Amherst News-Times, 1997-01-22

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Wednesday, January 22, 1997
Amherst, Ohio
I
Boy fends off possible abduction near sch
by BILL ROSS
News-Times reporter
A fourth grader at Harris Elementary School had to act quickly after
he said a stranger tried to coax him
into a mini van on Jan. 13.
The report prompted cautionary
notes to be sent home with children
at Harris, Powers and Shupe
elementary schools the following
day.
Nine-year-old Alexander Hall
said he was on his way home from
school shortly after 3 pjn., when he
was approached by a man driving a
blue-green minivan. The stranger,
whom the boy described as having
brown hair, a mustache and wearing
a white T-shirt, drove up next to
him and said "It's cold, do you want
a ride home?"
According to his mother, Alexis
Hall, Alexander declined the offer
and started to walk faster, but the
man persisted, saying "Come on,
it's cold out, get in."
"What's strange is that it was about 23 below with the windchill and
this guy had no coat on and two
windows down. After Alexander
said 'no,' the man kept pace with
him in hi.<; car, so that's when he
ran," Hall said.
Since hi; lives on the same side of
the street. as Harris Elementary
School, Alexander fled the area by
running through the back yards of
nearby residences in order to get
heme.
Hall reports that Alexander
"came home covered in snow and
was pretty shaken up by the incident."
She added that when she first saw
him, she was angry because he was
drenched and she thought he had
been out playing around in the
snow, but after Alexander told her
what happened, she became as upset
as the boy.
After waiting until she could discuss the matter with her husband,
Hall contacted the Amherst Police
Department at 8 p.m. that evening
and she said "I was amazed at how
responsive they were — they told
CONTINUED on page 2
^ Crash claims life
of Harris fourth
. grader on Rt. 58
by BILL ROSS
News-Times reporter
A multi-vehicle crash that took
the life of a Harris Elementary
School fourth grader on Jan. 14, has
prompted local officials to review
the area for traffic safety.
Jacob Balda, of Lorain, was a
a**, passenger in a 1994 Dodge Caravan
being driven by his father, Timothy,
when the crash occurred at about 10
p.m. that evening, according to state
troopers.
As the Baldas were traveling
northbound on Rt. 58, they collided
with a 1995 Chevrolet van being
driven by Nathan Eden, 39, of La-
Grange, at the intersection of Rt. 58
and Russia Road.
According to the State Highway
Patrol, Eden ran the stop sign at the
intersection and was hit by the mini-
van being driven by the elder
Baldas.
The van being driven by Eden
rolled over and landed upright, hitting a utility pole in the process and
ending up in a ditch.
Troopers say the Baldas' van remained on RL 58 after the initial
collision and was subsequently
struck by a 1995 Ford Aerostar van
being driven by Richard Schramm,
62, an Oberlin resident-
After the second collision, Jacob
Balda was trapped inside uV van by
CONTINUED on page 2
Doug Northeim's assistants get together in the Marion L. Steele
High School gymnasium to discuss plans for their upcoming multimedia presentations. The shows will feature laser lights, video pro
jection, uritgue sound effects and both dancing anciacrobatics by
llivw'Dsivi'Wders. •   - ,WTXJ. '
Rivera lawsuit passes
mediation; triai eyed
Special show to dazzle audience
by BILL ROSS
News-Times reporter
Lights, cameras and lots of action
is what a junior at Marion L. Steele
High School has in mind for two
half-time shows at both a boys' and
a girls' basketball game next month.
Doug Northeim, 17, has been
working on the project for two years
now, after having been inspired
while a freshman involved with the
MLS Theater Company.
"I was in the drama department
and saw how the lights and music
could be used to create special effects, but I wanted to try something
a little different," Northeim explained. "I had also seen some unique multimedia shows at places
like Cedar Point, and the idea just
Endowment fund pays bill
for student-designed event
sort of snowballed from there."
Northeim was bom in Lorain and
now lives in Amherst, having spent
all of his school years in the Amherst school district
After conceiving the idea, he approached MLS Theater Company
director Pat Sanders, who gave his
approval and support to the idea.
"I'm not going to stop you — you
go for it," Sanders said after reviewing the idea with Northeim. Sanders
has been instrumental in helping
Northeim to bring his idea to fruition through his advice and support
From there, money had to be acquired to pay for the elaborate pro
ject and Northeim subsequently engaged the support of Steele High
principal Bob Boynton. Boynton co-
signed the grant request that Northeim submitted to the Amherst Educational Foundation.
"The foundation had only about
$300 set aside for theater and fine
arts and my project needed about
$700, so I was very happy when
they came through for me," Northeim said.
