MasonBuzz.com

Jennifer Edwards Baker reports:

A crash involving a semi-tractor trailer, resulting in a large fuel spill, is slowing the morning commute on northbound Interstate 71 in Warren County.

The truck truck driver lost control on an icy lane just before 5:30 a.m. and crashed into the overpass on the right side of the highway in Deerfield Township, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Lebanon post.

The driver was not injured, but the right front tire dangling off the overpass for about a half hour until crews pulled the vehicle down, a dispatcher said.

The entire northbound side of the highway was shut down for about 30 minutes. It reopened about 6 a.m. The right lanes remain closed until further notice.

Now rescue crews are struggling to clean up a large fuel spill, expected to take the next few hours.

The Enquirer will update this story as information develops.

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: commute, crash, highway, i-741, traffic

Jennifer Edwards Baker reports:

A light freezing rain left much of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky ice-slicked this morning. A winter weather advisory remains in effect until 10 a.m.

Cars parked outside are ice-covered, and road crews spent the overnight hours treating streets to keep main routes clear for the morning rush hour.

A major crash related to the weather shut down northbound Interstate 71 at Fields Ertel Road in Warren County between roughly 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Only one lane, the left one, has reopened, while crews clean up a large fuel spill.

A truck driver lost control of his vehicle and slammed into the wall of the Mason-Montgomery Road overpass. No injuries were reported, but the right front tire briefly dangled over the overpass until crews pulled it down.

Metro buses are running on schedule.

The light freezing rain is turning over to drizzling rain as the mercury climbs to and above the freezing mark, said meteorologist Ashley Novak with the National Weather Service in Wilmington.

It’s 32 at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. The high temperature later will climb to 49 degrees under a mix of sun and clouds.

Cincinnati Public Schools is operating on a two-hour delay this morning. Several schools across the region are also on two-hour delays: Fairfield, Lakota, Mason, Mt. Healthy, Northwest and Princeton. Others, such as Little Miami, are starting classes 90 minutes later than usual.

Posted in: News, Weather |

Tags: Tags: commute, crash, fields ertel, freezing rain, i-71, ice, traffic, weather, winter weather advisory

Sheila McLaughlin reports:

Funeral services have been set for Sammy Reagan, the 12-year-old South Lebanon girl who was killed in an 80-plus car pileup Monday on Interstate 275.

Visitation is 4:30-7:30 p.m. today at Rivers Crossing Community Church, 5937 Kings Island Dr., Mason. A service to celebrate her life will be 3:30 p.m. Friday at Hope Church, 4934 Western Row Road, Mason.

Butler County Coroner Lisa Mannix ruled that Sammy died from a head injury. Hamilton County sheriff’s officials said Sammy, who got out of a wrecked car and was standing in the median, was hit by a metal cable barrier that rebounded after a car hit it.

Sammy, a student at Columbia Elementary School in the Kings School District, is survived by her parents, Jill and Bill Reagan, and brothers, Jack and Brian.

Memorial donations are suggested to the Samantha “Sammy” Memorial Fund at any Fifth Third Bank branch. Arrangements are being handled by Tufts Schildmeyer Funeral Home.

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: colerain, columbia elementary, crash, fatality, funeral, i-275, kings schools, sammy reagan

Sheila McLaughlin reports:

The 12-year-old girl killed in an 80-plus car pile up on Interstate 275 Monday morning was identified as Sammy Reagan, a sixth grader at Columbia Elementary School in the Kings School District.

Counselors and psychologists are on hand at Columbia Elementary to help students and teachers deal with their grief. Sammy’s twin brother Jack and younger brother Brian also are students at Columbia.

Hamilton County Sheriff’s officials said Sammy was killed when a median cable snapped from being hit by cars. At the time, she had gotten out of the car she was riding in after it crashed.

Kings spokeswoman Linsday Braud said school officials were told that Sammy was on her way to Perfect North Slopes near Lawrenceburg, for a day of skiing with family and friends. Sammy was riding in the lead car with a babysitter and friends and her mother and brothers were directly behind them. Both cars were involved in the crash, Braud said.

Sammy was the daughter of Bill and Jill Reagan of South Lebanon.

Columbia Principal Shelley Detmer-Bogaert informed students abut Sammy’s death in an early morning announcement

“I know this news makes all of us very sad and that is okay . Sammy was a wonderful young lady and we will miss her,” Detmer-Bogaert told students.

Sammy was being remembered a a student who loved to play soccer and ski. While at South Lebanon Elementary, she was student council president.

Teacher Mike Luke described Sammy as a “rare student,” one that he could tease and joke around with, and who “brought sunshine everywhere she went.”

“I’m just jealous that Jesus is hanging out with her now and not me,” Luke said.

Teacher Jessica Collette remembered Sammy as a “bubbly and bouncy” girl who was friends with everyone.”

“She loved learning and persevered at everything,” Collette said.

Funeral arrangements are pending. An autopsy was being performed at the Butler County Coroner’s Office Tuesday.

The crash investigation is expected to take a week, Sheriff’s officials said.

The wreck, which happened in the midst of quickly freezing roads and snow squalls, sent 20 people to area hospitals. Investigators were checking on their conditions Tuesday but said none of the injuries were life threatening.

