Intelligencer Journal from Lancaster, Pennsylvania • 78

Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster, Pa. LocalState News B2 Tuesday, May 15, 2007 CV eyes 3.4 percent tax hike Two convicted in Philadelphia nightclub pier collapse that killed 5 The pain is still there. Blanche White-Toole and Clyde Toole, parents of DeAnn White, said they wished the pleas had come sooner, sparing the victims families more anguish, but were satisfied with the outcome. Karetny and Asbell, along with their attorneys, declined to comment as they left the courthouse. During last years trial, prosecutors said the men opened the nightclub for business that night despite dire warnings from their own contractors that the pier would soon collapse into the river with one inspector even correctly predicting when it would likely occur.

The defense said the two businessmen were not warned of the impending collapse. They blamed the structural failure on engineers who were trying to shift blame away from themselves. ment counts and "Sk to 7 years for each of Asbells two counts of conspiracy and risking a catastrophe. Jean Marie Ferraro, 27; Monica Rodriguez, 21; and DeAnn White, 25, died when the east end of the pier plummeted into the Delaware River. The women, who worked across the river at New Jersey State Aquarium in Camden, were celebrating Whites upcoming birthday and Rodriguezs first day on the job.

Manuel Rodriguez, father of Monica Rodriguez, said his family was relieved that there would not be a second trial. I dont know if we would have had the stamina to go through this again, he said. His wife, Mary Lou Rodriguez, agreed but said the pleas do not lessen their grief. Its not going to bring our daughter back, she said. I just spent another Mothers Day without my daughter.

BY JOANN LOVIGLIO Associated Press PHILADELPHIA The operator of a pier nightclub that collapsed in 2000, killing three patrons and injuring dozens more, pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of involuntary manslaughter. The piers owner pleaded no contest to the same counts. The pleas by Heat nightclub operator Eh Karetny and Pier 34 owner Michael Asbell came as jury selection was to begin in their second trial. After six years of legal wrangling and nearly $30 million in civil settlements, Asbell and Karetny went on trial in September but jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. During the eight-week trial, prosecutors maintained that Asbell and Karetny knew the pier was likely to collapse, but allowed the nightclub to open anyway on May 18, 2000.

Karetny, 66, of Cherry Hill, also pleaded guilty to 43 counts of reckless endanger-ment one count for each of the club patrons and rescuers who were injured. In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges of conspiracy and risking catastrophe. Asbell, 64, of Merion, also pleaded no contest to 43 counts of reckless endangerment, one count of conspiracy and one count of risking catastrophe. The men face possible prison time when they are sentenced by Judge Sheila Woods-Skipper on June 22. The district attorneys office will ask the judge to sentence Karetny and Asbell to some prison time but had not yet determined how much, prosecutor Jude Conroy said.

The maximum sentences are 2) to 5 years in prison for each involuntary manslaughter count, 1 to 2 years for each of the 43 reckless endanger nary budget approved by February, with final adoption in June. Before Act 1, districts adopted a preliminary budget in May, with final adoption in July. The reason I dont like this process is because it creates a lot of work for our staff, Seldomridge said. We have to work hard to bring (the board) something that looks like a budget in January, and then we do the exercise all over again. But I feel the budget is a fair compromise of what the community has to pay and what its yielding for education.

The board has cut several areas of the budget during its review process, including equipment and maintenance. The 2007-08 budget calls for equipment expenditures at $751,605, approximately $80,000 less than designated for the current years budget. Board president Idette Groff said it will be increasingly difficult to balance the budget in future years, with not as much money expected to come from the state and federal governments. Next year, we are going to have to dig deeper and look even closer at these budget items, she said. Its got to come from somewhere.

Board member A1 Keim said he believes the 3.4 percent tax increase is reasonable. We can bite the bullet, he said. But next year, we need to be more fiscally responsible. Its tough, but then so is life sometimes. BY MADELYN PENNINO Intelligencer Journal Staff Conestoga Valley school board will vote on a proposed final budget next week that calls for a 3.4 percent increase in property taxes.

During a school board meeting Monday night, the board reviewed the budget, which has expenditures totaling $47,213,683 and revenues of $46,544,704. To balance the budget, $668,000 would be drawn from the districts fund balance, which is budgeted at $3,633,582 for the 2007-08 school year. Under the proposed budget, a homeowners property assessed at about $167,000 would have an annual tax increase of $65. The increase would raise the millage rate from 11.96 mills to 12.7765 mills. The 3.4 percent increase is the largest property-tax increase allowed to school boards without a voter referendum or special exception from the state under the new Act 1.

CV applied for and was granted such an exception, but will not need it if the 3.4 percent increase passes. The board will vote on the proposed preliminary budget during its May 21 meeting. Final budget approval is scheduled for June 19. Kim Seldomridge, the district director of business services, said he is pleased with the budget, despite the timeline requirements under Act 1. Under the new law, school boards must have a prelimi Review: Inherit the Wind row in real life), who passionately argues for freedom of thought to save his clients tail from jail.

Joe Myering plays the prosecuting attorney, Matthew Harrison Brady, who was modeled after devout Presbyterian lawyer and frequent presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. Playwrights Lawrence and Lee clearly tip their hand about which side of the debate they fall on with their characterizations of the townsfolk, who enjoy pickled apricots and good old-fashioned American lemonade at their boo-fet lunch. Simple injections of humor for even the smallest roles make each character seem real especially if youve ever watched an evolutioncreation debate play out in a real place like Elizabethtown. (I swear this wasnt the first time Id heard Williamson declare, Step right up and get your ticket to the Middle Ages!) And Hillsboro bailiff Meeker, played by Richard Slade, is classic when he says in his Southern whine, Seems kind of queer havin a school teacher in our jail might improve the writin on the walls, though. A few missed lighting cues and botched lines aside, TSS has produced an engaging, timeless play about a debate that belongs on stage, not on the news.

