The chief legal officer of a Mason company has had his license suspended for a third time, this time after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled he continued to practice law while his license was suspended.

In a 4-3 ruling Tuesday, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that David E. Troller engaged in attorney misconduct by practicing law for six years while his license was suspended and engaged in conduct that adversely reflects on his fitness  to practice law.

The court suspended Troller’s license for two years, with a six-month stay provided he meet certain conditions.

Troller, of Terrace Park, served as chief legal officer of the Clopay Corporation from April 2002 to April 2012.

In December 2005, the Supreme Court suspended Troller for not registering and paying attorney fees for 2005-2007.  All Ohio attorneys on active or corporate status are required to register with the state’s Office of Attorney Services and pay a registration fee every odd-numbered year.

Troller received another suspension in May 2006 for failing to meet his continuing legal educational requirements for 2003-2004 and to pay a penalty for not meeting his education requirements for 2001-2002.

The suspensions prohibited Troller from providing legal advice or performing legal services.

In July 2012, the state’s disciplinary counsel charged Troller with failure to comply with the duties of a suspended attorney and continuing to practice law while his license was suspended.

During the disciplinary proceedings, Troller admitted to engaging in the practice of law at Clopay by working with outside counsel on pending litigation, negotiating and drafting contracts for the company and advising human resources personnel on employee terminations.

The court ruled that while Troller engaged in a “pattern of misconduct,” he cooperated in the disciplinary process and stopped providing legal advice at Clopay when notified of the investigation

The ruling also noted Troller’s charitable contributions, including post-hurricane relief and recovery efforts in New Orleans and Haiti and his service as a volunteer firefighter.

The court found that Troller does not pose further risk to the public and stayed the suspension for six months provided he engage in no further misconduct, pay all outstanding registration fees within 30 days and extend his contract with the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program for treatment of anxiety.

Troller remains employed at Clopay as the company’s vice president and chief legal officer, a company representative confirmed Tuesday.

Chrissie Thompson reports:

Get ready for a divisive spring in Warren and Butler counties.

State Rep. Pete Beck, R-Mason, is running for re-election in May, despite his indictment this summer on 16 felony counts for his alleged role in fraudulent business dealings. Political activist Mary Jo Kubicki, R-Deerfield Township, is taking him on, with endorsements that already include state Rep. Ron Maag, R-Salem Township, several Warren County elected officials and a few local mayors.

Beck filed his signatures to get on the ballot on Friday. Kubicki had filed hers on Tuesday.

Beck’s trial is currently scheduled to start April 7, a month before the May 6 primary. In an e-mail exchange Monday with Enquirer reporter Sheila McLaughlin, Beck’s attorney, Taft’s Ralph Kohnen, said he did not expect the date to change.

When I talked with Beck last week, I asked him how his campaign would handle the indictment.

“I think you all have already addressed it,” he said, referring to media coverage of the indictment.

Beck has stayed in office, despite calls for his resignation from the Republican Party and Speaker Bill Batchelder, R-Medina (who later said he was just making a suggestion).

Beck is a former Mason mayor and city council member. His fraud charges are related to Beck’s role in a West Chester startup software company called Christopher Technologies.

Kubicki, cousin of Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Barry Kubicki, has been active in Warren County Republican politics since moving to Deerfield Township in 2007. She has run campaigns for other candidates, served as president of the Warren County Young Republicans and went on to co-chair the Ohio Young Republicans.

Kubicki was eCampaign coordinator for the Kasich-Taylor for Ohio campaign and county co-chair for 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

By Tom Ramstetter, Enquirer contributor

Haley Vorherr’s only field goal of the game Saturday afternoon at Mason High School did not give her team the lead or tie the score in Mason’s 55-54 comeback win over Greater Miami Conference rival Lakota West.

But it was big.

The senior guard drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:05 to play in the fourth quarter to pull her team to within one point, turning the tide one final time in a game of changing tides. Sophomore guard Jailyn Mason followed seconds later with a jumper in the lane to give the Comets the lead for good at 53-52.

“I’m a senior this year and I’m getting a lot more playing time than I have previous years, so yeah, that’s probably the biggest shot I’ve hit in a game,” Vorherr said. “It felt really great.”

