Thursday, January 24th, 2008

Celina man enters not guilty pleas to charges

By Margie Wuebker
A Celina man appeared Wednesday morning in Mercer County Common Pleas Court and pleaded not guilty to numerous charges stemming from a Jan. 2 incident when he allegedly restrained and threatened his girlfriend.
Justin B. Williams, 27, 414 S. Sugar St., was indicted last week by a grand jury on two counts of kidnapping, two counts of endangering children and individual counts of abduction, aggravated menacing, menacing and domestic violence. The offenses range from first-degree felonies to a less serious first-degree misdemeanor.
Judge Jeffrey Ingraham set Feb. 13 for a pretrial hearing and continued a $500,000 bond, despite requests for modification from defense attorney David William Bruns.
Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Matt Fox countered Bruns' request citing the "extraordinary and excessively violent" nature of the crime, which involved a gun, knife and duct tape.
Williams and the unidentified 24-year-old woman reportedly got into an argument Jan. 2 at the home they share. At some point during the altercation, he allegedly tied her hands and feet with duct tape and confined her to a utility room.
Police believe he threatened the woman with a .45-caliber handgun and a knife during the altercation before finally releasing her to do work around the house.
The woman left for work the next morning and reported the incident to an unidentified social services agency representative. Initial contact with authorities took place around 10 a.m. and officers executed a search warrant shortly before 2:45 p.m. When Williams failed to answer the locked front door, police used a key provided by the victim to enter the two-story home.
They located the suspect lying in bed in an upstairs room and found the gun tucked between the wall and the headboard. The couple's young children - ages 3 and 1 - were found unharmed in an adjacent bedroom.
Police had not been summoned to the Sugar Street residence for domestic altercations in the past. Court records indicate Williams has a history of misdemeanor charges dating back to Sept. 1, 2003, which involve obstructing official business, driving under suspension and disorderly conduct.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the kidnapping charges with the other charges carrying up to an additional 15 years behind bars.
Additional online story on this date
COLDWATER - Lab technicians at Mercer Health received a delayed Christmas present Wednesday night as board members approved the purchase of high-tech equipment used to analyze samples such as blood, tissue and urine. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
Cost appears to be the main reason why local adults are hesitant to get vaccinated with three of the newest vaccines on the market, says health officials in Mercer and Auglaize counties.
The Mercer County Educational Service Center (ESC) board of governors will increase the salary schedule for speech and language pathologists in order to lure such professionals in a highly competitive market.
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
This time of year, every basketball game is a big game.
Friday's annual matchup between Marion Local and Coldwater
The Celina High School Hall of Fame will induct its newest honorees on Saturday between the jayvee and varsity games of the Piqua-Celina boys basketb
Friday, 6:30 p.m. Wildcat Gymnasium
Last Game: St. Henry dropped its second straight game in a 52-51 decision to Ansonia. ... The Wildcats lost their second straight game with a 58-44 loss against Botkins.
Friday, 6:30 p.m. Tiger Gymnasium
Last Game: The top-ranked New Knoxville Rangers blew away Fort Jennings in the fourth quarter to stay perfect at 14-0. ... Versailles made the short trip to Naveau Gymnasium and lost 62-50 to rival Russia.
Friday, 6:30 p.m. Panther Gymnasium
Last Game: New Bremen dominated throughout its game with Versailles en route to a 48-34 win over the Tigers on Friday. ... Parkway picked up its third straight win with a 57-54 triumph at Lincolnview on Saturday night.
Friday, 6:30 p.m. Fort Site Fieldhouse
Last Game: The Blue Jays got their second win in just the last seven games in beating St. Marys, 62-51. ... Fort Recovery made it three wins out of four, beating Greenville 56-50.
Friday, 6:30 p.m. Elida Fieldhouse
Last Game: A solid shooting game - at a nearly 50 percent clip - was mellowed by 21 turnovers as Celina lost its annual rivalry game to Coldwater 65-51 at the Fieldhouse. ... Elida lost its third straight game in falling to Toledo Central Catholic 57-49 on Saturday night.
Friday, 6:30 p.m. The Cougar Den
Last Game: The Roughriders lost their fifth straight game in falling 62-51 to St. John's last Friday night. ... The Cougars won their second straight game in beating Wapakoneta 57-36 last Friday.
Compiled by Ryan Hines
The Parkway girls basketball team rolled to a 71-6 win over Sidney Christian Academy on Tuesday evening.
Hannah Harshman led Parkway (2-12) with 12 points while Tara Luth added 11 points as 12 different Panthers scored at least two points.