The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 14

Page D4, Wednesday, April 27, 1994 The Beacon Journal Hit Canal tourists, Stark official says I CUYAHOGA i Corridor: gi)) C0UNTY Ohio Erie Canal SUMMIT I nui t. COUNTY 1 Ohio MUAfmm rvA indicate corridor t-! itudy area Study area will T. include the following communities: 1 i i i Cleveland Cuyahoga Heights Garfield Heights I Newburg Heights I "4 JL icsr il I Valley View Bedford PCanal Brecksville Fulton Peninsula 'N. Boston Twp. Richfield MassUloni) sCanton Bath Cuyahoga Falls Akron 'mk Barberton Clinton I Canal Fulton Massillon -SSS Canton Navarre i Bolivar tm TUSCARAWAS COUNTY Project would help lure Continued from Page Dl and character can bring our communities together to work cooperatively to preserve a segment of history that has national significance to us," Sawyer told the subcommittee.

Frances S. Buchholzer of Akron, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, testified for the corridor, and Gov. George Voino-vich sent a letter with his support. "We believe that the Ohio Erie Canal is a nationally significant living resource and that designation as a national heritage corridor will create a framework that will help preserve its unique heritage and character," Buchholzer said. Jim Alexander, economic development manager for Cleveland's electric utility, the Centerior Energy said the corridor would help attract businesses and workers to Northeast Ohio by improving the quality of life.

Dennis Saunier, president of the CantonStark County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the project will bring in tourists. The purpose of the proposal is to preserve the 87-mile corridor between Cleveland and Zoar in Tuscarawas County that served as part of the first inland waterway link between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. Nineteen miles of the corridor would run through the Cuyahoga Valley National Rec- Goff said he filed petitions at the Summit County Board of Elections. The deadline for independent candidates to get on the November ballot is Monday. Goff, a registered Democrat, said he has not run for office before.

Sawyer faces opposition in Tuesday's primary from Kenneth Mack, a Springfield Township plumber who was angered at Sawyer's vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement Republican Summit County Prosecutor Lynn Slaby is also running, but faces no opposition in the primary. Cleveland Pom dealer, ex-wife plead guilty to charges Former international pornography dealer Reuben Sturman and ex-wife Naomi Delgado pleaded guilty Tuesday to jury tampering and witness tampering. U.S. District Judge Ann Al-drich ordered a presentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for June 27. Sturman, 70, was convicted in federal court in Cleveland in 1989 of conspiracy, tax evasion, filing false tax returns, failing to report foreign bank accounts and obstruction of justice.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In 1992, Sturman pleaded guilty in Las Vegas to racketeering and shipping obscene materials across state lines. His prison sentence was limited to time being served in the tax evasion case. On Dec. 7, 1992, Sturman escaped from the minimum-security federal prison in Boron, and was captured in an apartment in Anaheim, on Feb.

9, 1993. Delgado, 35, allegedly had warned people directly involved in assisting Sturman's escape not to give information to a grand jury. Beacon Journal Family finally gets day in the laboratory Federal agency to test soil, water for radioactive leaks in area near Goodyear's Wingfoot Lake facilities PLAIN Twp. Gas station clerks duped by robbers The old pigeon drop flimflam scam cost clerks at a BP gas station considerable cash Monday. According to Stark County sheriff's reports, two men and a woman are believed to have taken the money by distracting the clerks with questions and service requests while the money was removed by one of them from a bank bag as the deposit was being prepared.

Sheriffs Inspector Timothy A. Swanson said the incident occurred at U.S. 62 station at Mid-dkibranch Avenue about 8 a.m. as one of the suspects got a clerk to assist with kerosene while another asked questions about antifreeze and the third walked around the store providing another distraction. Motorist says car fired on his pickup A Stark County motorist believes his vehicle was fired on from a passing car Monday morning, but sheriff's deputies have clues to investigate.

'zr Inspector Timothy A Swanson 6aid the victim's pickup had a in the bug deflector on the hood and a large dent in the but no firm evidence to that the damage was caused by a bullet. The victim was westbound on Route 153 near Pinegrove Avenue in Nimishillen Township. izi- According to Swanson, the vic- i (am said an eastbound car was approaching him when he saw a "'flash and then sparks fly from the Jjiood of his truck. He stopped a short distance later and then drove to the sheriffs department after seeing the damage. RAVENNA Trustee faces charge over public contract A Deerfield Township trustee faces a misdemeanor charge of having an unlawful interest in a public contract over paving work that was done two years ago.

