Amherst News-Times, 1997-12-17

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Amherst News-Time
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Wednesday, December 17, 1997
Amherst, Ohio
■Mi
More modular units to house stude
■
by APRIL MILLER
News-Times reporter
Modular units may be the answer
to Amherst schools overcrowding.
"For the most part, we are on
solid ground," superintendent Howard Dulmage said at a Dec. 10 board
or education work session held to
duscuss overcrowding. "With our
staff, financially, and the support of
the community we are solid. Our
immediate problem is
overcrowding."
Dulmage said there are two main
issues facing the board.
One is that some buildings cannot
accomodate another classroom without losing a program, such as a
computer lab or music program. The
other issue is that the schools cannot
improve without more room.
All five public schools arc overcrowded, but Dulmage said Powers,
Harris and Shupe are in the most
trouble.
"The simple solution is to pass
the bond issue and put up brick and
mortar," Ron Yacobozzi, board
president said. "You can't lose
when you build."
Dulmage doesn't think the community will support passing a bond
issue which would allow the schools
to add on. In May the bond issue,
Christina Wallace
Suicide
claims life
of EC girl
from town
St. Joseph Catholic Church was
filled with mourning friends, family
and relatives of Christina Wallace at
a Monday morning funeral Mass.
They all wondered why the
bright, attractive 16-year-old Amherst girl had decided to take her
own life late last week in her home.
No one will ever know. She left
no suicide note.
According to Amherst police, the
active Elyria Catholic High School
student was found hanging in her
bedroom closet by her distraught
mother, Mong Le Wallace, shorUy
after 7 a.m. Friday.
The teenager ended her young life
by hanging herself with a belt from
a bath robe, according to Del. Alex
Molnar.
The reason for her death has left
question marks in the minds of her
parents, Thomas and Mong Le Wallace, her friends and school officials. She had shown no signs of depression nor had indicated she was
unhappy with her life, the detective
said.
She had everything going for her.
At 16, Wallace was academically
advanced. She was a senior and had
scored 34 out of 36 on her American
College Test (ACT). A musician,
the teenager had been named first-
chair in the school band and played
in the ECHS jazz band.
Even more impressive was the
fact she was being touted by three of
the nation's top colleges. Harvard,
Yale and MIT.
According to reports, it is possible her death may have been an accident. A highly inquisitive youth,
her father suggested his daughter
may have been experimenting and
went too far.
Regardless, the teenager's death
was hard for ECHS students to accept. Several attended the funeral at
St. Joseph's.
It is the second suicide students
and school officials have had to deal
with within a week. An ECHS assistant baseball coach committed suicide in the garage of his Elyria
home earlier last week.
The two deaths are not connected,
according to Lorain County coroner
Dr. Paul Matus.
Normally, police respond to one
or two suicides during the holiday
season.
"It's not really all that uncommon. A lot of people aren't happy
this time of the year," he added.
"But this one is different because
she was so young and there was no
apparent reason."
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Easy pickings
Dreeeeed in her elf's hat, Christott».tt**o*sales person Nikki
Swetz seems to have the full attention of her customers as she
makes a sales pitch. Actually, they are a captive audience — her
family. From left is youngest sister Samantha, two, Melissa, her
mother, and another' mw, Sabrina, seven. Sweu will be seilitig
the trees evenings at the corner of Leavitt Road and Cleveland
Street.
JULIE
JEANNETTE
JOHN
Top challengers
These top students from Marion L. Steele High School will take
on two other Northeast Ohio schools on the Ohio Lotter's new "It's
Academic" show The Comets will face students from Norton High
School of Norton and Grand Valley High School of Orwell. The
show airs Sunday, Dec. 21 at 6:30 p.m. on Channel 5 Pictured are
(front) Julie Powell, team captain Jeannette Brugger, John Cocco,
(back) team advisor David Lengyel, team alternates Bob Turner,
Matt Stipe and Steve Stay, and team co-advisor Bill Strohm.
which would have added several
classrooms to each building, failed.
