Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 6

June 22, 1988 Dayton Dally Ntw 3 VA MeteD Bat WD AO's new owner plans programming changes DALE HUFFMAN ytoim By Scipio Thomas STAFF WRITER Dayton's first black-owned radio station, WD AO-AM (1210), plans to expand its news opera oriented music, but targeted toward older blacks. "Rap is not part of the agenda," Johnson said of the spoken, youthful pop music. WDAO will feature jazz, blues, soul and gospel music, with emphasis on jazz and blues. "That's what our listeners are telling us they want," he It will also feature more community programming and Involvement. "We won't be afraid of promoting voter-registration drives and community events," he said, adding that the station was oiit to improve its influence in the area.

"We don't want tp be known as a mobile jukebox." Johnson said the station plans to hire two additional employees for its news staff, bringing it 4b four. Also, the station plans to add another news network. It now gets national and international news from the Sheridan Broadcasting Network. allow the station to broadcast 24 hours on AM. Stereo AM is in the station's plans, he said.

WDAO made history in 1964 as the first FM station in America to feature black-oriented music. The station used to broadcast at 107.7 FM, now occupied by WWSN. However, WDAO was moved to the AM dial after it and another station were bought by Stoner in 1984 for $4 million. WDAO is required by the FCC to shut down at sunset. Other stations on the same frequency, most notably WCAU-AM in Philadelphia, then broadcast into the area, Johnson said.

He said the broadcasting restriction needs to be lifted so that Dayton listeners can be better served. "If a tornado breaks loose, I'm sure (WCAU) won't broadcast it," he said. "Or, if there are school closings, I'm sure WCAU will not broadcast it." The new owners of WDAO plan to feature black- Federal Communications Commission. Johnson, 46, said the station bought from the Stoner Broadcasting Systems of Ohio Inc. for $725,000 is Ohio's fourth black-owned station.

He said more are needed. "Less than 2 percent of all radio stations (nationally) are minority-owned," Johnson said. WDAO's future does not include announcer "Long John" Silver and Langford Stevens, a former program director. Silver has been at the station about four years, Johnson said. Langford has worked there off and on, but most recently had worked there for about four years, Johnson said.

He said both were Stoner employees. Neither was on the air Tuesday. Johnson said he relishes going back to the FM band, whether by returning WDAO to FM or acquiring an FM station. He said he prefers the latter. First, however, he wants to convince the FCC to Memories sprouting this summer tion, run more community-service programming and tailor its music format toward adults.

Jim Johnson, president of Johnson Communications said the station will also move from the building it shares with WWSN-FM at 1400 Cincinnati St. within two to three months. Tuesday was the first day of Johnson's ownership, which ad to be approved by the I I. "We'll still offer five minutes of news, but, we re called them "The Johnson plan to get more out of it," he said. Boys" and they lived on the other side of the A r' id y-? i1 W.

'I vJ BILL GARLOWSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER I to pay fine ByJimBabcock STAFF WRITER The Dayton Power and Light Co. has agreed to pay a $100,000 civil penalty for alleged violations of Ohio's natural gas pipeline safety regulations. 1 The fine believed to be one of the largest paid by a utility company accused of violating the pipeline safety rules was part of a settlement accepted Tuesday by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The settlement closed out an investf-gation begun in May 1987 by PUCO's gas pipeline safety staff. The staff investigation produced a March 1988 report sharply criticizing past pipeline inspection and testing practices.

The report said the company's records of its inspections and tests were disorganized and sometimes non-existent. Public hearings and a commission ruling on the allegations were recommended. Consideration of a "substantial civil penalty also was recommended. A hearing was scheduled to begin June 6, but utilities commissioner Ashley Brown said and the pipeline safety staff made that unnecessary by negotiating the settlement. Brown, a Dayton resident, said he thought the settlement provides assurances that record-keeping problems have been or are being corrected.

"And the second thing is, we've got a sufficient management commitment that these things aren't going to be overlooked anymore," he said. Robert Buerger, group vice president of service operations, repeated the company's contention that while it did have record-keeping problems, it is certain its more than 3,000 miles of gas lines are "absolutely safe." Buerger also said the company agreed to pay the fine because quibbling over whether it was merited would only have cost PUCO and time and money. Euna Thompson, director, leads the Patterson Cooperative Mixed Choir in rehearsal Tuesday before leaving for Italy Patterson choir makes trip to sing for Pope POPE'S AUSTRIA VISIT5 A School board loan helps students travel to Italy ByJayeBeeler STAFF WRITER Just three weeks ago, it looked like Dayton's Patterson Cooperative Mixed Choir was going to miss its big chance to go to Rome to sing for Pope John Paul II. But with some hard work and a little help from the Dayton school board, the 25 students will be flying to Italy today, after all. The school choir was invited to sing in the Festi-vale Musicale di Roma in Rome on June 22-29, after placing second in the New York, New York, Festival last year.

But after getting the invitation, the students had only a few months to raise the nearly $40,000 it would cost for the trip. The choir members raised some of the money, but by June 1 they still lacked a lot. So the Dayton board of education advanced them a loan of $26,000 which the choir must pay back, choir director Euna Thompson said. "When Ms. Thompson read the letter in class inviting us to Rome, we couldn't believe it.

