Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page 15

DemocratandChronicle.com More local stories Rochester mayor wants to raise water rates and some zoning fees, 3B OCAL SECTION DEATHS 2B I 5B STATE LOCAL 3B I 6B WEATHER THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2002 DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE 'stop pus Party chairman says he needs to concentrate on law practice. The challenges are substantial. In the next month or so, the party will need to find potential candidates for county executive and possibly for district attorney, if popular Democratic incumbent Howard Relin doesn't seek re-election. Both seats will be up for election in November. Democrats, who hold a slim 300-voter edge over Republicans in the county, haven't had a Democratic money for campaigns.

O'Brien said his law firm continues to grow and it became increasingly difficult to do both jobs. He was running the party part time, but he said it had become a full-time responsibility. "After three years of trying to do both, it became somewhat overwhelming," he said Wednesday morning. The party's vice-chairman, Paul Haney, will become interim chairman un from 1991 to 1993. She has also served as deputy county clerk for administration and is currently public affairs manager for RuralMetro Medical Services.

Clifford, of Rochester, iearned local politics early in life: Her mother, Ellen Clifford, served as executive assistant to former party chairman Larry Kir-wan in the 1970s. "I know what the challenges are and I'm enthusiastic about it," she said. til a successor is picked by the committee at a meeting to be held in a few weeks. Clifford is the only one to come forward for the post, O'Brien said. "There's no question she has the experience and the ability to do the job," he said.

Clifford, 37, served as political director for the Monroe County Democratic Committee in 1989 and 1990, then as staff director for Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, night saying he's leaving office and recommending long-time Democratic operative Molly Clifford as his replacement. O'Brien has been chairman since 2000. He was reelected by the party to a two-year term this fall. The chairman helps steer the direction of the local party, helps selects candidates and raises BY STAFF WRITER JOSEPH SPECTOR The chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Committee resigned Wednesday, saying he needs to, focus on his personal commitments and law practice. Ted O'Brien sent out letters to about 1,000 committee members Tuesday O'BRIEN, PAGE 4B A Strong rebuilding transplant program ,0 '-iiB I f- (A 1 'V" TV! 3 ir0 4 V- SHAWN DOWD staff photographer Caregiver Bev Ewald, right, helps her father-in-law, Bill Ewald, rise from the lunch table in his Webster home.

Bill's wife, Betty Ewald, is at left. Stress on caregivers and patients can increase at holiday time. Keeping holidays simple NEWS BEAT Reservists get Bronze Star Two reservists with the joist Civil Affairs Battalion Webster, fresh from learly a year of duty in Afghanistan, will come lome with Bronze Stars. Maj. William Wade Cook, i8, of Brighton, served as a earn leader in Mazar-e Jharif, salvaging local schools.

A veteran of four deploy-nents with the Army, he von a previous Bronze Star luring the Persian Gulf War. Staff Sgt. Joseph M. Sabawa, 26, of Hilton is a tfew York state trooper. Cook and Zabawa revived their awards Tues-iay at Fort Bragg, N.C., where about 40 members of he noncombat Army Reserve unit are being de-)riefed.

They return to Rochester this month. The Bronze Star is warded for meritorious service during a military jperation. Vigil to honor police officers The fourth annual Can-llelight Memories Vigil, lonoring law enforcement )fficers, will be held at 7 today at Christ Episcopal Church, 141 East Ave. Participants also will nention local law enforce-nent officers who have seen injured or died or re-ired in the past year. Gates Police Officer Sung 'Sonny" Chung will ad-Iress the audience via a aped message from the Brain Rehabilitation Unit of Jnity Health System.

Dhung was seriously inured Sept. 15 when his slammed into a tree vhile he was responding to in emergency call. The event is free. Esposito wins decision GATES The legal battle )etween Supervisor Ralph isposito and the Leone fam-ly is apparently over. The Appellate Division )f state Supreme Court has lismissed an appeal of a lecision last year in suits lied by Stephen, Elizabeth, Alfred and Debbie Leone.

"It is the final avenue hey had to them," Esposito Wednesday. The Leones' attorney, Andrew LaLonde, was unbailable to comment. Starting in 1997, the -eones had charged mis-reatment by Esposito and he town in connection vith disciplinary actions ind terminations of Stephen and Alfred Leone rom the town highway de-jartment. State and federal and the state Public imployment Relations Joard had ruled earlier in isposito's favor. For more News Beat, see age 2B.

THINGS TO DO Park Avenue Holiday Jpen House: "The Spirit of he Holidays," featuring holiday decora-ions, Santa, live entertain-nent and activities; presented by the Park Avenue Merchants Association. 5 to p.m. today. Sites along Avenue, from Alexan-ier to Brunswick streets. (585) 234-1909.

For more things to do, see Weekend magazine. mmir Compassion unleashed A renowned Tibet- 1 an Buddhist teacher is coming here this weekend to perform healing meditations. lives with her daughter. To keep the stress level as low as possible, caregivers like Ewald and Quinn need to plan for the holiday and delegate tasks as much as possible, said Sandy Schencke, senior elder care specialist at Elder Source. She suggests making a checklist and then paring it down to the essentials.

Relinquishing some holiday traditions can be painful but will make your life BY STAFF WRITER DONNA JACKEL Decking the halls and feeling jolly aren't high on Bev Ewald's Christmas list this year. "I'm not even looking forward to Christmas," she said. "I don't feel like putting up a tree. I just don't want the stress of it." The Webster woman cares for her in-laws, who live about three miles away. Bill Ewald, 80, has several health conditions, including diabetes arid water on the brain, which sometimes pectations and simplifying holiday preparations are the best ways for caregivers and those they care for to enjoy the season.

"I pray for energy at the holidays," said Kate Quinn of Ogden. "There's such a compressed amount of time to do Christmas shopping, make food, clean. I get overwhelmed and I get tired." Quinn runs her own business and cares for her mother, Frances Quinn. The 91-year-old has her own home, but sporadically cause him to lose his balance. His wife, Betty, 79, now needs help caring for him.

Bev Ewald said she does "whatever needs to be done" for her in-laws, includes cleaning, cooking, chauffeuring and shopping. This year, Christmas will be "very low key" just Bev, her husband and her in-laws. "Too many people is too overwhelming for them," she said. "They just can't handle it anymore." Ewald is taking the right approach. According to the experts, scaling back ex surgeons jumping to Pittsburgh; when Marcos left, Dr.

Henkie Tan went with him. The job market for transplant surgeons is highly competitive, but there is nothing unusual about the recent swapping of surgeons between Rochester and Pittsburgh, Bozorgzadeh said. Jain said he's coming to Rochester for a "new challenge and new responsibilities." In Pittsburgh, he said, surgeons work on a rotation, exclusively working on one organ at at a time liver transplants one year, something else the next. In Rochester, he'll perform liver, kidney and pancreas transplants year-round. Strong hospital had been on pace for 220 liver transplants this year.

When the transplant team was in full gear, it was performing 15 to 20 liver transplants each month. But after the announced resignations, the pace dropped to about eight or nine each month. So far this year, Strong has done 151 liver transplants, along with 45 kidney transplants. Bozorgzadeh said he is not obsessed with numbers. Rather, he wants Strong to be known for quality.

"We will remain a center of excellence in the region and the nation," Bozorgzadeh said. "We will continue providing top-quality care to our patients, along with improving our status as an academic center." Currently, 261 people are on Strong's waiting list for kidneypancreas transplants, 179 for liver transplants. E-mail address: mleingan DemocratandChronicle.com BY STAFF WRITER MATT LEINGANG Strong Memorial Hospital is filling vacancies in its organ-transplant program, replacing surgeons who left in a mini-exodus this summer. Beginning in August, four of the five surgeons on the team announced their resignations, including Dr. Amadeo Marcos, director of the program, who left for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

The cycle of resignations sparked by issues such as salary and the way the hospital coordinates patient care, Strong officials said slightly slowed the number of kidney and liver transplants at Strong. But one of those surgeons, Dr. Mark Orloff, has since changed his mind and agreed to stay, Strong officials said Tuesday. And two new surgeons have been hired to start in January. The new surgeons are Dr.

John A. Daller from the University of Texas Medical Center, Galveston; and Dr. Ashokkumar Babulal Jain from the University of Pittsburgh. "We are pleased to welcome these surgeons to the Strong Memorial team," said Dr. Adel Bozorgzadeh, Strong's director of transplant services.

