stars and huge heartbreaks. did it pay off for locals that competed? their thoughts on the experience. a cat crippled after it's swung and flung by its tail. the latest animal abuse case! how the f-b-i's now treating these cases like a homicide. a peeper busted! accused of peeking into a local home. a bald bandit hits several local stores. new surveillance video only on fox19 now as he grabs boxes and boxes of hair tonic. a long-time local emergency worker goes missing for days. why there are more questions than just his whereabouts. a new law that allows little kids have real guns? it's

tricia macke.. we begin with breaking details another workplace this time in hesston, kansas.. at this hour - we know that up to seven people are dead and as many as result... counted among the it happened excel industries plant where the suspect was an we'll bring you information comes newsroom. right now... this little cat is fighting for her life. rescue workers say she was swung by her tail... and thrown outside. tonight... she can't use half her body. now the f-b-i will be involved in cases like this and others. our ben katko joins us live tonight... with her fight for survival. ava is a new mother to five kittens. as for her... her future is up in the air. we are here at the fbi in kenwood. it's the fbi... that's tracking and

crimes like murder. there is nothing easy about daily life these days for little ava. janel hemrick/joseph's legacy rescue "she pretty much drags the back half of her body everywhere that she goes." rescue workers with joseph's legacy rescue say 2-year old ava was found in brown county. what happened to her... is hard to imagine. janel "she was picked up by her tail. she was swung around the person's head, and she was thrown outside because either her or one of the on the floor." animal abuse cases are on the radar of more than local law enforcement. in january... the fbi launched plans to track animal cruelty alongside crimes like arson and homicide. janel "she also has a broken tail from where they were holding on to her tail." by tracking these crimes... the fbi wants to prevent other crimes... and help save more but for ava... despite small situation is serious.

virtually non- functioning. janel "her spinal cord was not severed, which gave us hope. however, it is basically corkscrewed." ava also has five small kittens. caretakers say they were completely dependent on her when this happened. janel "it's very heartbreaking that someone could take a mom from their small babies. now, we're bottlefeeding five babies." ava's been in and out of different treatments to try to get her healthy again... despite great uncertainty. janel "she keeps fighting. as long as she fights, we'll try to do the same thing." rescue workers tell me that they're in touch with law enforcement in brown county about this. they'll say they'll also be involving the dog warden as well. none of the kittens are up for adoption yet... but they will be eventually. live in kenwood... ben katko... fox19 now. developing now developing now- the balding bandit strikes again! tonight, officers in both ohio and kentucky are looking for the thief who they say

stolen rogaine. our megan o'rourke is live with the latest on the investigation and a look at surveillence video. in just the last few days...the man has hit several area stores including three right here in florence. officers tell us operates the same each time, grabbing the goods, and making a quick escape. take a look at this video from inside the crescent springs walgreen store. watch as the man grabs a basket and immeadiately starts filling it up with boxes of rogaine, and the memory supplement, prevagen. problem is police say he didn't pay for any of it...and not just here, but also at stores in mt. healthy, north college hill, west chester, florence and even as far away as pittsburgh! sot 4 "it's quite a large area that he's covering, he does the same thing every time he goes in and targets the same items." detective erik daniels is investigating the florence thefts. 3 in just 35

and lots of questions about what's happening to the hair medication. sot 5 "i'd say obviously he's not using it just for his personal hygiene, but again we don't know exactly where it's going after it's stolen" residents like xxx have their ideas... but, officers tell me there's a good chance the rogaine and supplements are being sold...so they're keeping a close eye on online auction sites. sot 6 "oh i think there's probably a black market for everything, you, being that it's expensive, if he turns around and sells it for 10 or 15 dollars off somewhere, all of that money is going straight in his pocket, and the person buying it may or may not know that it is stolen property" if you recognize the suspect or

call crime stoppers at 352- 3040. rl mo fox19 now. weather now steve cam breaking now breaking now... police in indiana are looking... for the driver of a suspicious vehicle... for allegedly trying to entice a teen girl in

in dearborn county... it happened yesterday evening.. cops say the man with ohio plates was trying to drugs to get them in the car.. if you see anything police. now county, a manchester high in a jail cell after kidnapped and raped a 15-year-old girl. court records show 18-year old denny blanton, junior allegedly forced the 15-year old into his vehicle on monday, and drove her to a secluded area where he raped her. blanton's in jail on a half-million dollar bond. he's due back in court a week from tomorrow. new at 10... this avondale man is locked up tonight, accused of peeping in a clifton heights window. darrell harris is charged with voyeurism and public indecency. officers say they caught up with harris inside his car on wheeler street after the victim called police. an e-m-t worker in aurora indiana is missing. no one has seen or heard from him since monday and his family is getting worried.

