Amherst News-Times, 1998-05-27

              less sprouts at home — Page 12      Ten qualify for state meet — Page 6
\mherst News-Times
May 27.  1998
Amherst. Ohio
50 cents
mer city auditor indicted on tax charge
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Former city auditor and council-
; man Jim Gammons and his wife,
: Suzanne, have been indicted by a
I federal grand jury for tax evasion
j and filing fraudulent tax returns.
If convicted, Gammons faces up
to 21 years in prison and $1.25 million dollars in Tines. His wife could
get as many as many 16 years in
prison and up to $1 million in fines,
according to the U.S. Attorney's for
the Northern District office in
Cleveland.
Gammons is charged with three
counts of allegedly attempting to
evade filing the couple's joint in
come tax return for 1989 through
1991.
The government also has charged
him with two counts of filing false
income tax returns for the couple's
business, Energy Recovery & Marketing Services, Inc., for the 1990
and 1991 fiscal years ending Sept.
30.
Suzanne Gammons, who func-
Chiropractor has no
regrets after decades
of helping his patients
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Two patients called Dr.
Denver Watson about a
month ago complaining of
aches and pains and asking
for treatment.
The 71-year-old chiropractor
did not want to refuse them
even though he was lying in
bed, weak from the cancer
that invaded his body two
and a half years ago.
Both men came to Watson's Woodhill Drive home
because he was in no condition to meet them at his office, something he has asked
patients to do since opening
his practice in 1952 — often
working as late as 11 p.m.
For one man, Watson's
wife of 47 years, Catherine,
walked down into the couple's basement to find a
small device that sends electronic impulses into soft injured tissue.
The critically ill doctor
then gave the man a 40-mi-
nute treatment and told the
longtime patient to call him
in the morning, an old cliche
but true.
By 6 p.m. the following
day the patient's pain was
gone.
Watson is philosophical about his own illness. It has
been treated both medically
and homeopathically, a treatment in which the knowledgeable doctor adamantly
believes.
"I've had a very good life,
met and treated wonderful
people and have a wonderful
wife and loving family," he
said during a bedside
interview.
His cancer was first discovered more than two years
ago. It was prostate cancer,
but has since spread to his
bones.
"Whatever happens is
God's will," he added.
Catherine Watson, his four
sons, Ronald, Garry, Gerald
CONTINUED on page 2
Lori Betchker
Rebekah Drew
Melinda Dodson
Local girls embrace their
heritages before festival
Lori Betchker, Rebekah Drew
and Melinda Dodson all have
competition in their futures. All
three Manor. L. Steele High
School students are seeking the
queen's crown at the 23nd Lorain International Festival.
Each is preparing herself for
the June 19 pageant to be held at
Lorain's Palace Civic Center, although none think Of it as a
beauty contest.
Betchker, 17, is representing
Germans and is sponsored by
the German/American Association of Lorain County, Inc.
She doesn't see the pageant as
the first step into a modeling career. A junior, she plans to be an
optometrist and thinks of the
competition as a means to self
improvement.
"It's not just your looks. They
judge you on your poise, how
you carry yourself and how
much knowledge you have of
your nationality," she explained.
An athlete since seventh
grade, her joy is playing volleyball and running track at MLS.
She also plays on the Cleveland
Junior Olympic Volleyball
Team, a team composed of the
best high school-age volleyball
players in the area. She also stu
dies karate.
She made the team in March
and has been playing en it since
then.
Her grandfather, Don Grm,
has been involved with the International Festival for many years.
It wasn't until this year that
Betchker thought of competing
and probably will not enter the
talent segment of the contest.
"It's just a way of improving
myself, something I want to do
other than athletics," she
explained.
Like Betchker, Dodson, who
recently won a top Girls Scout
honor, said she has wanted to
compete in the festival for several years.
She recalls seeing the pageant
when she was younger. Since
then, she has dreamed of becoming a Korean princess.
Her dream became a reality
this year when festival officials
opened the contest to high
school juniors for the first time.
"I am proud of being Korean
and hope to share my knowledge
with others," she added.
Dodson, a 16-year-old junior,
will enter the talent segment by
playing a piano solo. The talent
pan is not judged. Instead, it is
held for entertainment while the
judges mull over who will be
chosen as queen and her court.
Drew, a Slovak princess, said
she first became interested in the
international festival and the pageant while attending it with her
mother, Bobbie White, and her
late grandmother, Margaret
Grugel.
Drew, 18, admired the contest
and wanted to become the Slovak princess when she became
old enough. It, too, is a dream
come true for her.
"Now I see the pageant as
more than just the attractiveness
and splendor of the costumes,
but as a wonderful opportunity
to learn more about my own her
itage, meet wonderful and intelligent young women and learn
about their cultures, " she said.
"It also will allow me to express
the importance of keeping one's
traditions alive and becoming an
active pan of the community."
She has not decided if she
will enter the talent portion of
the pageant. If she does, she will
dance ballet or modern dance.
A senior, Drew plans to become a dental hygienist.
tioncd as the company's bookkeeper, is charged with two counts of
allegedly assisting in the preparation
of the company income lax returns,
according to U.S. Attorney John M.
Sicgle.
Sieglc declined to reveal how
long the couple has been under investigation by the Internal Revenue
Service or the amount of income
they allegedly failed to report.
Bul according to a statement
issued by his office, the couple
"substantially understated" their
joint income for 1990 and 1991. In
addition, they "overstated" deductions taken for the company during
the same two years.
Gammons is the company's president and sole shareholder, according
to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Mayor John Higgins said the
charges against Gammons are a surprise to him and other city officials
who worked with him as city auditor between 1992 and 1997.
Higgins said Gammons resigned
CONTINUED on page 2
Denver Watson and his wife, Catherine, relax at home.
Poppy's little girl
Darren Morales buys a poppy and a small
American Flag from Rachel Stevens, 1, on his
way to lunch. The daughter of Gregory and Barb
Stevens, Rachel was selected as this year's
Poppy Girl by the Amherst American Legion
Post. All sales benefit disabled veterans.
Downtown banners sound
nice but violate ordinance
A proposal to hang banners from
downtown light poles was cut down
by city council's building and lands
committee May 18 despite the efforts of councilman John Mishak.
By a 6 io 1 vote, the committee
killed a proposal by Community
Banners, Inc. to hang at least 50
banners vertically from downtown
light poles.
The idea was introduced to city
council May 4 by a representative of
Community Graphics, Inc. of Pitts-
ford, N.Y., the firm's parent
company.
The vinyl banners are meant to
promote cily pride and create a
common theme in a downtown area.
For $395 a year, merchants would
have been asked to place the names
of their business on the bottom part
of the banner, but not advertising.
The idea did not hang well with
several committee members, who
noted an ordinance prohibiting signs
and banners would have to be
repealed.
Councilman Steve P'Simer feared
this might enable merchants who
didn't like the banners or wanl to
pay $395 to hang their own nonconforming banners.
Both city ueasurer Kathleen Litkovitz and safety service director
Sherrill McLoda thought the banners would create a cluttered ap
pearance, especially on a furrow
street like Park Avenue.
In addition, granting permission
would suddenly reverse a longtime
ban imposed on businesses over
several years, Litkovitz explained.
"We have many businesses who
have been in business for years who
we've given a tough road to hoe
when they've planned to put any
signs or banners out," she said. "It's
not fair to people who have been
here a long time to turn around and
do this "
The idea's only defense came
from Mishak, who asked council to
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