to Fox’s plea to spend those four years confined to his home instead of behind prison walls.

His attorneys say he’s too sick and his medical condition and lack of mobility are exacerbated by an estimated 130-pound weight gain since his indictment in October 2009.

They say his ailing 83-year-old mother relies on him for help getting to doctor appointments and caring for his bipolar brother.

Fox, 63, has paid a considerable price through public humiliation, losing any chance at holding political office again, and the loss of his reputation, Fox’s attorney Ralph Kohnen said in court documents obtained by The Enquirer.

“To Mr. Fox, reputation is everything and his has been irreparably injured regardless of where he serves his sentence,” Kohnen said.

Federal prosecutors contend that’s bunk. Fox’s involvement in public corruption is one of the most serious white-collar crimes, and he should go to prison, they say.

“His corruption threatened the integrity of state and local governments and, thereby, the trust of those whom are governed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Barry wrote in response. “Fox is deserving of the agreed upon sentence of 48 months imprisonment, which the parties unequivocally understood to mean jail when the plea was negotiated.”

Kohnen could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said officials there are not permitted to comment prior to the sentencing hearing. Kohnen has barred Fox from talking publicly about the case. (more…)

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: Butler County Commissioner Michael A. Fox, Michael A. Fox

Sheila McLaughlin reports

Wiping his eyes with a white handkerchief, a former West Chester Township police officer stood before a Butler County judge Thursday and described how his work as an undercover agent sucked him into a seedy lifestyle of drugs and bad choices.

Former West Chester police officer David Busemeyer was sentenced to six months in jail after being accused of tipping off a drug dealer to an undercover bust. Photo taken March 8, 2012, by Tony Jones.

Now, David Busemeyer will spend the next six months in jail for breaking the law.

Busemeyer, 38, of Hamilton Township in Warren County, was accused of tipping off a drug dealer to an undercover investigation and exposing the identity of a confidential informant. Married and now with a second child on the way, Busemeyer was having an affair with the drug dealer’s sister at the time.

He pleaded guilty in January to felony charges of attempted tampering with evidence and obstructing official business. He quit his job the same day. A charge of obstructing justice was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

“I lost my identity and became someone else,” Busemeyer said Thursday. “This is the fault of nobody but my own. My thought process during that time also became warped and convoluted due to my own drug addiction. I was taking steroids for over four years and the last nine months daily as a police officer. I began to think that illegal drug abuse of any kind was OK.

“At that point I was too bitter, too addicted, too arrogant to think anything I did was wrong. But I was wrong,” he said.

Busemeyer said he contemplated suicide the night before he was to be questioned by members of his own police force about the crimes he had committed. (more…)

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: Butler County Prosecutor, crime, David Busemeyer, Judge Keith Spaeth, West Chester crime, West Chester Police, West Chester Police Department, West Chester Police Officer David Busemeyer