prosecutors are asking questions about something else that's missing. fox 19's michael baldwin is live an michael any word? no tricia we still haven't heard from him. we tried to speak with some of his co workers here at the aurora rescue and they can't talk on camera but said they are concerned. and then there's this. court papers filed just two days after emt craig whitham went missing are asking for bank records. prosecutors in dearborn county want his bank to give them bank records from january 1st of last year to this month. why? they are investigating if he was involved in theft of funds at emergency rescue, inc. his family tells me he has worked as an emt for 20 years. he's a an employee here at the aurora emergency resue. i sat down with his cousin tonight who did not want to go into the theft allegations---rathe r focus on her missing cousin. we are really worried

person and this is not like him. a picture of craig has been posted on the lawrenceburg pd's website asking for help if people have seen him. in it you can see his car which is a silver suv. the family knew something was wrong when go check on him and works all the time said this past monday her dad.. look for him and found his cell phone and his wallet and he knew that wasn't right becsause he never leaves those things behind whitham is only 42 years old. she said she doubts he's just out having a good time somewhere and not contacting his famiy. she told me she is trying to stay positive. we just really want to hear from him and know that he is ok. if he did just take off for awhile and needed some space that is fine we just want to hear from him and know that he is ok we are concerned for his well being now craig left with

credit cards. angel told me as far as she has heard from police the credit cards have not been used. live in aurora michael baldwin fox 19 now. reds 38... that's the number of days until opening day.. and the reds are gearing up in arizona... sports director joe danneman ... is live tonight.. with the latest from spring training... joe? the big talker here tonight continues to be what everyone is thinking at home watching this. that the reds - without frazier and cueto and chapman - just won't be very good. tonight - joey votto says if you say that to him - he'll get in your face. want you to see this video fox19 now captured. it's jay bruce working with eric davis and barry larkin a good two hours after the rest of the team leftt.

star power at this camp - and some swag - thanks brandon phillips - and some pride. cue joey votto. joey votto: "you're going to have to take it from us everyday. and, i refuse to go into a season thinking that it's already set in stone that we're going to be last place or we're not going to make the playoff or we're not going to have a chance to win the world series. and, i brought up getting in people's faces, that's probably the one thing i'll confront people on - if any of that sort of thing would carry into the clubhouse, i'm certainly not going to represent it." just an observation - from watching joey votto now several years here at spring training - he's different this year. he's more involved with his teammates. in fact - today he yelled up to the clubbies to shut off the music during drills so he could quote "talk to these guys more."

fox19 now. guns... in the hands of children. the controversy surrounding a new proposal... coming up.. no no no i'm the only one on the stage that's hired people. you haven't hired anybody. fireworks... in the gop showdown.. a live report on the best moments - ahead. steve chroma breaking this picture just in on that workplace shooting in kansas. the shooter now identified as cedric ford. k-w-c-h showing this picture of the

large gun.

to prison--after killing a man--while texting behind the wheel of his 18- wheeler. the crash happened in boone county last year. tonight--we investigate the problem in the tri- state--and why it's one of the hardest crimes for troopers to catch--and charge. investigative reporter jody barr joins us live from warren county--and jody--warren county has a major problem there? it does-- troopers tell me--they've written more distracted driving tickets in this county than any just about any other county in ohio. as deadly as these things have proven to be behind the wheel--you still see