Senior guard Jenna Gunn sealed the win with two free throws in the final 30 seconds.

The Comets (13-0, 9-0 GMC), ranked No. 1 in the Enquirer Division I area coaches’ poll, completed a regular-season sweep of No. 3 Lakota West. Mason beat the Firebirds (9-4, 4-4) in the first matchup, 45-39 in overtime, Dec. 4 at Lakota West.

Mason trailed the entire first half Saturday and Lakota West led by as many as nine. But the Comets surged to a 36-31 lead midway through the third quarter. The Firebirds used a 14-3 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to take a 49-43 lead with less than four minutes to play.

There were five lead changes and three ties in the second half and the Comets were behind 52-48 when Vorherr got the ball in the corner.

“We were running spread and everybody was just moving the ball around and I ended up in the corner,” Vorherr said. “I was going to pass into Lauren (Van Kleunen) in the post, but the girl doubled down on her. I think she knew what I was going to do, so I just shot.”

It was the only shot she made in only three attempts.

“I told her that is why we believe in our players,” Mason coach Rob Matula said. “She’s a senior who played JV as a junior and she has just worked unbelievably hard on her game. We have confidence in her. Just calm and cool in the corner, she loaded it up and knocked it down. It was huge.”

West didn’t make a field goal the final four minutes of the game. Van Kleunen stopped the final Lakota West run with a traditional three-point play and a layup to cut the lead to 49-48 with two minutes to play.

“We’re definitely a second-half team,” Van Kleunen said. “We’re usually more mentally prepared to come out in the second half and that’s what we did.”

West opened the game on a 10-2 run and led 29-23 at halftime. Mason took its first lead at 32-31 with 3:59 to play in the third.

Stars of the Game: Gunn led Mason with 14 points. Van Kleunen added 13 and 10 rebounds, and Jailyn Mason scored 11 for the Comets.

Lakota West leading scorer Lauren Cannatelli scored eight in the first quarter and finished with 16. But sophomore guard Danielle Wells kept Lakota West in the game in the face of Mason’s third-quarter rally by scoring six of her 14 in the final two minutes of the period.

“There was a whole lot of toughness in the way that (Danielle) played,” Lakota West coach Andy Fishman said. “I thought that the other girls rallied around that. When we made that run in the fourth quarter to retake the lead, we were following Danielle Wells’s leadership.”

View From the Sideline: “That was an incredibly good basketball game between two really good teams,” Fishman said. “They came back on us, we came back on them. There were multiple lead changes and little swings. I give Mason’s girls credit. They made big plays down the stretch. We made big plays, but we also made some mistakes.

“It’s a fun game. I’d love to win it, but I’m proud of the way our girls battled. We just have to get better at finishing plays.”

Matula added, “I told somebody beforehand, our two teams mirror each other when it comes to position players. Cannatelli probably gives them more of a 3-point threat than we really have, but really we have a lot of similar players.

Cliff Turrell won Mason’s calendar photo contest in 2012 with his photo “Proud of our Heritage and Town.” Provided

Three Warren County communities have been ranked among the 50 safest cities in Ohio, according to a report released this month by security broker SafeWise Security Systems.

The SafeWise Report evaluated FBI crime data and in-house research of Ohio cities with populations of at least 20,000 residents since 2011.

Springboro ranked No. 8 on the list, followed by Mason at No. 15 and Lebanon at No. 23.

Other area cities making the list: Delhi Township (18); Springfield Township (34); Clermont County’s Miami Township (36); West Chester Township (45) and Goshen Township (46).

The report noted Springboro’s low crime rate, including no murders or rapes and only three vehicle break-ins reported in 2011.

Both Springboro and Mason were described as affluent communities recognized nationally as among the best places to live.

Last year, Money magazine ranked Mason No. 7 in its list of the top 50 small towns to live in the nation.  Springboro ranked No. 42 in the same list in 2011.

Those rankings were based on factors such as job opportunities, top-notch schools, safe streets, good weather, things to do and economic strength, among others.

A complete list is available at Safewise.com.

