The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 37

TT fro (sO The Beacon Journal Wednesday, February 19, 1992, Page D5 Ipscial-interest lobbyists target housing bill Proposed amendments being circulated among Ohio legislators would diminish rights of Ohio handicapped, says Akron's Rep. Sykes i State Rep. Vernon Sykes of Akron offers discrimination bill. MS victim Louis Elek sued after being fired by a bank. committee that the Elek decision "made lawyers wealthy and created much litigation." However, Barnard failed to mention that Elek's attorneys, Fred Gittes and James Mong, have never been paid for more than one year of expenses and still have not gotten the Supreme Court-ordered trial in his case.

The same groups that opposed the Elek case in legal briefs are the same groups lobbying to change Sykes' latest bill. Bradd Siegel, one of the bank attorneys in the Elek case, testified on behalf of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce during Tuesday's hearing. "We are not out to harm the housing provisions or overturn Elek," Winters said. "Our goal is to address problems that have arisen since Elek." Winters said the manufacturers' association wants three key provisions: By Roger snell Beacon Journal Columbus Bureau Columbus Corporate lobbyists and attorneys are pushing for changes to a housing discrimination bill that a state lawmaker from Akron and civil rights advocates claim will gut a 1987 handicapped discrimination law. An Ohio House committee began hearing testimony Tuesday in a statehouse room packed with more than 100 civil rights and housing advocates, and some of the state's top corporate lobbyists.

Critics, including fair-housing advocates from Akron, noted that Ohio remains one of the nation's most segregated states. A new study, discussed at the hearing, says that Akron is the 33rd-most-segregated city in the country. Cleveland is the second-most- segregated city in the nation, the study says. State Rep. Vernon Sykes said lobbyists for Ohio bankers, real estate firms, Manufacturers Association and Chamber of Commerce are behind a move to rewrite his 1987 handicapped discrimination law.

The lobbyists are trying to insert the changes into H.B. 321, which was intended to bring state housing discrimination laws into compliance with new federal laws, said Sykes, sponsor of the bill. The amendments apparently are circulating privately to lawmakers but were not Introduced at Tuesday's hearing of the Ohio House Civil and Commercial Law Committee. The business lobbyists want to cap damage awards in employ ment discrimination lawsuits and make other changes to Sykes' 1987 law. The committee delayed action until next week, expecting to hear testimony on the amendments then.

Thomas Winters, representing the Ohio Manufacturers' Association, said businesses are not trying to undo the 1987 law, which was upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court last year. They want a more workable compromise, Winters said. The Supreme Court case involved Louis Elek, a Huntington National Bank employee who was fired after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Elek sued under the 1987 law written by Sykes. Thomas Barnard, of the Ohio State Bar Association's civil rights committee, told the legislative Sykes said he began rewriting the state's anti-discrimination laws when he learned in 1984 that Ohio had more proven and documented cases of housing discrimination than any other state.

Sykes said Tuesday's testimony wasn't any more encouraging. About half of more than 6,000 cases handled by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission each year result in no findings, and 90 percent of all discrimination complaints are dismissed by the federal Equal Opportunity Commission, witnesses told the committee. A restriction preventing discrimination victims from pursuing dual charges against an employer at the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and in court. A cap on damages when an employer is proved to have discriminated, based on the size of the company, with the lowest cap at $25,000 for employers of four to 14 people and the highest cap at $300,000. A statute of limitations of 180 days, meaning a fired employee would have to sue within that deadline or lose all rights.

TV is last resort on 12 homicides Stymied law officers hope 'Unsolved Mysteries' will result in new clues in truck-stop prostitute deaths am Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 1 t- i v4 vl To report information on the deaths, call: 1-800-282-3784 Unsolved Mysteries 8 tonight Channels 3 and 21 Geraldo! 4 p.m. Friday Channel 8 BY CHERYL CURRY Special to the Beacon Journal Columbus: Nearly a year after an investigation was launched into the unsolved killings of 12 women, including three from Akron, investigators are turning to television for help. State and county officials are counting on a segment of the TV show Unsolved Mysteries that airs tonight to rekindle public awareness and generate new leads in the case. "Frankly, things have stalled and we're counting on the national exposure to crack the case," said Attorney General Lee Fisher. Fisher formed the 13-member Interstate Homicide Task Force in March to investigate a string of slayings that apparently began in June 1985, when the body of 25-year-old Marcia Matthews of Akron was found along Interstate 71 in Richland County.

Seven other Ohio women, and four in other states, believed to be prostitutes, were killed at or near interstate truck stops between 1985 and November 1990. Other area victims were April Barnett, 18, and Lamonica Cole, 19, both of Akron. Three Ohio victims remain unidentified, fueling speculation they came from other states. All 12 victims were beaten, strangled or suffocated and all but one were missing some clothing. State investigators say they have reached a dead end in the case after traveling to Florida, Minnesota, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Missouri tracking down more than 250 leads.

A lukewarm public response to a toll-free tip line, posters describing the victims, and a $10,000 reward for information about the TED WAIISBeacon Journal photo A peek into the mirror at Perry Heights Barber Shop shows Jodi Gobley (left) and her mother, Darlene Gobley, working side by side. The pair went to Akron Barber College together and dream of owning their own shop. Mother-daughter team gets snippy Some might curl up and dye at the thought of working with Mom, but duo wants to do it permanently slayings have officials groping for new ways to keep the investigation alive. "We have exhausted all of the traditional law enforcement techniques. It's been quite an uphill battle," said Licking County Sheriff Gerry Billy, task force coordinator.

Since March, three men who were strong suspects have been cleared and public interest is waning, Billy said. At least one task force official said he is afraid the TV exposure will bring more blind leads and place a strain on his officers. "I know it'll give us a lot more work, and I'm just not sure it's going to get us anywhere," Medina County Sheriff L. John Ribar said. Ribar is investigating the killing of Shirley Dean Taylor, 23, whose body was found in Medina County on July 20, 1988.

The truck stop slayings will also be featured on Friday's Ger-aldo! show. "I know it broke his heart to see all that hair on the floor, but that was the cut that was required." Darline gobley afler son Scott volunteered to be her model killed him. I know it broke his heart to see all that hair on the floor, but that was the cut that was required," his mother said. Darlene likes doing men's hair; Jodi prefers women's hair but is happy working with the men. They both like the money, which they hope will improve as they build their clientele.

The team may be split up in August, when Jodi marries her high school sweetheart, who is in the Army. "I'm hoping he'll get stationed around here so Jodi won't have to leave, at all," the concerned mother said. "But if they are out of the area I know they will return when he completes his duty and Jodi and I will be cutting hair together again." Darlene Gobley noted that she didn't start this career until after she had turned 40. "I guess this shows that you are never too old to change careers and do what really makes you happy." BY GEORGE W. DAVIS Beacon Journal staff writer PERRY When Sam Ianni began bartering 35 years ago, there were no women working with him.

It's a whole different story today. Five of the 10 full-time and two part-time barbers in the Perry Heights Barber Shop on Lincoln Way East are women, including a mother-daughter duo who snip away with dreams of co-owning their own shop. Ianni, who owned the shop for 32 years before selling out two years ago to Eddie Meeks while continuing to handle the shop's first chair, has had female barbers for years. This is the first time, however, that a mother and daughter have cut hair side by side in the Perry shop, one of the largest in terms of full-time barbers in the state. Darlene Gobley, 41, and her daughter, Jodi, 19, have driven daily since fall from their Marlboro Township home to ply their trade.

The Gobleys graduated in the autumn from Akron Barber College, fulfilling a dream of both. They always have enjoyed working together, even as waitresses, before they were licensed to run their fingers through people's hair. "I have always loved to do hair," said Darlene, who was her daughter's model for everything she did, from cutting to coloring, in cosmetology class at Alliance High School. Darlene became enamored with barbering 22 years ago when her husband, Jack, came home "with a bad haircut the first year of our marriage and I told him he would never return to a barbershop again," she said. Not only has her truck-driving husband never been back to a barbershop but neither has 15-year-old son Jason.

After Jodi graduated from high school in 1990, the two decided to enter barber school. Jodi's grandfather was her model at the state boards, and Scott agreed to be his mother's model in October. "Bless his heart, he let me cut off all his long hair. It almost Make sure your investment program gets started on the right foot. Stay in touch with all the financial markets with the business pages of the daily Beacon Journal.

Pick up a copy at a convenient newsstand or coin box or have The Beacon Journal delivered to your home or office. Call 9963600 or 1-800-777-2442 The Beacon ournal 1 For Seniors Only" Drug abuse puts more women on street corners Addicts selling sex to support habits, police say; 6 arrested in week any of the effects of aging can be prostitutes and their customers when we find them." Givens, who will be Akron's next police chief, noted that two of the women arrested had pipes used for smoking crack cocaine, which he said indicates that they were working as prostitutes to support their drug habits. Such women are known as "strawberries" in street parlance. "We are noticing an increase in the numbers of strawberries among the women we arrest for prostitution," said Givens, whose patrol subdivision includes the vice unit. "It is another indication of the scope of the drug problem." Vice detectives arrested 17 prostitutes in January; 16 in February, including Monday's arrests; and arrested 102 prostitutes and customers in 1991, police said.

Charged with soliciting were Antonia D. Harper, 26, of Good Street; Tracy Townsend, 25, of West Miller Avenue; Gwendolyn Richardson, 28, of West Crosier Street; Roseann Hayes, 23, of Fairbanks Place; and Catherine Krause, 21, of Young Road in Stow. Richardson and Hayes have previous convictions, police said. Myra Williams, 31, of Elizabeth Parkway was charged with loitering for purposes of prostitution. Investigation of harassment allegations is possible Common Pleas judges to review Slaby's advice concerning Campbell BY ELIZABETH HALLOWELL Beacon Journal staff writer Three Summit County Common Pleas Court judges indicated Tuesday that they'll probably seek an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against Judge John H.

Campbell when they meet Thursday. All the county common pleas judges are expected to meet Thursday to discuss Prosecutor Lynn Slaby's recommendation that they investigate. Administrative Judge Frank J. Bayer said Tuesday that the subject of Campbell is not specifically on the agenda, but other judges said they fully expect to discuss it and decide on a course of action. "There's only one issue: who's going to investigate the sheriff or the (state) disciplinary counsel," Judge James E.

Murphy said. "If people are being harassed, there's the possibility of civil liability for the court, and we've now been advised where our duty and authority lies," Judge Glen B. Morgan said. "I think the judges are obliged to do something as soon as possible," Judge Ted Schneiderman said. Judges Mary F.

Spicer, Jane Bond and James R. Williams agreed on the necessity of meeting to discuss the issue but declined to disclose their views. Since December, at least four courthouse employees have accused Campbell, 62, of making improper verbal or physical advances toward them. Campbell has denied all allegations. He declined to comment Tuesday.

The judges now have an opinion from Slaby that recommends they authorize a fact-finding investigation into the harassment charges against Campbell in order to decide whether to report the allegations to the state Supreme Court for disciplinary action. In his opinion, Slaby recommended that the sheriff conduct the investigation but said it also could be done through the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. minimized with a balanced diet and EXERCISE! Experts have long advocated exercise to improve flexibility in muscles and joints. However, high impact exercising can be exhausting and hard on your joints. A passive-resistant exercise program can produce the most benefits with minimal risk of injury.

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Givens, Akron's police patrol commander. Six women, two of them with prior prostitution convictions, were arrested this week after they allegedly offered to have sex with Akron vice detectives in exchange for money. "This is part of a continuing effort," Givens said of the decoy operation, in which vice detectives pose as men seeking the services of prostitutes. "We are not going to wipe out prostitution, but we are going to continue to arrest Senior Citizen Special Price Exercise Program $25 per month Ellet Tallmadge 8677119 7989668 633 1155 10 discount off any other service: massages, body wraps, manicures, pedicures, and facials.