every day. it's everywhere you look-- people with one hand on the wheel--the other clutching a cell phone. we caught these drivers on camera--from all over the tri- state--in just a couple hours. many times--it ends badly. this trucker's spending the next 7 years in a kentucky prison. investigators say christopher thornhill was texting behind the wheel of his tractor- trailer--sideswiped this car--and ran head on into two others. the crash killed mark sevilla. he was 45 years old. barr: "you don't think he suffered?" cleves: "i don't think so. strack: "i think he was horrified knowing it was coming at him and i can't imagine the terror that went through him." sevilla's sisters, libby and kathy, saw the crash report. investigators found--sevilla hit the brakes just before the

coming. investigators also found--thornhill--in stead of helping the injured--spent time deleting text messages right inside the crash site. strack: "to know that somebody had been there with mark would have been so comforting...but he laid there alone because this guy was worried about his phone." barr: "this driver knew he'd made a big mistake?" strack: "how could you not?" the problem is growing in ohio. ohio patrol records show--between 2013 and 2014, nearly 2,000 crashes involved a cell phone and texting. each year--drivers between 16 and 35 years old caused 61 percent of all cell phone-related crashes across the state. since 2013--cuyahoga county's led the state in distracted driving charges with 82 total. mahoning county ranked second--with warren and hamilton counties coming in third and fourth-highest in the state. ...police radio... but enforcing the state's texting ban is extremely tough. in ohio, police can't stop you for having a phone in your hand--without first catching you on a separate traffic violation. that's why

written 992 texting violations since 2013. "they think it won't happen to them." mark savilla's family tells us--they once thought the same thing--until they were forced to meet christopher thornhill. "it just happened to be our brother that paid the price for his text...took him away because of a text." just down the interstate across the river into kentucky--the law's different. if a cop sees you on this--he can pull you and charge you. the point from the patrol here is--just knock it off when you're behind the wheel. sot stormtracker stinger steve cam the threats... that shut down a local library.. what police are saying ... and when

plan to reopen. nats 4 seconds american closing on the superstars... an american idol history lesson... after the break. "the scariest thing i've ever been through in my

girl from her bedroom window. how she got away and the manhunt underway. the gloves come off. we're live as trump trades jabs rubio. who will be the last man standing? even had long, curly american idol singers. and how play-doh can hack your smart phone.... now! you decide 2016 the field is intensity and stakes are not.. as the remaining presidential facing off tonight in houston.. us live from the university of texas anticipated a tonight, has this

expectations? 30 second debrief how has marco rubio gone after donald trump?: he says five things. everyone's dumb, win win win, he's leading in the

around the states. every night, same thing, dana: senator rubio only let her say it once polls, and the lines every night, same thing, only let her say it once a lot of interest here in ohio governor john kasich... does this look like the end

kasich... does this look like the end for him? check this out from hamilton county republican

county republican party chairman alex triantafilou! he was at the debate tonight and took former first lady to the former selfie. have approved a bill aged 14 and under... the controversial proposal would let kids handle a pistol, revolver or they'd only be able to use the weapon under parental supervision... opponents claim it supporters say it's issue. the bill passed the iowa house and now moves to the senate.. breaking now.... revised the dead and injured in a workplace shooting in kansas. four people are dead, including the shooter, who's been identified as 14 people are hurt in the mass shooting at the

hesston, kansas. the swat team surrounded a home in newton, but it's not clear who they think may be in there. we're monitoring the developments in this investigation and will bring you upates on air and on fox19now. com developing now developing now, an ohio neighborhood is shaken after a man tried to pull a 10-year-old girl from her bed out of her bedroom window. "make sure your kids are aware, that there is danger out there!" "obviously this is a very dangerous person. to try to pull this girl out of her bed, early in the morning, this is somebody that we need to get off the streets very quickly." it happened just before 4 this morning in elyria, near cleveland. the girl told police she awoke to a hooded man grabbing her legs, trying to pull her out of this window. they think he took a ladder from the yard and leaned it against the house. the f-b-i has been

to track down the suspect. right now right now- police are investigating shooting threats that forced the kenton county library to close today... no one suspicious was found after a sweep by swat and canine units... several threats were made against a person working at a desk at the library. social media posts from a man named daniel said he had lost his kids when he went to jail and that he might as well go shoot up a library. the library will be re-opened for regular hours tomorrow.. despite signs that the economy is showing improvement... a recent study has found cincinnati is still in the top ten large u-s cities in distress... according to the new york times. cincinnati came in at number 10 ... after being scored on several factors including adults without a high school degree, poverty rate, unemployed adults and average income. the most distressed large city was cleveland... followed by detroit.

