Amherst News-Times, 1997-10-29

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Firefighter to annex land — Page 3
Leaf pickup to begin — Pag
Amherst News-Time
Wednesday. October 29, 1997
Amherst, Ohio
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City races heat up as Nov. 4 election ne
Tuesday, Nov. 4, is election day
and several city races are being
contested.
There arc three candidates competing for the auditor's job and two
arc hoping to be elected treasurer.
On the council side, two races,
for Second and Fourth wards, are
uncontested, while losers will go
home from the council at large. First
Ward and Third Ward races.
A request for renewal of the
school's  permanent   improvement
levy will also appear on the ballot
this election day. There would be no
increase in taxes with the renewal,
according to school superintendent
Howard Dulmage.
Democrat Wayne A. Whytc, incumbent president of Amherst City
Council, is running uncontested for
re-election.
In the race for auditor, there arc
three candidates. Democrat Diane L.
Eswine, who currently is a council
at large member, Independent Dar-
Icne Klingcnmcicr and Republican
John J. Dunn arc all competing for
the position of auditor.
Dunn is the present auditor. He
was appointed to the position by the
Republican party to fill the unexpired term of the former auditor
who left before the term was. up.
In the race for treasurer, Democrat Kalhy Lilkoviiz is running for
re-election. She has served several
terms as treasurer for lhe city. Litkovitz is being challenged by Republican Jim Klaibcr.
Democrats John S. Dietrich and
David C. Kukucka arc both running
for re-election for council at large.
Democrat Nancy L. Brown, currently serving on Second Ward, and
Republican Dann W. Swift arc the
challengers. Three will be elected.
In the race for First Ward, Robert
Sisler is running for re-election and
being challenged by Independent
Tcrrancc A. Trastcr.
Since present Second Ward council member Brown is not running
Democrat Edwin R. Cowccr is the
uncontested Second Ward
candidate.
Democrat Steve P'Simer and Independent David L. Rice arc running for a Third Ward scat. Rice, a
write-in, is lhe current council
member.
The race Tor Fourth Ward is uncontested with the current member,
John W. Mishak running for reelection.
In the general election for the
Amhcrsl Exempted Village School
Board, three members of the current
Patriotism flies
over downtown
for years; they
are responsible
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
For nearly 20 years, Leroy Kubu-
ske, Mort Plato and Virgil Robson
have been proudly displaying the
red, white and blue on every government holiday.
Since lhe mid seventies, the three
veterans and members of American
Legion Post #118 have been climbing ladders to place American flags
on street lights throughout
downtown.
This month, they officially retired
after being presented a mayoral proclamation honoring their service.
The three men were honored during
an Oct. 13 city council meeting.
Actually, the three veterans have
been hoisting the American flag
without fail for at least 30 years, although they didn't start doing their
patriotic task regularly until about
20 years ago, according to Kubuskc,
71.
Several weeks ago, the men — all
members of Elmer Johnson Post
#118 of the American Legion, decided il was time to keep their feet
planted firmly on the ground.
"It just gol lo lhe poinl where go
ing up and down a ladder got to be a
little much for us, so we thought it
was time lo turn this over to younger people," Kubuske said. "We're
the trail end of a lot of people who
did this before us."
The flag program started in the
late forties when the American Legion asked for donations to buy
brackets and flags to be placed
throughout the city.
But it turned inlo a touchy subject
for business owners who didn't have
a utility pole in front of their business or store. The solution was parking meters. The Legion eventually
purchased brackets lhat could be
mounted on the meter posts.
"It worked oul. Nobody got short
changed of a flag," Plato, 72,
explained
Thai changed in the seventies
when the parking meters made way
for free downtown parking. Al first,
the American Legion mounted flag
brackets at shoulder level on utility
poles along N. Park, Church, N.
Main and part of Cleveland streets.
Forty-eight flags were mounted.
All three were in their early thri-
lics when they started. Kubuske re-
CONTINUED on page 3
These two are part of trio that has been hanging flags in the downtown area for decades.
Spooky coincidence? Not at this home
Standens share their love
of house with former owner
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Wade and Carol Standen
have had an unwanted but relatively harmless guest in
their Milan Avenue home
since they moved into it
about 22 years ago.