Dr. Atiq Durrani faces dozens of suits by former patients as well as federal charges of fraudulent billing. / Enquirer file

Lisa Bernard-Kuhn reports:

Closing arguments are expected today in the first trial of dozens of civil lawsuits filed against Mason spine surgeon Dr. Atiq Durrani. But Durrani won’t be in the courtroom.

Durrani – a Pakistani native – is being tried in absentia, having fled the country late last year, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which issued a warrant for his arrest in December.

More than 170 patients have sued Durrani in Hamilton and Butler county courts, most alleging that he performed unnecessary surgeries and botched many of them.

Crystal Pierce, of Green Township, was among the first to file a lawsuit in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court alleging that a surgery performed by Durrani in 2009 made her spine conditions worse and left her with agonizing pain.

Her lawyer Eric Deters represents most of the patients who have sued Durrani, and in several cases have also sued UC Health’s West Chester Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Corryville.

Durrani, whose Center for Advanced Spine Technologies has offices in Evendale and Florence, also is accused of fraudulently billing Medicare millions of dollars for unnecessary surgeries. He was arrested by federal agents on those criminal charges in July. A grand jury issued a 36-count indictment against him the following month.

That trial is scheduled for August, while the remaining cases have court dates scheduled through 2015.

During the current civil suit, jurors have only been told – at the direction of visiting Hamilton County Judge Guy C. Guckenberger – that Durrani has elected not to attend.

His absence presents big challenges for both sides of the courtroom, says John H. Metz, a Cincinnati lawyer with more than 35 years experience in medical malpractice.

“There are no slam dunk cases, even if the doctor isn’t present,” said Metz.

Durrani, who was suspended from practicing in Kentucky and Ohio in November, is being defended by Cincinnati lawyer Michael Lyon, a well-known medical malpractice attorney. Often defense lawyers in civil malpractice cases against physicians prefer to have their client testify, or at least be present, so the jury “can feel some sympathy for them,” said Metz.

The jury equates their sympathy with, “How can you fault someone for doing the best they could?” Metz said.

And for the plaintiff, no Durrani means no cross examination from Deters – who’s known for having an aggressive court-room manner.

“It’s a loss for Deters,” said Metz. “Usually, in cross examination you try to get the doctor to make certain concessions. If the doctor is evasive, or a smart aleck, that doesn’t translate to the jurors very well.”

Opening statements in Pierce’s case against Durrani began last Tuesday, with the remainder of the week dedicated to witness statements.

Pierce testified Wednesday that Durrani told her she would be immediately paralyzed if she didn’t undergo the procedures he recommended in 2009. While a first surgery helped her, a second in January 2009 was botched, according to testimony Thursday from Dr. Keith Wilkey, a St. Louis-based spine surgeon called by Deters. On Friday, jurors heard expert testimony that rebuffed Wilkey from Dr. Patrick McCormick, a neurosurgeon based in Toledo. McCormick said a laminoplasty performed on Pierce to remove pressure from her spinal chord and neck was indeed necessary and in line with what most physicians should have recommended for her spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal chord.

Meanwhile, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals offices are searching for Durrani. At the time of his arrest in August, Durrani was forced to hand over his passport to federal authorities and was forbidden to travel internationally.

Durrani later filed a request with federal courts to to visit Pakistan to see his terminally ill father, but the requiest was denied.

A log of Durrani’s legal woes

February 2013

Dozens of civil lawsuits begin to be filed in Hamilton and Butler county courts, mostly by lawyer Eric Deters on behalf of former Durrani patients.

July

Durrani is arrested at his Mason by federal agents on criminal health care fraud charges.

August

Durrani pleads not guilty to federal criminal charges. Grand jury issues what eventually becomes a 36-count indictment.

Durrani pleads not guilty to federal charges of health care fraud.

September

Federal court denies Durrani’s request to leave the U.S. to visit his terminally ill father in Pakistan.

November

Kentucky and Ohio medical boards suspends Durrani‘s medical license.

December

The U.S. Attorney’s office reports that Durrani has fled the country, issues a warrant for his arrest.

Sources: Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, Butler County Common Pleas Court, U.S. District Court

Mike Dyer reports:

Feb. 5 marks the start of the NCAA signing period for football, field hockey, soccer, track and field/cross country and men’s water polo for student-athletes in the 2014 class. The football regular period runs through April 1. The other sports have Aug.1 as the final signing date.