continues to get "legal weed" back ohio. about the impact recreational pot and it isn't good.. legalized marijuana is leading to more trips to the e-r! since colorado made it legal two years ago, emergency room visits by out-of- staters have spiked! doctors say experimental pot smokers aren't prepared to handle the side effects, they also say edible marijuana have delayed could trigger an overdose. american idol you just watched american idol... reveal the top 10... the hit show changed pop culture and created superstars. but all good things must come it an end -- and this season is the show's "swan song." fox19 now's frank marzullo sat down with some local idol contestants. what the show means to them and to music. kelly clarkson, carrie underwood -- superstar hit

have never been discovered without american idol. for 15 seasons, watch some great singers -- and some pretty bad ones too. and the tri-state talented contestants representing. pkg "music of show open" for years -- that sound has meant idol has been one successful shows every week -- tuned in to watch dreams come true. a singer plucked out of obscurity superstar. american idol 2002 is.... kelly clarkson. applause." not only did she win and go on to win grammys and top the charts, she also inspired future idol conntestants...like cincinnati's own jess lamb.. "i think she's the best that's ever been on the show." jess, who competed on season 14 is a longtime cincinnati musician, who says what viewers didn't see was how nurturing the judges were to

helped take her queen city music career to a new level. in fact, jess was just named cincinnati artist of the year. "the press that i got from the show really propelled me forward. i had music online, i was selling maybe 10 songs to selling a hundred songs. that was a beautiful thing to happen." "the winner of american idol 2005 is carrie underwood." that moment centerville native alexis gomez really hit home.. that hometown girl, she even had long, curly hair." alexis had been singing and playing country music all her life...she ended up making it into the top 16 of season 14. since the show, she's signed with a management team in nashville and might be moving there fulltime. but she said, the impact of the show was as much on the fans as the artists... "american idol was all about having that connection to somebody you knew through your tv

person who could have been someone from down the street." q-1o2 dj jon jon agrees...he also said idol changed the way artists are discovered. "idol has been that thing where you not only get to see an new artist, but you get to follow them in their journey on the show, that's the coolest thing about it i think." that and also...let's be honest...some of the really bad auditions were pretty funny too. william hung, remember him? "she bangs, she bangs...ok, thank you.. you cant sing, you can't dance, so what do you want me to say?" a classic..we'll miss you american idol.... and if you miss seeing simon cowell...you want to keep watching. rumor is ...original judges...simon, paula abdul and randy jackson are expected back to say goodbye. frank marzullo, fox19 now. a kentucky garbage man making headlines tonight -- after his good deed goes viral. after 16-years on the job .. clifford gentry is somewhat of an expert on

what's not. that's why when he and his crew saw an american flag out on the curb in lexington on wednesday ... he knew something wasn't right. "it aint suppose to touch the ground, it aint suppose to touch no funky dirt -- you know garbage and grind it all up and you know ... a lot of people faught for this country and its like ... its just wrong." so without another thought ... gentry picked up the flag, unrolled it ...and found a spot for it on his truck. that's where he thought the story ended ... until an army veteran snapped this photo -- which is now going viral. gentry says the flag won't stay on the truck ... he plans to take it home, and display it on his porch. he says he hopes this story will teach others a little respect for the red, white and blue. i failed him in that moment. an emotional dad.... sticking up for his son.. with down syndrome. the viral video after the break. coming up getting past an iphone fingerprint lock with play- doh! what you need to know to keep

way. will barry larkin manage someday? get his very interesting take. and byron larkin weighs in on xavier. are they now a one-seed? that's coming up with joe and jeremy. talk about a surprise twist for dozens of

surprise twist for dozens of passengers on a recent jetblue flight. the airline conducted a social experiment .. offering all 150 passengers a free round-trip ticket for a future flight to anywhere the airline flies ... but of course, there was a catch. they all had to work together and unanimously agree on one destination, by the end of the flight. using paddles they narrowed it down destination ... remarkably all rica. wants to everyone to reach across the aisle. going viral---a canadian father

