Amherst News-Times, 1998-02-18

              voods hit the derby — Page 3
Vandals attack vehicles — Page 6
kmherst News-Times
i
February 18, 1998
Amherst. Ohio
50 cents
>uty auditor quits amid city hall uproar
MILLER
News-Times reporter
Deputy city auditor Cathy Puf-
nock resigned suddenly last week
after being accused by auditor Diane
Eswinc of allegedly leaking information aboul her difficulties in obtaining a surety bond to a Lorain
newspaper.
Pufnock, deputy auditor under
former auditors John Dunn and Jim
Eswine, Anderson battle over bond
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
City law director Alan Anderson drew the wrath of auditor
Diane Eswinc and mayor John
Higgins after he criticized her
for allegedly trying to cover up
her bonding difficulties last
month.
Anderson blasted Eswine at
city council's Feb. 9 meeting for
telling the New-Times that in
formation aboul former bonding
difficulties had been leaked to
the news media by someone at
city hall with questionable political motives.
Eswine's comments came following a Jan. 26 meeting and in
volved disclosure that she was
unable   lo  receive  a  $50,000
surely bond as auditor because
of previous credit problems.
Eswinc said she was not try-
CONTINUED on page 5
Pennies from her
heaven pave road
for needy kids
by GLEN MILLER
Faith Bauman
News-Times reporter
Once a month, Faith Bauman
wiles away two or three hours
counting pennies, lots of them.
Her goal is to collect 84,000
pennies or about $840, a mile of
them, according to her
calculations.
It's not lhai Bauman needs the
money; she's collecting penny
aflcr penny to help children attending the Red Bird Mission, a
rural mission school in a mountainous part of Kentucky.
So far, she's counted about
$350 worth of pennies donated
by children and adults attending
her Sunday school class at the
Old Stone United Methodist
Church.
When she reaches a mile, the
$844 will help pay for the room
and board of impoverished
children who live in boarding
houses near the school. The
homes arc a necessity. Otherwise, she said the youngsters
would have to walk miles to and
from school each day, often over
sleep or rough sections of southeastern Kentucky.
CONTINUED on page 3
Residents want
acreage to reflect
backyard policy
A small group of residents and
city officials are trying to determine
how to rczone aboul 41 acres of
land between Rt. 58 and Royal
Drive.
The city planning commission is
considering rezoning the two parcels of former Amherst Township
land from residential R-l-1 to commercial property.
The residents, most who live
along Royal Drive, don't want to
look oul iheir rear windows 10 sec
businesses. They would prefer the
cily leave about three-quarters of the
property residential, especially the
part behind their homes, according
to Royal Drive homeowner Martin
Sofia.
Sofia has offered io research how
the township's previous R-l-1 zoning and the type of construction il
allowed. He and city building inspector Ron Konowal, who is doing
similar research using aerial mapping, are expected to report their
findings to the planning commission
Feb. 24.
A portion of the land, which is
owned by Daniel George, of Amherst, abuts properly owned by
American Legion Post #118 and
Royal Drive homes. Most of the
land was residential (R-l-1) and a
small portion commercial when it
was annexed into the city from the
township about eight years ago according lo mayor John Higgins.
George wants it all rczoned commercial but the nearby residents
don't.
A few residents spoke on ihe history of the area and made an impassioned plea to preserve the residential zoning during a Jan. 27 planning
commission meeting.
Higgins said the some residents'
hope of keeping all the land zoned
residential "wouldn't fly" with the
planning commission or city
council.
"It just isn't practical given the
development that's going to be occurring along Rt. 58 when the turnpike interchange comes along," he
explained.
Sofia, of 1025 Royal Drive, said
he and a few other neighborhood residents also feel it is unrealistic to
think the city can keep all of the
land residential. The portion along
the west side of Leavitt Road can be
zoned commercial, but nol more
lhan about 1,000 or 1,500 feet in
depth. In addition, a buffer zone
should be built between the com-
CONTINUED on page 2
Yesterday and today
Fourth grade students at St. Joseph Catholic
School take a test while dressed the way in
which their ancestors were schooled about 150
years ago. The special dress was in celebration
of Cleveland Catholic Diocese 150th
anniversary.
