Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York • 2

JREGIONIN BRIEF mm i i WEATHER OBITUARIES 4B www.pressconnects.com METRO DESK 607-798-1 151 SECTION Press Sun-Bulletin SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 1999 Town of el! shot Owego Clogged screens causing reduction in water flow ymiiiLiL i ii J.IJJ...IJ.I. ((ajwi, L. The well went dry earlier this month, possibly causing the pump to burn out. Even with a new motor, the well isn't drawing enough water to replace what it pumps out. Officials said they are looking into the well's condition because it can run only at about 70 percent capacity, or 90 gallons of water per minute.

The town hopes repairs will allow the well to pump at full capacity, or about 125 gallons of water per minute. The town is down to its primary well; at top capacity, it runs at about 235 gallons per minute. Town officials couldn't say Friday whether the clogged screens had anything to do with the past failure of the 35- flow BY DONNA THOMAS Staff Writer OWEGO Crestview Heights and Pine Knoll are back to only one working well for at least a week, and the Town of Owego is continuing an emergency ban on outside watering and a plea to residents to curtail their water use indoors. The secondary well serving the Crestview Heights and Pine Knoll area will be shut down for repairs because engi- CHUCK HAUPT staff photographer Jeff Francisco with Delaware Engineers of Oneonta, left, Mick Trivi-sonno, director of Town of Owego Utilities and Town Supervisor Carol Sweeney monitor the well that serves Crestview Heights Friday in the town's pumphouse. A fresh coat of paint Windsor teacher, district face lawsuit I Student says he was choked 3 fl-mr jlia "''W'iil BY GEORGE BASLER Staff Writer A Windsor High School senior has filed a lawsuit against the school district and a teacher, who is also the school's head football coach, contending that the teacher choked him.

The claim, filed Thursday in state Supreme Court, seeks $350,000 in damages from the Windsor Central School District and the teacher. In his written claim, the student, Christopher LaDue, contends the incident happened after Daniel E. Hodack, the teacher of his Course II Math class, fold him "to leave the classroom for not following a direction to stop talking to another student. After he left the class, LaDue was in an adjoining room talking to his mother by telephone when Hodack Norwich denied no-interest loan NORWICH The City of Norwich will announce its plans Monday for water system improvements. Finance Director William Roberts confirmed Friday that while the city could get million from the state Safe Drinking Water revolv ing loan fund, it did not qualify for hardship funding, which would have meant a no-interest loan.

The city has received $4.2 million from the federal Rural Development Agency for the project at 4.5 percent over 38 years. "I find it very ironic that while we are way below the median income required to qualify as a hardship case, it's our annual water user fees that have done us in," said Roberts. "Despite the fact many city water users think our rates are exorbitant, the per household charge is not high enough for us to qualify for the hardship category and the no-interest loan." History is the topic of daylong event DELHI The Delaware County Historical Society will play host today to an event outlining the history and culture of the towns in Delaware County. Individual town historical societies and historians will participate with videotapes, slides and artifacts from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

at the society's office on Route 10 in Delhi. Children's activities are planned, and county products and crafts will be for sale. Local authors will read from their works. Cost is $3 for adults and 1 .50 for children, with a family rate available. Lanes on 1-81 in Pa.

to be closed GREAT BEND, Pa. Motorists should avoid the northbound lanes of Interstate 81 Tuesday morning near HallsteadGreat Bend in Susquehanna County, Pa. Lanes will be closed from 6 a.m. until 10 a.m. as work crews set concrete beams on a new bridge, according to officials at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Anti-hunger group plans conference The Hunger Action Network of New York plans its 17th annual membership meeting and conference from 10 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Monday at the Tabernacle United Methodist Church, 83 Main Binghamton. Frances Fox Pi ven, a Columbia University professor and co-author of The Poor People's Movement, will deliver a keynote address at 1 1 a.m. Jan Poppendick, author of Sweet Charity, a book on the role of emergency food programs, will speak at 1:30 p.m.

'Press' editors talk about news, views Come and chat with two Press Sun-Bulletin editors over a cup of coffee at noon Wednesday at the Barnes Noble cafe. The first monthly News Views at Noon features columnist and associate editor David Rossie and executive editor Martha Steffens. They will lead a discussion of current issues. News Views at Noon will be the last Wednesday of each month. Remembering Once stately home became gas station Ingleside was the stately home of John A.

Collier, a local lawyer, district attorney and land developer. The home was built in 1837 on Chenango Street, near Eldridge and Prospect streets. It overlooked the Chenango Canal and had large columns on the west and east sides. In later years, the columns were removed, and the home became a gas station before being demolished in 1967. Gerald Smith, Broome County Historian Correction policy It is the policy of the Press Sun-Bulletin to correct factual errors that appear in our news columns.

Please bring errors in stories, photos, graphics or headlines to the attention of Managing Editor Gary Graham at 798-1 244 or Reader Representative Christine Tevyaw at 798-1 Ed Winchell of Greene decided to spend Friday afternoon putting a fresh coat of paint on this carriage house! The carriage house sits behind a house, which was built in1882, on North Chenango Street ir Greene. again year-old well, which with the primary well serves 623 residents. "It's not getting replenished as fast as it normally would it (clogged screens) sure didn't help it," Sweeney said. "I think we'll know a whole lot more when they review the tape. But we didn't want to, wait to do repairs.

We want to get it back to full service as fast as they could." Sweeney said Delaware Engineers of Oneonta will decide whether the screens could have caused the well to go dry after they review the videotape. The town paid $1,200 for the work. entered, grabbed the phone and began choking him, LaDue's legal claim states. The claim states that Hodack choked LaDue for about 10 seconds and stopped when another teacher entered the room. The alleged incident happened last Tuesday.

