3-B THE PLAIN DEALER A DECEMBER 16, 1997 Northeast Ohio TUESDAY 1 Kucinich says report cites runaway freight By KEVIN HARTER PLAIN DEALER REPORTER LAKEWOOD The public has spoken loudly against a proposal to increase freight train traffic, and federal officials are listening, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich and Bay Village Mayor Thomas L. Jelepis said yesterday. As proof, Kucinich, a Cleveland Democrat, offered a preliminary environmental impact study done by the Surface Transportation Board.
The federal agency studied eight criteria, including railroad crossings safety, noise, air quality and environmental justice. The study, which was released Friday, included profiles of the communities, potential problems and ways to reduce the impact. "This is an important new development. What this represents is a significant victory in getting the federal government to realize the significance of our concerns," said Jelepis, who was chosen by the mayors of Lakewood, Rocky River and Westlake to speak for West Shore communities. Crackdown on deadbeat parents nets 219 By JAMES F.
SWEENEY PLAIN DEALER REPORTER A crackdown last week that resulted in the arrest of more than 200 deadbeat parents statewide was a success, according to the Ohio Department of Human Services. "Most everyone who participated went out and got some results and was pretty happy," said department spokesman Jon Allen. Sheriff's departments and child support agencies in 39 of Ohio's 88 counties teamed up to serve civil warrants on parents who owed child support or were in violation of a judge's order in a support case. In all, 219 people owing $2.2 million in child support were arrested, Allen said. Alerted by the publicity and, in some cases, a letter left by a sheriff's deputy, an unknown number of parents called child support and court officials to arrange hearings.
Others have arranged to pay what they owe, officials said. Lorain County was one of the most active in the state. Its task force of 35 deputies and auxiliary officers arrested 33 people Wednesday. "Our sheriff's department really did a job for us. It was amazing," said Anthony Bond, the county's child support enforcement administrator.
Those arrested in Lorain County owed more than $266,000 in child support. Bond said that $1,000 was paid that day, but he did not know how much else might have been paid subsequently. In Cuyahoga County, 19 people were arrested and 13 others came in after learning that sheriff's deputies were looking for them, said Sandra Walker, director of the child support enforcement division in the county prosecutor's office. Eleven others have called to schedule hearings before the end of the year. Four people have been sentenced to jail and one was ordered to perform community service after the sweep, she said.
Summit County began its push in November and has arrested 12 people. The pressure will continue, said Terry Metcalf, administrator for the county Child Support Enforcement Agency. Of the 14 people targeted by Geauga County, nine were arrested or turned themselves in. Two more have made arrangements to come in, said Paul Reiman, county administrator of child support services. Two have received jail sentences, he said.
Lake County deputies last week picked up two parents for delinquent child support. One was ordered to serve 10 days in jail. The state plans on another crackdown next year, Allen said. "The publicity generated by this should send a strong message out that the state and county are going to do whatever it takes and use all their tools," he said. Plain Dealer reporters Molly Kavanaugh and Mark Vosburgh contributed to this article.
1 NEW RAIL ROUTE PROPOSED Avon Lake Lake Erie Sheffield I Lake Norfolk Southern Lorain Corp. line 90 Avon 83 Vermilion Sheffield Conrail Inc. 90 line North Amherst Elyria Ridgeville 80 PLAIN DEALER New plan clears way for commuter line By MICHELE M. MELENDEZ, PLAIN DEALER REPORTER A Norfolk Southern Corp. plan could ease fears in northern Lorain County about more freight train traffic through neighborhoods.
It also could resurrect dreams of a commuter rail line between Lorain and Cleveland. Instead of tripling the traffic on the northern line through lakeshore communities, the railroad would keep the current level by diverting the traffic to another line. "That may give us the opportunity to do the kinds of commuter rail things we've talked about," said Lorain Safety-Service Director George I. Koury. A question remains, however, about who would pay for Norfolk Southern's $47 million plan to change the traffic pattern.
Norfolk Southern and CSX Corp. are awaiting a decision from the federal Surface Transportation Board to allow the railroads to split up the tracks of Conrail Inc. Two-alarm fire CSX and Norfolk Southern are seeking to buy and divide Conrail. Norfolk Southern has said it would increase traffic on its line that heads west from Cleveland through the West Shore communities and west through Lorain County. The merger must be approved by the federal transportation board, which is scheduled to act in late July.
