Amherst News-Times, 2000-04-12

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Edsels to perform at Jamboree — Page 3   Collins tough from the mound — Paae 8
Amherst News-Time
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Wednesday, April 12, 2000
Amherst, Ohio
BOE to make decision on overcrowdi
by PAUL MORTON
News-Times reporter
The Amherst school board
is expected to decide at its
meeting Monday night how to
address overcrowding in the
city's schools, following a
community meeting last night
At the meeting last night,
the board was expected to
present what Ron Cocco of
Clark & Post Architects
called the two most viable
options to ease present and
future overcrowding issues.
Those options include
building a new 1,500-student
high school with alterations to
Nord Junior High School at a
cost of about $36.5 million,
or building a new 800-student
junior high school with addi
tions and alterations to the
high school and Nord at a
cost of $25.7 million.
The estimated cost figures
provided by the architects for
both plans include $1 million
for land acquisition. The first
plan would require about 50
acres, about twice as much
room as the schools have
available at the site of Harris
Elementary, where the new
junior high in the second plan
would be built.
The land acquisition money
for the second plan would
give the schools property for
future expansion. Cocco said
the new junior high would
likely require a second new
building to be built some
time in the future.
"Alternative one addresses
long-range projections today,"
Cocco said. "Alternative two
addresses our ten-year projections with the possibility of
further expansion necessary
down the road."
Superintendent Robert Boynton said if a new junior
high school were to be built
on the Harris property the
schools would have no more
land to build the second
building.
School t
Sandy Fr«
ever decision the boara makes
will have to address future
growth as well as the current
overcrowding situation.
She added that she is leaning toward building a new junior high school, partly because she feels voters are
CONTINUED on page 3
Teen girl takes
special interest
in challenging
herself to learn
by KEITH GRIBBINS
News-Times reporter
Challenged is a word Amherst
teenager Alison Butler has heard often enough pass through the lips of
peers in her presence.
But the biggest challenge of the
18-year-old Elyria High School student, and her teachers, is keeping up
with the constant overflow of ambition that pours out of the youngster
and into the many facets of her
everyday life.
Butler is one of four special needs
students in Barb Smith's American
Government class at EH. And on
late Thursday morning, April 6,
Butler met up with guest speaker
Diane Eswine, Amherst city auditor
and former Lorain County commissioner candidate. The Elyria junior
on her own accord wrote the Amherst official to encourage her to
come speak to her class on city government, fulfilling her own desire
for educational advancement and
setting an example for all students
who have the bug to simply learn.
"I was excited and nervous,"
smiled Butler about the presentation, breezing her hand through her
cropped chestnut hair. "I just
thought it would be neat to meet
someone . that works in the
government"
"I don't know of any student in
the school that has done something
like this," Smith explained. "This is
really giving these students the opportunity to bring the community
into the classroom. They're putting
faces to names they've only read about in the papers."
Butler is an Amherst resident that
attends Elyria's special needs programs that extends to many challenged  students  in  the     Lorain
CONTINUED on page 3
City-wide electrical
outage is 4-7 a.m.
Saturday morning
The City of Amherst is planning a city-wide electrical outage
scheduled for Saturday, April 15 from 4 a.m. until 7 a.m. due to
an upgrade in the new electrical substation number 1, according .
to mayor John Higgins.
Saturday's three-hour outage is the first of three power outages
that the city will experience due to the upgrades and the completion of the new substation, stated Higgins. The first outage will
enable to the city to put in a new switch at the substation.
"We've got to get this done before the hot weather comes," ex
plained Higgins.
This outage will also effect the commercial district on Rt 58.
stated Higgins.
The next two outages have not yet been scheduled, "but the
city will give a week to 10 days notice to let everyone know,"
acknowledged Higgins.
Eagles Club gets caught
offering gambling games
by KEITH GRIBBINS
News-Times reporter
The Amherst Fraternal Order of
Eaglet was cited for permitting and
or allowing gambling at their 1161
Milan Ave. club Wednesday. Match
22.
Four different violations were
cited by the Ohio Department of
Public Safety, including tip tickets,
payoff records, daily drawings, and
monthly and weekly drawings.
In 60 to 90 days a questionnaire
will be sent to the club by the liquor
commission. According to the Ohio
Department of Safety's deputy director of communications Suzanne
Amherst City Auditor Diane Eswine visited Barb Smith's Special
Needs American Government class at Elyria High School Thursday
morning, April 6. Alison Butler, an Amherst resident in the class,
wrote the local city official on her own accord to come and visit the
class to discuss local city government. Pictured, left to right, Barb
Smith, Jon Paul Sprinkle, and Alison Butler, listen to Eswine, right,
discuss the structure of Amherst's government with the group
Thursday.
Tight ship makes volunteers sick
by KEITH GRIBBINS
News-Times reporter
After some employees experienced headaches and other discomforts at the area's Office of Aging
Building, located at 621 Cleveland
Ave., the city fire department measured what they thought was an abnormal level of methane gas in the
city office.
But after further investigation
through a private contractor, the city
discovered that their readings were a
bit off and that some recent remodeling might have been the cause of
the problem.
"There's no problem in the building," explained Mayor John Higgins. "He (contractor) said the new
carpeting or the new tile might have
been the cause of the discomfort the
employees were feeling."
About a week and a half ago, the
Amherst Fire Department was
called in to take a gas reading when
some ladies that worked at the office complained of problems. The
department had a .2 reading; at the
time, they considered a .5 to be a
dangerous level.
The building was checked, and
according to Higgins, sludge was
found in the office's sewer system.
The sludge was cleaned out and the
office was ventilated to release any
harmful gas buildup.
But when a contractor came in to
check the gas levels on Friday, April
7, he stated that a .2 level was normal, and that a level of 1500 would
be dangerous, not .5.
Problems were then found with
the ventilation system that might
have kept the office's air stagnant in
the building and caused problems
with the Amherst employees. According to Higgins, air was ventilated into the building's attic, the
same place fresh air was supposedly
coming in from.
"We basically overdid our job,"
stated Higgins about closing up die
building for winter.
Since finding the ventilation
problem, the city has added a tan
and new ventilation to the outside
to, "allow fresh air to come in and
clear out the building." Higgins
cited.
Watiker, the Eagles will be able to
deny or accept the allegations of
gambling in the questionnaire.
Once the paper work is sent back
to the commission, they will review
it for 10 to 14 days before handing
down a decision, stated Watiker.
There are three main penalties
that the local club could receive,
cited Watiker. including: fine with
no penalty imposed; a forfeiture, a
fine for each day the club's liquor
license would have been suspended;
and a general suspension of the order's liquor license for an allotted
amount of time.
Fraternal Order of Eagles Presi
dent Ron Harper had no comment
on the
Once upon a time...
The cold and rainy spring weather has set in on the Amherst community early In April. Locals are wondering what happened to the
warm days of March? Just a few weeks ago, Natalie Garntca and
daughter Maria. 2, climb on the ropes al Maude Neiding Park on a
bright, sunny afternoon in what seemed like an early indication of a
warm spring. (News-Times Photo by Keith Qribbins)