Amherst News-Times, 1999-07-21

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Amherst News-Time
Wednesday. July 21,  1999
Amherst. Ohio
Market's fire blamed
on two juvenile girls
by QLEN MLLER
News-Times reporter
Jamie's Flea Market owner
Lolita Mock was in a state of
shock when a friend greeted
her at Cleveland Hopkins Airport July 12 and informed her
a large portion of her business had burned to the
ground.
She was returning from
Maryland, where she had
been visiting a daughter and
her family. It wasn't the
homecoming she had anticipated either when she saw
the smoldering remains of
flea market's main building.
Her shock turned to disbelief two days later when she
learned 10- and 13-year-old
girls had been arrested by the
Lorain County Sheriffs Department for setting the fire.
"I iust can't comprehend
that two children 10 and 13
could do such a destructive
thing," she said, shaking her
head. "I don't know what
those young people thought
they were doing, but their intent was to destroy and I
don't why. I wish I did."
The girls, cousins, were
seen by a witness who informed other people. A series
of contacts and interviews led
deputies to the girls, detective
Denise Wilms said.
They are being held on aggravated arson charges in the
county juvenile detention
home in Elyria pending a
hearing in Lorain County
Juvenile Court.
The 13-year-old, from
Westlake, was visiting her
10-year-old South Amherst
cousin and they were reportedly playing in the area.
The two initially set fire to
paper and plastic trash in two
plastic barrels, one located in
the rear of the destroyed
main building and the other
in back of an adjacent building to Ihe east
The fire in the barrel was
near the main building and
spread to a wooden door
frame and the building. At
that point, both girls fled,
Wilms said.
Detectives said the cause
— arson — was obvious to
fire investigators. Firefighters
found the second barrel was
still burning when they arrived at the blaze. Luckily, it
was further away from the
adjacent building. They pulled
it away and extinguished it.
Word of the girls' arrest
quickly spread among vendors
as they arrived July 14 to
open their booths or set up
outside the flea market's un-
CON71NUED on page 2
Jamie's Flea Market owner Lolita Mock is interviewed about her business's tragic fire by a
TV crew. She was besieged by news media
after the arrest of two juvenile arsonists was
announced.
Wetland
obstacle
may stop
turnpike
at Rt. 58
by QLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
First it was the turnpike interchange versus the Lake Shore Railway Association.
Now it's the turnpike interchange
versus the spotted salamander and
the Friends of the Wetlands, although the railroad group is not
completely out of the picture.
Both groups were among about
90 people who packed Oberlin
Municipal Court's chambers July 14
to speak their minds during a public
hearing on the proposed interchange
held by the Ohio Environmental
Protection Agency (OEPA).
Among them was David George.
The RL 58 property owner sat on a
bench just outside the courtroom
while inside opponents criticized a
wetlands mitigation proposal suggested by turnpike authorities.
"This is all a farce, just another
delaying tactic and a another stall by
somebody," he told the News-
Times. "There's no reason why we
can't all work together to make it
happen."
George said he tailed to understand how the environmentalist
group could slow plans for the long-
delayed interchange because of the
presence of salamanders.
His question, which also was
asked by others, was answered by
Tom Harcarik, one of the OEPA
representatives who moderated the
hearing.
Reviews of the use of any wetlands area are required by two sec-
riais of trie federal Clean Water Act
(hat didn't exist when the interchange was conceived nearly six
years ago. It is among the environmental regulations the turnpike
commission must satisfy before
construction is allowed, he
explained.
There are a total of 3.79 acres of
wetlands in the area where the turnpike is to be built east of RL 58.
Salamanders live in them and may
not survive if they are moved tone*'
wetlands suggested by turnpike engineers, members of the environmental group said.
The move involves mitigation,
die creation of replacement wetlands ia the Carlisle Rtaervation, a
county tMOopolitan park about five
miles southeast of the proposed in-
A anal) aecttoa of land
Theatre troupe
to stage show
on anniversary
this weekend
by QLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
July 22-24 marks an auspicious occasion for the Sandstone .Summer Theatre and the
dozens of people, young and
old, who have sung its
praises over the years.
It's the theater's 30th anniversary. It has become the
oldest and longest running
student-youth theater group in
the Greater Cleveland area
and a summer tradition
among Amherstonians.
Many young thespians have
gone on to bigger and better
things after being introduced
to the world of musicals
while volunteering as actors,
set designers or production
workers.
The theater was the
brainchild of Robert Bostwick,
a former Amherst school
vocal music teacher who
wanted to give kids, especially those who enjoyed
musk, something to do in the
summer other than play
He approached the Amherst
Women's League and convinced it to help start the
theater as an alternative cultural outlet and fundraiser.
It was a successful investment. Ticket sales netted
$1,900, a good profit even
for 1969. The Women's
League was so enthusiastic
about the outcome that it reinvested all the profits in the
next year's play.
Today the theater has a
budget of $12,000 to $13,000
and a list of people knocking
at its door to join.
Diane Yale-Peabody, who
helps promote and advertise
the productions, said a small
portion of funding comes
from the school board's summer recreation fund. The vast
majority is raised from ticket
sales, patron donations and a
$35 theater registration fee for
anyone living inside the Amherst school district. About 10
percent come from outside the
district and are drawn to the
theater by its reputation for
CONTINUED on page 2
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