The Daily Item from Port Chester, New York • 1

1 I'-1 INSIDETTODAi- Knicks win 96-84 Top San Antonio head into All-Star break ID happening in the city Each Friday see Lifestyles for listings from Time Out New York 1C 5C i Local Update Friday Febraary 7 1997 Gannett Suburban Newspapers 50 cento Baby found 11 days after kidnapping taken to Puerto Rico debt authorities say it was determined that the peo(rie had fled to Puerto he sajd In San Juan the FBI on Tueerigy found a cellular telephone wed to make ransom calls and a pocket' hook taken from the Acacia Terrace home the statement said It was undear last night whether the Mendez fhmily had returned from -Puerto Rico Margolin said No one answered the door at their home a downstairs apartment in a brown two-fiuniiy house on a hillside overlooking Echo Bay view this as a successful Margolin said "Our paramount concern was the safe return of the child" The FBI said three gunmen brake into a home at 25 Acacia Terrace in New Rochelle about 11:30 pjn Jan 26 and handcuffed William Mendez and his wife A kidnapper whom Mendez identified as toi the infhnt several household items and the fhmily vehicle and left about 230 am The other two kidnappers remained iii the home until about daybreak Later that day Mendez received a call from threatening to kill the boy unless uie ransom was paid Mendez reported the kidnapping several days later to the FBL New Rochelle Police Commissioner Patrick Carroll said New Rochelle infant in dispute over drug By Kee Hiller Staff Writer A 1-yearold New Rochelle bay was safe last night with his parents 11 days after he was kidnapped taken to Puerto Rico and held for ransom by three men trying to collect what authorities said was a thug debt The FBI traced ransom calls to a cellular telephone and arrested two women and a man in San Juan dunging them as accomplices in the Jan 28 kidnapping according to a statement released late yester day by Assistant FBI Director James Kallstrom and Mary Jo White US attorney for the Southern District of New York Authorities still are searching for two men Juan Joae Zuniga 38 and Wilbert Rodriquez 27 were accused of bong the masterminds of the case The two subjects are now fugitives" sakl James Margolin an FBI spokesman in New York who said arrest warrants were issued this week in UJS District Court in White Plains Zuniga who also uses the names and and Rodri Dying call holds clues quez were each chuged with kidnapping a federal offense that carries a passible sentence of life in prison The boy Cruz Mendez was rescued Tuesday Evelyn Santiago 23 Maddyne Santiago 31 and David Vega-Molina 27 were arrested Fjirh was arraigned Wednesday in US District Court in San Juan on charges of aiding and abetting commission of kidnapping a federal offense: The ransom was not paid Margolin said The statement called the money "a debt believed to be owed to him by (the fether) arising out of narcotics trafficking Hint-- shire 11--e plates viThose' In formation'' are asked cto call 'state poy lien i the town of Wap pingeraf 2984398 All calls win be kept eon-- fMentiaL VT 4 j' Putnam County line Yesterday morning state troopers on foot searched' the shoulders of eastbound 1-84 for Please see SHOOTING 2 A Staff ptioioHal Do Executive race Rye City Mayor Ted Dunn greets supporters yesterday at the Crowne Plaza White Plains after officially announcing his candidacy for Westchester County executive Dunn a retired investment banker is the third Republican to announce plans to campaign to succeed County Executive Andrew O'Rourke who has ruled out a fifth term Story ISA 1 Harrison Neighbors try to save trees from cutting A group of angry West Harri- son residents are rallying around a giant tree that has Ibeen reduced to an unsightly stump The tree at Columbus Avenue and Main Street was identified as one of 237 trees to be removed as part of a com-t prehensive tree-cutting pro-" gram The town plans to take down tree that are dead or dying so they don't fall onto streets or vcars and cause damage or iqju- ries Rye Bronze medalist wins another award Olympic bronze medalist and Rye native Courtenay Dey baa been named the 1996 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year She also won the prestigious sailing prize as Courtenay Becker in 1990 when she was single Dey 31 began her career as a youngster at American Yacht Club Detain 3D WEATHER Possible -flurries Today will be sunny with increasing clouds high 40 to 45 Tonight will be cloudy with a chance of flurries after midnight low 23 to 28 There is a chance of flurries tomorrow morning then clouds mixed with sunshine high 30 to 35 SB 5 While Chira vowed to take his fight to the Court of Appeals the highest court Home De- lawyer said he was angling to start construction during the spring at the Midland Avenue site Hrnl Sirignano of the White Plates firm Pirro Collier Cohen A Hal-pern said he hoped to apply for a building permit in a month or So after receiving what he described as routine approvals from the state Department of Transportation The citizens group could block construction by winning a stay-of '-V- Justice James decision in the state Supreme Ap- pellate Division Sirignano said But he added he did not think that was likely given clear verdict in the case Cowhey who dismissed Rye case in August 1996 had thrown out Port environmental approval of Home