Here is a list of area college commits in those sports in the 2014 class in advance of the February National Signing Day. Included are five student athletes from Mason or Kings high schools. Additional commitments can be emailed to mdyer@enquirer.com. Schools and families may submit Signing Day photos to signingdayphotos@gmail.com in February.

*Indicates preferred walk-on.

FIELD HOCKEY

• Megan Goslee; Mount Notre Dame; Saint Louis
• Molly McGeeney; Mount Notre Dame; Grand Valley State

 BOYS’ SOCCER

• Jack Clark; Mason; UC
• Matt DeJesus; Summit Country Day; Carnegie Mellon
• Joe Gallagher; Clark Montessori; Kenyon
• Austin Harrell; St. Xavier; DePaul
• Gabe Welp; Lakota West; Brown

GIRLS’ SOCCER

• Rachel Ahrens; Ross; Rio Grande
• Amy Dean; Mount Notre Dame; Akron
• Jessica Frey; Seton; NKU
• Maegan Geraci; Norwood; Mount St. Joseph
• Samantha Goodwin; Seton; Thomas More
• Cassandra Nieman; Madeira; Xavier
• Maddie Volz; Mount Notre Dame; Anderson University (S.C.)
• Cassidy Young; Ross; Rio Grande
• Sydney Zinser; Kings; Belmont

BOYS’ CROSS COUNTRY

• Michael Hall; St. Xavier; Florida State
• Evan Stifel; St. Xavier; Belmont

GIRLS’ TRACK AND FIELD

• Loretta Blaut; Seton; UC
• Jordan Horning; Mason; NKU
• Jessica Tegge; Talawanda; NKU

GIRLS’ CROSS COUNTRY

• Jessica Tegge; Talawanda; NKU

 FOOTBALL

• Nilijah Ballew; S; Walnut Hills; 6-2; 190; Louisville
• Drew Barker; QB; Conner; 6-4; 210; Kentucky (early enrollee)
• Michael Barwick; DT; Summit Country Day; 6-2; 297; Indiana
• Camden Baucke; OL; Loveland; 6-2; 255; Malone
• Robert Behanan; OL; Fairfield; 6-5; 285; Middle Tennessee State
• Tinashe Bere; LB; Sycamore; 6-1; 220; Duke
• Danny Burns; OL; Fairfield; 6-7 ½; 320; Louisville
• Nick Carovillano; DE; St. Xavier; 6-4; 245; Indiana
• Mike Edwards; S; Winton Woods; 5-11; 180; Kentucky
• Jalen Fox; DB; Wyoming; 5-11; 180; Ohio University
• Isaiah Gentry; WR; Moeller; 6-4; 175; Kent State
• Tyrell Gilbert; Athlete; Princeton; 6-1; 205; UC
• CJ Hilliard; RB; St. Xavier; 5-9; 190; Iowa
• Seth Hope; DE; Highlands; 6-3; 230; Cornell
• Keshun Horton; LB; Northwest; 6-1; 205; Notre Dame College
• Mikel Horton; RB; Lakota West; 6-1; 225; Kentucky (early enrollee)
• Reggie Howard; LB; Withrow; 6-3; 220; Kent State
• Sam Hubbard; FS; Moeller; 6-5; 220; Ohio State
• Derek Kief; La Salle; 6-5; 196; Alabama
• Quentin King; DL; Mason; 6-2 ½; 220; Malone
• Stephen Langenkamp; OL; Moeller; 6-2; 280
• Jarrett LaRubbio; OL; Lakota East; 6-5; 270
• Will Marty; QB; Wyoming; 6-4; 195; Butler
• Alex Pfeiffer; OL; Anderson; 6-5; 265; Toledo
• Kevin Pickett; OT; Elder; 6-4; 275; Eastern Illinois
• Devin Pike; TE; Elder; 6-5; 235; Louisville
• Gus Ragland; QB; Moeller; 6-2; 210; Miami University
• Kevin Rogers; TE; Anderson; 6-4; 210; Buffalo
• Shane Roy; DE; Reading; 6-5; 235; Pittsburgh
• Chance Sorrell; TE/DE; Middletown; 6-6; 260; Vanderbilt
• Matt Stewart; LB/RB; Mason; 6-1; 220; Naval Academy
• Nick True; TE; Highlands; 6-6; 240; Western Kentucky
• Ben Walling; OL; Simon Kenton; 6-5; 280; Grand Valley State
• Ryan Williamson; S; Colerain; 5-11 ½; 180; Buffalo
• Antonio Woods; QB; Summit Country Day; 6-1; 185; Penn