We were shocked, and we thought no way can we raise all that money," said Deanna Jackson, granddaughter of Pic-cola Jackson, 21 Arlington Ave. "Then things started happening, and it seemed in members to travel and learn about different cultures and customs. The choir will exchange gifts with the Italian choirs participating in the festival, and will present keys to the city of Dayton to dignitaries of Rome and Fiuggi. "This is a valuable educational experience for the choir members," Thompson said. "I have watched the children going to the library and reading about Italy without being told to.

The trip has generated a learning atmosphere." "This will be a great chance to visit the place we've read about in history books," choir member Karla Coins said. "I have been reading literature about Italy to know what to expect. I brought an Italian dictionary to learn some Italian words." She is the daughter of Barbara and Francis Goins, of 4619 College View Drive. The students will spend free time sightseeing around Rome and Fiuggi, and will also visit the cities of Bellagra, Capena, Mazzano Romano and Pogio Mireto. When they return, they'll give a reception and performance honoring donors.

The choir will also continue raising money to repay the school system, Thompson said. The school board also lent choir member William Hellrigel a camcorder so that he can videotape the trip. He will put together a tape for the reception. "I feel great," said Hellrigel, son of Virginia R. Hellrigel, 215 E.

Falrvlew. "I don't think It's hit any of us yet we'll believe it when we're sitting on the plane." reach. Now we'll be raising money for the rest of our lives to pay back the school," she said. Ray Lamb, principal of Patterson Cooperative High School and Career Academy, said the choir raised money with fruit and candy sales, chicken dinners, donations from local businesses, dances and concerts. "They have done all kinds of things and raised thousands," Lamb said.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for 25 kids to visit Italy, where music is everything." Lamb said the choir will stay in Rome and in Fiuggi, a town in south central Italy about 60 miles from the capital. The students will perform and rehearse every day. At each of its shows, the choir which features spiritual, pop and classical tunes will sing several songs, including the Italian national anthem, in Italian. The students will perform at High Mass at the Vatican, where the Pope will hear them; the Basilica at St. Peter's Cathedral; the Palazzo Spada and the Campidoglio in Rome; and on the banks of the Tiber River, for a public performance in Rome.

"We are the only non-Italian group that has been permitted to perform at the Mayor's City Hall Chambers (in) Campidoglio, which dates back to Julius Caesar," Thompson said. The seven-day festival is an opportunity for choir double home on East Sycamore Street in Miamisburg when I was a tittle kid. Dick Dickey was the oldest, and 111 never forget the day he took time to show me how to hold and throw a football when we played in a neighborhood vacant lot. It actually was more of a hole in the ground than a vacant lot, but It was the scene of some fierce football games when my brother Eddie and the Lovelace boys, the Trents and all the others In the neighborhood were growing up in the late 1940s. We can remember swimming in the Great Miami River, jumping around in the sawdust in the old sawmill behind our homes and sliding down the river levee on pieces of cardboard.

Some good times "It was a good neighborhood," Dick remembered this week, i'lt was a lot of fun growing upthere. There are Just so many memories and I guess Jim and I learned what we were able to eventually do with a football right there on Sycamore Street." AS would happen, I never excelled in football, but Dick and his little brother, Jim, went on to star for Miamisburg and were probably the finest brother duo in the history of the team. Dick Dickey is 55 now and lives in Dayton. Jim, 53, is a teacher-coach living and working in Port Huron) Mich. As a high school junior, Dick quarterbacked the Vikings to a Miami Valley League title in 1950.

Jim, a freshman at the time, was a utility man. Later Jim went on to help the Vikings win an MVL co-championship in 1952 and earned all-state recognition. Dick and Jim Dickey will be on hand Friday evening at Sie-benthaler Park near Alex-Bel! Road and Ohio 741 as guests of honor at the sixth annual Viking Bowl. Each year, former Viking players, coaches and friends of team members get together to remember the old days. Some varsity team members of this, year's outstanding Miamisburg Vikings team also will be there Friday.

Naif, Dickey Boys Bufjt will be "The Dickey Boys" 'in center spotlight. It will be my pleasure to return as master of ceremonies and this year to. help, spotlight my old neighbors, Dick and Jim. Many of the former Vikings wilt Mart Friday's festivities with a golf outing at Mound Golf Course at 10 a.m. Then the gang usually begins to gather at Sie-benthaler Park after 5 p.m.

The special ceremony honoring the Dickey brothers should take place about 7:30 p.m. "It Js such an honor for my brother and me," Dick said. "It's a great feeling and I can't tell you Kpw I look forward to Friday." tin Years leave mark It was the 40th reunion of Eaton Hfgh School's Class of 1948 last Saturday, and class member Martha Bell Parks had an idea. The Eaton basketball team of '48 had won the state Class basketball championship and had a photo taken, and Parks tried to line up those members present at the reunion for a photo 40 years later. Holding the old photo In hand, Parks looked at Carl Beyer, who was student manager of the championship team those years ago as be waited for the anniversary photo to be taken.