His name is Ralph Rine-
hardt and he's dead and buried. It's just that his spirit
jealously guards all the work
he did on his former residence long before Wade Standen bought it from his widow, Magarette, in the
mid-1970s.
He expresses his displeasure
every time the couple has
made renovations to the
home.
They know little aboul him
other than the fact neighbors
said he reportedly died of a
stroke while resting in his
small bedroom, now a computer den. They also know he
worked at Amherst Hardware,
was handy and liked to do
his own work on the house.
He's tried to tell the Standens not to change things in
the 105-year-old home, but
they've ignored him.
Rinehardl's strange haunt-
ings began shortly after the
Standens moved into the
house and have never
slopped.
"It's become a standing
joke. Whenever something      •
happens, like a closed door
opens or we hear a strange,
unexplainable sound, wc just
blame it on him," he
explained.
Over the years, the Standens and their three children,
Justin, 21, Melissa, 19, and
Aaron, 15, have put up with
"Mr. Rinehardl's" sometimes
strange antics, but have never
been harmed or seen him.
Only Phoebe, their labrador
retriever, has had close encounters of the spooky kind
with him.
On several occasions, the
docile dog has suddenly stood
up and started to growl and
bark ai a wall. On one occasion, her hair literally stood
on end as she barked into
thin air just outside the computer den.
It's highly possible
Phoebe's animal senses could
see or feel something her human owners couldn't.
One of the incidents
occurred aboul 10 years ago
after Slandcn worked into the
CONTINUED on page 2
Wade and Carol Standen stand in their
kitchen. They believe a previous wall cabient
like the one at left was ripped from the wall by
a spirit who objected to their remodeling work.
board arc running for re-election.
All three are uncontested.
James A. Bcrthold, Sandra S.
Frccdman and Ronald D. Yacobozzi
are the three board members running for re-election.
Coverage of the candidates begins in this issue of the News-Times
on Page 6.
Candidates Yacobozzi, Mishak,
Sisler and Swift did not submit information to the News-Times.
Voters
to decide
levy fate
Money to be used
for fixups only
Amherst school district taxpayers will see a two-mill permanent improvement levy on
the ballot when they go to the
polls Nov. 4.
The $547,000 raised yearly
by Issue 20 over the next five
years will be used to repair
buildings, replace classroom
furniture, make safety improvements, fix leaky roofs, replace
worn out school buses and
make other needed
improvements.
The funds cannot be set aside
for salaries, according to superintendent of schools Howard
Dulmage.
The biggest selling point for
the levy is lhal it is a renewal
levy. That means it will not increase property taxes in the
school district. The levy will
cost taxpayers 20 cents for each
S100 of valuation on their
homes. The owners of a
S 100,000 home will pay S20
per year, for example.
Currently, the district's buildings and grounds arc valued at
$45 million, according to insurance estimates.
"I take thai investment very
seriously," Dulmage said. "Il is
very important to me that we
keep our roofs in shape and
keep the taxpayers' facilities entrusted to the board of education and myself in good shape."
He said taxpayers make the
same kind of investments in the
upkeep of their homes.
Several types of improvement
projects are envisioned over the
next five years. They include
continued replacement of old
rooftop heating and air conditioning units, boiler repair and
replacement, the purchase of
new school buses and high tech
equipment, including computers
required for modern education.
Without permanent improvement levy funds, Dulmage said
maintenance money must be taken from funds set aside for
textbooks, teacher salaries and
supplies. This would endanger
the quality of education for
which the school district is
known, he added.
The levy was first passed in
1983 and was renewed in 1987
and 1991. The levy does not begin to generate funds until the
following year.
The superintendent said more
than $2.1 million in permanent
improvement money has been
spent over the last five years on
improvements, including new
heating and air conditioning units. In addition, several modular
classrooms also have been purchased" to ease overcrowding in
the schools.
One of the biggest future expenses will be the replacement
of an 8,000 gallon gasoline tank
from which school buses get
fuel. Located adjacent to Powers Elementary School, the tank
must be dug up and replaced by
December 1998 in order to
comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules.