CINCINNATI —

Rain in the forecast is bringing flood alerts to some communities and changing weather conditions are also helping to create another problem – potholes.

“It’s horrible, horrible,” said one driver.

In February, Cincinnati received more than 600 pothole reports. That’s twice the number in January and the highest number of potholes reports in the last several months.

“It’s the worst I’ve seen it in years,” Jon Seymoure said. “It’s like driving through land mines. Everybody is trying to weave around them.”

The top neighborhoods for reported potholes are Westwood, followed by Oakley and West Price Hill.

The top roads with reported potholes are River Road, followed by Glenway Avenue and Montana Avenue.

Reporting the problem can be done by phone or on the city’s website, but getting a fix is more difficult. The tracking page shows many are going unfixed for between 40 and about 75 days.

Meanwhile, auto repair shops are also seeing the results of more potholes.

“We’ve had bent tie rods, bent control arms, bent struts,” said General Manager of Bob Sumerel in Newport Russ Zolnowski. “If a tire blows out when it hits a pothole it can take out fenders.”

CINCINNATI —

Cincinnati police said a man stabbed two people in Westwood on Thanksgiving Day.

Officers shocked him with a taser and shot him in the leg while he was still wielding the knife, according to police.

Investigators said the officers involved are now on administrative leave, which is standard protocol.

Meanwhile, neighbors who saw the chaos are glad it's over.

The FOP president told WLWT that the suspect has since been treated and released from the hospital, but he will be charged.

It was an unnerving way for people to spend the holiday.

"I seen the arguing and all of that took place, but then afterwards, police showed up, all of that came and I'm like, 'Oh my God,'" a neighbor who didn't want to be identified told WLWT.

The neighbor has only lived in Lafeuille Apartment Homes for a few months but said this holiday with her two small children has now been marred by madness next door.

"I mean, even if there is a little bit of family drama, you're not expecting it to end in stabbings. So, yes, it definitely is shocking and crazy. Especially for it to happen in this apartment complex," she said.

She didn't want to be identified to protect her family.

Cincinnati police said a 911 call came in Thursday afternoon, reporting someone in an apartment trying to stab people.

They said two officers responded and found a man and a woman stabbed.

Investigators told WLWT that officers told the suspect to drop a knife and when the suspect wouldn't comply, they fired a gun and deployed a taser.

The specific timeline has not been released by CPD.

"We don't have that set of sequence of events as of yet," Asst. Chief Terri Theetge said.

Police said the suspect was shot in the leg.

He was at UC Medical Center and in stable condition, police said.

Officers said no one has life-threatening injuries.

FOP President Dan Hils released a statement about the incident late Thursday night:

"Today, while most Cincinnati residents safely enjoyed Thanksgiving with family, our local police officers were on patrol, protecting people. One of those officers was called to a local home after a 911 call about a dangerous man with a knife who was cutting people. She and another officer came upon a man wielding a knife. That man refused orders to drop the knife and then approached the officers with the knife. Both officers immediately saw the threat, and both acted quickly. One officer deployed his Taser device while the other simultaneously fired her service weapon. They stopped the threat. The criminal was treated and released from the hospital, and he will be charged. Both officers are uninjured. Everyone in Cincinnati can be thankful that, even on holidays, they have brave, quick-thinking police officers on patrol, risking their own lives to protect others."

It's still not clear what led up to the stabbings, as CPD remains tight-lipped.

Neighbors said they are relieved the incident is over.

"I didn't want them watching that. I was watching it but I was keeping them away from the windows, when the arguing, you know, I didn't want them to hear all of that. It's Thanksgiving, you know," the neighbor said.

No one at the apartment involved answered the door.

There was blood on the ground as well as empty bandage wrappers just outside the door.

Cincinnati police said they believe the victims and the suspect are family members.

They haven't shared the suspect's name, age, or if he has a criminal history.

Police said the Criminal Investigation Section is now investigating and the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office is involved.

CINCINNATI —

Five months after he was shot in Westwood, an 8-year-old boy is back home.

Marcellus "MJ" Whitehead spent several months in the hospital and several weeks in October in a rehab facility. He went home Monday.

The little boy was walking to the corner store with his brother when he was shot in the head and leg in June. He was one of four victims and suffered a traumatic brain injury.

The boy's mom, Marcella Thompson, said doctors did not expect her son to survive the first night in the hospital. She always believed he would survive and make it home.

"The power of God. Miracles do happen," she said. "It feels great to have my baby back at home. It feels good to have all four of my kids back together."

MJ is in a wheelchair. Donations to a GoFundMe page to support the family helped purchase a wheelchair ramp at the family's home.

"I just want to thank each and every last person that prayed for us and followed my baby's story," Thompson said. "We just love that little boy, and I know he feels all the love."

