Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page 9

ft fTuii) rr AGAINST LEGAL ADVICE Yen Wang has decided to' have a judge, not a jury, decide her fate in a second trial on a manslaughter charge in connection with the death of her newborn baby. Story on 2B. SATURDAY AUGUST 17. 1985 ROCHESTER NEW YORK SECTION 5B DEATHS 5B CLASSIFIED 15B COMICS 16B PEOPLE Lifeguard shortage forcing some area pools to close Mate r5S3KHr if Apartment complexes hardest hit as guards return to campuses By Jerry Thomas Democrat and Chtonicle For the past week, lifeguards have been among the most sought-after properties in Monroe County, American Red Cross officials said yesterday. And some apartment complexes and recreational facilities that can't find certified lifeguards have been forced to close their swimming pools in the midst of the summer's highest temperatures and just before Labor Day.

"It's so warm they hate to close their facilities," said Rita Swank, director of safety service for the American Red Cross. "There has been a shortage all summer, but I guess this week it really reached a peak." Swank said she has received calls from more than 15 swimming facilities that need lifeguards, most requesting two or three. "In order to be open, they must have a lifeguard TURN TO PAGE 2B Ben Bnnit Democrat ana Cnronicw Camera with half its lens under surface of water catches Joe McNulty, 13, diving into Genesee Park swimming pool yesterday. 10 mem not contaminate Beak Health effects concern family By Steve Orr But they learned Aug. 8 that water at their house at 676 Salt Road, Webster, was contaminated with toxic chemicals.

"I put a towel over the sink," Rene DelMonte said. That is one way the family of Angelo and Rene DelMonte coped with the sudden knowledge that the well water they had consumed daily for nearly four years was no good. Industrial solvents that leaked from nearby Xerox Corp. storage tanks had found their way into their well and were present in quantities that exceed New York state guidelines by a factor of 62. Although Xerox officials had known for TURN TO PAGE 4B County Health Department.

"That will surely be reassuring to the other well-users in the town," he said yesterday afternoon. The tests also confirmed that the well used by the family of Angelo and Rene DelMonte at 676 Salt Road was contaminated by the toxic chemicals. Earlier sampling found that toxic industrial solvents were present in well water at that home in quantities 62 times greater than New York state standards. The home was connected to the municipal water supply last Saturday at Xerox's expense. Merkens said the tests of water from TURN TO PAGE 4B Water safe for now, official says By Steve Orr Democrat and Chronicle Tests of water from 10 private wells around the Xerox Corp.

complex in Webster show no indication of contamination by the toxic chemicals that leaked from Xerox storage tanks. "We are very pleased to be able to report that there is not extensive groundwater contamination around the Xerox complex in Webster," said Dr. Mark J. Merkens, deputy director of the Monroe Democrat and Chronicle For two days last week, 4-year-old Angelo DelMonte Jr. and his 7-year-old sister, Sheri, were issued one very strict order: Don't drink the water.

"They were brought up on water. I've always pushed it," said their mother, Rene DelMonte. "It was kind of hard because they're used to getting out of bed at night and getting a drink." Chockablock Morin orders probe of sewer mishaps $3.5 million suit is filed in slaying The in-laws of Robert Reilly have filed a $3.5 million wrongful death suit against the Gates man in connection with the slaying of his wife. Paul and Kathleen Kane of Buffalo charge that Reilly intentionally and negligently killed their daughter, Eileen M. Kane, said the Kanes' lawyer, Patrick Naylon.

Reilly, 42, is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the Jan. 7 slayings of his wife and their three young children. He is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 28 for a hearing to determine whether a psychiatrist can testify as a prosecution witness at his trial. The Kanes' suit, filed this month in state Supreme Court, asks for $3 million on behalf of Eileen Kane's estate and $500,000 on behalf of her parents for expenses and "the loss of comfort, care, society and companionship of their daughter," Naylon said.

The Kanes also have asked that Reilly be barred from receiving any benefits from his wife's estate, he said. New plan for landmark New investors have become interested in saving the Old Stone Warehouse from demolition, according to Henry McCartney, executive director of the Landmark Society. McCartney, whose organization paid about $30,000 to shore up the landmark structure last winter, said he hopes to give the city a letter outlining the proposal by Monday. Two months ago, a plan by a group of developers headed by Allan R. Saiger to spend $3.7 million to rehabilitate the building into offices fell through.