Citing safety as the primary concern, West Shore mayors and Kucinich organized and championed a public campaign against the proposed increase. "We have scored on the safety issue and we are in a position to bring the railroad to the table to negotiate," Kucinich said. The federal study called for the railroads and representatives of the communities affected to work out their differences, Kucinich said. If they fail to negotiate an, agreement, he added, the federal agency can mitigate, or "impose terms." Before a federal agency can act on the merger, the law requires an environmental impact study. All parties now have until Feb.
2 to respond to the study's findings. "This isn't over by a long shot," Jelepis said. "This won't be allowed to happen without a hell of a fight." A final environmental impact report will be released in late May and the federal agency is scheduled to act on the merger proposal in late July. Norfolk Southern and CSX officials said they were still reviewing the 8-inch-thick report, but were willing to meet with community leaders and elected officials. "At this point I'm not able to comment on specific concerns, but we have been working with the Surface Transportation Board for six months, reviewing issues and looking for beneficial solutions for all concerned," said Rob Gould, CSX spokesman.
"Yes, certainly we will work with people to address issues and work to resolve them to our mu-. tual benefit," said Frank Brown, Norfolk Southern spokesman. Teen's kin sue to get baby's body MEDINA Medina County The Iaconas filed a suit Friday prosecutors say Audrey Iacona's asking Medina County Common defense lawyers are trying to cir- Pleas Judge Judith A. Cross to cumvent the criminal process force Prosecutor Dean Holman with a suit demanding the body of and Coroner Dr. Neil Grabenstetthe teenager's newborn son.
ter to surrender the body. Tacona's lawyers say thorough fense Richard counsel J. for Marco Audrey, lead said de- the independent examination of the Iaconas, as the baby boy's next of body is crucial to her defense, but kin, are entitled to the body by the family is also entitled to the law. body for proper burial. He acknowledged, however, Audrey, 17, has pleaded not that the baby's body would be guilty to murder and five other more thoroughly examined befelonies related to the death.
fore it was laid to rest. machine products. two were treated for the cause was under Forty firefighters from Lorain and Elyria were called in, and minor injuries. A Lorain Fire Department spokesman said investigation. RAMON MENA OWENS PLAIN DEALER PHOTOGRAPHER Employees of Gehrke Son Manufacturing examine what is left of their workplace after a nine-hour, two-alarm fire caused $750,000 damage to the machine shop.
The fire, on W. 11th St. in Lorain, began about 3:30 a.m., when no one was working at the plant, which employed 25 people to make screw- Three Chagrin By LOU MIO PLAIN DEALER REPORTER WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS Three school districts have concluded tax-sharing agreements 630-acre dealing Chagrin with the Highlands proposed velopment just west of Interstate 271 at Harvard Rd. When fully developed, the Orange, Warrensville Heights and Beachwood school districts could share in an estimated $16 million in annual property taxes. Agreements were necessary because Chagrin Highlands covers parts of those three communities and Ilighland Hills.
The property will be developed over 20 years under a limited partnership between Figgie International Inc. and the Richard E. Jacobs Group of Westlake. The Warrensville Heights and Orange school districts, in a joint announcement yesterday, said Orange will receive 30 percent of the taxes collected on the 126 acres in the Orange district. Warrensville Heights will receive the other 70 percent.
9 1 IT'S A FACT ABOUT CLEVELAND tury, the the turn of G.C. the Kuhl- cenman Co. was a leading maker of electric and steam railway cars. The firm, which had evolved from making car interiors and supplies, thrived during the heydey of streetcars. Kuhlman built a plant on E.
140th St. and made streetcars for transit systems as far away as Texas. After being sold and resold, the company folded in the 1930s. Kuhlman St. in Collinwood survives.
Briefly HARRISVILLE TOWNSHIP SAFETY- -SEAT FAILURE State troopers were trying to determine yesterday why a child-safety seat failed to hold a 5-month-old girl who died after her mother's car spun out of control on U.S. 42 near the Medina CountyWayne County line. Katlyn Maletz, the daughter of Lisa M. Maletz, 28, of West Salem, was thrown from the restraint in the back seat of "her mother's car in the Friday morning accident, Bittner said. The baby died Saturday at Rainbow Babies Children's Hospital in Cleveland.