"They will serve as tremendous assets, and their expertise in clinical and research initiatives will improve the already outstanding care available to transplant patients." Bozorgzadeh also intends to hire another surgeon next spring, bringing the program back to a full complement of five surgeons. The hiring of Jain from Pittsburgh reverses the recent trend of Rochester STRESS, PAGE 4B County expands green grants County announced this week it will buy 35 acres of environmentally sensitive lakefront property in Parma. The county recently suggested selling six acres of Webster Park along Lake Ontario to help close the county's budget gap. Monroe County Spokesman James Smith said those sections don't fit in with the rest of the park. E-mail address: Istanfor DemocratandChronicle.com Under the new grants: Greece will receive $125,000 toward purchase of 123 acres near the Braddock Bay and Salmon Creek areas.

Perinton will receive $20,000 toward purchase of five acres of woodland. Pittsford will receive $125,000 to protect 75 acres of the SynderLehman Farm. Penfield will receive $125,000 toward purchase of development rights of 134 acres at Woodward Farm. Woodward Farm off Harris Road was already part of Penfield's $10 million open space preservation plan, which residents approved in April. However, the grant will help decrease the amount of taxes that have to be raised, said Penfield Supervisor Channing Philbrick.

Monroe County Executive Jack Doyle has said the Green Space Initiative is part of his administration's commitment to preserving open space. Monroe BY STAFF WRITER LAUREN STANF0RTH Monroe County has rolled out its second round of grants to help towns preserve open space. The county's Green Space Initiative, which uses money the county received from the national toba.cco settlement, will give $395,000 to four towns. The initiative first provided $1.5 million to various Monroe County towns in February. Albert Ranieri's story sounds all too familiar: Greed kills MARK HARE "A 'I Contact him at: Democrat and Chronicle 55 Exchange Rochester, NY 14614 258-2351 On May 5, 2000, Ranieri ambushed Vaccaro on his way home, firing about 17 shots, hitting him eight times.

All of this because of the money and the greed. I know there are big-time thieves who get away with it and appear to live happily ever after on their ill-gotten gains. But hoping to be one of the lucky ones is like smoking three packs of cigarettes a day and expecting to be the one guy in a million who never develops cancer or emphysema or even bronchitis from all that tar and nicotine. Albert Ranieri's story becomes a parable because it's so simple. Together, the money and the greed brought him nothing but trouble, turning his heart to stone and leading him straight to do that.

Almost immediately after the heist, the FBI began to suspect Ranieri, one of two drivers of the truck that was robbed. They followed him so closely that agents accidentally rear-ended his vehicle when he stopped abruptly. There was no way he could spend the money without implicating himself. He was so worried about being caught at one point that he burned $100,000 in a backyard pit. In his plea agreement he admitted laundering some of the money through drug purchases and by paying cash for stocks or to invest in various businesses including a limousine service and a communications company.

He admitted plotting to repeat his original crime by robbing another armored truck. Albert M. Ranieri may be too young to remember the Beatles' song Can't Buy Me Love. But it sure applies. As in, "Money can't It also doesn't buy happiness or security.

On Tuesday, Ranieri admitted in federal court that he took part in the 1990 $10.8 million AMSA armored car heist, that he engaged in money laundering, drug dealing and finally murder. The money brought him so much trouble that his crime could be a biblical parable. Don't blame the money, said Ranieri's lawyer, Michael Tallon. "It isn't so much the money as it is the greed." It's a story as old as time, but it bears repeating because so many people still don't get it. Control your greed and you'll I sure do.

I'd like to pay off my mortgage, put the kids through college, never have to worry about paying bills again, have a comfortable retirement. But if you don't learn to be happy with what you have, you'll never be happy no matter how much more you have. There is nothing new about this. But Albert Ranieris keep turning up, looking for a quick fix, a guarantee of comfort and happiness and power at someone else's expense. There is no such thing.

Happiness is the product of a life lived well. You can't buy it; you have to grow it yourself. It's so simple, but still too many people refuse to accept it. Albert Ranieri will do 30 years in federal prison. Maybe he'll see the light.

But I wouldn't bet the ranch on it. mhare DcmocralandC hronicle.com thony Vaccaro, after conspiring to do so with defense lawyer Anthony Leonardo. Ranieri invested about $100,000 in Club Titanic, a night club owned by Vaccaro and Leonardo. Eventually, prosecutors believe, Ranieri came to suspect that Vaccaro was stealing from him. That Ranieri had himself stolen the money in question before he gave it to Vaccaro didn't factor into his thinking, I IN TOMORROW'S Democrat and Chronicle Everybody wants more money.

And he admitted to killing An- guess. be happier for it. Ranieri didn.