Windsor Superintendent Oliver N. Blaise who is also named as a defendant in the legal claim, said Friday he had no comment on the lawsuit on the advice of the school district's attorney. LaDue's legal claim was filed by Ronald R. Benjamin, a Binghamton lawyer heavily involved in product liability cases as well as a long list of civil cases against local municipalities, the county Social Services Department and local school districts. The claim contends Hodack "SEE LAWSUIT 4B experience," she said.

The Alzheimer's Disease Assistance Center at Bing- fiamtnn TTnivpfcitv rpfrrAl Marroncelli to the Safe Return program. "If he does get lost, I have a system of support," she said. Meredeth Rowe, an associate professor in the Decker School of Nursing at Binghamton University who has been researching Alzheimer's disease for the last four years, extols the value of Safe Return. "Of 50,000 people registered in the program, 2,700 wanderers have been found and returned to their homes," she said. Neighbors, a column about Southern Tier residents, appears Saturdays.

High neers and town employees found that water flow is restricted by clogged screens about 70 feet into the well. A television screen gave a picture of what's going on deep down in the secondary well, which has had its share of problems this summer. A group including engineers, Town Supervisor Carol Sweeney and others gathered around a hole in the ground, watching a camera descend into the depths to videotape the well casement and screens. BETH KAPLAN staff photographer including Paino's 117 Birdsall St. location.

During earlier deliberations, the planning commission took the three business and industrial zones oul of the approved areas. "he city council has put a moratorium on citing illegal signs by the city's code enforcement office until the council has an opportunity to iron out the issue. "The code enforcement officer is waiting to act on several cases based on our decision," said Alderman Thomas Anderson. Paino said there were at least 26 changeable copy signs in the city. Alderman Robert S.

Rabi-nowitz said he felt there were other deficiencies that needed to be addressed with the whole sign issue, such as illumination and locating signs where they might block traffic control signals or confuse the public by their locations. Association Safe Return program. BETH KAPLAN staff photographer before he died last year. "I told him it was a gift from me, and I wanted him to wear it," Cannon said. Carolyn Farugia, executive director of the Southern Tier Norwich delays decision on sighs; ordinance won't be enforced for now Dunking the principal 7 asked that you send the proposed ordinance back.

The changes are very ill-written changes and are not what you have requested. They should be BY JIM WRIGHT Staff Writer NORWICH Norwich businessman Richard Paino has won a requested delay on the approval of changes to a city ordinance banning changeable copy signs iln all areas of the city. Common council has asked the city's planning commission to allow certain types of changeable copy signs ii its Business-2 zoning areas, which are located just outside the center of the city. Under current la the signs are prohibited in the city. Paino owns and operates John's Hot Dog Stand at Hale and Birdsall streets.

He's been fighting the zoning issue since he was cited in April for having an illegal sign in front of his business. "I asked that you send the proposed ordinance back. The KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY staff photographer Jim Fountaine, principal of George H. Nichols and George W. Johnson Elementary Schools, climbs out of a dunk tank Friday.

For every 5 books read, a student receives one throw. Students 'and staff read 4,047 books. "It's been worth every book" said a soaking wet Fountaine. Safe Return aids search when Alzheimer's patients wander off RICHARD PAINO NORWICH BUSINESS OWNER ney, and will finally be returned for a public hearing. The process should take about one month, city officials said.

The city's common council was scheduled to receive formal changes to the existing ordinance Tuesday and set a 5 public hearing for Oct. 17. raino said earlier he isn happy that it has taken six months to get this far on the issue. The latest action will delay it even further. Alderman Joseph L.

Biviano Jr. asked that the prohibited signs be allowed in the three Business-2 zones and three industrial zones in the city, 4 cation bracelet or necklace, iron-on clothing labels, a key chain, a lapel pin, a refrigerator magnet, stickers and wallet cards. Cannon's husband wore his bracelet for five years 1 Hi changes are very ill-written changes and are not what you have requested. They should be rewritten," Paino told aldermen. The council agreed with Paino.

The proposal was sent back to the city's Community Development office, and thev will bring the issue back to the planning commission. Community Development Director David L. Wagoner said after going to the plan-. ning commission, the proposed ordinance would be back on the agenda of the council's October work session. After that, it will go to the city attor NEIGHBORS Alzheimer's Association For more information about the Alzheimer's Association Safe Return program, call the Southern Tier chapter at 785-7852 or 800-439-3781.

Alzheimer's Association in 1991, Safe Return is a nationwide identification, support and registration program. If a registrant is missing, the organization can fax information about the person to local law enforcement agencies. "A caregiver doesn't have to go running around looking for the lost person," Cannon said. For a $40 fee, registrants receive an engraved identifi- li.iLv BY SHARON EURICH Staff Writer A bracelet linked Jane Cannon's husband to the Alzheimer's Association Safe Return program, and it gave her peace of mind. Cannon's late husband, who had Alzheimer's disease, often wandered from her side.

"If he became lost, he could not explain where he lived," Cannon said. But anyone who found him and saw his identification bracelet would know what to do call an 800 number for help. "He never seemed to mind wearing the bracelet, and I felt better knowing he wore something to identify himself," Cannon said. Established by the Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association in Endicott, hopes more families of Alzheimer's victims will take advantage of the program. Of the 6,000 families in the Southern Tier caring for someone with Alzheimer's, only 55 are registered.

"The small response is because of a combination of not knowing about the program and thinking that the person won't wander," Farugia said. Sandra Marroncelli of Binghamton thought she could trust her father, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's, not to wander. But one day he slipped out the front door while Marroncelli was vacuuming. "Luckily I knew where to find him, but it was a frightening.