Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 11

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1999 LOCAL DAYTON DAILY NEWS 3B if Headlines Is FROM WIRE REPORTS CAPITOL CORRIDORS Larry Gatlin sings for Boehner's 50 th 63 percent say Taft doing well CINCINNATI Gov. Bob Taft's approval rating is holding steady as he finishes his first year, according to the latest Ohio Poll. The latest poll, released Sunday, found that 63 percent of those surveyed approved of the job the Republican governor is doing, while 9 percent disapproved and 27 percent said they didn't know. Taft's approval rating remained virtually unchanged since the Ohio Poll taken in May. That poll found 62 percent approved of the job Taft was doing, 9 percent disapproved and 29 percent were undecided.

The latest telephone poll of a random sample of 870 Ohio residents was conducted from Oct: 13 through Nov. 2 by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. The Ohio Poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. i a. Columbus Bureau COLUMBUS Larry Gatlin from country music's famed Gatlin Brothers was the headliner Nov.

14 when U.S. Rep. John Boeh-ner held a 50th birthday celebration at the Mandalay Banquet Center. About 400 people attended the event, which cost $50 per person for dinner and $250 a couple to attend a reception. Dayton is not in Boehner's 8th Congressional District, but is centrally located nonetheless, so the event was held there, a local Boehner spokesman said.

The spokesman wouldn't say how much was money was raised, but he said Gatlin performed because he and Boehner are friends. "John Boehner and I share the same passion for the game of golf, but not many people know our careers also ran parallel in another way at one time: We both worked as janitors," Gatlin said. Boehner was a janitor while in college. Perhaps fitting for a party that also was a fund-raiser, Gatlin sang All the Gold in California. But their shared history suggests another song title: Sang at Your Party, But You Cleaned Up.

SCHOOLS, PRINCIPALS NET STATE AWARDS Covington Elementary School in Miami County and Principal Daniel E. Dodds, along with Wantz Middle School in Miamisburg and Principal Gary Schomburg were among seven schools and principals inducted into the Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators Hall of Fame last week. "Principals are the guiding force in our schools," Gov. Bob Taft said. "Their ability to lead and encourage student development is key to creating a positive learning environment and increasing overall student achievement." The Hall of Fame winners, who receive plaques, were cited for exemplary educational programs and meeting the needs of children in elementary and middle schools.

LAWMAKER GOES AFTER PEEPING CAMERAS A Cleveland-area lawmaker last week introduced legislation that would clamp down on a form of voyeurism known as "upskirting anddownblousing." State Rep. Ed Jerse, D-Euclid, introduced the bill following three incidents in which police arrested men for allegedly filming underneath women's dresses with concealed video cameras. The incidents included: A man took film beneath the skirts of 13 women at a church carnival. A man used a hidden camera to film under the skirt of a woman who was standing in a concession line at a Cleveland Indians baseball game. A man using a briefcase containing a digital recorder filmed teen-age girls at a Catholic high school.

Jerse said the incidents may been prompted by Internet sites that encourage voyeurism and then publish secretly recorded pictures. The bill would increase the penalty for such criminal acts from 60 days in jail and a $500 fine to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Prosecutors claim they have Sheppard confession SHANNON O'BRIENDAYTON DAILY NEWS EVELYN BOLLINGER of Blue Moon Bistro and Catering in Dayton puts the finishing touches on her white chocolate cheesecake. Bollinger, the pastry chef at the Blue Moon, was one of several chefs who prepared food for the Ringing in the Holidays fund-raiser at Carillon Historical Park on Sunday. nDlon Para 2 sisters die in house fire CLEVELAND Two young sisters died Saturday night inra house fire.

Nyeemah Garcia, 3, and Nijah Evans, 2, died from smoke inhalation and burns, authorities Assistant Fire Chief David McNeilly said the fire spreald quickly and there was little firefighters could do when they arrived shortly after the 911 call came in at 7:30 p.m. 'lC He said firefighters found girls in an upstairs bedroom. The cause of the fire, which destroyed the $50,000 house, -is under investigation. '1J Students, faculty to tour Havana CINCINNATI University, of Cincinnati officials hope a study tour to Cuba by some UC students and faculty could lead to a more formal link between the Cincinnati area and the Communist island. The 10-day tour of Havana Is planned for next month and will include 12 UC students and faculty members.

The educational purpose for the trip is the 20th annual Latin American Film Festival, but two professors will give lectures and explore the possibility of establishing a "sister relationship" with the University of Havana. Such a move could result in a regular exchange of students and research. Group to press railroad safety NORTH CANTON Small groups of railroad safety advocates most of whom lost friends and family members in train-car collisions have come together to form a national umbrella organization to crusade for safer railroad crossings. "I think it's frustration that brought us all together. What's driving us is losing our children and our loved ones at these crossings," said Vicky Moore, who lost her 16-year-old son, Ryan, in a 1995 train-car collision that killed two others and seriously injured three, including Ryan's older brother Jason.

More than 30 state-level railway safety activists from six states came to North Canton on Saturday to set goals for the National Rail Safety Coalition. lV; Columbus case hinges on phrase, COLUMBUS A federal judge's interpretation of the legal phrase "pattern or practice" may determine the fate of the government's civil-rights lawsuit involving the police department. A lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice Oct. 21 against Columbus alleges that police officers have engaged in a pattern or practice of violating citizens' civil rights through excessive force, false arrests and illegal searches.