The county grand jury indicted rWilliam Charles "Chuck" Earnest "oh April 4. The case was trans- ferred to Municipal Court Earnest waived an arraign- "Yfcent set for May 5 and pleaded innocent through his attorney, "Ravenna lawyer Craig Stephens. Earnest is to have a preliminary "hearing on May 18. The indictment says that from Sept. 1 to Dec.

31, 1992, Earnest had "an interest in the profits or benefits of a public contract" is- sued by the trustees. The contract reportedly was for paving work on Fewtown Road. Earnest operates Chuck Earnest Trucking and Excavating. If 'convicted, Earnest could face six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. FAIRLAWN Area cities may unite to solve cable woes Leaders from a number of Akron-area communities said Tues-, day night it would be a good idea unite to grapple with concerns 'over Warner Cable's controversial hew terminal boxes.

The cable confab at Fairlawn City Hall drew leaders of more man a dozen communities who "are all trying to deal with the public outcry over the boxes. Several officials at the meeting said they have received many phone calls complaining about the boxes, even though so far the de-' vices have only been installed in certain areas of Akron. Eventuality Warner plans to install the box-- es in all 15 communities it serves in Summit and Medina counties. Cleveland Ohio AIDS activist Krista Blake, 22, dies Krista Blake, an AIDS activist who was featured in a Newsweek magazine cover story and traveled the country to urge young to use condoms to protect themselves from the disease, died of AIDS-related pneumophila. She was 22.

Blake, of Columbiana in eastern Ohio, was admitted to Hospital on March 25 Jot; treatment and discharged -April 6, her mother Erie Blake 'mi. She was readmitted April 14, two days before her 22nd birth-r(iay. tEBANKUNTWP. Goodyear retiree vies for Sawyer's seat Goff, 57, a retired rubber worker from Franklin Township, said Tuesday Ahat he is running as an independent candidate for the 14th Congressional District seat held by Democrat Tom Sawyer of Ak- rpn. The district covers parts of jSummit and Portage counties.

"We believe that the Ohio Erie Canal is a nationally significant living resource." Frances S. buchholzer Director, Ohio Department (if Natural Resources reation Area. The bill would establish a 21-member commission to develop and manage the corridor. The commission would end in 20 years, unless extended for five years by the secretary of the interior and Ohio's governor. Each federal dollar would be matched by state and local governments and private groups.

The money would be used to buy land, plan the corridor, construct trails and operate the commission. Denis Galvin, park service' associate director, said federal money should be limited to $19 million over 10 years and should not be used to acquire land. Regula and Sawyer are to meet with park service representatives and the subcommittee to discuss their differences. tremors, seizures, and were told to contact EPA for an evaluation to "rule out environmental toxins." They never returned to their home. Grimmett took the children to stay with her parents in Virginia.

Within six weeks, most of the their health problems had disappeared, she said. "My son's bowels opened up, he started walking straight, and my youngest son could sit up and everything. They became normal right in front of our eyes," she said. Her daughter continues to suffer from headaches, but Grimmett is more convinced than ever that their health problems were related to something in the water or soil caused by chemical leaks or radiation. The family now lives in Cuyahoga Falls.

The new NRC probe follows investigations by the Summit County Health Department, the Akron Regional Air Quality Management District, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Health Department that failed to uncover environmental problems or to determine the cause of the Grimmett family's problems. That testing it began in early 1993 included checks for lead, mercury and carbon monoxide and tests of indoor air, ground water and soil at the Grimmetts' old house and in that neighborhood. The Ohio EPA tested 10 residential water wells and surface water along Bey Road last summer, said investigator Mike Bolas. "We found no evidence of chemical problems," he said. The county Health Department found no evidence that "environmental concerns had caused the illnesses or medical problems" of the Grimmett family, said spokesman Boyd Marsh.

