Amherst News-Times, 1998-03-25

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imherst News-Times
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arch 25,  1998
Amherst, Ohio
50 cents
E     <, gas station robber gets caught on film
w
h1
IILLER
reporter
Kurt Bradley's past and his newly
acquired desire to rob people caught
up with up him on March 19.
Bradley, 35, of Lorain, was arraign^ in a Cleveland federal court
for robbing the PremierBank branch
at 938 N. Leavitt Road on St. Patrick's Day.
He also is due to appear in Lorain
County Common Pleas Court for
robbing the Marathon service station at Rt. 58 and Cooper Foster
Park Road on Feb. 21.
During lhat robbery, the suspect
made a female attendant lie on the
floor in a rear office while he made
liis (.-scape.
Bradley managed to elude police
until he robbed a Shell gasoline station at Cooper Foster Park and
Middle Ridge Roads in Lorain
March 19, according to police.
Although he escaped, his car was
spotted castbound on 1-90 by Avon
police. Officers lost it in traffic aflcr
a high speed chase along the high
way into Lakewood. It was there
that Bradley managed to speed away
as pursuing officers slowed clown to
avoid a possible accident in a hazardous construction area.
Fortunately his vehicle was seen
.again about three hours later by
I akewootl police.
This time he didn't gel away, not
that he would have eluded Amherst
police much longer any way, according to lieutenant Lonnic Dillon.
Amherst police knew who he was
prior to his alleged March 19 holdup
thanks to a hidden PremierBank
camera and Bradley's past.
The bank robbery occurred about
40 minutes after the bank opened
March 17.
Still photos from the bank tape
Higgins gets
a little
recognition
as teacher
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Mayor John Higgins can best
he described as a politician, administrator, negotiator and planner. But on March 16, the day
before his 62nd birthday, he
took on an infrequent role —
that of teacher and lecturer.
He also identified himself.
As city council prepared for
its bimonthly committee meetings, he stepped before a group
of 15 Marion L. Steele High
School government students to
explain the function of council
and its committees.
The students, sophomores and
juniors, had been assigned lo observe a council meeting and
write a report on what they saw
and learned on local
government.
The meeting was shorter lhan
most. It was over in about an
hour and went smoothly.
"He likes talking to students.
He's even been asked lo speak
in classes, although he doesn't
always have the time," his secretary Sally Cornwell explained.
Higgins stepped forward prior
to the start of the finance committee meeting to explain what
was about to take place and
why.
Then the finance committee
started, during which Higgins
spoke and answered several
council member's questions about issues.
Occasionally, there are breaks
between the end of one committee meeting and the scheduled
start of another.
It was then when Higgins and
a few council members took
time to answer any questions.
He didn't pause or hesitate
when answering questions until
he was startled by a girl's comment. He had just finished explaining who each council member was and whal their committee functions were when the
teenager said, "Yeah, I know
who they all arc, but where's the
mayor and where's he been all
this time?"
Dumbfounded, Higgins and
several astounded council members roared in laughter.
Even though Higgins has a
namcplaic   wilh   the   word
Mayor John Higgins gives Marion L. Steele
ttiyiractiool students a lesson in local govern
ment during a break in city council committee
^meetings. Although she was impressed with
*WSJtt!ffMTedge, one student didn't know who
he was.
mayor" on it at his council seat,
she apparently never saw il or
heard him identified as "mayor"
John Higgins.
11 was hard for him to keep a
straight face until council's executive committee was called to
begin its meeting.
Council member David Kukucka added to the jovial moment, saying to Higgins, "Oh,
and while you'er at il, don't
forget to take out the trash, too."
"I guess he had to identify me
in some way, bul a well-dressed
janitor I am not," Higgins
quipped. "But then again, at
home...well, it's different."
Following the meeting, the
mayor said he has spoken in the
schools six times since he has
been mayor and tries to meet
with students at city hall
whenever possible.
"Its one of the pleasurable duties of this job," he explained.
"They're very interested in government, how things happen and
me and my job, so I try to reci-
procate and help them with
projects."
•
City offers trade
to property owner
for tower land
A Middle Ridge Road property owner may receive free access to city utilities in lieu of a
water line tap-in fee as part of a
deal for land needed for a new
city water tower.
The deal has to be approved
by city council but has been tentatively worked out between the
city and the unidentified property owner.