John Kiesewetter reports:

1979 Lebanon High School graduate Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey play Louisiana detectives investigating a cult murder of a prostitute in 1995 in HBO’s “True Detective” that debuts Sunday. Provided photo

Twenty years after “Cheers” ended, Woody Harrelson returns to a TV series in HBO’s “True Detective” crime drama (9 p.m. Sunday).

Here are some comments from my interview for my Sunday A&E story with Harrelson, a 1979 Lebanon High School graduate I’ve known since shortly after his debut as Woody Boyd on “Cheers” in 1985.

Woody and Matthew McConaughey play Louisiana detectives investigating a cult murder of a prostitute in 1995. The story is told in flashbacks from 2012, when new officers investigating a similar murder quiz former partners Martin Hart (Harrelson) and Rust Cohle (McConaughey).

His reaction when I told him with his paunchy makeup as Hart in 2012, he could pass as detective for the Lebanon police or Warren County Sheriff’s office: “I hope the Warren County Sheriff’s office reads this and thinks about deputizing me!”

He agreed with me that viewers (including me) might not recognize McConaughey’s present-day Rust Cohle character, with his shoulder-length hair. (HBO didn’t provide photos of the long-haired Cohle):

“I remember when I first saw him – Oh my God! I really didn’t recognize him when I first saw him. He was outside of his trailer… He was just walking along, and it took me a minute to recognize him. I really liked that look.”

Was switching from 1995 to 2012 difficult? Did they shoot all the 1995 scenes together, then the 2012 scenes?

“No, we bounced back and forth between the looks. Even in one day, we’d go from ’95 to 2012, you know.They could never book it that way (chronologically). It would be too expensive.”

So how did you keep it straight in your head?

“Matthew had it really psyched out. In his Airstream… there on one wall, he had the whole chronology start to finish. And it took up a goodly amount of space, but it was really helpful. If I had any questions, I’d just go in there and take a look. You really had to keep abreast to where you were in the story. It was one long sheet of paper, as long as a couch, across the back of his Airstream. That was up the whole time.”

Did you have a nice trailer too?

“I have a bus. It looks like what you’d expect of a hippie who lost his way from Maui. Or I guess I should say from Lebanon. But I wasn’t a hippe then.”

You’re now shooting “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” and “Part 2” till June in Atlanta with Josh Hutcherson from Northern Kentucky?

“He’s a great guy, Josh. I love Josh. Its really so fun hanging with him.”

When my Sunday story is posted, I’ll add the link here.

The Kings Board of Education is made up of members, from left, Robert Hinman, vice president; Kim Grant; William Russell, president; Bonnie Baker-Hicks; and Todd Overturf. Provided photo

A new face will be heading the Kings Board of Education.

William Russell was elected president of the five-member board, replacing Bonnie Baker-Hicks. First elected to the board in 2011, Russell was also selected to be the board’s representative on the governing board of the Warren County Career Center.

A retired owner of a consulting business, Russell replaced board member Bonnie Baker-Hicks on the career center’s governing board.

Assisting Russell this year is Robert Hinman, who was elected vice president. He is replacing Hale Husband who lost his bid for re-election in last November’s election.

The board agreed to continue to hold its regular meetings at 6:30 p.m., on the third Tuesday of each month at the Kings Education Center.

The next meeting will be Jan. 21.

Gary Woodward with Cohen Recycling wraps a pallet of computer CPUs in plastic at an e-waste recycling event at the Anderson Town Center in 2013. The Enquirer/Glenn Hartong.

Area residents will have a chance to reduce their carbon footprint and help people with disabilities this month by recycling their old and unwanted electronics.