Thompson said her church, Revelations Baptist Church, and her son's little league football team, the Sin City Gators, have been especially supportive during the last five months.

She is believing for another miracle, that her son will walk and talk again.

"He don't talk much but he does make sounds. He reacts to our voices, he's starting to move his eyes a little more," she explained. "He's determined. He's not a quitter. He's definitely the true meaning of a fighter."

Sadly, she knows her son likely will not be the last child or innocent victim shot on the streets of Cincinnati. She is determined to be a voice encouraging youth to put down the guns.

"It is tiring. It is frustrating. It is heartbreaking. It is devastating. All of the above," she said.

The quadruple shooting in June served as a catalyst for change in the Westwood community. Advocates, who have been working with and for youth for years, say they are starting to see new faces.

"They're saying 'what can I do.' We're having people from the outside coming to our meetings more than people who live on the inside," said Rodney Christian. "That's a little different and we accept that."

Christian is a minister at Third Presbyterian Church and president of the East Westwood community council. As part of his outreach efforts, he meets weekly with men and teens who are on the wrong path or living a life of crime. He said the young men he meets with are also hungry for change.

"It's the guys out there that said, 'Mr. Rodney, we're tired of the shooting,'" Christian said. "They're in the process. I don't expect them to stop right away. It would be nice, but we know no one can stop a bad habit right away. It takes time."

Christian said they are in the process of renovating a building up the street to serve as a hope resource center.

"One of the reasons a lot of our young people are out there is they have no hope. And this is going to help them get jobs and prepare to get jobs, get interviews," he said. "Our slogan is movement with progress. It takes some time."

The church has also been getting a lot of use out of its new playground and basketball court, considered a safe haven.

"They feel like someone gives them hope," Christian said. "And they keep coming."

Police are searching for a suspect in connection with an aggravated robbery in the Westwood area. Police describe the suspect as a Black male in his late teens with a slight build, wearing black, saggy skinny jeans, a white tank top, and a camo facial covering. The suspect was said to be driving a 2007-09 silver Mazda 3. The vehicle is described as having a loud exhaust, dark tinted windows, and low-profile tires with a spoiler on the trunk. The police ask that you contact Detective Joe Coombs at 513-263-8327 if you have any information on this matter.

CINCINNATI —

One person is dead and two others are injured following a triple shooting on Cincinnati’s west side.

It happened around 4 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Montana Avenue and Westwood Northern Boulevard in the city’s Westwood neighborhood, police said.

Three people were found shot near the intersection.

Officials with the Cincinnati Police Department say one of those victims was killed.

Two others were taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Their conditions are unknown.

Police say they are looking for a black or possibly green SUV in connection to the shooting. That vehicle was last seen driving on Westwood Northern Boulevard.

The investigation is ongoing. Police have not identified any of the victims.

WLWT has a crew on the scene and will update this story as details develop.

CINCINNATI —

After a quadruple shooting in Westwood on Saturday left two children in critical condition, community members are outraged.

Officials are already pushing for more effective solutions to gun violence this summer.

The shooting happened at McHenry and Cavanaugh avenues just after 6 p.m.

Investigators said a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old were shot, and at least one has life-threatening injuries.

It's a situation that leaves people feeling uneasy and angry.

"I heard this about this 6-year-old and 8-year-old and I said, 'Look, it's time for me to get back out there,'" State Sen. Cecil Thomas said.

Thomas sees a troubling trend in Cincinnati, one that seems awfully familiar.

"Right after we had civil unrest in 2001, we started to see an uptick in violence, you know, shootings and I remember a child getting shot, and this brought back those memories and I said, 'Wow, we've got to do something about this,'" he said.

It was this most recent shooting that jogged his memory.

Cincinnati police said, in broad daylight, a 6-year-old and 8-year-old, as well as two men in their late teens were shot.

The young victims, who were caught in the crossfire, are at Cincinnati Children's Hospital in critical condition.

The men, we're told, had non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Thomas looks back at the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence at its inception, examining what's happening in the lives of those who are in the streets, tempted to pull the trigger.

He said Cincinnati needs the focused approach it once had, which has been weakened by slashed funding.

Thomas said it starts with investing in 15 new street advocates who could make all the difference at just the right time.

"Where now, this individual that may be thinking about firing a gun at 2 o'clock in the morning, he had that advocate that he could call on his cell phone. That advocate was available 24 hours a day. He'd call him and say, 'Hey man, I'm thinking about doing something', so the advocate would meet him and say, 'Naw man, let's talk this out,'" Thomas said.

Thomas' vision is that 15 advocates would work with about 30 or so clients to help curb the violence this summer.

He said the price tag sits about $500,000.

Cincinnati police said they have no suspect information in this latest shooting.

Mayor John Cranley said police have "strong leads."

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040.