The Berkshire Eagle from Pittsfield, Massachusetts • 20

C4 The Berkshire Eagle, Friday, June 5, 1992 Region In Massachusetts Mass. public health officials issue cautions against Lyme disease Cases have been most associated with wooded areas on Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, but. the disease has spread throughout the state. pick, up the disease if in an infected area, primarily because they spend more time in deep woods than people and the ticks are harder to spot on them because of their fur, She recommends that dog owners in tick-infested areas use a flea comb daily on their dogs and also use tick sprays and powders two or three times a week. But she urged care in using the chemicals around children.

for the Lyme disease organism to be transmitted. often circular, is the first sign of the illness, but it may take sev- Brookline voters opt for pledge BROOKLINE (AP) The town's custom of not saying the Pledge of Allegiance at town meetings an issue Republicans seized on to batter former Gov. Michael S. Dukakis during the last presidential campaign has been changed. Town meeting members voted 105-85 Wednesday night to end a 10-year-old practice of not saying the pledge before town meetings, which are held twice a year.

Four years ago, Republicans used the norpledge practice to paint Dukakis, the Democratic presidential candidate, as unpatriotic. Dukakis is from Brookline. The motion to lift the ban had been introduced at town meetings every year since the ban went into effect in 1983. Last year the move to lift the ban lost by four votes. Doctors downplay meningitis concerns HAMILTON (AP) Physicians are downplaying concerns about a potential outbreak of bacterral meningitis, saying students who came in contact with a stricken classmate have already taken preventive antibiotics.

Dr. Stephen Price, phjfcician at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School, said prompt response by the school department and health officials this week kept the contagious illness from spreading. School officials learned Tuesday that a local teen-ager had beconte seriously ill with bacterial meningitis. The youth, whose name has' not been released, is in critical condition at Beverly Hospital. The student had attended a graduation party Sunday.

Murder charged in Boston subway death BOSTON (AP) A 23-year-otd Boston man was charged with murder early yesterday in the death of a man who landed on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority tracks, including the third rail, an authority spokesman said. The name of the victim was not released immediately because his relatives had not been notified. MBTA spokesman Jim Ball said the man was 31. Ball said Rafael Taylor of the Mattapan section was arrested and scheduled to be arraigned today in Boston Municipal Court According to Ball, the two men got into some kind of altercation, and it was not known immediately whether the victim was pushed, fell or slipped onto the track at the Red Line's Downtown Crossing station about 12:40 a.m. He said he did not know the cause of death.

By Daniel Beegan Associated Press BOSTON The state Department of Public Health yesterday cautioned people to be aware of Lyme disease and to protect themselves from the ticks that transmit the ailment. Dr. Joann Lindenmayer, an assistant professor of comparative medicine at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, said pet owners, especially peo-ple with dogs, should also help their animals take precautions. Lyme disease is a bacterial illness transmitted by a bite from a small black tick with the scientific name of Ixodes dammini. Although commonly referred to as a deer tick, other wild animals can serve as hosts.

The ticks are most active from spring to fall, and the DPH said the greatest risk of transmission is in the spring and early summer. Prevalent areas Cases of Lyme disease in Massachusetts have been most associated with wooded areas on Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard within the last few years. But it has spread throughout the state, particularly on the North Shore and in the ConnecticutRiver valley. Lyme disease in humans has been diagnosed in Massachusetts since 1977. In many cases, a rash, eral weeks after a tick bite for the disease to appear.

The majority of cases begin with a skin rash and may include other symptoms such as headache, fever, chills and muscle aches. The disease in people and dogs can be treated With antibiotics. Can become chronic Dr. Alfred DeMaria, assistant commissioner of public health, the disease, if untreated, may become chronic, with people experiencing painful joint swelling. "Other Lyme disease cases may develop nerve disorders or heart problems," he said.

It can still be treated at later stages. Blood tests are used to diagnose the disease in both people and animals, Lindenmayer said. Not all ticks are infected, and Paul Etkind, assistant state epidemiologist, and Lindenmayer said it appears it may take from 24 to 48 hours of tick attachment For people, the DPH recommends not walking barelegged in tallgrass, woods or dunes, where ticks may live. It also recom: mends wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants, high socks and sneakers when walking in those places. Prevention Insect repellents containing no more than 30 percent DEET, the active ingredient, for adults and 15 percent for children can help prevent ticks from attaching, the department said.

The DPH recommends checking for ticks every day and removing them with tweezers. People with symptoms should see a physician right away. Lindenmayer said dogs, horses and perhaps cattle and cats also can get the disease from tick bites. Dogs, she said, are most likely to get Lyme disease. They are six times more likely than humans to Lindenmayer said a flea and tick dip administered by a veterinarian or a professional groomer can provide protection against ticks for up to two weeks.

Canine blood tests A blood test is advisable once or twice a year for dogs that live in high-risk areas. Dogs, like people, can be treated with antibiotics. But Lindenmayer said the treatment isn't always successful. There also is a vaccine available for dogs, but she said there isn't enough experience with it for her to recommend it wholeheartedly. There is no approved vaccine for people.

