Amherst News-Times, 1999-10-27

              Candidate coverage starts — Page 8 I   Comets stuck in three-way tie — Pag« 1?
Amherst News-Time
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Wednesday, October 27,  1999
Amherst, Ohio
Youth struck by car while waiting for bu
A fifth grader from Shupe
Middle School is being held
in intensive care with a severe head injury after being
struck by a car while waiting
for a school bus Friday
morning.
Skyler Grm was playing
before his bus arrived when
he stepped out of a driveway
into the way of a 1995
Dodge Intrepid going between
20-25 mph at 8:10 a.m., ac
cording to the Elyria Post of
the Suite Highway Patrol.
The car, driven by an Amherst woman, was going
northbound on Rosedale Ave.,
about 3/10 of a mile past the
Middle Ridge Road
intersection.
Skyler was taken to Amherst Hospital by Central
EMS. From there, he was
flown by emergency helicopter to Cleveland MetroHealth
Medical Center where he was
still listed in intensive care as
of Monday.
Neighbors consoled the
other children waiting for the
bus until the bus arrived, said
Amherst schools superintendent Bob Boynton. The children were then taken to the
school, where guidance
counselors offered support and
answered any questions the
students had. About 20 students were sent home because
they had difficulty coping.
"We let the children know
what we knew to keep rumors from flying," said Shupe
Middle School principal Steve
Demko. "We want the children to be informed of any acquired information and also
be aware of their feelings."
On Monday, Demko met
with an aunt of Skyler and
several teachers to discuss
how the boy was doing.
Demko said the students
are concerned for Skyler and
the middle school staff are
encouraging the students to
think positively. Students are
making get-well cards for
Skyler to read when he is
able, Demko said.
Boynton said he was told
that the children at the bus
stop were either playing tag
or football when Skyler ran
out into the road and was hit
"This is a re
situation," Boyt
would like to encourage parents to talk to their kids about not fooling around while
they wait at the bus stop."
A special fund to assist
with medical expenses has
been set up at Lorain National Bank. Donations may
also be made at the Cedar
Pub and Ziggy's in downtown
Amherst.
Brothers carry on
father's business
niche in memorials
by KEITH GRIBBINS
Oron Miller, and his brother, Alvin, are the owners and operators    gravestones are hand-made on
of Amherst Memorial Studio, the only studio In Lorain County where
Mayor a shoe in but council
candidates will battle it out
News-Times reporter
Most people might find working
to memorialize the dead a bit morbid, but not Alvin and Oron Miller,
the men behind the Amherst Memorial Studio. Being the bedrock
beneath the only gravestone maker
studio in Lorain County is not only
a satisfying career but also a gratifying one, helping people who are in
need.
"We get people after the fact,
while most people are grieving," explained Alvin Miller. "I take satisfaction in helping to finalize that
last thing that is ever done for that
The lack of national or state races
and an absence of requests for additional taxes are expected to make
for tight voter turnout in Tuesday's
election, although nearly a full slate
of city offices will be decided.
Marilyn Jacobcik, director for the
Lorain County Board of Elections,
said the absence of traditional draws
on the ballot could keep many of
Amherst's 8,000 registered voters
away from the polls.
"At this point, we're anticipating
relatively light turnout in Amherst,"
Jacobcik said. There are no money
issues, no increases, which tend to
bring people out."
And although all seven seats for
city council are up for election, as
well as the offices of mayor, council
president, and law director, many of
those races are unopposed.
Mayor John Higgins will win reelection with no Republican challenger. But in his new term the job
will be full-time after city council
approved the change from a part-
time position earlier this year.
Councilman-at-large John Dietrich is also running unopposed for
the council president's seat. He will
succeed longtime council president
Wayne Whyte, who announced his
retirement from city service and did
not seek re-election.
Ward 2 councilmember Ed Cowger will retain his seat without
opposition.
In races that are being opposed,
law director Alan Anderson is seeking re-election against Vermilion
law director and Lorain attorney
Kenneth Stumphauzer. Stumphauzer
said both city positions are part-time
and he would be able to split his
time between the two communities.
Stumphauzer, a Democrat, served
as Lorain's assistant law director for
12 years, and as law director in the
early 1990s. He has been Vermilion's law director for about three
years, but said he does not foresee
any conflicts of interest in holding
both positions.
"My interest in representing the
city is that, as a resident of Amherst,
I am well aware that the city needs
competent, timely, proactive legal
representation," Stumphauzer said.
"I believe I can offer thaL"
Anderson has been Amherst's
law director since 19%, and had
previously served as law director in
the 1980s. Anderson said he has improved efficiency in the law director's office, partly due to his regular
attendance at city council meetings.
"My regular attendance has
stopped some lawsuits in the making," Anderson said. "We've been
able to head off some problems before they could be enacted."
In the council at-Iarge race.
Democratic incumbents Nancy
Brown and Dave Kukucka will seek
re-election. Joining them in the race
for three at-Iarge seats are Democrat
Dave Williams and Republicans
Mark Costilow, Barbara Kilgore,
and Dennis Walters.
In the ward races that are contested, incumbent Democrat Jerry
Traster will be challenged by former
city auditor, Republican John Dunn
for the 1st Ward seat. In the 3rd
Ward, Steve P'Simer, a Democrat,
will defend his seat against Republican challenger Michael Nolte.
