Amherst News-Times, 1999-12-01

              Consider proper tree planting — Page 4 I Lady Comets enjoy big win — Page Q
Amherst News-Time
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Wednesday, December 1, 1999
Amherst, Ohio
Railroad gro
will pay for ru..
turnpike plans;
delay expected
The
ney to
Lake Shore Railway Association has acquired enough mo-
force a reconfiguration of the Rt. 58 turnpike interchange
to accomodate the group's rail line through the area.
by STEVE LmRRY
News-Times reporter
The Lake Shore Railway
Association has acquired
$500,000 in loans and
$300,000 in grant money
which will allow an Amherst
Township turnpike interchange
and the rail line to exist
together.
The Lake Shore Rail Asso
ciation now has $1.6 million,
enough to pay the Turnpike
Commission for re-engineering
the Rl 58 interchange to accommodate the existence of
the rail line in the same area,
and purchase the remaining
right-of-way.
A bridge will be built so
that the rail line will pass
over the turnpike interchange.
CONTINUED on page 2
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School board policies will help keep kids safe
by PAUL MORTON
News-Times reporter
The board of education has taken
steps to ensure the safety of students
and others in the schools or at
school sponsored activities.
At its Nov. 22 meeting, the board
approved four new policies and
made revisions to four more to enhance safety hi the schools. Superintendent Robert Boynton said the
policies were mandated by the state
legislature in Senate Bil! 1, which
also required schools to enact a
"Safe Schools" plan this school
year.
He said the bill was passed by the
legislature in response to school
shootings in Littleton, Colo, and
Jonesborough, Ark. and other
places.
"I think the law was passed out of
something that happened in Colorado and the other places where
they've had problems," Boynton
said. "I don't know that th. legisla
ture passed it because our schools
are unsafe."
Two of the new policies prohibit
professional and classified staff
from possessing "weapons or any
other device designed to inflict serious bodily harm" while on school
property, in a school vehicle, or at a
school sponsored event. Boynton
said that while the schools have had
a weapons policy in place for students for many years, the state required the schools to have a policy
for employees as well.
"It's kind of one of those things
where you wouldn't expect them to
have weapons," Boynton said. "But
there was nothing in there about
professional staff with weapons, so
the state said we had to put it in."
A revision to the policy on suspension, expulsion, and permanent
exclusion of students allows the
superintendent to expel a student for
one year for bringing a firearm or a
knife to any school activity not located on property owned or controlled by the schools,  including
"away" sporting events and class
trips. Students may also be expelled
for one year for possessing the firearm or knife at such an activity,
even if someone else brought it and
gave it to the student there.
A third new policy directs the
superintendent to establish guidelines for classified staff in dealing
with students. Among the provisions
of the policy is a requirement that
classified staff not associate with
students in a manner which gives
the appearance of impropriety.
Former school bus driver Andrew
Bishop was fired last year after he
was charged with raping four students and other related charges.
The final new policy directs the
superintendent to establish guidelines for responding to a crisis situation, developing a prevention plan,
and providing intervention for students who exhibit warning signs of
violence or other troubling
behaviors.
CONTINUED on page 2
Little girl skater has big future
Sixth grader competing for chance at national contest
by STEVE BARRY
News-Times reporter
Kristen Mendoza is an
11-year-old sixth grader at
Shupe Middle School. She is
also one half of the area's
number one junior ice
dancing team for the Eastern
Great Lakes Region.
Mendoza and 13-year-old
skating partner Josh Lea have
just returned from junior regional ice dancing competition
in Huntsville, Ala., where
they finished in first place.
Skaters who place in the
top four spots at regionals •
qualify to compete in the Junior Nationals.
The Junior Nationals, (formerly the Junior Olympics),
are going to be held — believe it or not — in Amherst,
N.Y., on March 5-12. Mendoza and Lea will compete
against 35 pairs of skaters
from the eight other regions
in the country for the national
title.
At last year's Junior Nationals, Mendoza and Lea
placed second, but the young
couple had only been skating
partners for three months
prior to the nationals
competition.
Mendoza also has some
free style programs, but her
real strength is in pairs ice
dancing.
Do the parents and coaches
of these young skaters take
ihem seriously?
Mendoza trains under the
watchful eye of former
Olympic gold medalist Carol
Heiss Jenkins.
'To receive training from
Jenkins you have to apply
and skate very well," Mendoza explained.
Sandy Hess (former coach
of Olympic skaters Elisabeth
Punzalan and Jerrod Swallow)
was flown in from Colorado
Springs lo choreograph Mendoza and Lea's routines.
Mendoza performed at the
CONTINUED on page 2
At home, Kristen Mendoza enjoys displaying her many ribbons and medals awarded to
her for her skating efforts. And below,
seen with her ice dancing partner, Josh
v
she is
Lea.
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Homegrown mayor
keeps up with life
in South Amherst
Chet Arcaba grew up in South
Amherst but probably never thought
he would represent the community
as its mayor.
The 1978 graduate of South Amherst High School began his career
in politics as a member of the village council. After several years he
was voted in as council president
The death of mayor Ken Jones
five years ago ushered Arcaba into
the position of acting mayor of
South Amherst. After finishing
Jones's term, Arcaba decided to run
officially for the office of mayor,
and was elected to his first four-year
term.
On Nov. 2, Arcaba was re-elected
to his second term of office, to
which he ran unopposed.
The people of South Amherst like
their village officials. Nearly every
elected official in the village ran unopposed this year as well.
Arcaba has no agenda to move up
the political ladder, he enjoys being
the mayor of South Amherst, and
enjoys his job at Oberlin College as
a network technician.
His "day job" deals primarily
with the installation of computer
wiring through all the buildings on
campus to network all Oberiin College's computers.
"I provide plans and designs for
computer infrastructure," Arcaba
explained.
Arcaba has also been involved in
farming all his life. His father died
when he was young, and as the only
child, he and his mom had to oper
ate the farm. During the sixties and
seventies they made a living with a
dairy operation, but by 1986 he took
over the farm operations entirely.
Arcaba married his wife Karen in
1982, and they have one son, Chad,
16, who attends school at Firelands.
Chad is too young to remember
the intense rivalry between Firelands and South Amherst It was not
made any easier when South Am-
herst decided to close and Firelands
absorbed the South Amherst school
district. Chad considers himself a
Falcon.
The merger was not as easily accepted among quite a few of the old
timers in South Amherst, who still
mumble and grumble about it oo
occasion.
When he is not being the mayor,
or chasing wiring harnesses, Arcaba
is raising his own breed of pedigreed beef cattle called Umousine
beef cattle. Chad owns the Lorain
County Fair's Reserve Grand
Champion bull, which has won that
honor for two years running.
The Arcabas hope to develop Limousines into a preferred replacement cattle. The term replacement
cattle has to do with replacing other
cattlemen's old or feeble breeding
stock with younger ones, which Arcaba hopes, will be Limousines.
Serious crime is normally unheard of in South Amherst,
evidenced by the size of their police
force. Just to keep everyone honest,
the part-time police force juggles
CONTINUED on paga 2
Mishak vacates council
seat to retire from work
Amherst city councilmember John Mishak was recently notified that he could retire from the public school system by combining his hours in both the State Teachers Retirement System
and the Public Employment Retirement System.
By taking his retirement now, he is forced to resign his position
as a councilmember effective immediately, to meet the criteria of
his retirement
The democratic party will assign a temporary replacemeat until
independent candidate Jennifer Wasilk, who defeated Mt-Mfc la
November's elections, begins her term in January.