Lindenmayer stressed there is no evidence that the disease can be spread directly from dogs to people. "People who own animals are at no greater risk for developing Lyme disease than people who do not," she said. In New England Pownal, Wilmington landfills among those targeted for closing Trash-to-energy plant faces Rutland tax sale RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) A controversial trash-to-energy incinerator in Rutland has had a new stumbling block put in the way of efforts to start it up again: a city tax sale. Rutland city officials said the current owners of the former Vicon incinerator owe $414,000 on payments they agreed to under a tax stabilization plan.

Mayor Jeffrey Wennberg said next month's scheduled tax sale is not intended to be malicious. He said the aim is to try to protect the interests of city taxpayers if the project fails. In January 1991, the city approved a tax break for the Meridian Group the partnership that owns the plant. The agreement called for the plant to pay the city $1.2 million over five years. Meridian has failed to make its last three quarterly payments, which with penalties total $168,000.

It owes the city $414,000 in taxes, city officials said. John Vihinen, the incinerator's project manager, said he was unaware of the city's tax sale and could not say whether Meridian could pay the taxes. "Our feeling is that it's better to put all of our efforts into getting it operating, rather than paying taxes today and not being able to finish," he said. The current owners retained control of the plant after a public auction this week that had no other bidders. The auction allowed the company to eliminate about $6 million in debt to the Industrial Bank of Japan.

The bank had floated more than $36 million in bonds to the plant's original owners, which sold "the plant in bankruptcy proceedings. Coventry, Westmore, Wilmington and Wolcott Act 78, the solid waste law, mandates that unlined landfills be closed by July 1, but several dumps have petitioned for extensions to the deadline. Environmental Conservation Commissioner Elizabeth McClain said, the state won't have as much lined landfill capacity as officials had hoped. "But that doesn't mean trash will pile up in the streets," she said. About 16 dumps appear to meet conditions to remain operating.

The latest a qualifying landfill, could continue operating would be October 1993. The landfill closures are an overdue goal of Act 78, which has been criticized recently in the press and by the governor. WATERBURY, Vt (AP) A preliminary list names 30 unlined landfills that must be closed by July 1, including the Rutland Town landfill, the Palisades Landfill in Moretown and landfills in Pownal, Searsburg and Wilmington. The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources released the "list of private and municipal landfills on Wednesday. Private and municipal landfills the agency believes would not satisfy conditions for an extension are in the towns of Barnard, Barton, Bethel-Royalton, Bridgewater, Chelsea, Dover, Eden, Essex, Roxbury, Hartford, Highgate, Irasburg, Johnson, Moretown, Morrisville, Morgan, Newbury, Newfane, Lyndonville, Pownal, Rutland Town, Searsburg, South Burlington, Stark-sboro, Underhill, Washington, School board axes athletics, activities MERIDEN, Conn.

(AP) Students, parents and teachers are hoping to reverse a school board decision to eliminate all scholastic sports and extracurricular activities. "My gut feeling is that the money will be appropriated and everything will be OK," said Bob Szymaszek, football coach at Maloney High School. hundred students marched on City Hall on Wednesday to protest the decision. They said a lack of after-school activities will leave them susceptible to gangs and loitering. The school board vote came after the city council approved an education budget $2.1 million lower than the board had requested.

The elimination of sports and extracurricular activities will save about $517,551. School board member Connie Soboleski said there is little the board can do. "This is not a bluff absolutely not," Soboleski said. "We have only two choices: basic education or athletics. Those were our only choices." Rabid raccoon scratches Danbury girl DANBURY, Conn.

(AP) An 11-year-old girl has started rabies shots after a rabid raccoon scratched her during an attack on the Jrgnt porch of her Danbury house, police said. Sandy Diaz, a 5th grader, received fourrabies shots Wednesday at Danbury Hospital. "It was scary," she said of the attack. "He jumped up on me and started scratching." The raccoon was on a chair when Sandy started walking toward the porch steps about 9 p.m. Tuesday.

"He was sitting on a chair waiting, just like a person," canine Officer Charles Farrar said. The raccoon jumped on Sandy's leg and started scratching. When the girl shook the animal off, it leaped onto her back. Sandy eventually used her bicycle to ward off the animal, which then ran away. Although it was not found, officers said the raccoon was rabid.

Other rabid raccoons have been reported and captured iiearby, but the Tuesday night attack was the first in the area. court Smart files conspiracy appeal wit In New York state." And, he said, she was coerced by being told she would be charged with hindering an investigation if she refused to cooperate. Johnson further said the state attorney general, as prosecuting authority, should not have been permitted to authorize the taping. The decision should have been made by a judge with no interest in the case, he said. Smart is serving a life sentence at the state women's prison in Goffstown.

Flynn and two others who admitted helping him kill Gregg Smart, Patrick Randall and Vance Lattime, pleaded guilty and testified against Smart. They are awaiting sentencing. A fourth accomplice, Raymond Fowler, pleaded guilty last month. Johnson filed a brief with the high court this week seeking reversal of the Rockinghaiil County Superior Court jury's verdict. Much of his argument focuses on testimony by Cecelia Pierce, student aide to Smart, who was a high school media coordinator.