plans in 1994 Village trustees held lengthier deliberations the following year after the superstore submitted new plans Port Chester Mayor Christine Korffi who met privately with Rye Mayor Ted Dunn In December to discuss an end to the municipal squabble said the trustees could approve the deal by the end of the -month provided Rye does so first "If this agreement is -ratified it will be in the best interest of both Korff said Staff pTiotoSottt Harrison State Trooper Tim Santiago hands a leaflet to a drivar yesterday at the toll plaza on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge Police are seeking witnesses to the slaying of Richard Aderson on Interstate 84 Police scour slaying scene Rye group remains steadfastly opposed to Home Depot By tarry bhu wimr Rye city's intention to abandon its fight against Home Depot's planned Port Chester site brings the superstore to the brink of victory in a four-year legal battle rBut the Rye Citizens Committee whose chairman Joseph Chira has made fighting the outlet a personal crusade still could stand in its way i Despite 'the likely departure of its municipal ally the committee still intends to appeal its January defeat in state Supreme Court Chira said yesterday He harshly criticized a tentative agreement among Rye city Port Chester and Home Depot in which the superstore would pay the city $200000 to ease traffic congestion character and quality of life are not for Chira said He predicted that a City Council public hearing on the agreement on Feb 26 would draw strong opposition The plan must be approved by the City Council and the Port Chester Board of Trustees The agreement comes after back-to-back court victories for the home improvement giant MCI to ring in MCI Communications Ooqx' says it will expand its local phone business to New York state and several other new mar- -kets nationwide bringing the total number It will serve to 31 local markets in 1997 1 One year after a new law opened up the $100 billion-a-- yew local telephone market to -i-' competition MCI is eager to offer each of its 20 million '--I Ihi A mr -v -W4 Pol ice seek witnesses to shooting dv green Jeep Cherokee- type vehfele possibly with Ns-e' w- Stati police are seeking witnesses to the slaying of Richard Aderson a former By Jerry Oleeeon Staff Writer A dying desperate cellular telephone call to state police minutes after he was shot during a rush-hour roadside dispute on Interstate 84 gave investigators valuable dues yesterday in the hunt for his killer Although bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest 47-year-old Richard Aderson was able to give an account of what happened and a description of his assailant "He kept saying help state police Capt Fred Schall aaid "He was able to help a Aderson a former administrator at Westchester County's Lakeland and Putnam Haldane school districts spoke with the dispatcher for eight to 10 minute Wednesday night though he was in great pain" Schall aaid "You can tell that by the The recording of the conversation is one of the dues police 1 school administrator in Westchester and Putnam counties The shooting occurred at approximately 6 pjn on a shoulder of eastbound Inter state 84 in Fishklllapproxi-mately three miles north of the Putnam County Police described the suspect as middle-aged white nude possibly hoarded and balding with glasses1 After shooting Aderson in the chest the man fled east-bound on 1-84 In a late-mod- will sift through as they search for a suspect and for hundred of potential witnesses who drove by the crime scene in the eastbound lane in Fishkill about three miles north of the parts of Daniel local service i'il long-distance customers local-' telephone service as welL tiny Community '3 Telephone is only competitor for residential cus- 2 tomers in the region MCI is providing local services in 18 US markets and has said it will be in 25 markets by 1 spring To data it has $1 billion in its local telephone operations DetoBe IP I 4 Julia Smith center cf Greenburgh reads with her children 7-year-' old Kelsey and S' yearoidTrevcr -in the library at Hfifiview Elementary School Resident Clinton wentamore parertotodothe Teachers echo plea: Parents read Sharing books with children spurs learning president and educators agree Second of two education next yew The 10-point plan included controversial and costly proposals such as charter schools and national standardized tests: But educators say a return to the humble practice of parents and children sitting together with a book may make a bigger difference Burn any of his othwidess "Schools can only do so much Please see READ 2A Webster -Magnet School in New Rocheile think heard almost every president's State of the Union speech in 20 or 30 years and he was the first prerident who was very specific about what we need to Clinton -made the statement Tuesday evening aa part of his State of the Union address Education dominated the speech as din-ton laid out plans to spend a record $51 billion in federal money on By Karon JonkbM HoR flmflWrfly When President Clinton made the simple declaration "You must read with your children every he echoed what educators all over Westchester and Putnam counties have been trying to tell parents "My reaction was sort of a huge YesT" sakl Sente Stitch principal Reading I TOlSUBSCRlBEJCALLVr-800'942-1010 U- i -s A V4 St i 1 -tvae 'to.