Gammons, said she resigned at noon
Feb. 11 without giving notice because she feared she was about to be
fired by Eswine.
"I was falsely accused by her and,
based on some nasty things she said
to me, I felt that she wanted me
out," Pufnock said. "This is an appointed position and I have no (civil
service) protection. She could fire
mc overnight and without warning."
CONTINUED on page 3
Russell McGrew
She ends
courtship;
he returns
to rape her
An Elyria man, who was reportedly angered by a broken relationship wilh his Amherst girlfriend, allegedly overpowered and raped her
Feb. 4 while ihe woman's five-year-
old son was in the home.
Russell S. McGrew, 38, is
charged wilh raping his former
28-year-old Flamingo Avenue girlfriend while her five-year-old son
was nearby. The boy did not witness
the rape but was within hearing distance of the act, according to detective Alex Molnar.
McGrew, of Elyria, pleaded not
guilty in Oberlin Municipal Court
Feb. 10 and is being held in the Lorain Counly Correctional Facility
pending a Feb. 26 preliminary hearing. He also is charged with domestic violence and aggravated
burglary.
The woman did not call police
following the rape because McGrew
threatened to kill her if she did.
Molnar said McGrew and the woman broke off their relationship
Feb. 3. He returned to the woman's
modular home the following night
and entered without knocking
through an unlocked door.
When the woman asked him to
leave, he overpowered and allegedly
raped her in a nearby room while
the boy was home.
Molnar said the 5-foot-10 inch,
170-pound McGrew easily overpowered his 5-foot-5 inch,
120-pound ex-girlfriend.
He left following the sexual attack but returned the following
morning as the woman was walking
her son to a school bus stop.
"He pulled up beside her and basically said they had to talk, so they
went back to her trailer. He knocked
her around there," Molnar said.
Commissioner says Golden Acres safe haven
Golden Acres will not be closed
nor will pan of its property be used
as the site of a tourist center operated by the Lorain County Visitor's
Bureau.
Lorain Counly commissioner Michael Ross said he never intended to
close the Amherst Township landmark or move its residents lo the
vacant Si. Joseph Hospital in
Lorain.
His intent was to determine if "a
working relationship" between the
owners of the medical building and
the nursing home could be developed as part of an assisted living
facility being considered in part of
ihe old hospital.
"1 never intended to indicate we
might close Golden Acres. There
was a misunderstanding on the part
of people for which I accept full responsibility," he said.
Ross said he met wilh Golden
Acres staff and administrator William Glowacki last week in an effort
to clarify his intentions and plans.
According to him, much of misunderstanding involved his plans to
determine the value of the nursing
home and the 20 acres it sits on. The
plan still is viable, but only as part
of an effori to discover the true
value of all county-owned land.
The evaluation has nothing to do
wilh construction of a turnpike interchange on Rt. 58 and the resulting commercial development thai
will likely occur along the highway,
he added.
"I never meant that looking at the
land value would mean we would
eventually be putting up a for sale
sign on the lawn and look at making
a profit," he added.
Neither will a portion of the nursing home land be used for the tourist
center.
Less lhan an acre of the land was
seen as a possible new home for the
visitor's bureau, which is now located in downtown Lorain.
"That didn't sit well with ihe
other board members (commissioners)," Ross said. "Ii won't happen."
Nevertheless, the commissioner
said he wants to continue investigating the possibility of developing a
relationship with the owners of the
hospital if an assisted living facility
is placed in it.
'There's really not that much
happening on the one (Si. Joseph's)
end yet, so the jury is sull out on the
idea," he said. "It's a possibility, but
there's a lol of details lhat have to
be explored."
If such a facility is finalized, Ross
said ihe commissioners and the Gol
den Acres board of trustees would
have to develop a closer working relationship before any land of connection between the two facilities
can become a reality.
He said letters from Amherst City
Council and the Amherst Township
Board  of Trustees  opposing  any
change to the landmark did not influence his decision.
"I value their opinion the same as
I do others who wrote or called," he
said. "As commissioners, we need
to gel this kind of input."