News-Journal from Mansfield, Ohio • 1

Mansfielder tries to be strongest WW rage 1-B 25C Mansfield, Ohio HURON I ASHLANDl February 11, 1985 CRAWFORD RiCHlAND Shilb, MONDAY I I ORROw LH MORROW KNOX i Home delivery 524-3530 Classified ads 524-3545 522-3311 Winter Warriors put to test ye) i "T.t. I 1 vs) is if News Journal North Central Ohio's Foremost Newspaper Blaze turns Bucyrus buildings to rubble Fire marshal called in to investigate By Jeanne Willke The Newt Journal BUCYRUS The state fire marshal was expected to begin an investigation today of an early morning blaze Sunday that reduced two downtown businesses to rubble. No injuries were reported in the fire. The owners of the Silver Dollar, one of the businesses destroyed by the fire, planned to meet with insurance agents to tally their losses. The Silver Dollar is a teen-only nightclub.

Millie and George Barger, owners of the other business, Millie's Furniture Store, reportedly were living above the store and had to be evacuated along with tenants living above the Silver Dollar. The Bargers could not be reached for comment. "There's just nothing left," said Wilbur "Brownie" Miller, who owns the Silver Dollar with his brother, Larry, and Jim Billings, both of Miller didn't speculate on the cause of the fire. "All I know is that when I got there, it was completely down," he said. "We're disappointed, because we enjoyed being around the kids.

We had a lot of nice kids that would come down." His son, Jeff, who had helped manage the nightclub which opened for business in 1981, said, "There was a lot lost. The insurance we had won't cover what we lost." Bucyrus firefighters responded to the alarm turned in by Bucyrus police shortly after 5:30 a.m. and battled the blaze most of Sunday morn-See Fire Page 7-A warm," ff fi r-i nxlJi i i-v ....1 vj i Tiir- rta-- i i niii.iiiMiii iim nrwi rr tt- rttr1 Ih-f Firefighters try to extinguish flames that leveled the Silver Dollar, a teen nightclub, andAlillie's Furniture Store on North Sandusky Avenue in Bucyrus (Photo by Tammy Presley) 'Poison doctor' worked 2 shifts at Crestline hospital National Seating Co. to close in September Cocuzza said he contacted National Emergency Services Inc. to request that Swango not come back.

He said National Emergency Service Inc. had already dismissed Swango from its staff. Since then, Cocuzza said he has also checked the records of those patients treated by Swango. He said there have been no problems. Cocuzza said emergency room doctors have limited privileges and cannot admit patients.

Cocuzza said the National Emergency Services Inc. provided Swan-go's records and references. He added that he himself contacted the Ohio State Medical Board and the Ohio State University references, which all checked out. "He had excellent references," Cocuzza said. Cocuzza said the only thing he didn't do was personally interview Swango.

He said he usually only interviews doctors when they're being considered for permanent staff privileges. "I probably will now (interview, emergency room doctors) in the future," Cocuzza said. "I don't know whether he (Swango) would have come across badly, though." Meanwhile, the Ohio State University's medical school dean and the chairman of its surgery department will be questioned by the State Medical Board about why they did not report that the school was investigating Swango, according to a published report. School dean Dr. Manuel Tzagournis and surgery department chairman Dr.

Larry C. Carey were involved in a medical school probe of Swango last year in connection with the deaths of seven patients and a separate probe of another patient's mysterious See Swango Page 7-A CRESTLINE Dr. Michael Swan-go, the former Ohio State University Hospital physician who has been charged with poisoning five colleagues in Quincy, 111., worked two 12-hour shifts in the Crestline Memorial Hospital Emergency Room in January. Crestline Memorial Hospital Administrator S.J. Cocuzza said his hospital contracts with the National Emergency Services Inc.

for manning the emergency room round-the-clock. Cocuzza said Swango was one of the physicians the company provided. Shortly after news accounts broke, purely speculation at this point, Kegley said. National Seating's parent firm has not announced any plans for employees yet, he added. National Seating is owned by Chromalloy American of St.

Louis, Mo. Kegley said he had promised workers that when he learned the plant would be closing, he would tell them. The decision was made late last week. He said the closing is through no fault of National Seating employees and he did not want them making any capital investments between now and September without realizing their jobs were in jeopardy. The reasons for moving are simple, Kegley said.

