Amherst News-Times, 1999-07-28

              '
|   Officials want more cable service -
- Page 3
Fence law re-surfaces -
- Page 5
!             A                    m                             A
m*
n m a o
e •£> x i
i-   X   i-   h
C O* O o
*        I
—>*■    —
Amnerst rNews-ume
Wednesday. July 28,  1999
Amherst, Ohio
c m m
t»f et
3    -t
—
< n
rTi   ^
./I
o
Woman returns to funeral
business started by family
by QLEN MLLER
Nawa-Timas reporter
Mary Misencik Burik has
embarked in a business career
in which few women have
yet to venture alone.
She has to be a
compassionate, understanding
businessperson at a time when
most people are in an emotional upheaval and are grieving over the loss of a loved
one.
Burik is Amherst's first
funeral director to buy and
operate her own funeral home
and one of the few female
funeral home directors in the
Greater Cleveland area.
The daughter of Joseph A.
and Marilyn Misencik, she
purchased the funeral home
from her parents in early January and recently completed
an extensive remodeling of
the historic structure. It includes a show room for caskets, a feature that is becoming more common in funeral
homes.
A former accountant, Burik,
39, was raised on the business of burying people. Her
great grandfather, Paul Misencik, and grandfather, Joseph
Misencik, also were funeral
directors.
Living at a funeral home
might make a lot of people
skittish or uncomfortable. Not
her. She and her two sisters,
Anita Smirz, and Lucy Grea-
ney, and brother, Joseph,   .
grew up in their parents' funeral home in Lakewood.
"That was our way of life.
It's not always the most optimal way because it wasn't a
normal 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job
that had regularity, but we
made it work," she explained.
"We were always busy."
In addition to being on call
seven days a week, her father
ran an ambulance service, a
side business many funeral
homes used to be in before
the advent of emergency medical technicians and
paramedics.
The Misenciks purchased
the funeral home from the
late Wayne Garland in 1982.
Burik is the fourth generation of Misenciks to become
what used to be commonly
referred to decades ago as a
mortician. Her brother Joseph
also has a funeral director's
license but currently is pursuing a career in contracting.
She's had lots of experience in the last few years.
She worked as a funeral director at her father's Lakewood funeral home for a few
years before deciding to go
on her own. But by purchasing the Amherst funeral
home, she is keeping the
Misencik name while retaining
the historical significance of
the Garland name.
On her list of things to do
is membership in the Amherst
Historical Society and the
Amherst Downtown Business
Association.
Even though she has always been a history buff, she
especially is interested in the
latter because of the historical
CONTINUED on paga 2
Mary Misencik Burik stands outside the funeral home business which she-learned from
her father. She returned to Amherst to buy the
family business
ing as funeral
and is one of few women work-
directors.
ASK THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNOt
WHY AMHER.ST JUST LOST TENS OF
THOU.SANDS A YEAR IN WMOL1AXES1
ANDERSON & UTKOVITZ
BAD for BUSINESS
BAD for AMHERST
■' >rt"3
Crystal Mortgage president David Moore has had 50 of these
posters made criticizing the city's prosecution of the firm.
Moore plans fight
to keep Anderson
from a win at polls
by GLEN MILLER
Nawa-Timas raporter
Crystal Mortgage president
David Moore has decided lo
move hit corporate headquar-
ters out of Ainherst, but not
before he helps get law
director AIM Anderson voted
out of office.
Moore said he plans to
move tha company s corporate
tteatlquarters from tne dty in
Pffaaji/ffff in retaliation for
the continued proaecution for
allegedly failing to pay 1997
iiaCo-M tax. a ■isdnmiawor
criminal offense
But first. Moon said he into oversee a campaign
Anderson in the
The first phase of the campaign includes the distribution
of "Anyone but Anderson-
bumper stickers, the printing
of which Moore financed.
They are expected to be distributed beginning this week.
He blames Anderson and
city treasurer Kathleen Litko-
viu for refusing to drop the
charges against the company.
In a lawsuit, be has alleged
the city and Litkovitz are maliciously prosecuting Crystal
Mortgage and claims Litko-
vitz'a office erred in how it
oeternined the company's income taxes.
Moore said he is considering launching a similar campaign nafAm Litkovitz next
CONTMUID on pege 1
Residents urged to light up night
Residents throughout Amherst are being asked to join
a nationwide "Night Out"
against drugs and crime by
turning on their porch lights
a Aug. 3 from 7 to 10 p.m.
Sergeant Dan Makruski,
who heads the Amherst Police
Department's Neighborhood
Watch program, said turning
on a porch light indicates
neighborhood residenu are
against drugs and crime.
He said this is the first
time Amherst has joined the
nationwide program. It was
started several year ago and
is sponsored by the National
Association of Town Watch
and 9Qi lfat*twion, the manufacturers of a variety of
waxes.
Makruski said National
Night Out was created to
heighten crime and drug prevention awareness and generate support for and partici
pation in local anti-crime
efforts.
A lit porch light signifies
neighborhood spirit and cooperation with police against
crime. In addition, it helps
criminals realize neighborhoods are organized and
fighting back against crime,
he said.