McCartney said the building will still be used for offices and Saiger's group will still be general partners. City Downtown Development Director Fashun Ku said yesterday that if he receives a letter Monday that outlines the financial capabilities of the new group, and it looks like a solid proposal, he will recommend that the city consider it and postpone demolition plans. The 163-year-old landmark building, the city's first commercial structure, has been a victim of fire and deterioration. After several unsuccessful attempts to sell the building, city officials decided to demolish it before winter. Man's body found in canal The body of a unidentified man was found yesterday in the Barge Canal near Interstate 390 in Brighton.

A Westmoreland Drive man who was walking his dog along the canal bank spotted the body about 2:30 p.m. just east of the Kendrick Road overpass on Interstate 390, said Sgt. Jeff Haines of the Brighton police department. A passing houseboat pulled the body to shore, and city firefighters pulled the body from the water. Officer Mark Spaker said there were no apparent wounds on the body.

The man was about 30 years old, about 5 feet, 11 inches tall, and weighed about 200 pounds. He was wearing a black tanktop with a gold horizontal stripe and green cut-off jean shorts. The man had no identification with him, and fingerprint checks showed that the man apparently had not been arrested locally. An autopsy was scheduled for today. Truck driver injured A Hamlin man was in guarded condition last night in Strong Memorial Hospital after he fell from his pickup truck Thursday evening in Gates.

Roger W. Macintosh, 40, of 3179 Roosevelt Highway was thrown from his 1985 Ford Ranger on the Lexington Avenue entrance ramp to Interstate 390 when he apparently lost control of the pickup on a curve. Monroe County Sheriffs Deputy John Mazzo said the truck slid and rolled about 200 feet Indicted in forgery scam A federal grand jury Thursday charged a 27 -year-old Rochester man with altering the amount of three U.S. Postal Service money orders from $1 to $500. James Lee Blackwell was indicted on seven counts of forging an endorsement on a money "order, altering a money order and presenting an altered money order for payment, said Assistant U.S.

Attorney Jonathan Feldman. The grand jury accused Blackwell of buying three $1 money orders from an out-of-town post office, then changing the amount to $500. The indictment also accused Blackwell of trying to cash the money orders on three different days in November 1983 at the Central Trust Co. branch bank at 1820 East Ave. Officer wins gold medal A Rochester police officer won a gold medal last week in the bowling competition of the World Police and Fire Games held in San Jose, Calif.

Officer Maureen Tuttle, currently assigned to the department's Training Section, bowled a 212 score in her final game to take the gold medal before 200 spectators. Tuttle and Investigator Kim Rose of the Youth Services Section won a bronze medal in the women's doubles bowling competition. Rose also won fifth place in the singles competition. The local coordinator for the games, Lt. Roy Irving, said that 5,500 police officers and firefighters from 55 countries competed in the week-long contest.

Problems occurred during construction By Steve Orr 11 1 i if? 1:4 jfflSllt'f I. ilia foundation by a torrent of water that came from an adjoining structure, which had been flooded when storm water backed up in the sewer system. Some county officials have suggested the water backed up because of an obstruction placed in another sewer tunnel as part of a separate construction project. Others have claimed that the building ruined was of questionable design. The most persistent problem is that of toxic chemicals that have been oozing into a sewer tunnel under the river north of downtown since February.

The chemicals include benzene, a substance known to cause cancer in humans. The substances are believed to have been produced by a coal gasification plant that now is closed. Waste material, including the toxic substances, was pumped from the tunnel into settling ponds. State environmental officials issued a notice of violation to the county in July because too much of the toxic material was escaping into the river. The material now is being pumped into the county-run sewer system.

