Amherst News-Times, 1997-03-19

              Joe Charboneau to the rescue — Page 8
Top spellers in contest — P
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Wednesday, March 19, 1997
Amherst, Ohio
Group's
looking
skyward
for Comet
As much as Amherst loves its
Comets athletic teams, there's
going to be some competition in
town.
The real thing is now screaming across the slues, and a public
comet viewing session has been
planned for Wednesday, March
26, from 7 to 9 p.m., to witness
what has been called "the comet
of the Qemnry"
Hie event is being organized
by Marion L. Steele High
School astronomy and chemistry
teacher Dave Lengyel, along
with the Black River Astronomical Society, of which he is vice
president
The cornet viewing is being
held in the parking lot of Harris
Elementary School where there
is plenty of parking and a good
view of the northwest horizon.
Lengyel and other members of
the Black River Astronomical
Society will be bringing along
telescopes, but he said that because of the cornet's brightness,
viewing it with the naked eye
will be easy. People may want to
bring along binoculors if they
have them.
Comet Hale-Bopp was discovered in July of 1995 by Alan
Hale and Tom Bom, and "is the
best comet I've ever seen," Lengyel said. "The fact that it was
discovered in July is even more
amazing, because cornets are
much leas visible during that
time of year."
What makes Hale-Bopp so
bright, Kxxjrdiog to Lengyel, is
its size. HIt is about 25 miles
across, which is much bigger
than most comet-,'' he explained, adding that the Hale-
Bopp can easily be seen by the
unaided eye in the early morning
and evening hours.
Comets are somewhat mysterious in nature, whose nuclei are
similar to "giant, dirty snowballs," according to Lengyel,
and are drought to be composed
mosUy of ice and rock.
As they near the sun, the material becomes gaseous, which
then creates the reflective tails
that can grow to be millions of
mites long.
Although a comet's tail is less
dense dun any vacuum that can
he created on earth, its reflec-
tivety is what makes it so
■tow, Hale-Bopp is at its
closet and brightest In compari-
soa to the much more renowned
HaSey's Comet, which was last
visibtetoEarmml986,,ti)met
Hale-Bopp is a least 100 times
brighter,'* according to Lengyel.
Lengyel said that prior to
viewing Hale-Bopp, last year's
Hyakutake Comet was the best
that he had seen since 1969,
when he saw Benaet's Comet as
»"boy> '
Should the skies be uncooperative and cloudy, the
viewing will be held in the same
location and at the same times,
on March 27, the following
evening. "After that, you are on
your own," Lengyel said, al
though he still encourages
everyone to get a glimpse of the
Hale-Bopp.
The Black River Astronomical Society was founded in
1949, and its members am from
att walks of life in Lorain
County, according to Lengyel.
The group meets she first Wed-
aia Coumy MetroPaits Visitors
Center in Carlisle at 7 p,m_ and
at   that  time   for  more
infcsn»ation.
Lengyel said the comet
viewing is free, and he eocour-
ages as nrnny people as powoble
to attend tfest rem opportunity to
see such a fine celestial work of
Council, Leg
agree to rezoning
request with deed
restrictions added
by; BILL ROSS
Holiday outlook
Diana Horn takes advantage of some sunny
weather on Sunday to decorate her Middle Ridge
Road home for Easter.
News-Times reporter
After planning commission meetings, building and lands committee
meetings, city council meetings and
a public hearing, it appears a compromise has finally been reached
between American Legion Post
#118 and residents who live in
homes adjacent to the Middle
Ridge Road property.
At a building and lands committee meeting held on Mar. 17, Post
#118 proposed that if city council
would agree to their original request for a C-2 commercial zoning
permit, it would agree to deed restrictions being attached to any sale of
its property — which would prohibit hotels, motels, motor courts,
tourist homes or gas stations from
being erected.
The issue had come to a head at
a public hearing held previously on
March 10, when more than 30 residents and Legionnaires clashed
over a Legion request to rezone the
property to help facilitate a sale of
the land and building.
Richard Golden, commander of
Post #118, said at last week's meeting, that it would "not be any new
owners that would be requesting a
zoning request,'* but that Post #118
is requesting it, and asked that the
public trust them to make the right
decision.
In addition, Golden said the
primary reason for wanting the zoning change is so the Legion can be
formally recognized as what it is, a
commercial business.
He also said the Legion may not
sell its property as announced
previously.
The claim that the Legion is not
being forced to sell, contrasted
sharply with what Golden had said
at a January committee meeting.
"We've spent over $650,000 in improvements on the building and because of lack of revenue, we cannot
continue to pay the mortgage much
longer," he told council previously.