It will allow the city to build a
100-foot water tower to provirJe
adequate water pressure on the
city's south and wesl sides.
The tower will hold one million gallons of water and cost an
estimated $1 million to build.
Despite a recent general
75-ceni increase in water rates,
mayor John Higgins said the cily
probably will have to sell bonds
io help pay for the project.
A storage facility for the city
utilities department also is expected to be built on aboul 1.5
acres needed for the projret.
"We haven't finalized things
yet, but we have discussed
where it will be, how we will get
io it and what utilities will be
provided," he explain«sd.
A second Middle Ridge Road
property owner has been approached in the hopes another
ileal can be worked out for pipeline installation. Use of the land
would shorten the length of the
pipeline from the water, thereby
culling the cost, he added.
The lower will be located be-
iweeii Pyle—S. Amhersi Road
and S. Lake Street.
The cily cunently Iras a water
lower near the Nordson Corpo-
ration lhal may be temporarily
shul down for repairs and painting, later this year.
It needs a second on the south
side because of differences in
water pressure caused by
changes in elevation.
The water tower will take about a year to build once the
agreement is finalized, approved
by council and bonds are sold.
"It's going to lake a lol of engineering work, but it's something we need and have needed
for some time," the mayor said.
Higgins explained the city has
some of the highest and lowest
elevations in Lorain County.
These differences cause problems in water pressure lhat can
be equalized by the construction
of the proposed water lower.
A detention pond also is
needed to hold rain water. The
water would be slowly let out of
the pond thereby preventing
flooding of Beaver Creek during
heavy or prolonged rains. Plans
call for it to be at least 250 feel
wide.
She's spotted it
Jenny the Datamation uses her sense ot smell
to check out a lost glove someone stuck on a
post at Maude Neiding Park while her owner,
Jack Gilgenbach, looks on. Gilgenbach said
Jenny usually takes him for a walk every day,
rain or shine.
were made and distributed to surrounding police departments. A Lorain police officer recognized him as
a former high school classmate and
police began tracking him down.
According to police, Bradley
walked to the bank and handed a
teller a note demanding money in
CONTINUED on page 2
CHIP $$
to aid
downtown
business
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Part of a proposed $400,000
Community Housing Improvement
Project (CHIP) grant will be used to
make downtown Amherst more livable and hopefully add shoppers to
the business district.
Pending the approval of state development officials, some of the
grant will be used to renovate apartments located downtown, mainly
those that are in the second and third
floors of businesses.
An ordinance supporting the
grant and its use was endorsed by
city council's finance committee
March 16 and was expected to be
presented to the full council
Monday.
By creating more usable living
space, mayor John Higgins said he
hopes the grant will he\p bolster the
number of people who may shop in
the main business district.
"The idea is to have more people
shop some of the downtown businesses," he explained. "Having
more people live there is part of the
trick because it will be convenient
for them."
The CHIP grant allows the money
to be used at the city's discretion as
long as il will improve people's living conditions.
This is the second year in a row
the city has applied for the grant.
Last year's application was turned
down by a slate review board because it lacked enough detail.
This year the city has hired
Lakewood planning consultant Al
Zalina to help write the grant so it
meets government specifications.
Zalina also will oversee the grant if
it is awarded.
CHIP grants are federal funds administered and awarded by the state.
An undetermined portion of Amherst's grant will be set side to assist
low income senior citizens repair or
renovate their homes.
The city expects lo learn if it receives the grant in about six months.
If it does, it probably will apply for
additional grants in the future, Higgins said.
Parking has been a major stumbling block to attracting more business to downtown for several years.
About 40 to 50 additional parking
spaces may be added under a proposal unveiled by Higgins last week.
As developed with the help of
council member Terry Traster, it
calls for adding eight parallel parking spaces and at least 30 diagonal
spaces on Tenney Avenue between
S. Main Street and Mill Avenue.
Parallel parking would be located
on the south side of Tenney Avenue
along the Conrail tracks. Aboul 15
diagonal spares could be located on
the south side of the street near the
corner of Church Street and an additional seven on the north side adjacent to the Church Street Bar and
Grill.
About another dozen may be located on the east side of Church
Street across the street from the restaurant and bar. Others would be
on both sides of Tenney Avenue immediately east of Church Street.
The diagonal spaces can be
created by reducing the width of
sidewalks from eight to four fret
and reducing the size of a small park
to be built al the southwest corner of
CONTINUED on peg* 2