And considering how frequently its on the news, this may be the one time you can enjoy the debate without fear. Continued from B1 boros town center. Lighting lets the audience know the action has moved from inside the courthouse to an outdoor gathering place at the other end of the stage. Audience members are seated so close to the actors that they feel like part of the scene. And during the courtroom drama, the audience is situated in the position of the jury, which works nicely in a play that ultimately requires audience members to determine the resolution.

With the exception of one or two actors, the TSS cast gets the playwrights punch lines and delivers them rapidly, with all the requisite fire and brimstone. The biggest standout is Elizabethtown actor Chet Williamson as acidic critic E.K. Hombeck, the plays version of real-life Baltimore Sun political commentator H.L. Mencken. Mencken, along with a fleet of international reporters, covered the criminal trial of teacher John Scopes, who was accused of teaching evolution in a Tennessee classroom.

Hombeck makes no bones about being a bottom-feeder, and Williamson is pricelessly snide and smug when he oozes Hombeck lines like I may be rancid butter, but Im on your side of the bread, and, I am both poles and equator with no temperate zone in between. John Conforti plays liberal-thinking teacher Bertram Cates (or John Scopes, if youre trying to keep up with the actual court transcript), and Kate M. Smith is his innocent-but-yeaming-to-be-otherwise girlfriend, Rachel. TSS co-founder Gary Smith appears as Henry Drummond (ACLU attorney Clarence Dar- LT: Buildings Auction: Task force Continued from B1 we can to protect that, Ginny Gibble, chairman of the townships historical commission, said. This is a way to work together to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties.

Gibble said members of the historical commission, which encouraged enacting the review process, conducted a door-to-door survey and have cataloged and classified all 4,000 structures within the township. Structures have been placed into three categories: historic significance, over 50 years old and under 50 years old The actual review will be conducted by the township, but the historical commission will assist owners with alternative options, Gibble said. Township zoning officer Lynn Stauffer said the ordinance finally will give the township some legal legs to stand on. Weve actually been conducting these reviews for several years but could only make suggestions, Stauffer said. We didnt have the ability to deny anybody anything.

Now we can say, No, Im sorry, but you cannot tear this down. Gibble said everyone who has gone through the review process to this point has been pleased with the results. Weve definitely had some minor success stories, she said. But Gibble said its important to remember that some structures just arent worth saving. It goes both ways, she said.

When something needs to come down when it has no historical or community significance it just needs to come down. Demolition has its place, and we understand that. CRIME STOPPERS needs your help! Call if you have any information about a crime or a criminal. For arrest conviction Crime Stoppers pays CASH REWARDS UP TO $1,000. Its easy and ANONYMOUS.

You dont have to use your name! sion drop-down DVD player, Sanyo color rear-video projector, Accelvision DVD player. Jewelry: mens gold Botany watch, three gold chains, two gold bracelets, three gold pendants. Furniture: Cherry poker table with removable top and three leather chairs. Items can only be paid for with cash or approved Pennsylvania checks. No out-of-state checks, credit cards or travelers checks will be accepted.

Continued from B1 $30,000 to $50,000 through the annual auction. That money is used to pay officers salaries, to buy new equipment and for other task force needs, the spokesman said. Following is a partial list of the items up for auction Saturday. Vehicles: 1996 Cadillac with 101,873 miles, 1999 Acura Integra with 122,580 miles, 1999 Lincoln Navigator with 100,067 miles, 2000 Chevrolet Impala with 242,674 miles. Video equipment: Flexvi- Youre in control Manage your online and print accounts at tha Customor Caro Cantor Pay your bill Request vacation stops Report delivery problems Update your account Become a earner Subscnbe to home delivery www.lancasteronline.com, jEitrttlgruocr Sunday News keyword: customer care center Lancaster New Era Feed mill interest Tour: SPECIALlSALES DAYS Continued from B1 ties.

By making strategic investments today, we can provide farmers and agribusinesses with the tools to produce fuels in the state, attract new business growth and create exciting employment opportunities, McGinty said. Rineer said the plant also facturing firms that are poised to capitalize on the challenges our appetite for energy presents, Wolff. The Rendell administration has regularly highlighted agribusinesses that complement its PennSecurity Fuels Initiative, which calls for Pennsylvania to produce and consume 1 billion gallons of biofuels and ethanol annually by 2017. The Energy Independence Strategy will invest $850 million to significantly expand Pennsylvanias alternative-fuel and clean-energy industries. The initiative will mandate that all gasoline sold in Pennsylvania includes 10 percent ethanol once production reaches 200 million gallons per year.

E-mail: pbumslnpnews. com provides an opportunity to local farmers who compete to sell the soybeans they produce. Pennsylvania is a soybean-surplus state. The Wengers plant offers fanners another market for their product, she said. Expelled soybean is made from crushing soybeans and extracting their oil.

The oil is refined to remove gum and sold for food processing or biodiesel. Rineer said some soy oil goes to food-grade processing but the majority of the nearly 20,000 gallons of soy oil produced each week is sold to bio-diesel producers such as Keystone BioFuel Inc. in Shire-manstown. Wengers is one of the many agricultural and manu FRIDAY 518 12-7 (Treats Drinks) SATURDAY 519 9-5 Grilled Food Drinks Served from 1 1 Inground and above ground pool specials. Chemicals 15-20 OFF Fool Toys A Accessories 15-30 OFF POTTERY 3ftttclligcuccr Jfottrual The Intelligencer Journal is protected by federal copyright statute No part of this newspaper may be broadcast, reproduced or republished in any form or by any means without prior, written permission The advertiser agrees that Lancaster Newspapers.

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