The Times from Munster, Indiana • 230

THE TIMES wwA.nAitinnes.com PAGE B8 SUNDAY APRIL 10 2005 PT Merrillvillc police join lifc saing trend Arsonists destroy feeling of safety for neighborhood in her basement. Years later, they would stop her on the street and say hello and thanks. All the while, she was keeping her own kids in school and raising a family on a single income. The house at 4745 Cedar St. fell silent and dark last week after an unknown person or people broke in last Sunday morning and set ablaze the bedroom of Trevi-no's 15-year-old daughter, Yonna.

Snapshots of the room show the bed and all of Yonna's clothing completely consumed in the fire. "It's horrible because I don't feel safe anymore," said Trevino's older daughter, Ursula Cordova, 21, who had many gifts from her wedding a month ago soiled or destroyed in the fire because she and her husband were living in the basement to save money. BY JOE CARLSON jcarlsoninwitimes.com 219.933.4174 HAMMOND If Maria Trevino could confront whoever set fire to her home, she would tell them about how the arson affected not just her, but all the people in the neighborhood ho looked to her for support. "They tore my heart into a million pieces," said Trevino, 45. "Not only did they hurt us, they hurt a lot of people in the neighborhood." Her family members and neighbors say Trevino was the kind of woman who lives in every community, the kind who would open her North Hammond door for young strangers needing shelter and support without any expectation of repayment.

The kids would play basketball in her yard and sleep 1 i JOHN LUKE THE TIMES The reflection of Merrillville police Officer Nathan Schrock is seen Thursday next to a portable defibrillation unit. The Merrillville Police Department purchased ten defibrillators nine for squad cars and one for Town Hall. BY DEBORAH LAVERTY dlavertyfnwitimetcom 219.662.5324 MERRILLMLLE It's brand-new equipment Police Chief Nicholas Bravos said he is in no hurry to use. The Police Department recently received 10 automated external defibrillators, nine of which will be placed in designated squad cars. "We're being proactive as a department.

We'll have another tool to save a life," he said. The tenth defibrillator has been mounted inside Town Hall, 7820 Broadway. "One will be placed here at Town Hall for incidents that many occur here, in the courts or in the other departments," Bravos said. The defibrillators were purchased from VEP Consulting in Crown Point at a cost of $13,425, he said. Money to pay for the equipment came from the department's equipment fund.

Bravos said placing defibrillators inside squad cars will make the equipment more accessible to people in cardiac arrest. He said studies indicate 450,000 people lose their lives to cardiac arrest every year. "On average it takes emergency medical service units six to 12 minutes to arrive at an emergency scene. And they can be further delayed i i a a dJ5 April "No Ifs, Ands Stop Smoking April 18, 21, mm LPKI0C3I GET UP TO 4 MORE PHONES FREE! ftJE Penna said Merrillville town officials and police are joining the growing trend to make the defibrillators more available to the public. He said the equipment is available at several local schools in Crown Point and Merrillville and at the Lake County Government Center.

"Cardiac arrest kills 700 people every day in the United States, and most because they don't have ready access to these devices," he said. other police departments in Lake County have defibrillators in their squad cars. They include Crown Point, Munster and Lake County police. Penna said he delivered nine of the defibrillators to Merrillville on Monday. The 10th, which is located jn the Town Hall, has been there for a few weeks.

He said officers already have received their training to use the new equipment. by traffic, bad weather and multiple calls. "The American Heart Association recommends defibrillation within three to five minutes of cardiac arrest or sooner when the chances of restarting a heart are greater. Our officers respond to 911 calls on a daily basis, and in many cases are the first to arrive on the scene," he said. Vincent Penna, president of VEP Consulting, three Democrat no-shows sink Stiglich's hopes or Butts" Clinic 25 and 28 n.

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ISP BY BILL DOLAN bdolannwitimes.com 219.662,5328 CROWN POINT Hundreds of Lake County Democratic elected officials and activists went fishing Saturday or otherwise enjoyed a beautiful spring morning away from politics. By either negligence or design, they threw their party into turmoil. than half of the party's 946 precinct committeemen and vice committeemen failed to attend the County Democratic Reorganization meeting in the Industrial Arts Building of the Lake County Fairgrounds to elect a new county chairman. A chorus of disapproval rose from the 460 who were present when State Democratic Chairman Dan Parker, who ran the meeting, announced at 10:45 a.m. they were 13 short of a quorum and adjourned it without an election.

He said the county organization has now had two opportunities to elect their own chairman. Now the State Democratic State Central Committee will do the job for it. Speculation immediately centered on Jon E. DeGuilio a Senior Citizen Discount Financing Available mmm WflL iSi former local U.S. attorney and county prosecutor close to U.S.

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind. Lake County Sheriff Roge-lio "Roy" Dominguez said after the meeting Saturday he was being asked to reconsider his refusal to run for chairman. It was a blow to Lake County Auditor Stephen R. "Bob" Stiglich, who had led the party since 1997 and was pressing for a new four-year term despite criticism of his dictatorial style of leadership.

It was clear from the number of party members present and wearing blue and white "I'm with Stig" buttons that Stiglich would have won any vote taken Saturday. Stiglich trounced state Rep. John Aguilera, D-East Chicago, in a March 5 vote, but the state invalidated the results of the first vote too because of too many absences. Parker said no date has been set for a vote among the 23 state committeemen in Indianapolis. He said former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick and Porter County Democratic Party Chairman Leon West are the only Northwest Indiana members on that committee.

Aguilera said he will ask the state party to name him county chairman. Stiglich refused to count himself out either. "Don't worry about me. I'm not concerned." The inability of the Lake County Democratic Party, which has ruled the ballot box for decades, to gather enough of the faithful to elect a county chairman amazed many still left in the meeting hall afterward. "It's the first time in my 30 years in the party," said Donald Genis, a former county official.

Party insiders said there were a lot of empty chairs in the meeting hall marked out for the Gary, Schererville and Dyer contingents. Lake County Commissioner Rudy Clay, D-Gary, who also is the party's Gary chairman, wasn't present at the meeting. A source within the party said Clay had orchestrated a boycott. He couldn't be reached Saturday for comment. Lake County Council-woman Elsie Franklfi, D-Gary, discounted a Gary boycott.

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