Michael D. Clark contributed.

• Video: Passerby captures 275 wreck 
• Video: Witnesses describe I-275 wreck
• Photos:• 86 car pileup, one killed, 30 injured

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: colerain, columbia elementary, crash, fatality, i-275, kings schools, sammy reagan

Michael D. Clark reports:

It was show and tell day for crazed deer as a 10-point buck crashed through a classroom window at Kings Junior High School this morning.

No one was hurt but a math teacher and two students in the room at 7:15 a.m. – prior to the start of the class day – were shocked by the aggressive, horned intruder, says Valerie Browning, superintendent of Kings Schools in Warren County.

“It jumped about 4-5 feet up through a window and the two students were able to exit the room while the teacher was barricaded behind his desk for a few seconds until he could get out of the room,” Browning says.

“The deer was trapped in the empty classroom and the county game warden came and the deer was tranquilized and taken away. We moved the students in that class to another room for the day while we repair the window,” she says.

The school, at 5620 Columbia Road, is bordered on the eastern and southern sides by woods.

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: crash, deer, deerfield township, kings junior high school, kings schools, valerie browning

UPDATE, 10 a.m.: All lanes have reopened on southbound Interstate 71 between the Western Row and Fields Ertel exits after a two-vehicle crash including a Greyhound bus shut down the two right lanes during morning rush hour, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Four people were injured when a car collided with a bus just after 7 a.m. Three people on the bus and one person in the car, a Buick, suffered non-life threatening injuries, a dispatcher said.

All were taken to Bethesda North Hospital in nearby Montgomery.

The crash remains under investigation. No charges have been filed.

ORIGINAL STORY

Jennifer Baker Edwards reports:

A crash involving a Greyhound bus has shut down the two right lanes of southbound Interstate 71 between the Western Row and Fields Ertel exits, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Traffic is backing up to the Kings Mills Exit and beyond, a dispatcher said.

A person inside a vehicle was injured about 7:07 a.m. after that car somehow collided with the bus, she said.

No one on the bus was hurt.

All injuries reported so far are considered non-life threatening.

It is not clear when the highway will fully reopen.

Posted in: News, Traffic |

Tags: Tags: 71, accident, commute, crash, delays, traffic

A Cincinnati-area man was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle Tuesday evening.

The motorcyclist, Antjuan Lear, 35, was pronounced dead at the scene, said Police Detective Troy Nelson.

The crash was reported around 8 p.m. in the 6400 block of Tylersville Road, Mason.

An initial investigation showed that Lear hit the curb of a median and lost control of his motorcycle, Nelson said.

The crash remained under investigation, but it appeared no other vehicles were involved, Nelson said.

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: antjuan lear, cincinnati, crash, fatality, mason, motorcycle, tylersville road

Janice Morse reports:

UPDATE, 7:35 p.m.: All lanes of I-71 north reopened as of 7:15 p.m.

The extent of injuries is unknown.

Contrary to other media reports, there were only four vehicles involved.

UPDATE, 6:15 p.m.: The ramps from east and west I-275 to north I-71 are closed.

UPDATE: 5:28 p.m.: No detours have been set up yet, but a dispatcher says the Ohio Department of Transportation is en route to do so.

The Ohio State Highway patrol advises that northbound traffic should try to exit before reaching Interstate 275; a dispatcher says the highway may not be shut down as long as ARTIIMIS was predicting, but she didn’t have a time estimate yet for reopening it.

SYMMES TWP. – All north lanes of Interstate 71 are blocked near Fields Ertel and Mason-Montgomery roads, ARTIMIS reports.

A semi tractor-trailer was reported overturned around 4:30 p.m.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is handling the investigation.

It will take six hours to clear the scene, ARTIMIS estimated. Three vehicles, plus the truck, were involved in that crash, the patrol said, and three people were being transported to hospitals for treatment of injuries.

A second crash was reported about 20 minutes later, also on Interstate 71 north, about three miles away from the first crash scene. It is unclear whether anyone was hurt.

The left shoulder is blocked at Pfeiffer Road because of the second crash, ARTIMIS said.

Two vehicles are involved in that crash.

The Enquirer and MasonBuzz will update this story when more information is available.

Posted in: News, Traffic |

Tags: Tags: commute, crash, fields ertel, i-71, symmes township, traffic, wreck

Ohio State troopers believe alcohol was a factor in a one-car crash that seriously injured three people Monday morning.

Just before 4 a.m., a 2005 Chevrolet van driven by 26-year-old Rita Henry of Trenton was traveling east on Brewer Road, just west of Mason-Montgomery Road, when the van went off the right side of the road and struck a tree, troopers said.

Henry was transported to the West Chester Medical Center with serious injuries. Rear passenger Allison Caudill, 25, of West Chester Township was flown to University Hospital by UC Air Care with critical injuries. Another rear passenger, 20-year-old Ian Clark of West Chester Township, was transported to Bethesda North Hospital with serious injuries.

Henry was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash but the passengers were not, troopers said.

The crash remains under investigation.

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: alcohol, brewer road, car crash, crash, deerfield township, mason-montgomery road, west chester medical center