The activist environmental group Greenpeace has objected to that maneuver, however, and has threatened to take direct action to halt the pumping. There also is some question as to TURN TO PAGE 4B Democrat and Chronicle Monroe County Executive Lucien A. Morin has ordered an informal investigation to determine responsibility for several mishaps that have occurred during sewer construction projects along the Genesee River. The probe will look at the seepage of toxic chemicals into a sewer tunnel under the river, the collapse of a sewer building under contruction in the river gorge, and the cracking of a sewer main near the river, Morin said. "None of us is very happy or pleased after an incident of that nature occurs," he said yesterday.

"All I want is some answers." Morin said he wants to present the results of the investigation at a meeting Thursday of the Pure Waters Administrative Board, which oversees the sewer construction program. Some members of the board said they had not been fully informed about the most spectacular of the incidents the destruction of a 500-ton service building under construction on the west bank of the river just south of the Driving Park bridge. The building was washed from its Kevin Higley Democrat and Chronicle Cosmo DiCiaccio, left, and Brian Tesch demonstrate teamwork as they install the glass blocks in a pavilion at Highland Park yesterday. When they're done sometime next week they'll have installed about 1,000 of the blocks, they said. Monroe County searching for new jail superintendent house yesterday, awaiting the start of a trial on Monday that Dragan's plea has made unnecessary.

County Court Judge Paul I. Miles scheduled sentencing for 9:15 a.m. Sept. 27. The sentence probably will not include a prison term, although one to seven years is allowable for the Class felony.

Special Prosecutor Robert Noonan and Dragan's lawyer, Jeffrey Sellers, told Miles they had negotiated the plea on condition that Dragan would only be put on probation, possibly fined, and possibly sentenced to some community service. Miles said he did not expect to make imprisonment part of the sentence. If he did, Dragan could withdraw his plea, he TURN TO PAGE 4B Albion farmer admits he had marijuana plants By Bob Bickel Democrat and Chronicle ALBION Peter Dragan, 69, of 3741 South Main Albion, pleaded guilty in Orleans County Court yesterday to second-degree criminal possession of more than a pound of marijuana. However, the actual total was closer to 2'2 tons, according to sheriffs deputies. About 2,500 plants pulled up from Dragan 's cornfields last September filled a truck trailer parked next to the court By Todd Lighty Democrat and Chronicle A nationwide search is under way to find a replacement for Ralph Bates, whose resignation from the post of Monroe County Jail superintendent took effect yesterday.

Bates last month was named to head the county's Office of Emergency Preparedness a post he officially takes over today. He has said he did not not leave the superintendent post which he held for four years because of frus trations about overcrowding at the jail, but because the new job presented a new challenge. "I have no regrets about leaving," Bates said. "I think the jail is in good shape and a very capable staff is working there. "But I'm looking forward to and am excited about my new challenge." Sheriff Andrew Meloni said Maj.

Edward T. Blodgett of the Jail Bureau will be acting superintendent until Bates' suc- TURN TO PAGE 4B Carousel fund drive raises $3,709 toward $500,000 goal she and other committee members had turned down an offer by Jerry Betts, the director of the National Carousel Association in Columbus, Ohio, to hold a carousel rally at Roseland next weekend. "It takes a lot of time and effort to organize a rally," Boland said. "We decided that because time is so short, we can better spend our time trying to raise the money." Betts said yesterday he hadn't been TURN TO PAGE 4B Paul Ruben, Rochester regional representative of the American Coaster Enthusiasts club, said he and others will meet at the Skyliner about 2 p.m. today for their final plunge through the curves of the wood-frame coaster.

Ruben said the coaster was built in 19(50 by John Allen, "a legendary coaster designer," who died several years ago. Allen was a former president of the Philadelphia Toboggan Co. the same com- TURN TO PAGE 4B Coaster buffs gather to say goodbye to Skyliner Democrat and Chronicle CANANDAIGUA The Roseland carousel isn't the only ride whose passing will be lamented when the amusement park closes this fall. Roller coaster enthusiasts from all over the country have been invited to Roseland today for a final ride on the Sky-liner roller coaster. Antique at Roseland may go to high bidder By Jack Jones Democrat and Chronicle CANANDAIGUA More than $3,700 was pledged toward a $500,000 goal in the first five days of a last-ditch fund drive to save the Roseland carousel.

But Mayor Patricia Boland, who announced Monday she would spearhead a carousel fund drive, said yesterday that.