The lawsuit also says police administrators encouraged the behavior by not properly disciplining offending officers. The interpretation of "pattern or practice" by U.S. District Judge John Holschuh is expected to affect taxpayers, the way police fight crime and the relationship between citizens and officers, The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday. The department wants three monitors to oversee training, staffing, assignments and other activities within the department ana a method to keep close tabs on problem officers. I The law and previous court rulings do not define pattern or practice.

SHANN0N 0 BRIENOAYfON DAILY NEWS the tables in the dining area during Carillon Historical Park. onto the hall where the flyer is housed, will offer more to the com munity, but increase the park's operating costs. The park usually closes in Octo ber and reopens in May, mainly because most of its buildings are unheated. But Mathews said some education programs are being planned for the new education center. "We're trying to stretch our sca son," she said.

Contact Timothy R. Caflniy at 225-2390 oi mail him at timothyqallneycoxohio.com lis in Lawyers for son dispute finding Associated Press CLEVELAND Prosecutors say they have found a note inside a book that amounts to an admission by Sam Sheppard that he killed his wife. Lawyers for Sheppard's son, however, dispute the finding and say the note was written with ink that was not available until after the elder Sheppard's death in 1970. Sheppard was convicted of the 1954 murder of Marilyn Sheppard and served 10 years in prison, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction.

He was acquitted at a retrial in 1966. The case inspired the movie and television series The Fugitive. Sam Reese Sheppard, the only child of Dr. Sam and Marilyn Sheppard, is suing Ohio for wrongful imprisonment of his father. The younger Sheppard, 52, of Oakland, could collect an estimated $2 million if he wins a trial scheduled to start Jan.

31. Cuyahoga County prosecutors will defend the state. Prosecutor William Mason told The Plain Dealer that the note "appears to be a confession of sorts," and is found inside a paperback edition of Endure and Conquer, a book Sheppard wrote about his fight to clear his name. Inside the front cover is a page posing the question: "Did Sam do it?" Under this, the word "Yes!" is handwritten. On the other side of the page, it is signed "To Phyllis Our best Wishes! 'Dr.

Sam H. Sheppard." Sheppard signed the book at the opening of a Columbus beauty shop where his third wife worked, prosecutors said. According to court documents, the handwriting has been authenticated as Sheppard's by Philip Bouffard, a handwriting expert who is also the head of the Lake County Crime Lab. Mason said tests confirmed that the ink was commercially available when the book was autographed in 1969. But in another document, a chemist hired by prosecutors wrote: "This ink formulation was most similar to a standard ink formulation within our library that was manufactured by Papermate Pen Co.

This standard ink formulation was commercially available in 1971." An attorney for Sam Reese Sheppard, Terry Gilbert, said the report from the prosecutor's "own expert renders it impossible for Dr. Sheppard to have made that writing." Gilbert said his experts had not had a chance to examine the book. He said Sheppard struggled to clear his name, and "it is ludicrous that he would confess after all those years." Death penalty opponents discussed the poll results at a news conference promoting alternatives to capital punishment Friday at the Statchouse. "We find people like the concept of the death penalty, but I'm not sure they like it in its application," said Jim Tobin, spokesman for the Catholic Conference of Ohio and Ohioans to Stop Executions. Opponents couldn't explain why support for the death penalty in Ohio is nearly the same as the number who think an innocent person might be executed.

"When we convict the wrong person, the killer is still on the street, and that affects us all," said Abraham Bonowitz, director of Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, a Florida-based group that commissioned the poll. 4. i 1 i i 'J 1 "i 4 Poll: Majority of Ohioans support death penalty Fund-raiser features chefs' desserts, silent auction li Timothy R. Gafkney I)m1im Daily A nn DAYTON Carillon Historical Park's newest building took on a festive air Sunday evening as hundreds of people tasted local chefs' best desserts and bid in a silent auction on items ranging from golf outings to a specially commissioned painting of the park. The.

park is usually closed for the season by now, but it opened its Kettering Family Education Center for its fifth annual "Ringing in the Holidays" fund-raising event. The center opened for the first time in August. The event featured a contest for "Dayton's Most Delightful Dessert Award." Tables were loaded with the sweet work of chefs from Blue Moon Bistro and Catering, Cafe Boulevard, Cafe Monet, Carver's, Christopher's, Coco's 520 Grill, Manor House, Oakwood Club, Olivia's, Pacchia, and Peasant Stock. For a $.10 admission fee, visitors got to sample the desserts and make their own Judgments. There was also a feast for the eyes in the form of local artist Richard Mantia's acrylicon-canvas painting of the park, which is known for its wooded setting and bell tower.

The painting was valued at $2,000 with a minimum bid of $250, but 200 limited-edition prints were also for sale. Sharon Smith said between 350 and 400 people were expected to attend the fund raiser. The admission fee and proceeds from the Associated Press COLUMBUS A recent poll shows Ohioans strongly support the death penalty despite an increasing concern that wrongfully convicted inmates may be executed. Almost 68 percent of the 819 randomly selected Ohioans reached by telephone in a Buckeye State Poll conducted Oct. 8-31 said they thought the chance of an innocent person being put to death was very or somewhat likely.

Only 46 percent felt that way in 1997. Yet more than 74 percent, about the same as in 1997, said they supported the death penalty. The poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS decorate Ringing in the Holidays on Sunday at auction should bring the education center more than $25,000, Smith The money goes into the park's operating account. Park operations cost about $750,000, executive director Mary Mathews said.

"The only reason it's that low is because we have 125 volunteers helping us operate the park," she said. Carillon Park's exhibits include local historical transportation artifacts, including the original Wright Flyer III, the Wright brothers' 1905 airplane. Mathews said new facilities, including a new wing being built.