ROSS - After a Free Times story, a person of interest.

Our September 26 cover story,  "The Serial Killer's Disciple,"  told the sordid tale of Akron city worker/presumed serial killer Bob Buell and the young man who loved him. Police believed Buell abducted, raped and murdered 11-year-old Marshallville resident Krista Harrison in 1982 and that Buell was also responsible for the deaths of several other young girls before his arrest in 1983 (Buell was found guilty of Harrison's murder and executed in 2002). But long-lost police reports and grand jury testimony, uncovered by the Free Times, suggest Buell's nephew, Ralph Ross Jr., may have played a part in Harrison's murder.

Days after publication, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office assigned a deputy to track down forensic evidence in the 25-year-old Harrison homicide. Marshallville Police Chief Tom Rocker says there is a "renewed interest in the case here because of the questions raised in the article. It got my attention." Other jurisdictions have also contacted Free Times for further details to see how it matches up to similar abductions and murders that occurred in Steubenville and Wheeling, West Virginia. And Bay Village police have expressed interest in testing the evidence from the Harrison case against evidence collected in the unsolved murder of Amy Mihaljevic.

Could all these cases be connected?

The only one who knows for sure is Ralph Ross Jr., whose name is quickly becoming very popular among local detectives and FBI agents working Ohio's coldest cases. - James Renner

SQUARE PEGS

The city began enforcing its 10 p.m. curfew on Public Square last week, as expected. What wasn't expected was the expurgation of the various do-gooder groups often seen feeding the homeless there, and how the city would blame it all on those pesky rats.

It happens just when things were coming together. Leading up to the curfew implementation, Brian Davis, director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, held meetings among the various charitable groups that have, for decades, convened on Public Square to feed homeless people. The assemblage was aiming to find a permanent indoor venue for their benevolence.

But during these discussions, a rat problem on Public Square was targeted for discussion, as well as the travesty of how sometimes, when the planets are aligned just so, several of the groups were doling out free grub simultaneously. The city caught wind of the problems and last week swooped in to administer the tough love these people had coming to them.

During a post-curfew sprucing to the few Public Square quadrants not already upended by the turtle-paced Euclid Corridor project, the city's Health Department found 24 rat nests, Davis says, providing the excuse the city needed to demand a permit from any group trying to dole out free food.

"I'm not a rat expert," Davis says, "but this certainly took us by surprise. Being downtown for so many years, I was sure that rats were not confined to the Public Square area."

One group tried to set up its tables at noon Wednesday, Davis says, only to be shooed away by Police Chief Michael McGrath himself. They moved to another downtown park and were told to skedaddle from there or risk arrest. The city is recommending, instead, that all this karmic realignment take place in a shabby lot on shabbier Davenport near shabby-as-hell East 18th, not far from the city's largest homeless shelter at 2100 Lakeside.

Davis says the problem stems primarily from how nuisances are magnified now that much of Public Square is closed to everyone due to construction.

"For most of the population, they don't want to see homeless people at all," Davis says. "But the [Euclid Corridor] project has made downtown businesses angry over the crowded nature of Public Square. There's really only one quadrant in front of Key Bank open now, and you just can't have regular pedestrian traffic and 200 homeless people eating there together, can you? It just doesn't work."

In a letter to Natoya Walker, an aide to Mayor Frank Jackson, Davis assumes partial responsibility for the cleansing due to the public meetings that spilled way too much ammunition on the ground. "It will make [charitable groups] leery of talking to the city about issues if they are afraid that the city will take action to further alienate the homeless population," he told her.

Davis says he and the city are close to a temporary compromise that might allow the charitable groups to assemble in a park and get permits to distribute food (though none have been awarded thus far). In the meantime, we'll keep an eye on whether the cops are also giving the bum's rush to downtown working stiffs enjoying the few remaining days of warmth and sunshine by eating lunch outside. The city may distinguish between the classes, but rats don't. - Dan Harkins

SMELLS LIKE VICTORY

General Environmental Management, the hazardous-waste facility responsible for that piney, vomitous smell wafting over I-77, is currently in the midst of a legal battle with the city of Cleveland. Seems that lazy oversight resulted in a tremendous explosion in 2006 ( "Smell You Later,"  September 26, 2006). The case is in Housing Court, and Judge Pianka has yet to rule on damages and penalties, but breathable-air activists are already shouting "Victory!" Within court documents obtained by Ohio Citizen Action, GEM owner Eric Lofquist cries "uncle!" and states that his factory may shut down for good early next year.