She and her mother were traveling north on 1 U.S. 42 when their car suddenly went into a spin on the two-lane highway before becoming airborne. Lisa Maletz suffered minor injuries as the car struck a ditch and a tree. NORTHEAST OHIO INTERCHANGE RELOCATION The Lake Shore Railway Association Inc. has come up with the more than $1 million needed to relocate a proposed Ohio Turnpike interchange at Ohio 58, Marc Lake Shore's exec- 'utive vice president, said yesterday.
The interchange would intersect the 20-mile line, the former Lorain West Virginia Railway that Lake Shore wants to restore and operate for tourists and freight hauling. Lake Shore plans to pay for moving the interchange with a loan from the Ohio Rail Development Commission, Chappo said. Commissioners still must vote on the loan Jan. 8, executive director Thomas O'Leary said. WICKLIFFE HOMES Gregor Okicki wants the city and Lake 'Metroparks to erect nets to a dozen or more homes near Pine Ridge Golf from stray golf balls.
said he would ask Council that the city share the cost of poles and "netting with the parks which owns the 18-hole 'golf course on Ridge Rd. estimated that 15 complained about errant balls damaging siding, windows and cars. 'Metroparks Executive David A. Noble said "the district erected netting planted trees in some "areas to protect homes near golf course. As part of that deal, Norfolk Southern announced it would nearly triple the daily freight train traffic from 13 to 34 along a line connecting Cleveland and Vermilion, which runs through Cuyahoga and Lorain County shore communities.
Residents in those areas said they feared more noise and accidents. Officials added that the increase would hurt the possibility of a commuter line because the tracks would be too crowded. In the new plan, submitted to the federal board last month, Norfolk Southern says it would divert the additional trains south to Berea, to tracks now owned by Conrail. Those tracks come into Lorain County through North Ridgeville and slice up to Vermilion through Elyria, Elyria Township, Amherst, Amherst Township and along the shared border of Lorain and Brownhelm Township. Susan Terpay, Norfolk Southern spokeswoman, said residents of those communities would see only two additional trains over three years.
She said Conrail now runs 48 trains on those tracks. $130 million firm pulls out of Eastlake By THOMAS OTT PLAIN DEALER REPORTER EASTLAKE A manufacturer that had more than $130 million in sales through the first nine months of the year will pull its headquarters out of Eastlake at the end of this week, but most people will not notice. Chart Industries, a maker of equipment for processing and storing gases at frigid temperatures, used Eastlake for little more than a mailing address, housing a central administrative. staff of only six people in about 2,000 square feet of space on Curtis Blvd. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Arthur S.
Holmes said Chart Industries has a "very decentralized structure and operating philosophy." It has 1,250 employees at eight plants, including about 60 workers in Columbus. Other operations are in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado and California. The lean headquarters staff had beefed up to the point of needing more room, Holmes said. Starting Monday, the company will be run from 4,500 square feet in Monarch Center, an office complex on Landerbrook Dr. in Mayfield Heights.
ON THIS DATE 20 YEARS AGO before Cleveland's Singing Angels were to perform for the First Family in the White House, director William C. Boehm gave the young singers some bad news. President Jimmy Carter would not attend the concert because of a budget meeting and his daughter, Amy, was still at school. Even worse, there was no piano. And the children's.
chorus had never performed without a piano. But Boehm located a piano in another room and the chorus performed for First Lady Rosalynn Carter, members of the Executive Protective Service and their families. school districts OK Highlands tax split 'This partnership offers an opportunity for the Warrensville Heights schools and the Orange schools, along with the Beachwood schools, to develop and improve educational programs for all WENIFORT WASHINGTON, Warrensville Heights superintendent That agreement was similar to one reached in May between Warrenesville Heights and the Beachwood school district, which will receive 30 percent of taxes from the 405 acres in Beachwood. The remaining acreage in Chagrin Highlands is in the Warrensville Heights school district, which also serves Highland Hills. "This is sort of a three-way partnership, now," said Cristin Narten, spokeswoman for the Orange school district.
Wenifort Washington, Warrensville Heights superintendent, said: "This partnership offers an opportunity for the Warrensville Heights schools and the Orange schools, along with the Beachwood schools, to develop and improve educational programs for all children." Her comments were echoed by Dan Lukich, Orange superintendent. "This educational partnership we hope will serve as a model for future partnerships with the business corridor to be developed in this area, as well as with the surrounding communities and the private sector," Lukich said..