The Warren County Board of Developmental Disabilities will accept electronics between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday through the end of January.

Drop off electronics at Production Services Unlimited at 575 Columbus Ave. in Lebanon.  The office is closed Jan. 20 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Items collected at no cost include: telephones, printers, computer equipment, speakers, stereos, VCRs, laptops, remote and small home appliances. All personal date stored on hard drives will be safely and securely destroyed.

Items not accepted include TVs or computer monitors with cathode ray tubes, stoves and refrigerators.

The drive is in partnership with Cohen Recycling, who will employ people with disabilities who receive services from the agency to disassemble items collected.

For more information, call 513-502-5015.

On Jan. 7, 2014, returning board member Matt Steele, new board member Randy Andrews and returning board member Connie Yingling took the oath of office during the Mason City Schools Board of Education’s organizational meeting. Provided photo

By Tracey Carson, Mason Schools

The Mason City School Board welcomed its newest member Tuesday. But Randy Andrews is no stranger to Mason City Schools.

The former Mason Middle School teacher graduated from William Mason High School in 1972 and spent a career mentoring Mason students. Andrews was elected to the school board in November, and will serve for four years.

“I feel honored to have been elected to the Mason City School Board. I look forward to serving the students, staff and the residents of Mason,” said Andrews.

Andrews taught eighth grade social studies for 25 years and was a middle school athletic director, high school assistant baseball coach, and middle school basketball coach. He retired from Mason City Schools in 2013.

Currently, Andrews works part-time for Liberty Bible Academy teaching fifth through eighth grade history. A Miami University graduate, he and his wife, Debra, have one child, Randy – a 1997 Mason graduate who like his father is a former MHS homecoming king.

During the organizational meeting, treasurer Richard Gardner also administered the oath of office to Matt Steele and Connie Yingling, who will serve through 2016.

Steele was elected in November, after being appointed to the Board of Education in November 2011 to fill the position left vacant after the death of school board member, and retired educator, John Odell. First appointed in 1999, Yingling was subsequently elected in 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013.

During the organizational meeting, the board reappointed Kevin Wise as president, and appointed Yingling as vice-president for 2014. Steele was reappointed as the legislative liaison to the Ohio School Boards Association and Courtney Allen was reappointed as the student achievement liaison to the Ohio School Boards Association.

Ethan Bennett, right, and his classmates pay attention during the presentation “Fossils at your feet: Ancient creatures of the Queen City” by the Cincinnati Museum Center at the Montessori Academy of Cincinnati in Mason on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. The kids learned about ancient creatures that lived in the area and how fossils were created. The Enquirer/Leigh Taylor

Students at the Montessori Academy of Cincinnati in Mason got an up-close look at ancient fossils on Tuesday.  Representatives from the Cincinnati Museum Center visited the school to teach students about ancient creatures that lived in the area and how fossils were created.  The Enquirer’s Leigh Taylor captured these moments.  Click on a photo below to see a larger resolution version.

Warren County families with low incomes that are in danger of having their utilities turned off this winter may be able to get some assistance.

Help is available through the E-HEAP Winter Crisis program, a federally-funded program administered by Warren County Community Services.

Applicants must be income eligible (for example, a gross annual income of $41,212 or less for a family of four) and either have had their gas and/or electric service turned off, be facing a disconnection of their service or have less than 10 days supply of bulk fuel.

Applications are accepted through March 31. For more information or to apply, call 866-747-1042 for an appointment or go to www.wccsi.org.

Jessica Brown reports:

Some local students may have their school year extended thanks to an early deluge of winter weather this year.

Schools in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky have already canceled classes several times this school year due to ill-timed snowfalls or sub-zero temperatures. The latest round of closures came Monday as arctic temperatures hampered bus transportation, iced over parking lots and posed a frostbite danger for kids waiting at bus stops or walking to school.

A repeat is expected on Tuesday. A few districts decided Monday afternoon to remain closed as forecasts predicted temperatures would continue to hover in negative territory.

The closures this school year have come earlier and more often than normal, superintendents say. Some districts are already planning for summer makeup days.