In trial proceedings, Lofquist is pointedly asked what he intends to do to prevent further accidents from happening at his facility. "We plan on ceasing operations," he answered. Tentative date: May 1, 2008. Until then, just try not to breath too much around Tri-C. - JR

IRON, MAN!

Lola and Lolita owner and chef Michael Symon barely made it through the first round of Food Network's reality show The Next Iron Chef, which aired Sunday. The last of the contestants to be spared (seven remain), Symon was dressed down by the judges for admitting that a dish he prepared in a competition was inspired by a dessert chef he works with.

Judge Michael Ruhlman, also a Clevelander, noted after the show on his blog (blog.ruhlman.com): "This was about artistry and originality and he was using a dish that he didn't even come up with. Honestly, he was lucky it tasted so good."

The episode will air several more times (check foodtv.com for times); part two debuts at 9 p.m. Sunday. - Frank Lewis

RUST BELT REPORT

Indians defeat Yankees in game marked by clouds of bugs on the field.

Swarms, the Tribe in the playoffs - the end is nigh!

LeBron James wears Yankees hat during Indian's playoff game.

We are all witnesses ... to douchebaggery.

NASA Glenn develops computer chip that functions at 932 degrees Fahrenheit.

"It's too hot to handle," says NASA scientist M.C. Hammer.

Local Web site tattles on healthy people who park in handicap spaces.

Hey, we're emotionally crippled!

SYMON

State Representative accidentally shows nude picture to school kids during slide show.

Students agree: Best slide show ehhh-ver!

Grassroots group wants universal health care for all Ohioans.

And a dime bag, if you're holding.

Mittal Steel factory incinerates 4,000 pounds of pot, cocaine and guns seized by local police departments.

Accidentally creating new designer drug that teens are calling "slag."

Cleveland nursing home creates advertisement for YouTube.

Says old man: "Leave Britney alone!"

Seven clerk of courts candidates kicked off ballot in Cuyahoga Falls after it's revealed they're just Republicans pretending to be Democrats.

Can we go back to '04 and do that to Tim Hagan?

Replica of Wright Brothers' airplane crashes at air show.

"Apparently two Wrights make a wrong!" says your uncool uncle.

Lawyer Fred Nance to work with Cuyahoga County to lure MedMart business.

First step: New stadium.

Tallmadge High School football players charged with rape after hazing ritual gets out of hand.

Hamster still too emotional to give statement.

Celebrated children's book author Jean Troy, 80, dies in Eastlake.

House blew down. Wolf wanted for questioning.

Cleveland Clinic unveils Top Ten list of the best medical innovations for 2008.

#8 Your mom - she always makes me feel better! Oh!

ASK A BASTARD

Dear Bastard,

My boyfriend wants me to go to a strip club with him and get a lap dance. I admit I'm kind of curious, but I'm bothered by how excited he is about it. That seems wrong. What should I do?

Dear Dumbtard,

Here's a short and incomplete list of things guys like:

1) Watching strippers.

2) Watching chicks getting it on.

3) When the chicks they sleep with are cool with porn and strippers.

You haven't indicated any problem with your BF going to a strip club as such, and you admit to curiosity yourself, but you object to your BF being excited by you in a strip club? Don't be a dumbshit. He's trying to include you in an activity he enjoys. If you're kind of curious, fucking go with him and get a lap dance. Nobody's forcing you to go back a second time if you're not into it, right? On the other hand, if you're the type of GF who's gonna point at every dancer in the place and ask your man if he thinks she's hotter than you, spare him the hassle and stay the fuck home. Strippers are hotter than girlfriends. That's their job.