down syndrome shared an emotional video after hearing another father tell his son that down syndrome was "an illness of not knowing anything." in not speaking up - the father says, he failed his son. "down syndrome is literally one of the most beautiful things that's ever happened to my life. it's fun, brilliant, it's amazing, it's funny, it's kind, it's loving, it's cuddly.. million times on comments are support for the dad and his family. live wx tease if you've got kids--you may have

this week--the president of a chinese mobile security start-up showed reporters he could unlock an iphone with play- doh! he made a mold of his fingerprintthen held that up to the sensor, and

phone. great party trickbut what does it mean for you? well, as cool as that fingerprint feature is, it's not perfect in terms of security. a few years ago, in fact, a german hacker was able to take a high-resolution picture of a politician's finger, and use it to unlock her phone! the odds of a thief carrying around play-doh or having the technical ability to do what the german hacker did are low, but the reality is--you may be putting your own personal information at real risk yourself! only 36% of smart phone users in america bother to lock the screen with a passcode! the simply money point: whether you use a fingerprint or a good, 4 or 6- digit code, make it just a little harder for thieves to rip you off! for fox 19 now and simply money, i'm nathan bachrach. sot "steve weather animation" steve chroma key steve gfx sot "sports open" jer bam gfx a quick google of

me, he's trying to sell his mansion in orlando for a cool 3-million dollars. maybe there's something to that. joe d is live with the reds in arizona. joe live three days done of full squad spring training... and the big stories are this... devin mesoraco and zack cozart look fine - they're healthy. jay bruce is still a red. and barry larkin coaches hard. his first time working with big league players... larkin is spending a lot of time around the batting cage talking hitting. he's on staff as a minor league instructor - but this is first spring training working with the big boys. looks every bit a future manager - would he ever do it? watch for the smile at the end of this quote. barry larkin: "if the opportunity presents itself, we'll see. but, the conditions have to be right and, you know, the manager's job, at least

manager's position. it's about having the support system to support that manager's position and, if that's the case, it's certainly something i would have interest in if that opportunity presented itself." joe live "never say never" is the exact quote from the hall of famer. jeremy - he's fluent in spanish - seems to connect well with the latin players here at camp. jer bam gfx thanks joe... coming up... it was the most watched big east game in fs1 history, what does it mean for x in the tourney? we hear from another larkin, next. i stormed the

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keep moving up and possibly get a number one seed and that'd be great." jer hplaz gfx right now. jerry palm says xavier is a one-seed. joe lunardi still has the muskies a two-seed. and i'll just leave this right here... x is 6-and-1 against top 25 teams. nku on the road in cleveland tonight.

continues his campaign for freshman of the year in the horizon. had 20 and 12, his 5th double double this season. lavone holland hit one shot, it tied the game at 48-all with 10 to play, but with 10 seconds left... norse need a miracle down 4, no sir. cleveland state hangs on 63-58 to the nfl combine... could the bengals grab braxton miller in the first round? he's just one of 14 buckeyes at the combine. anywhere from five to six are projected first rounders. middletown's jalin marshall, has some ground to make up. jalin marshall: "i just want to prove that i belong here to be able to play in the nfl with the best of the best. i have an opportunity to prove that through this whole weekend and i'll continue to do so." tricia 4-shot steve's tracking the next 24 hours.. tricia cam don't forget we're always tracking

sot "announcer: now with the fox19 mobile app, you'll never be without fox19 news. from fox19.com to text and email alerts for breaking news and weather. it's all right here in the palm of your hand." sot full " " vo vo

[ crow caws ] frankie: out here in the middle, we love to chat. we chat at the grocery store. we chat at the gas station. yep, there's nothing we look forward to more than a good chat -- unless it's this one. can we chat for a minute? uh, sure. [ sighs ] mike. really? i thought you had this covered. [ groans ] [ sighs ] [ sports announcer talking ] mike. i was gonna mute it. [ tv mutes ] mom, dad, i've decided i'd like to be popular. okay.