Grimmett had initially suggested that the problems stemmed from toxic chemicals dumped in the soil near her house, but officials found no evidence of such a problem. The NRC's Strasma said Good-year's uranium-using facilities were shut down in the mid-1980s and a 1986 study of the site by the Oak Ridge (Tenn.) National Laboratory showed that the site "was clean and had been successfully decontaminated." The new NRC study will attempt to confirm the Oak Ridge findings and to determine whether any new problems have surfaced, he said. Goodyear had federal permits to use uranium from 1976 to 1984 in a prototype centrifuge designed to enrich uranium as a fuel for nuclear reactors. Goodyear used only small amounts of uranium, perhaps 150 pounds, at a time at Wingfoot, Strasma said. The site was cleaned up under federal permits from 1984 to 1986 and the company is continuing to work with the federal and state EPAs to clean up ground water at Wingfoot that has been contaminated with past fuel spills, but the extent of that problem is small officials said.

emphasized, is simply an application of highly personal ethics of honesty and caring for one another. DiGirolamo, former, president of National City Bank of Akron, objected to the point of view of convicted Wall Street inside trader Ivan Boesky, whom he quoted as saying to an audience at the University of at Berkeley, "You can feel greedy and feel good about yourself." Rather, DiGirolamo suggested, one can feel good about oneself if one goes beyond living within the letter of the law of the land to honor one's personal standards of behavior in all situations. Ultimately, too, he said, "TheLord God points the way to a still higher rule." Because of the questionable ethics of financial parasites, such as the Wall Street criminals, and business managers such as those who contracted to clean, 'Up any leak from the oil tanker Exxon Valdez without being able to carry through on it, there has been widespread loss of confidence in American business among trie public at large, DiGirolamo said. "I have learned that it is OK to say the word 'God' in business," said Heart to Heart Communications co-sponsor and' Akron attorney Larry The more I have opened up to this community, the more' this commu- nity has opened up ing about the lack of information on items brought before the council, saying that without 4a service director, "in my mind, we're just kind of standing still Councilman Roger Smalley agreed that the council's job was made more difficult without a full-time service director to keep officials up to date on the departments and their projects. He said he had received telephone calls from residents and said it would be easier to get answer "i the city had a service director.

jii Councilman Bruce Dunkle also suggested that instead of having the mayor appoint pfcpple for the position, it might be better if another means were used to hire a service director. f.j However, Roberts on Tuesday defended the length time it has taken him to replace Blalock. "Tell me what has slipped between the cracks," Roberts said. "Where have we He said council members could call him with any questions they' had about city services. As Dunn sees it, 'his company, which runs 450 theaters in 10 states, tests frequently for what the customer wants in popcorn "and overwhelmingly, the popcorn of choice is the popcon) popped in coconut oil.

We've been told that over and over again." Consequently, as far as Dunn is concerned, "we're not going to change our ways at all:" Besides, Dunn are "escapism for most people" and popcorn part of the ambiance. Bill Kartozian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, said the findings of the CSPI group are "serious statistics by serious people" and the information will be passed along to theater owners nationwide. But ultimately, Kartozian said, the popcorn issue is one driven by the customer. Some theater owners, he said, have switched to canola oil for pop-corn, then later returned to coconut oil. Values 500 turn out to hear Vincent DiGirolamo Continued from Page Dl see eye to eye, let us learn to feel heart to heart," as the program detailed the many ways in which Akron can consider itself a very good environment for business to function in and for society.

He cited the city's 60-year record as the crucible for the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous and the spiritual values of the recovery movement; the role of thousands of individuals in the Akron vicinity in supporting the recent Pulitzer Prize-winning Beacon Journal project on improving race relations; and the fact that Akron is one of only two cities in the United States that has been named a "patron city" for the United Nations-sponsored International Year of the Family. DiGirolamo, introduced by Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic, explained what is right about the climate of ethics and integrity in Akron and what it will take to reclaim ethical business values in this society. Business ethics, DiGirolamo Medina Continued from Page Dl firmed, Walker, 33, will start immediately, Roberts said. The job pays $50,315 a year. "Joe will have to hire his replacement," Roberts said.

Walker became the city's engineer in January after longtime engineer Tom Cunningham resigned. "He is on board, is local, and he knows what is going on," Roberts said. Walker would be the fourth service director for the city since Roberts became mayor five yers ago. Roberts fired Blalock at the end of last year, citing communication problems. Roberts has been performing the duties of the service director himself, which other officials have criticized.