Pierce wore a hidden microphone to tape conversations with Smart about the killing. Principle matter Johnson said the taping violated a legal principle that a defendant must not be questioned without the knowledge of her attorney. He also said Pierce, as a minor, was not capable of making an intelligent decision to act as an "agent and alter ego for the wrote in the appeal. The trial was shown live by the state's largest television station and attended by reporters from around the world, Johnson said the jury and Smart had to run a gantlet of reporters in the halls outside the courtroom. He also criticized decisions against changing the trial's location, postponing its start and sequestering the jury to try to allay the publicity's impact.

Smart, 25, was convicted in March 1991 of murder conspiracy and being an accomplice to murder for coaxing William Flynn, then 16, to shoot her husband, Gregory, on May 1, 1990, just before their first anniversary. She also was convicted of witness tampering. CONCORD, N.H. (AP) Pamela Smart is asking the state Supreme Court to reverse her conviction on charges she coaxed her teen-age lover to kill her husband, saying publicity and dubious testimony made her trial unfair. Smart's supporters have claimed since she was convicted last year that media coverage of the case, the most-watched trial in histopy, made it impossible for the jury to rule fairly.

"It was not merely the overpowering physical presence of the media that infected the proceedings, but also the conduct of the reporters during the trial that gave rise to the impression of being present at a Roman circus," defense lawyer Albert Johnson Lake Compounce gets clearancefor concerts Court trips up clumsy belly dancer NEW YORK (AP) A Turkish belly dancer prone to slips-and falls and insurance claims will now dance to a different tune: 30 days in jail. Sevil Aksoy, 59, received the sentence Wednesday after she and her attorney were convicted for insurance fraud in Manhattan state Supreme Court. The lawyer, Lester Janoff, 53, of Long Island, was ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution. Aksoy and Janoff netted more than $75,000 in personal injury scams in which they sought $1.5 million payment for injuries" in accidents that were staged or never happened. Aksoy claimed in various cases that she tripped over a pothole and was hit by falling plaster and by a flagpole.

She claimed she was sickened by spoiled cream and rotten tomato sauce in two different restaurants, and she said she slipped on a stick of butter and fell in a supermarket Janoff, a former Queens assistant district attorney who lives in Dix acted as her lawyer and typically won out-of-court settlements from insurance companies that paid as much as $25,000. State felony arrests up 5 percent ALBANY (AP) Violent felony arrests were up 5 percent in New York state for the first quarter of 1992, while the overall arrest numbers remained almost the same, state officials reported yesterday. For the first three months of the year, violent felony arrests for such things as rape and murder were up 11 percent in the suburban counties surrounding New York City, up 10 percent in upstate areas State economic development officials are eager for the park to reopen because it hires up to 1,200 people every season and is considered a major tourist draw. Industry sources have expressed doubts about whether good bookings could be found this late in the season because most performers have wrapped up summer touring schedules. another $77,000 to the state.

In addition, there are more than 100 liens against the park. Last week, Nederlander and the city of Bristol reached a tentative agreement on reopening the park for the summer. The agreement would provide the city with back taxes owed by Lake Compounce, which straddles the Bristol-Southington line. concert division of Nederlander Organization, a Chicago-based concert promoter. This season had been in question following numerous cancellations last year and financial problems that drove the co-owner of the park, Joseph Entertainment Group of Milwaukee, into bankruptcy in January.

Lake Compounce owes Bristol about $600,000 in delinquent taxes, $320,000 to Southington and BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) Summer concerts are in store at Lake CompOunce Festival Park, giving the troubled amusement park a boost. Officials next week plan to announce details of an abbreviated concert season that could extend into the first two weeks of September. Tickets could go on sale by the weekend of June 13, said Louis F. Raizin, general manager of the and up 3 percent in New York City.

But when it came to overall felony and, misdemeanor arrests, the mm mvm Earlv Bird Snecials Served Monday-Friday p.m. 1992 numbers are almost identical to the 1991 reports, the state Division of Criminal Justice Services reported. For the first three months of this year, there were 124,181 adult felony and misdemeanor arrests. In the first quarter of 1991, there were 124,247 arrests. State officials said that, on the drug front, statewide felony drug arrests dropped by almost 2 percent That decline was prompted by a 5 percent drop in New York City felony drug arrests.

But in upstate areas, felony drug arrests were up more than 17 percent They were up 6 percent in the suburbs. In March, state officials reported that felony arrests for all of 1991 had declined by 4.1 percent, the second straight year they had dropped. Violent felony arrests dropped 0.6 percent last year. L'Hostellerie Bressane INTERSECTION OF ROUTES 22 AND 23 HILLSDALE, NEW YORK 518-325-341 2 Serving a' la Carte and a complete dinner for $21.50. with choices Closed Monday Tuesday Hours: Weekdays 6:30, Sat.

5:30, Sun. 4:00 CM 1331 North Pittsfield 443-2441 This is a textbook. For information on classroom use of The Eagle, including lowcost delivery and teaching guides phone Eagle Circulation at 3 FR.