After he got the go-ahead for the
project Northeim began educating
himself further as to what needed to
be done to make it happen.
"Because of my experience in
theater, I had previous contacts with
Vincent Lighting Systems of Cleveland and Electrastage from Wick-
liffe," Northeim said. "The people
from Vincent were able to give me
some great advice, and I also made
many visits to Electrastage, where
they showed me what equipment
would be best for what I wanted to
do, tell me rental costs and give me
organizational ideas."
In the meantime, Northeim
started spreading word of the project
to other students at Steele through a
variety of means. "I used flyers, advertised on the schools TV channels
and used word-of-mouth to get other
students to join in," he said; he now
he has about 50 students lined up to
assist him. He says everyone was
enthusiastic about being able to
CONTINUED on page 2
Although it may be more than a
year before it actually happens, a
federal lawsuit filed by veteran Amherst patrolman Hector Rivera will
be brought to trial.
Rivera claims his civil rights were
violated by the police department
because he gave testimony in a 1990
deposition involving another Amherst patrolman.
Although the courts had listed a
Jan. 22 mediation hearing between
the city's and Rivera's attorneys, the
two sides have since announced
they are unable to come to any
agreement in the mediation process.
Rivera is represented by Cleveland attorney Chris Patno and the
city is represented by David Dad-
dona of Ward and Associates.
Daddona said last week that the
Jan. 22 mediation hearing was
canceled after the two sides, under
the auspice of a mediator, decided
an earlier hearing held last November, proved fruitless.
Daddona said the two sides will
now turn lo the discovery process in
preparation for trial; he expects to
begin taking depositions within a
few weeks.
However, he added, the federal
court system is backed up and he
doesn't expect the suit to come to
trial for at least a year or longer.
Rivera won back his job with the
department following a 1995 trial in
which he was found not guilty of
stealing car wash money from the
department However, he has been
on medical leave since late last summer because of a knee injury.
Rivera's suit claims police chief
Bill Hall and lieutenant Lonnie Dillon retaliated against him by falsifying the theft charge for a deposition
he gave in a case involving the dismissal of Ronald Brotherton, who
was later reinstated to the force.
Rivera was on leave for six
months while awaiting trial on the
theft charges.
I
Guests cook up something special on cable TV show
by BILL ROSS
News-Times reporter
Just because the holiday season is over and many have resolved to lose weight in the new
year, there is no reason to give
up a satisfying meal now and
then. And you don't have to
look any further than local cable
Channel 30 on your television to
bring you a few ideas.
Amherst City Cable television
service, broadcast daily from
Marion L. Steele High School,
has been airing "Cooking with
Connie" once a month for three
years as a feature to its daily
'Town Crier" broadcast
Connie Cotton, an Amherst
school district substitute
teacher's aide, approached her
brother-in-law, David Cotton,
with the suggestion after she had
engaged in discussions with
friends over how nice it would
be if Amherst could have its
own cooking show — featuring
residents and workers from the
city, South Amherst and Am
herst Township.
David Cotton is the general
manager of Amherst City Cable
and is always looking for ways
to improve the programming.
"I had seen how many great
specialty cooking shows were
on regular cable channels and
thought we should have one in
Amherst I told David my idea
and he said 'great, why don't
you do it?' — but I had no intention of personally becoming
involved with the project" Cotton said.
It took a bit of coaxing by her
brother-in-law, but she was ultimately convinced to take on the
project and has been enjoying it
ever since.
Amherst City Cable operates
three channels: 30 is for the
'Town Crier," which follows a
talk show format patterned after
the "Morning Exchange" on
Channel S (Cleveland), and for
tape-delay broadcasts of football
and basketball games as well as
other specialty broadcasts; 19 is
the schools' channel; and 12 is
for broadcasts of the city council
Treasurer Kathleen LNkovHz (left) appears on "Cooking with Connie.
and committee meetings.
David Cotton says that students produce the broadcasts,
earn class credit and are graded
in their performance just like
any other class. He has both advanced students who actually direct the programs, as well as
first-time students who perform
a variety of tasks, including setup and monitoring of
equipment
The most recent segment of
"Cooking with Connie" featured
Amherst city treasurer Kathleen
Litkovitz, who was on hand to
display her culinary talents as
she created her special "braciole
beef," which is from an old family recipe that she learned while
growing up with an Italian
mother and five Italian aunts.
The dish is created from
wrapping thin slices of beef
(usually top round or sirloin) around Italian bread crumbs, par
mesan cheese and herbs and
spices. It is then rolled up so that
it has the appearance of jelly roll
CONTINUED on page 2
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