The 4th Ward incumbent, John
Mishak is being challenged by two
independent candidates, Nick Brusky and Jennifer Wasilk.
The only elected city offices not
up for vote in this election are city
auditor and treasurer.
In addition to the city positions
up for election, voters will be asked
to renew a 0.5 percent wage tax for
street maintenance. The tax, which
was first approved 10 years ago, expires Dec. 31, 2000, unless it is renewed by the voters.
Mayor John Higgins said the $1.5
million the tax brings in is vital to
the street department, especially in
view of the growth of the city since
it was first enacted.
"We have 42 more streets in the
city," Higgins said. "Without the
money, just to crack and seal would
be out of reach."
Safety service director Sherrill
McLoda said she is cautiously optimistic about the levy's passage.
"The voters have always understood that this is an important levy
to keep our streets up," McLoda
said. "Amherst if a good community. Our schools are good, our churches are good. But if your streets
aren't in shape, the rest falls apart."
NOV. 2nd BALLOT
MAYOR
JOHN HIGGINS
COUNCIL PRESIDENT
JOHN DIETRICH
LAW DIRECTOR
ALAN ANDERSON KENNETH STUMPHAUZER
COUNCIL AT LARGE f3,
NANCY LEE BROWN MARK L. COSTILOW
DAVID C. KUKUCKA BARBARA J. KILGORE
DAVID T. WILLIAMS DENNIS E. WALTERS
MEMRER OF COUNCIL-FIRST WARD
TERRENCE TRASTER JOHN J. DUNN
MEMBER OF COUNCIL-SECOND WARP
EDWIN R. COWGER
MEMBER OF COUNCIL-THIRD WARD
STEVE P'SIMER MICHAEL NOLTE
MPMBER OF COUNCIL-FOURTH WARD
JOHN W. MISHAK NICK BRUSKY
JENNIFER WASILK
person. We dot the I's and cross the
T's."
The brothers, in their 40s, are the
only two hands-on makers of grave
monuments and markers at the studio. The two help people choose and
design the marker that will signify
their loved one's resting place once
they have passed away. The two
then take that design and by hand
sandblast the granite stone that will
eventually take its place on a plot of
land in a cemetery.
First, plans are drawn out with the
headstone's design and then the
stone itself is stenciled. The stone is
sandblasted and finally shaped and
COMT-NUED on page 2
Three vie
for school
board seat
on Nov. 2
Two newcomers will face one
long-time incumbent in the race for
two open seats on the board of education in Tuesday's election.
The seats of long-time board
member Carol Jajack, and Jennifer
Musgrave, are open for election. Jajack will attempt to continue her
20-year streak as a school board
member with her sixth attempt on
the Nov. 2 ballot.
Musgrave decided not to ran for
re-election.
Jajack has been a resident of Amherst since 1962. She and her husband, Gene, a retired band director
of the Amherst schools, have raised
10 children in this community. So
far, nine of her children have graduated from the Amherst system.
Her youngest is now a senior. She
and her husband operate a photography studio.
Originally from Colombia Station, she moved to Amherst with her
husband when he accepted the band
director's position.
Jajack said she first ran for school
board as a parent concerned with the
care of the local students. She has
served on several committees sad as
president and vice president of Ike
board during her tenure and recognizes the need to fnamiftf the
schools' overcrowded conditions.
She is joined in dm race by two
local
'Exchange student' tennis status questioned
wing aa aoooa
by STEVE BARRY
News-Times reporter
The Lady Comeu tennis team,
flying high under the leadership of
an outstanding German tennis
player, has learned their foreign
friend's status wilh the Ohio Athletic Aftfe-eftr has caused them to
forfeit most of their winning season.
The news is devaatartag io Ae
coach. ._■■■»■. aad especially
stude* Mai SBoah. who k « *»
kept of ths
Stroeh is a citizen of Germany,
%is a junior at Marion L. Steele
School She is not an exchange
ttudeut in the normal sense of what
Three years ago Fritzi's older sister
Kathrina was an exchange student at
Steele, sad stayed with Anthony
Moreno femily.
The group Aat supported her, the'
International Exchange Forum weat
" rt.
vi*.Toaa\MS*e<
Matty m Qenaaay gave Ke>
io fee
Morenos. All went well after that.
To avoid any more international
glitches, the Stroehs arranged for
the Morenos to assume legal guardianship for Fritzi when she came to
Amhent three years later.
The school administration noted
that Fritzi was under a legal guardianship, snd treated her as sn Aat-
"We looked at Fritzi as an open
enrollment student," explained
school principal Fred Holland. "We
thought we had done everything by
the book sad everything was fine."
Everything was fine until someone contacted Mm Ohio High School
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his wife. Kay.
. Set-
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the exact rates for Mod's eligibility, laterals hook (NataadStaa-
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by the Ohio High School J£*J
Athletic Association (OHSAA). .. _._ _»   .-___, .
ton s i ae ueamr, a
Since the Morenos haws legal chaaadfeomMs
giiir11u.-lB over the fM. they ap&
argued thai a_> is sa «paa aarofl- Bafcae dmu
ment student, who does not need years as a*
m play tpona ia atom at Imam's
to a local attorney. He aai Us m_B laam mm
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