Post #118 has incurred repeated
gambling and alcohol violations
over the years, including a six-
month liquor license suspension in
1995, which caused many of its
members to go to other fraternal
organizations.
Reggie Cameron, canteen manager at the Legion, said in January,
"Everyone left when we couldn't
sell liquor anymore, but they never
came back — and that is what is
hurting us."
But at last week's hearing, Golden discounted concerns voiced
during the January meeting, by residents who live near the Legion.
"It won't (the sale) affect property values, because property sells
for what it is worth. As far as
traffic impact is concerned, we've
always had weddings and parties
and have had no past complaints,"
he said.
Doug McMillan, who lives near
the post, raised new questions at
the hearing regarding the rumor
that there are two council members
who are members of the post, and
whether it is ethical for them to
vote on the rezoning request.
Both councilpersons David Rice
and Nancy Brown said they would
abstain from voting on the matter
because they are members of the
post.
McMillan displayed a list of 35
signatures from residents who live
adjacent to the Legion, who are opposed to the rezoning. "Our main
concern is a motel going in there,"
McMillan said. "Once the zoning is
done, there's nothing that council
CONTINUED on page 2
City will CHIP in some cash to fix up homes
by BILL ROSS
News-Times reporter
The city of Amherst has been given the go-ahead to apply for housing improvement funds available
from the state of Ohio under its
Community Housing Improvement
Program (CHIP).
The CHIP program offers low-
interest loans and down payment as
sistance to persons who are classified as having low-to-moderate income levels, which according to the
1990 census, includes 26.5 percent
of Amherst
At a city council meeting held on
March 10, council passed an ordinance that accepts the 1997 Community Housing Strategy (CHIS)
and authorizes the mayor to submit
the CHIS to the Ohio Department of
Development to apply for financial
assistance from CHIP.
At a building and lands committee held on March 3, Catherine Murphy, the community development
manager for the Lorain County
Chamber of Commerce, gave a presentation to council members, along
with providing them with a 30-page
booklet detailing the CHIP and
CHIS processes.
Murphy said that the chamber had
been working in conjunction with
the Amherst Housing Advisory
Committee to find ways to rehabilitate homes and rental housing
within the city of Amherst, and that
"Amherst has a very good chance of
receiving funding through CHIP."
Under the CHIP guidelines, a
family of four can earn up to
$34,400 annually, and still fall
within the low-moderate classification, according to Murphy.
She added that because Amherst
has a substantial elderly population
on fixed incomes, they too would be
able to benefit from the funding.
Murphy described the city of Amherst as being a "bedroom community" with a mostly white population
of 10332, as of the 1990 census.
She added that the population had a
fairly even age distribution, with the
largest concentration (16.5 percent)
CONTINUED on page 3
Girls sew up lasting impression on little scout
Thanks to some local Girl Scouts, a brand new baby girl who
was born in Amherst Hospital
will be keeping warm in the custom made quilt they presented to
her during National Girl Scout
Week.
Kelsey Marie King, bom to
Erica Plumb and Kasey King on
Monday, March 10 at 6:15 pjn.,
was the first baby girl of the
week bom at Amherst Hospital,
which entitled her to be the recipient of the quilt
This is the sixth year that the
Sandstone Service Unit, which
is comprised of troops throughout Amherst and South Amherst,
has made the presentation. National Girl Scout Week was
March 9-15.
Debbie Matotek, who is the
service unit director, said the annual project is a great way to get
the girls interested in girl scout
week, while doing something
nice for somebody.
The idea was originally the
brainchild of Gloria Dotson, scout leader for Troop 435, who
Erica Plumb and baby Kelsey Marie King enjoy
a quid presentation by scouts from the Sandstone
Service Unit. On their left are Kara Gelenlus
Sack) and Stefanie Yanaako; and their right, is
indy Dotson (back) and Maggie Hoffman.
started it off by giving a sun
bonnet to the first baby bom
during National Girl Scout
Week.
"We wanted to do a service
project, and since my girls were
practicing sewing at the time,
we decided lo make a bonnet,"
Dotson said. "The service unit
thought the idea was great so it
evolved to a quilt so that more
troops could join in."
Dotson said that quilt patches
are passed around to troops
within the service unit area, and
the girls can then customize
their own square, with troop
name and decorations.
In addition lo the quilt Kelsey was given a special Girl Scout bib and, of course, a sampling of some Girl Scout
cookies.
Kelsey weighed in at seven
pounds, seven ounces.
The new family lives in South
Amherst, and since grandparents
Carson and Linda Plumb live in
Amherst, Kelsey should be expecting frequent visits from
family members.
**w
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