Amherst News-Times, 2000-12-27

              Wrestler tough on grades, too — Pane 6
Amherst News-Time
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Wednesday, December 27, 2000
Amherst, Ohio
Mom gives her son gift 1
of life...a second time    I
by JASON TOMASZEWSKI
News-Times reporter
Ten years ago Matthew
Hewitt received the gift of
life from his mother, Nancy,
for the first time.
On Dec. 13, Nancy gave
her son a second chance at
life.
Matthew required a kidney
transplant to avoid going
through the grueling procedure
of kidney dialysis. His mother
was happy to give him hers.
"I was a tissue match for
Matthew, so the decision was
easy," she said.
Matthew's troubles with his
kidneys began before he was
bom. During the 27th week
of her pregnancy, Nancy went
for a routine ultrasound. The
staff conducting the ultrasound
noticed that litde Matthew's
kidneys were enlarged. They
concluded that both renal
tubes were blocked, causing
urine to back into the
kidneys.
Matthew was delivered by
cesariari section and was immediately taken into
emergency surgery to insert
drain tubes into both kidneys.
At two years of age Matthew
had one of his kidneys removed because it had failed.
His other kidney was operating at 17 percent capacity. He
was not required to go on
dialysis because he was so
small, but as he grew, his
own body added strain to his
one kidney.
"We knew that dialysis was
an inevitability," his mother
explained. "We knew that a
transplant would be the only
way to keep him off of
dialysis."
Nancy knew that she was a
tissue match for Matthew,
however, she was still required to go through a very
thorough screening process.
"Fifty percent of tissue
matches do make it through
the screening process," she
explained. "If I didn't make it
through then Matthew would
have had to go on a waiting
list" The Hewitts would have
had to wait three years on
the list
Luckily for Matthew, his
mother passed the tests and
the operation was given a
green light. After several
weeks of prepatory work both
Nancy and her son Matthew
made the trip to the main
branch of the Cleveland
Clinic.
Nancy Hewitt went into
surgery roughly three hours
before Matthew.
"They wanted to have everything ready when they
brought Matthew in," she explained. "They didn't want
the kidney out too long before giving it to him."
CONTINUED on page 3
Matthew Hewitt and his mother Nancy
share a hug in front of the family Christmas
tree. Nancy gave Matthew her kidney in order
to keep him off dialysis.
yvill you keep your New Year's resolution?
by JASON TOMASZEWSKI
News-Times reporter
As the year winds down, the best-
of-2000 lists and the year in review
shows appear on television.
It as though television producers
earmark the last few weeks in De-
' cember for shows that tells us what
-we already know.
However, there is one end-of-
December tradition that ignores
what we did in the past year and focuses on what we will do in the
coming year to make an improvement in our lives. It is time to start
thinking about New Year's
resolutions.
The tradition of making New
Year's resolutions began centuries
ago in Belgium during the festival
of Nieuwjaarsdag. Weeks before
New Year's Day Belgian children
save their money to purchase decorative paper.
On this special parchment the
youngsters write New Year's wishes
to their parents and godparents. The
children practice writing these
wishes until they can be written
wfth no
They then decorate the papers
with ribbons and various other ornaments. Through the whole process
the papers are hidden from the
parents.
On the first day of the New Year
each child reads aloud his.or her
paper to the assembled family. The
children not only express wishes for
a happy New Year, but also make
promises for better behavior for the
next 12 months.        *JL ".","**^J*'
It is believed that this practice has
evolved into the current custom of
making New Year's resolutions.
Typical resolutions include such
self promises such as losing weight,
quitting smoking, and treating people better. Again the people of Amherst have proved that they represent a very interesting cross section
of America. There were very few
Amherstonians who gave "typical"
answers to the question, "What is
your New Year's resolution?"
Mayor John Higgins was quick
with his response to the question. "I
want to do as much good as possible
in the next year," Higgins stated. He
then added, "And I want to help as
many people as possible."
Ariel Torres of the Olde Towne
Barber Shop had a resolution that is
specific to his business. "I resolve to
get my barber's pole up," stated
Torres. "I've been putting it off for
months."
Some Amherst residents were
clever when coming up with their
CONTINUED on page 3
Moody's
rating is
good deal
for levy
by PAUL MORTON
News-Times reporter
Amherst school board members received a couple of
early Christmas presents that
will keep on giving to the
schools and residents.