“This is the first year in all of my career that we’ve had two snow days prior to Christmas, and I’ve always said if we have school closed … before Christmas we will be going to school in the summer,” said Clermont Northeastern schools Superintendent Ralph Shell.

On Monday the district used its third of five allotted “calamity” days because of cold weather and icy roads, Shell said.

Ohio and Kentucky handle snow days differently. In Ohio, the state allows schools to cancel up to five days due to severe weather or other emergency situations without requiring makeup days. These are called “calamity” days and are often made up during spring break or in the summer.

In Kentucky, school districts decide how to make up canceled classes, which are calculated based on hours instead of days. Most tack the hours on into the summer.

Another deciding factor in the closure was the district’s diesel school buses.

“We do not have plug-ins for our buses to keep them warm, and according to (Environmental Protection Agency) rules we aren’t allowed to idle buses to keep them warm,” Shell said.

“Even if kids jump from mom and dad’s car into the bus they are going to be cold until the bus heats up.”

The district can shorten its school calendar to avoid additional days in the summer by conducting a public hearing – but that’s not something Shell wants to think about.

“That’s way down the pipeline,” Shell said. “In this particular situation we are operating on ‘let’s get through this one day at a time.’”

Several other Ohio school districts, including Little Miami, Milford and Loveland,said if they use up all their allotted snow days, they’ll extend the year further into the summer.

The Little Miami school district in Warren County has only one left as of Monday, whereas for the past three years it used few snow days or none. The Milford district was in the same boat Monday with only one snow day left.

“I think the only time we were close to this was when the hurricane came in and we had a lot of days off about five or six years ago,” said Milford Superintendent Bob Farrell.

Loveland used its third snow day Monday.

The region’s largest school district, Cincinnati Public Schools, will make up snow days this summer if needed. But that would be extremely rare for the district of 33,000 students. So far, it’s used only two snow days.

Monday was the fourth day Campbell County canceled school for weather, compared to three cancellations all of last year. It will start making up days May 22. The last day of school was initially scheduled to be May 21.

Same with the Fort Thomas. Snow makeup days will be tacked onto the end of the year. Monday was its second missed day. “That’s unusual, but this is a real winter,” said Superintendent Gene Kirchner. Last year the worst it had was a one-hour delay. The many students walking to school in Fort Thomas was the reason for canceling classes Monday, Kirchner said.

“When you’re talking about wind chills of 20 and 30 degrees below zero, that’s a safety concern,” Kirchner said.

This is the last year Ohio will have calamity days. Under a new Ohio law, when schools start the 2014-2015 school year they will switch from instructional days to instructional hours if their collective bargaining contracts with teachers were initiated after July 1, 2014.

Only a handful of Southwest Ohio school systems may be able to exercise the new option because of the law’s July 1 launch date and the usual labor contract terms of two or three years. For those that do make the switch, they will be allowed to make up the lost time by extending school days, rather than adding entire days to the school year.

Kentucky is already on an hours-based system. According to the 2012 budget bill, the school term shall include, at a minimum, the equivalent of 177 six-hour instructional days (1,062 hours). If a school closes due to weather, the individual districts decide how best to make up that time. District calendars specify when makeup days will occur, often in the summer.

School officials throughout the region say this is has been a particularly bad year so far for closures.

“We are definitely ahead of the game in using snow days. Often we get through December without having used any,” said Mason school district spokeswoman Tracey Carson. “During 2011-12 and ‘12-13, we only used one day. This is definitely not a ‘normal’ year. Between the fast-falling snow we saw in December at the most inconvenient time (snows beginning around 6 a.m.) and this arctic blast that makes the salt useless, we are experiencing a tough winter.”

The 14,000-student Kenton County district has already used four snow days. Superintendent Terri Cox-Cruey said they’ve taken off more days so far this year than in the past two years combined.

“Two years ago we had zero (snow days). Last year we used three,” said Cox-Cruey.

“It’s unprecedented, meaning that we have not used this many days so early as long as I can remember, which is since 2000,” said Ed Theroux, director of student services for Princeton City Schools. “The extreme conditions are hazardous for all children. We could not guarantee that all students would be safe coming in, due to those conditions.”