The Mansfield operations need modernization, however, the structures do not make that possible. National Seating has three buildings at its Park Avenue East location and a warehouse along Ohio 13, north of Mansfield. National Seating makes truck and bus seats and is limited in the types of seats it can make because See Closing Page 7-A By Cynthia Jakubick The News journal MANSFIELD The National Seating 555 Park Avenue East, has announced plans to close its Mansfield operations and take the factory to an undisclosed site in Tennessee. Donald Kegley, president, said the plant would shut down in September, at the end of the current contract with the International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (IUE), Local 738! The closing came as no surprise to the company's nearly 300 employees who have heard rumors of such plans for several months, Kegley said. "We have a lot of good people here.

It's a shame the announcement had to be made. But something has to be done soon if the company is to survive," he said. Kegley, from Detroit, said when he came to National Seating in July 1983, he thought he would probably live in Mansfield until he retired. Any theories about who will be moving with the company are 10-year-old girl stumbles onto body at golf course MANSFIELD A child's game turned into a nightmare Sunday for 10-year-old Sarah Thomas. The Vonhof Boulevard youngster, while playing "King of the Mountain" on the east edge of Cool-ridge Golf Course, discovered a body at the base of a 10-foot snow drift.

"She was just out playing," said Robert Thomas, father of the youngster who reported the discovery. "It was not a nice Sunday afternoon surprise." Thomas said he went to investigate but found no pulse. Mansfield police are calling the death of John Photo on Page 7-A Schwaner, 22, of 476 Conner Drive, accidental. Mr. Schwaner's body was found shortly after 4 p.m.

Sunday, face-up in the snow at the bottom of a drift at Vonhof Boulevard and Abbot Street. According to police, he apparently parked his car near the golf course and zigzagged his way across it toward the boulevard. Police speculated that he had been there between 15 and 18 hours. The victim's blood-alcohol level tested at 0.229 percent. (It is illegal in Ohio for a person with reading of 0.10 percent or more to drive).

Police said indications are that Mr. Schwaner fell several times and eventually either fell asleep or passed out where his body was found. Richland County Coroner Dr. William Jeffery listed the official cause of death as hypothermia. "We are postulating that his car broke down, and he was trying to walk to a friend's house," Jeffery said.

"Instead of going around on the street, he cut across the golf course which is uphill and had knee-deep snow. I think he just exhausted himself." Funeral arrangements by Wappner Funeral Directors are incomplete. Quick Reads Index 32 Pages, 4 Sections Tax shelters Tax shelters cost the federal treasury enough money last year to finance the government's chief welfare program, food stamps and student loans adding about $300 to the average person's tax bill, a research organization reports. Public Citizen, a Ralph Nader groupsaid 82 percent of the $24 billion of tax saving was claimed by people whose incomes exceeded $100,000. The study estimated $49 billion was invested in shelters in 1983 and $65 billion in 1984.

The study is entitled "Running for Shelter." 3-A 'Star Wars' Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger defended research into space-based defense systems Sunday as a means to develop a better East-West strategic balance. At a military studies congress in Munich, Weinberger said such a system would make nuclear weapons entirely superfluous on the ground. President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, referred to as his "Star Wars" plan, would spare humanity the fear of nuclear war. The meeting was attended by 150 politicians, academics and journalists.

8-B Great Lakes Despite a perception that the Great Lakes states are being "parochial and selfish" when they claim there isn't enough water to spare to other areas, regional demand will double by the year 2000, officials say. To protect the lakes, which at 6 quadrillion gallons represent 20 percent of the world's fresh water, eight states and two Canadian provinces have agreed to consult each other before major diversion projects. A meeting was set for today to sign a Great Lakes Charter for- -malizing that agreement. 1-D Abby 3-C Games 4-D Advice 3-C Horoscope 3-C Bridge 4-D Hospitals 2-A Business 3-D Movies 6-C Classified 4-D Obituaries 6-A Crossword 4-D Records 2-A Editorial 4-A Sports 1-B Emerg. 2-A Television 7-C Focus 1-C Tell Me 4-D Rain, possibly mixed with snow, tonight and snow Tuesday.

Low tonight of 20. High Tuesday 25-30. 3 A..