"What are you doing there; that's not where you were in this picture," she said. J'How was I In the picture?" Bey ef asked. "Much slimmer," she calmly replied. A fashion show of antique clothing sponsored by the Junior Group of Goodwill Industries will be held at noon today at Courthouse Square. An incorrect date was given in the Tuesday Dayton Daily News.

Court backs judge who cracks down on drunken drivers Judges now have state's blessing to put puff-and-go device in car By Jim Dillon GREENE COUNTY BUREAU The 2nd District Court of Appeals has vindicated one of the Miami Valley's toughest judges on drunken-driving offenses. On Tuesday, the three-judge panel unanimously affirmed Fairborn Municipal Judge Karl F. Wettlaufer's standard treatment of convicted drunken tions. Wettlaufer, who is on vacation, was unavailable for comment Tuesday. Brooks declined comment, but her attorney, Terry L.

Lewis of Dayton, said he was disappointed with the ruling. In her appeal, Brooks claimed Wettlaufer Improperly amended her sentence and revoked her probation without a proper hearing. She also claimed Greene Hall, which recommended the after-care and stood to gain $1,000 from her continued care, had an improper financial Interest in her case. But the appeals court rejected each claim Tuesday, and it strongly supported Wettlaufer's use of private evaluation and treatment centers. "Trial courts throughout this state receive valuable assistance from these programs in rehabilitating those who commit criminal acts and serious traffic offenses by virtue of chemical dependency," the court said.

"We believe trial courts are in a position to evaluate whether the recommendation of these care providers reflects sound professional judgment, keeping in mind any financial Interest drivers by rejecting an appeal from Gwen E. Brooks of Dayton. The ruling represents a clear defeat for Brooks, 39, and a setback for others who have questioned Wettlaufer's strict handline of first- 1. ing if the device's breath analyzer detects too much liquor when the driver blows into it. Some area judges, including Wurts, used the system before the legislature gave formal approval.

Nationwide, 10 states have passed laws allowing Interlock systems since California approved them in 1987. Wurts decided to try it, he said, after a demonstration in which a local probation officer took a couple of drinks, then tried to start a vehicle outfitted with the interlock. He couldn't get the vehicle started. There are drawbacks. For one, the offender has to pick up the annual rental tab, about $500 a year.

Some offenders don't want to or can't afford to pay. Hall, the drug- and alcohol-treatment arm of Greene Memorial Hospital in Xenia. Brooks complied and completed the 30-day treatment program April 1, 1987. At a hearing a week later, Wettlaufer placed Brooks on probation and suspended a 27-day jail sentence on the condition she receive after-care at Greene Hall. She attended some of the after-care sessions, but soon decided they were too expensive and of little value.

At a probation revocation hearing in July 1987, Wettlaufer ordered Brooks to receive more after-care at Greene Hall or one of two other centers or go to jail. Brooks offered to seek after-care at a center covered by her Insurance carrier, but Wettlaufer said that center did not meet his reporting requirements. Brooks then refused to attend any more after-care sessions and appealed the judge's ruling. Fairborn City Prosecutor Joe Fodal called Wettlaufer's treatment of Brooks cruel and inhumane. He also refused to defend Wettlaufer in the appeal.

Other attorneys have called Wettlaufer severe, difficult and overbearing. They also have questioned Wettlaufer's ties to Greene Hall and the WSU Weekend Intervention Progam, which receive many referrals from the By DougMclnnis STAFF WRITER As of Monday, judges have been given formal authority to do something many had been doing anyway ordering the use of special devices that keep cars from starting when the driver has been drinking. But some judges want nothing to do with the so-called Interlock systems when they deal with drunken-driving cases. "I feel Jail Is much more effective," said James Hensley, judge of the Montgomery County 3rd District Court in Mad River Twp. "If it gets to the point where I feel we need to put this system on their car, I would say to myself, wouldn't six months in jail help just as much?" Other judges are just as sure that interlock systems can help.

Two years ago Judge John Wurts of Kettering Municipal Court approved the use of an interlock system for a salesman with prior drunken-driving offenses, who needed to drive to keep his job. The Interlock keeps a car from start i nere isn any guarantee that innovative drinkers won't tamper with theM time drunken- Wettlaufer driving offenders, several court observers said. Brooks pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence in January 1987. It was her first offense. Wettlaufer suspended her driver's license for a year, fined her $400 and sentenced her to 30 days in jail, then delayed execution of the sentence after Brooks agreed to enter a three-day weekend Intervention program at Wright State University.

After she completed the program, a court probation officer recommended Brooka seek in-patient care at Greene device or find someone sober to breathe into it. Another way to beat It is to drive a car that doesn't have it. "What's to stop a guy from going out and buying another car?" asked Judge William Kessler of the Miami County Municipal Court in Troy. the provider has In recommending their continued services to the client." Brooks now has three options. She can either ask Wettlaufer to reconsider, file an appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court or simply serve the remaining 27 days of her original jail sentence, Lewis said.

She has been free on a $1,000 appeal bond. 'r Judge. Wettlaufer has served on the ad-viwy committees of both organiza.