At the board's Dec. 18
meeting, school treasurer Sa-
lah Elhindy announced he had
received word that Moody's
had given the Amherst
schools its highest rating for
school notes. The high rating
will likely mean a favorable
rate on a note the schools
will issue next month in anticipation of collecting tax receipts for the bond issue
passed by voters Nov. 7.
Moody's rates governmental
bodies and corporations so investors have an idea of how
much risk is involved in purchasing notes or bonds issued
by those entities. A higher
rating means lower risk of
losing money on the investment, which translates into a
lower interest rate.
"Moody's rated us at Mag
1," Elhindy said. "That's the
highest rating they give for
any public entity."
The Mag 1 rating applies
only to the note which Elhindy said would be sold in
January lo provide funds for
the new junior high school
until the bonds can be sold.
He said the schools' bond
counsel is currently working
on a report which Moody's
will use to rate the hoed
CONTINUED on nana 3
Pastime turns serious on the ice
by JASON TOMASZEWSKI
News-Times reporter
With the wintery months here and
the gridiron season winding down,
sports fans are turning their attention to indoor games.
For some that's basketball; for
others it signals time to strap on the
skates, grab a stick and look for a
one timer.
Hockey has gradually become a
popular sport in America, and Amherst is no different. However, there
are no local teams or leagues for
kids to participate in.
That has not deterred one local
ten from playing the game that he
loves. Matt Farachman has been
traveling to Lakewood for the past
seven years to play hockey in the
Cleveland Suburban Hockey
League.
"I've always loved the game,"
stated Farschman. "I just really like
playing."
Farschman, a sophomore at Marion L. Steele High School, said he
first got interested in hockey when
he was in elementary school. "I
would watch the games on TV and
thought it was cool," stated Farschman. "But I was in karate at the time
and my parents wouldn't let be do
both at the same time. I kept bugging them, but they made me wait
until I was finished with karate."
Once karate was over for Farschman, he couldn't wait to get on the
'ice. His <_eteni____tion and love for
the game is evident ia the obstacles
he must overcome just to practice.
"We practice about three times a
week," staled Farschman. "So I
have to go all the way out to Lakewood about three times a week."
There is also a big expense. "You
have to pay $600 just io get into the
league." explained Farschman.
"Then you have to pay lor uniforms,
equipment, and toun-unent fees."
The Cleveland Subuttan Hockey
League is under the auspices of
USA Hockey, which holds a na-
every year. Last
"If you win your league you go
on to Mates," explained Parte hftian,
"From there if you win, you get to
play at nationals. I've never played
there." While he may never have
played at nationals. F_i_c*man did
take advantage ot the cf>portunity to
show what he can do at
Itatt Farschirwn
starting to come together now,"
slated Farachman of his 5-2-1 team.
"Alotoftheludsthatptayfatheir
high schools are joining those teams
so we are starting to see what our
teen is made of. Tbe chemistry is
staled that he would like to continue
into college. "In USA Hockey the
age -unit is pretty high," explained
F_fichman. "So I definitely would
like to play while I'm in college."
Farachman also staled that he might
give ike vanity team a try. "Either
way I just want to play."
one level away from ptayi-g at the
level
"I scored four goals in three
games at states last year." staled
"Hat was one of my
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a return trip to i
he is disap-
_'t have a
hockey program. "I would Hke to
ptay (f Amhent ted a Mm," be
added. "But twain ttey dent 1 ant
to play for USA
Wteanfcedl
When te is not on the ice, I ___ch-
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City, twp.
make pact
on 3-year
fire deal
Residents of Amherst
Township can sleep easier on
New Year's Eve.
The city of Amherst last
week passed an ordinance
extending the existing fire
contract with the township an
additional three years.
The old fire contract was
set to expire after Dec. 31,
leaving the township without
primary fire protection. Negotiations between the city and
the township ran into some
difficulties due largely to the
problems surrounding a Joint
Economic District (JED), and
the fact that the city had lost
$40,000 providing the service
in the last year.
While the ordinance has
been passed by city council,
and the law department is
drafting the contract there is
still a chance that the city
will not provide tbe township
with fire protection. The contract has an escape clause. If
either party so desires, they
could terminate the contract
anytime during the first 30
days. However, that is unlikely because Amherst Township would be left without
fire protection.
Amherst mayor John Higgins was optimistic about the
passage. "Because of the continuity of interests, we would
try to negotiate a contract
ratter than go head to head
with then (the township)."
The co-uract antes provisions for ihe money that was
being tost by the city aoc-ri-
ing to fire chief Ralph Zikk.
Tte new contract aril tain
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