The board thinks economic reasons, such as the unstable economy
of northern Lorain County, are why
the bond failed, not because the
community doesn't care about the
CONTINUED on page 2
Where will
sewer line
finally end?
Who knows
by APRIL MILLER
News- Timet reporter
County commissioners last month
authorized $2,900 for K.E. McCartney & Associates to proceed with
proposal- lor alternate !ie-in solutions for the S3.r million Amherst
township vnwer line which was installed last year on Rt. 58, Rt. 113
and Middle Ridge Road.
And although the system remains
unuscable, residents of Amherst
Township wait lor assessments for
the projects to be billed on their tax
duplicates.
The sewer lines were installed
last summer to facilitate commercial
development in conjunction with the
proposed construction of a turnpike
interchange at Rt. 58. When the
sewer lines were installed the com
missioners did have an agreement
with Lorain for a tap-in to the city's
water treatment plant, however the
old lines were never tested u> see it
they, could handle the flow from trie""
new lines.
Lorain mayor Joe Koziura said he
is not concerned with the capacity
of the wastewater treatment plant,
but is concerned with the sewer
lines. He said the overcapacity of effluent would cause flooding, so they
cannot be tied in.
Commissioner Betty Blair, who
voted for the approval, said the
sewer line tap-ins were supposed to
be completed in November, 1997,
but until the commissioners and the
city can come up with an agreement
the sewer will not be in use. Blair
said the study is in the process and
is hoping solutions will be found by
next fall.
Fred Nelson, superintendent of
the county sanitary engineering de-
parunent, said he hopes the study
will be done before the end of the
year, but they will still need city approval before the sewers are put to
use.
Commissioner Mary Jo Vasi, who
voted against the proposal, said she
hasn't heard anything about the
study. Vasi said she voted against
the sewer line from the beginning
because the majority of the residents
were against it.
Vasi said Lorain city council
makes the final decision regarding
the sewer tie-in. Koziura said the
study needs to be done at peak
times, which is usually in the fall
and spring.
"There is die possibility of holding tanks or running separate lines
as an alternate solution," Koziura
said, "but that would be very
cosdy."
Nelson said he has no ideas on
alternate solutions and that is why
the study is being conducted. He is
CONTINUED on page 2
Kids dive into unchart ed waters with team
by DIANA HOUGLAND
N-T sports reporter
Once the Amherst Comets
made the decision to compete in
the Southwestern Conference
Swim Meets, they dove in without testing the waters.
L-ast Thursday, during the first
ever swim meet for Marion L.
Steele High School swimmers,
the boys and girls teams competed in Bay against the Bay
Rockets in a SWC meet. The
boys surprised everyone by defeating their opponents 82-78.
The girls' team, despite some
outstanding performances, could
not duplicate their counterparts'
success and lost their first outing
135-45.
For the boys team, individual
events were won by sophomore
Frank Sasso, 200 freestyle and
500 freestyle; senior Joe Reitzel,
200 Individual Medley and 100
Butterfly; junior Paul Weston,
50 free and freshman Chad
Bowerman, 100 Breaststroke.
Other strong performances
were turned in by Josh Sailor
and Bryan Davis in the 100
Back stroke with a second and
third place respectively.
"It's hard to pin point the
swims which put us over the tcp
but these were great individual
efforts which added to the victory," Amherst head coach Scott
Peczc said. "The kids were very
excited about being pan of the
first meet ever. It is something
the kids will remember for the
rest of their lives."
"Having the boys win the first
meet ever was very pleasing to
us but a little unexpected,"
Pecze added. "We didn't expect
to taste success quite this early
in the season. Our younger
swimmers are contributing already which shows how hard
ihey are working."
The girls' team managed to
bring home four individual second place finishes by three seniors.   Renee   Kohlmeyer   fin-
CONT1NUED on page 8
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