Councilman Dick Dirham complained at Monday's council meet Corn Continued from Page Dl Cinema's West Market Plaza 7. "We've been using canola oil for the past four to five years." But Hodgkiss had a confession: "I kind of like the artery-hardening stuff myself." And he isn't the only one. According to the experts in popcorn, it tastes and smells best when popped in coconut oil even though according to CSPI, movie theaters are about the only places left to buy popcorn with that much fat. Gregg Dunn, vice president of marketing for Regal Cinemas in Knoxville, took less than an alarmist attitude at the findings. "Excuse me," he said, preparing to respond in a telephone interview, "I've got to get me a handful of popcorn." LakeTwp.

Zone change to allow child-care business The Lake Township Board of Zoning Appeals Tuesday night approved a zoning change that will permit Scott Archer to operate a child-care center at 3380 Edison Street. betty o'neill-roderick Jackson Twp. Trustees rezone land of construction firm The Jackson Township trustees Tuesday night approved re-zoning 9.1 acres south of Portage Street and east of Wales Road owned by the Regal Construction Co. from rural residential to two-family residential. The trustees also rezoned 41.8 acres, also owned by Regal and located south of Portage Street from rural residential to single-family residential.

georgema kajganic Medina Career Center awards renovation contracts The Medina County Career Center school board Tuesday night awarded contracts for renovating the old building trades laboratory into a girls locker room and classroom. Contracts went to Hal Jones Construction Co. of Middlebranch, general construction, Meccon Inc. of Akron, plumbing, J. Breining Sons Inc.

of Canton, mechanical, $3,400, and Sutter Electric Inc. of Akron, electrical, $6,990. REGENIA SPOERNDLE Mogadore Residents curious about cable boxes A half-dozen residents grilled Warner Cable representatives about the company's new home television terminal at a Village Council work session Tuesday night. Mogadore customers are to receive the new cable TV boxes in January. The complaints Tuesday night centered around the added $3.45 monthly charge for the boxes.

Councilman Bob White told the residents there is nothing the village can do about the charge. The council learned that no bids were received on the planned streetscape project to upgrade downtown. LINDA FRY WMMKwm 1 Canton Stark recycling holds seminar on compost A compost seminar will be held at 7 tonight at Harter Elementary School, 317 Raff Road N.W. By Bob Downing and Carole Cannon Beacon Journal stqff writers The Grimmett family left their home in Springfield Township in the middle of the night after they all fell ill, and they never went back. And Mary Grimmett never stopped trying to convince local, state and federal agencies that her family's health problems were environmental.

This week, a federal agency will be collecting soil and water samples to check for radioactive leaks from Goodyear's Wingfoot Lake facilities in Portage County, following complaints from the Grim-metts and others. "We don't know of any problems but we're coming in as a precaution," said Jan Strasma, a spokesman for the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "These guys are finally coming in here to do some testing," Grimmett said. "I hope they see now what we've been trying to tell them all this time: There's something wrong out there." Test results from Goodyear's Wingfoot Lake facility in Suffield Township are not expected to be completed for about a month, he said. Goodyear is "fully cooperating with the NRC and is confident that the new investigation will re-verify that everything is safe and that we're not the source of any problems," said company spokesman W.K "Skip" Scherer.

The NRC investigation was triggered by complaints of unexplained health problems of residents of 28 homes in the neighborhood around Bey and Waterloo roads and Ellen Drive in Springfield Townships. That neighborhood is in Summit County about one mile west of the Wingfoot facilities. Mary Grimmett, who lived on Bey Road, filed repeated complaints in the last 15 months with local, county, state and federal officials, alarmed over seizures suffered by her two youngest children. Grimmett's troubles began with a difficult pregnancy after the family moved into the house in 1986. The two children born while the family lived in the house had a number of health problems, she said.

The oldest one had severe digestive problems that required strong medical treatment. Both the younger boys had frequent seizures and were developing more slowly than they should. "They couldn't even walk straight," Grimmett said. "My oldest one would just fall down all the time." Grimmett and her daughter's hair fell out and her daughter, who was 2 when they moved into the house, has developed severe headaches. Finally, one night in January 1993, Grimmett and her family got so ill they all went to Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron and the adults then went to Akron City Hospital.

They had nausea, dizziness,.