Part 2 of 2 ERIC ALBRECHT | DISPATCH Jimmy Thivener packs up his belongings in search of a better life on the West Side. Coming home Resolving legal problems opens door to a new life He's deep in the woods, breathing hard, becoming desperate as the December sun dips low on a freezing afternoon. Grand problems define Jimmy Thivener's life. He lives alone in a tent, estranged from his Columbus family, unemployed and facing an array of medical problems. To return from society's fringe, he first must clear his legal record of two minor misdemeanors. » Part 1: Path to redemption Can a Columbus man living in the woods find his way home?

Today's Top Stories

• RAY HANLEY | 1947-2006: Community loses a fierce arts advocate
• Officials trap bear that may have killed Ohioan
• FALL FROM FIFTH FLOOR: Death accidental, detectives say
• Poison-control center seeks financial support
  Calls have increased while state funding has waned
• COMMENTARY: Homeless children find stability at center
• Calls about poisonings
• Child sex offender classifications

Central Ohio news

• Campaigning like pros
  As school levies become tougher to pass, backers' strategies grow more sophisticated
• EMERALD ASH BORER: State urges cities to set plan to deal with pests
• SCHOOL NOTES
• CRIME STOPPERS WHITEHALL SHOOTING: Suspect sought in March 16 homicide

Election

• Petro, Blackwell to slug it out in ads
  Republican rivals for governor spending $3 million for TV time

Around Ohio

• Chain-saw artist's carvings stop traffic along Rt. 33
• OVER CHAGRIN FALLS: Stuntman to rekindle fire-dive tradition

Community news

• Vital statistics
• Daily almanac

Of continuing interest

• Pipeline from Mexico
  A look at the human pipeline that runs between Columbus and El Paxtle
• Docs Rate Docs
  Who do doctors go to when they're sick?
• The Alrosa Villa Shootings
  Complete coverage from The Dispatch and WBNS-10TV
• I-270 shootings
  Complete coverage from The Columbus Dispatch, WBNS-10TV and ONN: Ohio News Network
• Prison Medicine
  Health care in Ohio's 33 prisons is plagued with serious, deadly problems
• Campaign 2004
  An archive of Dispatch, WBNS-TV and ONN articles from the 2004 election

Ohio Mileposts