22 INDICTED BY GRAND JURY:

Twenty-two indictments by a Washington County Grand Jury were announced by prosecutors today.

Among them was Anthony R. Nichols II, 27, of Chesterhill, who was arrested Aug. 21 after forcing his girlfriend to flee from police in their vehicle. He was apprehended after the vehicle crashed on Sweat Road in Athens.

The chase began at the Bartlett Corner Store he is suspected of robbing on July 23.

Nichols is charged with two counts of second-degree felony robbery, two counts of third-degree felony abduction and one count of second-degree felony kidnapping.

A complete list of those indicted will appear in the weekend edition of The Marietta Times.

STAE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS RESIGN:

COLUMBUS (AP) - Two of Ohio's top law enforcement officials have stepped down with the suggestion that both needed to go to improve relations within the Department of Public Safety.

Gov. Ted Strickland said Friday that he accepted the resignations of Public Safety Director Henry Guzman and the Ohio State Highway Patrol superintendent, Col. Richard Collins.

Guzman told Strickland on Thursday that he wanted to work in another part of Strickland's administration.

Later Thursday, Collins agreed to step down, "so that new leadership at the State Highway Patrol could join in the effort to have the Department and the Patrol move forward collaboratively," Strickland's office said.

Strickland said in an interview that the strained relationship likely led to Guzman's request to resign.

Strickland said he was concerned about morale at the agencies but said it wasn't unusual for officials in large departments to not always see eye-to-eye.

"I don't think that should diminish from the service that either of them have provided to our state," the governor said.

The two men did not get along and their relationship hurt decision-making at the patrol, said Larry Phillips, president of the union representing troopers.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT H1N1 KEEP PIGS OUT OF VERMONT FAIR:

LYNDONVILLE, Vt. (AP) - No sow and piglets in the children's barnyard at this year's Caledonia County Fair. No baby pig chases, either.

Swine are unwelcome at Vermont's oldest fair - uninvited because of misconceptions about how the swine flu virus spreads. Although the novel H1N1 pandemic virus is primarily a human disease, transmitted from human to human, fair officials say they want to protect themselves from bad publicity or frivolous lawsuits if someone gets sick and blames it on a pig.

That puts the Caledonia County Fair at odds with most other fairs across the country, which are going to great lengths this year to protect their pigs from people since the virus can be transmitted to the animals by humans.

The virus, which has turned up in herds in Canada, Argentina and Australia, has yet to been found in pigs in the U.S. In one rare instance, it might have jumped from pigs to two hog inspectors in Canada, but officials told the Canadian Press they could not be certain.

Fairs and petting zoos routinely encourage handwashing to protect people from animal-borne illnesses like E. coli. Now some fairs are urging handwashing to protect the animals - specifically pigs - from the current pandemic.