The parents of children are
especially urged to take note
of the meaning of the event
and participate by turning on
their outside house lights,
Makruski added.
Future Nights Out may include special events to help
create a partnership with police and promote the event's
importance.
Volunteers will distribute
small door hangers to about
1,000 residents reminding
diem of the night. They will
include coupons for S.E.
Johnson products, including
Windex.
Teacher claims he was forced out
by QLEN MILLER
Naws-Timas raporter
After 27 years of teaching children with learning disabilities, Harry
James has been forced to exit his
profession because of another kind
of disability — blindness.
An Amherst teacher for more
than 21 yean of his career, James
has been left legally blind by diabetes, a family genetic trait he hoped
not to inherit.
Sadly, he did develop diabetes
about four years ago, but managed
to continue teaching at Nord Junior
High School until earlier this year. It
was then when school officials
thought his blindness had progressed to the point that it impaired
his teaching ability.
James has filed a discrimination
suit against the school board, claiming it is discriminating against him
because of his blindness.
It has been filed through the
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission. Both the commission
and school officials have declined
comment because of the litigation.
James said he will never forget
the day now retired principal Bill
Mariey reluctantly suggested he
seek disability retirement, something he didn't want to do.
His last day of teaching was Feb.
12. •
James specialized in teaching
lower-level functioning students,
those who could not learn above a
certain grade level.
He loved teaching and had hoped
to continue for three more years. To
this day, he believes he could have
regardless of the pressures and fears
expressed by some parents to school
administrators.
Some supported him while others
seriously questioned his ability to
continue the demanding job of
teaching their children.
Some parents supported him
while others didn't regardless of his
reputation for being an excellent
teacher.
"The grief and the hostilities that
I went through were such that the
best thing I could do was step out of
the classroom," he explained. "It's
-i! I '/I'maw,
Harry James
sad. I'd like to think I could still
teach but, even with accommoda-
tions, there was a lot of pressure and
concern about me being able to do
the job."
His diabetes was discovered during a routine blood test in 1995. For
two years, it was border line. Diabetes normally attacks weak areas of:
of the body. His were his eyes.
It didn't begin to bother his eyes
until about two years, but steadily
grew worse. He cannot see clearly;
for more than four or five feet even •
with thick glasses.
One part of him was relieved by:
the decision because he no longer
had to worry about watching over;
students, a job that was heavily de-!
pendent on Annette Weinmiller..
with whom he team taught for the'
last few years.
Conversely, he was upset because!
he perceived the school admmistra-:
tion could have done more to help;
him. He didn't like his departure be-:
ing classified as a resignation rather
than retirement due to disability.  :
"I felt that all of a sudden I was
being locked out due to something I
had no control over," he explained.
"What happened physically to me;
was bad enough. This was not a voluntary resignation, so I thought they |
could have handled it better."
CONTsNOEDon pege m
Commercial zoning rules scrutinized
An effort to rezone about 42 acres
of open land on Rl 58-north of the
turnpike was closely aoutkiized by
city officials July 19 before they
agreed to set aside mom room for
Several n-embers of council's
buildings and lands committee
balked at car dealer 1^ Abraham's
request to increaee cominercisl land
from about 700 to 1.000 feetakmgs
atxttooftweluaWeyjamaorthof
Ihe turnpike.
In addition, Abraham said he and
fellow land owners David and Rosaline George want more land for C-2
commercial development than the
original 700 of noes feet slhrfsifd
The change sdl would leave 746
feet available tor writfeniial deve-
But councilman Terry Traster elee," he and.
suggested a 50-foot buffer, more Abraham noted he and the j
than is required by the dty. Georges already are giving up 50 or;
"Right now we are addhtg to the .more feet of frontage for tha margl-:
hard surfaces of bur city, Thfriy feet foal real
Wmamawm a^Saf"a)a^BPa*S   fa* ^ttja"JaSpp#   amammW maaamAMmrm^M _a^amamammmM
rm.psam.meamjmfjm ^ammj^jmam
1
for ot
I would
our town."
tan* lire ttt.   laadmd30^ootbiiff«r.mymg them
 -*- __*_ ____ mmeimk MsmamaaamW>> Ibastosmtoaato
EsvEjQB ED 09 MEW   ■BbEVEvBI   vEEEVEEEEl
commercial  and  residential
by ths city's n-
.ora2t-ftx*wi*arjrs>
" tdong the peop-
ejrty a   a____mm_\   *__   ___________________
.-raffle hwceJile* bach
>H0 fbtf ftOJj* toS fagtf.,   )
along Royal Drive to the wea.
Ttaaa ^InaTMhaaiaTa onaaaaV sVakt^BaaahaSBafaai^maaaaaaiS ahau
1 aaaaa MWI^^ WeaV awaaammmmjmmmmamemmmmmmm mmjm
a  review  by  the  planning
sssda3&footwideb*tf.
fjiaaaaaaVaEib __*__
^a\WaWm\^km   mwa~t
The
mmlmm
tie
a aend monbod by toe dty
■ Ekmmmam- a*wm^^^am—. mWj  env mmaj
be Into betwesa toe oonuMr-
"Itow'ttbdlsaodlbjrvetoi