Most schools said Monday’s decision was easy – the frigid temperatures simply made it too dangerous for students to walk to school or wait on buses. For previous snow days, the timing or amount of snowfall were the deciding factors. Districts make the decisions with student safety in mind, they said.

“It’s too cold for our students to be walking to school,” said Mount Healthy Superintendent Lori Handler. “At these temperatures, frostbite can happen in minutes. We cannot have students walking a half hour up Hamilton Avenue to school.”

The district decided before 4 p.m. Monday to also cancel classes Tuesday.

Reporters Keith BeiryGolick, Chris Mayhew, Amy Scalf, Kelly McBride, Jennie Key and Michael Clark contributed

Mike Dyer reports:

McDonald’s announced its list of 984 high school basketball players from the 2014 class nominated to play in the McDonald’s All American Games this spring.

The list has players from 44 states and the District of Columbia who have been selected by high school coaches, athletic directors, principals and members of the McDonald’s All American Games Selection Committee.

There are 26 players from the Greater Cincinnati region – 22 male and four female players.  Mason’s Jenna Gunn made the list.

• Grant Benzinger, Moeller;
• Tyler Bowling, Lakota West;
• Sydney Brackemyre, Clinton-Massie;
• Kevin Daniels, Hughes;
• Vincent Edwards, Middletown;
• Tim Fleming, Fairfield;
• Jenna Gunn, Mason;
• Tre Hawkins, Moeller;
• Carlas Jackson, Roger Bacon;
• Martin Jones, Winton Woods;
• Jeff Larkin, La Salle;
• Zach McCormick, Turpin;
• Roderick Mills, St. Xavier;
• Kelsey Mitchell, Princeton;
• Dwight Nared, Hughes;
• Aaron Oden, Taft;
• Imani Partlow, Winton Woods;
• Devin Pike, Elder;
• Montrail Roberts, Withrow;
• Tyonte Robertson, Withrow;
• Ronnie Rousseau, Winton Woods;
• Blake Simpson, La Salle;
• Latrell Tidwell, Lakota West;
• Tyler Williams, Lakota West;
• Antonio Woods, Summit Country Day.

The final roster of 24 boys and 24 girls selected will be announced during the McDonald’s All American Games Selection Show on ESPNU on Jan. 29 at 6 p.m.

The 37th annual boys’ game is April 2 at 9:30 p.m. from Chicago’s United Center and will be televised on ESPN. The 13th annual girls’ game is at 7 p.m. April 2 and will televised live on ESPNU.

Ally Marotti reports:

About two months after he pleaded guilty to felonious assault and gross sexual imposition in an attack on a woman, a Mason man was sentenced Monday to four years in prison.

Family members of the woman William F O’Leary Jr. attacked found her severely beaten, with head trauma, nose and facial fractures and other injuries sustained from sexual assault. The woman, also from Mason, was hospitalized for several days and didn’t remember the attack, according to a news release from the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office.

When O’Leary, then 42, was indicted in January 2013, Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell called the incident the worst rape case their office had seen.

He said O’Leary allegedly raped a woman both vaginally and anally with “some type of object” during the attack on July 15, 2012

“The type of injuries she suffered were some of the most severe we’ve ever seen with a sexual assault,” said Fornshell.

Assistant Prosecutor Teresa Hiett wanted a more severe sentence due to the nature and extent of the injuries, according to the release. But because O’Leary didn’t have much of a prior record, Judge Donald Oda imposed the lesser sentence.

O’Leary, a Liberty Township businessman, accepted a plea deal with prosecutors Nov. 20. He pleaded guilty to felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and gross sexual imposition, a third-degree felony, and is required to register as a Tier I sexual offender.

Prosecutors dropped the four first-degree felony counts of rape and two counts of sexual battery.

In court documents, O’Leary’s attorneys claim he and the woman – both married at the time – had an ongoing six-year affair. Both were intoxicated on the night of the incident and neither fully remember what transpired, said one of O’Leary’s attorneys, Stephan Madden.

“Something happened to this woman, no doubt about that,” he said. “(O’Leary) has accepted responsibility for the fact that something happened to her while they were out at some point.”

Rachel Richardson contributed to this report.

Alexander Coolidge reports: