The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 6

The Beacon Journal Wednesday May 31, 2000 PageB3 21 In theKCglOn tate cancels college plates The state has canceled the specialty license plates of the following Ohio colleges and universities because of a lack of interest: Athenaeum of Ohio Bluffton College Cincinnati Mortuary Science Cincinnati State Technical College Circleville Bible College Clark State Community College Cleveland State University College of Mount Saint Joseph Columbus State Community College Defiance College Denison University Franciscan University Franklin University John Carroll University Lima Technical College Lorain County Community College Dozens of Ohio schools fail to sell minimum of 150 specially car tags By Andrew Welsh-Hugglns Associated Press COLUMBUS: Winning four national football championships in the 1990s keeps alumni pride high at Mount Union College. But not high enough when it comes to specialty license plates honoring the Alliance school of 2,000 students. The state in 1998 canceled the college's plate after Mount Union boosters failed to buy the required minimum 150 plates. The state has canceled 34 other specialty plates since 1998 because of a lack of interest, all belonging to Ohio colleges or universities. "We just couldn't sell enough," Dorothy Davis, Mount Union's director of alumni and college activities, said yesterday.

"You need to keep at it all the time to make it work." Colleges that lost the plates included Bluffton College, Cleveland State University and the University of Findlay. Twenty-four other Ohio colleges still have the plates, including Ashland University, Muskingum College and Wright State University. Ohio State had the first college specialty plate in Ohio in 1992, and with more than 9,500 plates today, doesn't have any problem meeting the minimum. The plates raise about $250,000 a year for scholarships, said Rick Van Brimmer, director of trademark and licensing services for Ohio State. Collegiate plates display a school logo on the left and the school name across the bottom.

A 1997 law meant to thin the number of specialty plates imposed the 150-plate niinimum for colleges. That led to most of the college cancellations, according to the Ohio Department of Public Safety. The popularity of plates is cyclical and depends on groups' willingness to market them, said Susan Watiker, department spokeswoman. Some of Ohio's most popular specialty plates, including Scenic Rivers, Celebrate Kids! and Bald Eagle, do well despite a higher, minimum, she said. "The key is these groups are very interested in promoting their cause," Watiker said.

Ohio has about 80 specialty plates, including colleges, environmental causes and those honoring war veterans. Not all face minimum requirements. Twenty-six Ohio veterans last year purchased the Granger Twp. neighbors upset by asphalt plant Mother pleads guilty to raping 5-year-old CANTON: A 39-year-old Canton woman pleaded guilty in Stark County Common Pleas Court yesterday to raping her 5-year-old son. The woman also pleaded guilty to gross sexual imposition.

She will be sentenced June 26. She could get up to 15 years in prison. The woman, whose name isn't being printed to protect the identity of the children, had pleaded not guilty at a court appearance February when she recanted the confession she reportedly gave Canton police in August. The court ordered a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether she was capable of standing trial. She was found competent, and the trial was scheduled to begin next week.

Her three children are in the custody of human services. The investigation began in August when the department became aware of possible sexual abuse. Canton Detective James Armstrong interviewed the mother, who admitted sexually abusing her son, now 8, beginning when he was 5. She told Armstrong she had the boy kiss her breasts and genitals. She also admitted performing oral sex and intercourse with him.

Six Flags employee injured in fall at park AURORA: A 17-year-old Six Flags Ohio employee suffered minor injuries in an accident at the amusement park yesterday. An emergency helicopter took the unidentified teen to Cleveland MetroHealth Medical Center after the 3:32 pan. accident The youth was working at the Batman Knight Flight roller coaster when she fell from the passenger loading area to a platform about 10 to 12 feet below, said Capt. Bill Lovell of the Bainbridge Township Fire Department. Lovell said the teen was in stable condition when crews put her in the helicopter.

She was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, said Lovell and Shannon D'Sidocky, the park's public relations manager. Six Flags officials still are investigating the incident. Lovell and D'Sidocky didn't know why the employee fell Both declined to release her name. Motorcyclist injured when hit head-on AKRON: A Garfield Heights man was in serious condition last night at Akron General Medical Center from injuries sustained when his motorcycle was hit head-on Monday afternoon. James K.

Justice, 30, was northbound on Smith Road near Riverview Road about 4 pjn. when a car veered left of center and hit his cycle. He lost part of his leg in the collision, police said. Rose Bodonyi, 81, of Lyndhurst, who was driving the car, was not injured. Police still are investigating.

No charges have been filed. Gang law conviction nets nine-year term AKRON: An Akron man who became the first Ohio resident convicted by a jury under the state's new gang law has been sentenced to nine years in prison. Summit County Common Pleas Judge John Adams handed down the maximum sentence yesterday to Allen "Alley Cat" Jefferson, 26, of Beechwood Avenue. A jury on May 1 convicted Jefferson of participation in a crirninal gang, possession of crack cocaine and carrying a concealed weapon. Jefferson and a friend were arrested by Akron police on Dec.

10 during a traffic stop near Wilbeth Road. They're alleged to be members of the Kai Ka Klan. Jefferson's friend, Quashane Sharpe, 19, pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine and participating in a gang. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. Several others across the state have pleaded guilty under the year-old gang law.

Jefferson was the first defendant to take the charge to trial and be convicted. Drunken driver gets new jail sentence AKRON: An Akron man whose drunken driving took the life of a Canton teen-ager received another sentence yesterday for injuring a teen in the same Dec 11 crash on Interstate 77. James "Bill" Stroud in, 46, of Colony Hills Drive pleaded guilty yesterday in Summit County Common Pleas Court to aggravated vehicular assault and driving under the influence. Judge James R. Williams gave Stroud a two-year suspended sentence and three years on probation.

He is to serve a six-month sentence at the same time as the six-month sentence he received last week in Akron Municipal Court. Stroud received jail time after pleading no contest to a charge of vehicular homicide in connection with the death of Larry Johnson, 16, of Canton. The crash occurred shortly before midnight when Stroud's vehicle hit the rear of a car stalled on Interstate 77 near East Avenue. Johnson was killed, and his friend Nick McDaniels, 16, was seriously hurt. Northfield man faces death penalty AKRON: A Northfield Village man, who last month called911 to report the death of his girlfriend, is facing the death penalty in connection with the woman's beating and drugging death.

Brian T. Ferko, 26, of May Avenue was indicted yesterday by a Summit County grand jury on charges of aggravated murder and kidnapping. The indictment carries a death penalty specification. Prosecutors allege Ferko beat and drugged Lorrie Freeland, 32, over a two-month period leading to her death. Freeland's body was riddled with infected cuts, broken ribs and bite marks.

She died about 30 minutes after paramedics arrived. County Medical Examiner Marvin Piatt ruled she died from a drug overdose, infection from multiple blunt-force trauma and a stab wound. Ferko is scheduled to be arraigned June 7 before Summit County Common Pleas Magistrate John Shoemaker. Murder charges dropped in Akron AKRON: Ronald Ray walked out of the Summit County Jail yesterday after prosecutors dismissed murder charges against the Akron man. Ray, 42, was scheduled to stand trial yesterday in the courtroom of Summit County Common Pleas Judge James R.

Williams. But during a brief exchange before a jury was selected, assistant prosecutor Brian LoPrenzi asked that charges be dropped because "we feel we're not able to meet the burden of proof at this time." LoPrenzi and defense lawyer Kerry O'Brien said the state's star witness wrote letters to Ray, which contradicted her initial statements to police. Prosecutors said it was possible the charges could be refiled later. Ray was accused of killing Samuel Johnson 36, who was beaten to death with a wooden bat on Sept. 13, 1998, inside his Euclid Avenue home in Akron.

House fire blamed on girl with matches CANTON: A child playing with matches caused a fire yesterday afternoon in a house in the 1900 block of Second Street Northeast, investigators said. Firefighters responding to the 5:36 p.m. fire found flames in the first floor of the 2Vi-story frame house and heavy smoke throughout the building. The fire was contained to a rear bedroom on the first floor. Damage was estimated at $15,000 to the structure and $10,000 to the contents, according to Canton Fire Department Battalion Chief Gary Boone.

There were no injuries. The home was occupied by Stacy Walls and her two daughters, Boone said. The owner is Charles Gates. Boone said the fire was caused by a 9-year-old girl playing with matches. She was referred to the Fire Prevention Bureau.

Canceled plates Lourdes College Malone College Marietta College Medical College of Ohio Mount Carmel College of Nursing Mount Union Northeastern Ohio University Oberlin College Ohio Dominican Ohio Wesleyan University Owens Community College Shawnee State University Sinclair State University Temple Baptist College United Theological Seminary University of Findlay University of Rio Grande Urban University Walsh University Colleges and universities that still have specialty license plates: Ashland University specialty plate commemorating the U.S. mvasion of Grenada. Only three World War I plates were issued. Other states also are trying to put the brakes on specialty plates. Texas, which has 85 specialty plates, passed a law last year requiring groups either to sell a minimum of 3,500 plates by 2004 or pay a $15,000 deposit to help cover the cost of creating specialty plates.

Of the state's 41 college specialty plates, more than half probably won't make the 3,500 cutoff, said Mike Viesca, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. California, with only eight specialty plates, requires a minimum, said Evan Noss-off, a spokesman for the Depart ni "1 A he said. Township trustees knew nothing about the plant until it was being built, said Trustee Neal Sylvester. The township, which has a 2-acre minimum lot size for homes, prohibits chemical plants, he said. "We're going to stop it," said Sylvester.

Township trustees have talked with the Medina County prosecutor's office about taking the state and Kenmore Construction to court to block operation of the plant. Neal Gresham, Kenmore's construction division manager, said the plant will "very easily meet" EPA regulations and will be operated safely. "We are very concerned about safety of workers, motorists and residents, as we are at all of our facilities," Gresham said. "We are working with ODOT and Granger Township and the elected officials to try and identify all the concerns of the residents and get answers to them." Gresham said it is understandable that residents are upset because "they were taken by surprise." The stretch of highway being repaved carries between 24,000 Baldwin-Wallace Bowling Green State Capital University Case Western Reserve Central State University College of Wooster Heidelberg College Kent State University Miami University Muskingum College Ohio Northern University Ohio State University Ohio University Otterbein College Tiffin University University of Akron University of Cincinnati University of Dayton University of Toledo Wittenberg University Wright State University Xavier University Youngstown State University Source: Ohio Department of Public Safety ment of Motor Vehicles. The only California university with a plate is the University of California at Los Angeles.

Reducing the number of specialty plates in Ohio won't bother Senate President Richard Finan. Finan, a Cincinnati Republican, recently cast the lone vote against approval of a plate honoring firefighters. "They become meaningless," Finan said. "It gets to the point where you don't know whether it's an Ohio plate or an Indiana Elate or a Michigan plate or what ave you. We lose some of the idea of the plate.

"It was pretty impressive when we first did a few of them, but I'm just up to my ears with private license plates." This asphalt plant built in the Interstate 271 median is for a repaying project to run until October 2001. 4r. i ml and 30,000 vehicles a day, said Gresham. The work is to have four phases: two this year in the southbound lanes, and two next year in the northbound lanes. Completion is expected by October 2001.

The Transportation Department approved the plant, but Ohio Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Kara Allison said Kenmore Construction has not received a permit to install it, even though it's already built. The company could face a $1,500 fine for starting on the plant before receiving a permit. Allison said Kenmore Construction will also need a permit to operate the plant. The plant is to produce 360,000 tons of asphalt for a project that will involve 70,000 truckloads. Resident Joe Horrigan said he worries about pollution, noise and the effect on the area's quali- 3r of life.

He said he also won-ers how an asphalt plant could be built so easily in his neighborhood. "I can't even burn leaves, and they can put this thing up in a week's time," said the retired millwright Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcameytnebeaconjoumal.cani 4 1 ir i I- -1- ivl av' PAUL TOPLE Akron Beacon Journal photos Granger Township residents surround U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Lorain, in yesterday's discussion of a temporary asphalt plant built along Interstate 271. It is visible in the background behind Brown.

State says it should have told township about site for 1-271 repaving By Jim Carney Beacon Journal staff writer GRANGER TWP: An Ohio Department of Transportation official admitted yesterday the department made a mistake by not informing township officials of plans to build a temporary asphalt plant on a median strip of Interstate 271 "We screwed up we blew it on this," said Brian Cunningham, communications director for the department. Cunningham spoke after more than 100 Granger Township residents gathered yesterday in an upscale suburban neighborhood near the plant to vent their anger. The plant, which has been built but is not yet operating, can be seen from the expansive lawns on Wilbur Road in western Granger Township. Because the plant is on state property, Cunningham said, the state believed it could build it without following local zoning ordinances. But he said the state does not try to circumvent such ordinances.

"One of the things we pride ourselves on is public involvement," he said. "We missed that here. We should have involved them earlier in the process." Cunningham said the state should have worked with the public to educate people about the plant. "As a result of that (failure), there is this public outcry," he said. Kenmore Construction Co.

of Akron built the plant to supply asphalt for a 9-mile, $17.3 million re-paving project on a stretch of 1-271 from Interstate 71 east to Brecks-ville Road in Summit County. Dale Komives, 49, who lives a half mile from the temporary Slant, wore a paper mask over is nose and mouth yesterday. He said he agrees that the highway needs to be repaved, but he has lots of questions. "Why put it here?" asked Komives, wnose 6-year-old son, Mark, also wore a mask. "Why not put it in an industrial area?" Komives said he was concerned about how the plant's construction caught people in the township by surprise.

"It was kept hush-hush," he said. -v TV A Sandra Rodenbaugh of Wilbur Road in Granger Township speaks at yesterday's meeting. The outcry prompted U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Lorain, to meet with area residents yesterday.

Brown urged residents to keep up the heat on state lawmakers and other public officials if they want the plant moved. But Brown said he doesn't have enough information to take a position on the plant. "It is clearly a problem for residents,".