Amherst News-Times, 2000-10-04

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Tour includes local home — Page 3       Gridders continue perfect tally — Pag
Amherst News-Time
i
Wednesday. October 4, 2000
Amherst, Ohio
BOE removes
baccalaureate
from school's
grad ceremony
by PAUL MORTON
News-Times reporter
Graduation ceremonies for the
Marion L. Steele High School Gass
of 2001, and for every class thereafter, will be different from those in
the past, thanks to a recent ruling by
the U.S. Supreme Court
The Amherst board of education
voted at their Sept 25 meeting to
approve changes to its policy on religious and patriotic ceremonies and
observances.
The changes will eliminate the
voluntary baccalaureate service
which was held in conjunction with
graduation ceremonies, and eliminate religious invocations, benedictions, or formal prayer at any
school-sponsored event Superintendent Robert Boynton said while he
did not personally agree with the
new policy, it was necessary in light
of recent action by the Supreme
Court.
"Quite frankly it's a difficult one
to swallow, and I personally have a
hard time recommending it," Boynton said. "On the other hand, I
think the stakes are too high."
Boynton said the policy was rewritten in response to a number of
recent Court decisions, but especially its reversal of a circuit court's
decision in Santa Fe Independent
School District v. Doe in June.
In that case, the Court ruled, 6-3,
that student-led prayers at school-
sponsored events violated the First
and Fourteenth Amendments, even
if the student body voted to have
such a prayer and elected the
speaker. Writing for the majority,
Justice John Paul Stevens ruled
holding an election by majority vote
would suppress the rights of students voting in the minority.
The Court further ruled that
prayer of any kind made on school
property, at a school-sanctioned
event, under a policy adopted by the
schools was not "private" speech,
but "public" speech, violating the
Establishment Clause of the First
Amendment In that setting, the justices said, the speech could be reasonably perceived to be condoned or
endorsed by school officials.
Boynton said while he disagreed
with the rulings, going against the
rulings could have serious consequences if the schools were ever challenged in court He said recent penalties imposed in such cases have
CONTINUED on page 5
Royal crown
Homecoming queen Stephanie Tear and her king Adam Kuncel were Shawn Wnek, Zack Crowther, Nick Saadipour, Kyle Kar-
smile for the crowd after being crowned during pre-game ceremo- pinski, Ryan Sosnowski, and Geoff Ehrnschwender. The junior
nies held Friday night. The candidates for queen included Katy class attendant was Betsy Davis. The sophomore class attendant
Pope, Danielle Miskov, and Holly Keisman. The senior escorts was Leah Kildow, and the freshman attendant was Fallon Burgdorf.
yPolice called when youngsters make threats
by JASON TOMASZEWSKI
News-Times reporter
It has been nearly two years since
the tragedy at Columbine High
School in which two students
opened fire killing many of their
classmates.
When the story fust broke people
from northeast Ohio were upset and
their hearts went out to the families
of those involved.
Yet at the same time, Colorado
seemed so far away. Maybe it was
the absurdity of the events (hat
made it seem like this catastrophe
couldn't happen anywhere near
home.
But recently, local police were
called to a local school to ensure
that a similar event does not disturb
education.
On Sept 22, Harris Elementary
School principal Rhonda Neuhoff
received a death threat from a
10-year-old student The student
vented to classmates that he was going to shoot the principal because
she was "mean."
Neuhoff was notified about the
threat and called the student and his
mother to her office for a meeting.
Before the mother arrived, the student, still agitated, informed Neuhoff that he was going to place a
bomb in her desk and when she
opened it she would explode.
Neuhoff called Amherst police to
have an officer sent to the school to
speak with the boy. Sergeant Dan
Jasinski was dispatched to the
school. He escorted the boy and his
mother to the police station for
questioning. Upon interviewing the
boy, with his mother, Janiski
learned that the boy was upset because principal Neuhoff made him
and his classmates stand in a
straight line while they waited for
the bus.
The boy also said that Neuhoff
was out of line in requesting that the
students remain quiet while awaiting the bus.
According to police reports, the
boy has been involved in counseling
and has been in and out of anger
management classes for the past
year.
Superintendent Robert Boyton
stated that it is school policy not to
discuss student discipline, but did
say that the matter was handled
well.
"The police were called strictly as
a precaution," explained Boyton.
"We live in a day and age where we
have to evaluate the seriousness of
the threat of a 10-year-old. We also
CONTINUED on page 2
Historical society to honor
veterans with own museum
Solid as a rock
Workers at the Cleveland Quarries work to
disassemble a water tower, one ««ed for powering gang saws, for transportation to the Sandstone LMng History Museum complex. The tower
wW be reconditioned and re-assembled at the
Sandstone Center in the coming months. Members of the historical society raised more than
$10,000 to. save the tower before it was
destroyed.
by JASON TOMASZEWSKI
News-Times reporter
Just about everyone has heard the
phrase, "If you value your freedom,
thank a vet"
Yet how many actually go out
and say "thanks?" Well, that is ex-
actiy what the Amherst Historical
Society is going to do.
The society is planning a 3,000
square foot military museum, dedicated to the memory of all Lorain
County veterans.
"We feel that this will be a way to
tell the story of Lorain County veterans," stated historical society
spokesman Scott Kodger. This will
also be a greet education loot for the
schools, especially the upper grade
levels."
Tbe historical society will be
spending over $54,000 on improve-
menis to a former Baptist church at
111 S. Lake St, which will be the
museum's mew home. One of those
improvements will be a 10 foot by
10 toot door, which will be added to
the west side of the building. This
will allow fur assy placement and
removal of the vehicles that will be
on display.
"We have already received letters
of support from' all over the area,"
ftnniaiftrd Kodeer.
Those who have publicly ex-
Veterans of Foriegn Wars Post
1662, Amherst City Council, and
Donald Breen, Post Commander of
VFW 1662 from 1989-'90.
The museum has already arranged to display 26 vehicles representing nearly every major war and
conflict the United States has been
involved in. Among the vehicles
that are set to be displayed are a
1966 Duster Anti-Aircraft vehicle, a
1943 World War II ambulance, a
1952 Korean War Jeep, and a
Vietnam era tank. The museum organizers are also is hoping to obtain
a UH1 Cobra helicopter used in
Vietnam in 1969.
All of the vehicles that will be
displayed will be on loan from area
collectors. Donald Breen is one of
the generous people from Amherst
who bas donated pieces to the museum. Along with Amherst residents, the museum has accepted donations from people in Lorain.
Elyria, Vermilion, Norwalk, and
Medina.
The vehicles will be displayed on
a rotating basis with a new set coming in every few months.
Along with the vehicles, the museum will boast artifacts representing every war and conflict the United States has participated in since
the French and Indian War. There
will be mannequins wearing authentic uniforms, along with video monitors displaying documentaries featuring Lorain County veterans telling their stories.
The museum will also feature
computer generated video clips and
interactive activities.
"The idea is to provide a self
tour," explained Kodger. "Each person will guide themselves through
the lour by pressing buttons."
The historical society is shooting
for a grand opening dale of Veteran's Day 2001. That would be a
nice thank you to those who risked
their lives to protect ours.
I
pressed
support of tieis naoJDCt
w Joke Higgles, Local
Citywide electric outage
planned for Sunday a.m,
There is a planned complete citywide electrical outage scheduled for Amherst oo Sunday, Oct 8 from 4 a.m. to 6 am.
The outage is necessary to continue work on a new electric
In the event of min, this two-hour outage will be i
Por more ieforaiadOB, contact the mayor's office at 94M38Q.
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