Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 4

4 POST-GAZETTE: Jan. 29, 1MU CityArea Man accused of burning baby is on parole for killing infant If 4 III mu, I f4x fm r' A 18 LV i 1 inflicted by 12 blows injuries consistent with a beating. The boy had bruises on his face, chest and abdomen. Common Pleas Judge Nathan Schwartz sentenced Hollinger to to 23 months in the minimum-security State Regional Correctional Facility at Greensburg on May 18, 1980. The maximum sentence for voluntary manslaughter is five to 10 years.

Schwartz signed an order for parole for Hollinger just 5 Mi months later, and be was released on Oct. 1, 1980. Deputy District Attorney Kim Riester, who prosecuted Hollinger in that case, said that when someone is sentenced to fewer than two years in prison, prosecutors are not notified when parole is being considered. Riester said county parole and probation officers notify the judge who imposed sentence, who must sign the parole order. "We have no input into that, and it makes it very difficult to keep control of some of these cases," he said.

Riester said he plans to ask that the county adopt procedures used by state officials when inmates are sentenced for more than two years. In those cases, judges may sign parole orders if prosecutors do not object. "If it's a light sentence to begin with, we usually object," Riester said. The child sustained second-degree burns on the tops of her hands and feet. Police said doctors at Children's Hospital had reported the incident and had said temperatures of 200 degrees would have been required to cause the burns.

The doctors told police that Ebony's burns were not consistent with Hollinger's explanation. The child's mother telephoned yesterday and asked if Hollinger's bond could be reduced from the $5,000 set after his arrest. But Assistant District Attorney Lou Coles said he and the bail agency recommended the increase to $25,000 because of Hollinger's conviction for beating a child of the same age. Hollinger, a baker, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in March 1980 for the beating death of Joseph Jones, 18 months, of 725 Mt. Pleasant Road, Northside.

The boy's body was found at 1:40 a.m. Oct. 5, 1979, in a Chicago Street apartment where Hollinger had been babysitting with Joseph and four other children from 9 p.m. Oct. 4 until just 10 minutes before the boy was found.

During his trial, Hollinger testified that he had been playing with Joseph and threw him in the air, but missed catching the child, who fell to the ground. Hollinger said he jumped on the boy's stomach to try to revive him. But a pathologist testified that there were 21 separate bruises on the child's body and that they were By Susan Mannella Post-Garotte Start Writer A man arrested Thursday and charged with burning the hands and feet of an 18-month-old baby was on parole for the 1979 beating death of another baby. Lafialla Hollinger, 21, of 8149 Conemaugh Brushton, is in the Allegheny County Jail. He is charged with aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and endangering the welfare of a child.

He served just 5Vi months for the 1979 manslaughter. A City Court hearing is scheduled for next Friday. Common Pleas Judge Samuel Strauss increased Hollinger's bond yesterday from $5,000 to $25,000 cash. Hollinger was arrested Thursday for the Dec. 31 incident in which he is accused of burning 18-month-old Ebony Crosby.

Ebony's mother, Denise Madison, 21, who lived with Hollinger, told police he was watching the child while she was out on a job interview. Officers from the city police youth squad said Hollinger first told Madison that the child had gotten tangled up in a Christmas tree. He said gave her that account because he was afraid of going to jail again. But he told police later that he fell asleep, was awakened by the sound of Ebony crying and found her behind a gas stove used to heat the home. Hollinger said she had gone behind the stove to retrieve a ball.

Low ridership sends 'Fort Pitt' on train's final city-Altoona runs Two smokestacks at Mayview State Hospital, Bridgeville, rise into a cloudy sky. Sheriff opens bid with slap at Wecht By Chet Wade Post-Gazette Stall Writer Sheriff Eugene L. Coon promised a "positive, issue-oriented campaign" yesterday in declaring his candidacy for the Allegheny County Board of Commissioners. But before he finished talking, Coon already had taken a swipe at his longtime political nemesis, Commissioner Cyril H. Wecht.

Speaking at a news conference at the Pittsburgh Hyatt, Coon said he would seek the endorsement of the county Democratic Committee but that he might run even if he does not get it. "It depends on the integrity and honesty of the endorsement process," he said. Coon accused Wecht, the county Democratic chairman and a candidate for re-election as commissioner, of attempting to rig the party endorsement by switching it to Sunday, March 6, starting at 11 a.m. at the Syria Mosque, Oakland. The meeting had been set for Saturday, March 5, at the David L.

Lawrence Convention Center. Wecht contends that the shift was made to save money. Coon said the early starting time will prevent many church-going committee members from hearing candidates' speeches and will force them to hurry if they are to make the 1 p.m. vote. Coon, 52, becomes the fourth major-name Democrat to enter the race for the two nominations.

Along with Wecht, Board of Commissioners Chairman Tom Foerster and former mayor Pete Flaherty are running. Flaherty is seeking an open primary, while Wecht and Foerster have asked for the party endorsement. Coon is in the middle of his fourth consecutive four-year term as sheriff. He was county Democratic chairman for eight years until he lost the position to Wecht in 1978. He has run unsuccessfully three times for the Democratic commissioner nomination.

Coon said he entered the race to prevent the county from being overtaken by Reaganomics. He called on county government to be "more innovative, more creative and more responsive" in helping the unemployed save their jobs or retrain for new ones. State and federal funds for massive retraining programs at the Community College of Allegheny County would be one of his goals, Coon said. The current Board of Commissioners has not exerted enough political influence on Congress and on the Legislature in this area, he said. "These people can and want to make a contribution," he said of the unemployed.

"They are everything an employer could want in an employee honest, hard-working and productive. County government must help them to help themselves." Coon received national attention earlier this month when he ordered that 42 homes of unemployed and ill people be taken off the sheriff's sale list. His action was backed up later by Common Pleas Judge Nicholas P. Papadakos. Bus route returns to 62nd St.

Bridge Port Authority bus route 91A Butler Street will return to its normal routing on the Robert D. Fleming (62nd Street) Bridge tomorrow. Most 91 A trips inbound will run six minutes earlier from points along Pa. 28, and outbound trips will arrive about five minutes later at those points. After fire damaged the 62nd Street Bridge in May 1981, buses were rerouted over the Highland Park Bridge.

The fire-damaged bridge reopened yesterday. ful occasion. He said the state subsidy required by "The Fort Pitt" can be used for more useful services. But Donald Bryan, PennDOT's director of local and area transportation, said the state has no other plans to co-sponsor any passenger trains at this time. "We're interested in service between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, but we talked with Ohio officials and they're not in a financial position to agree to anything right now," Bryan said.

Bryan also has received various proposals to start evening service between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to complement the successful cross-state daylight service on "The Pennsylvanian," another train sponsored by Amtrak and PennDOT. One of the proposals calls for an evening train to leave Pittsburgh at 5:15 p.m. the same time as the present Fort Pitt but to continue eastbound to Philadelphia instead of stopping its run in Altoona. The Harry CoughanourPost-Ga2ette listen 'wish list' $10,000 of property assessment for the home of residents 65 and older. "The property tax is an intolerable burden on senior citizens living on fixed incomes who own their own homes," the commissioners said.

Sen. D. Michael Fisher, R-Upper St. Clair, said he would have no trouble going along with the proposal, since he already has introduced similar legislation. Fisher said his Senate Bill 65 would use revenue from the state lotteries to make up lost tax revenues to the municipalities and school districts.

The topic that caused the most discussion was a proposal for a $300 million state bond issue to help fund new jail construction. Consultants have recommended that the county replace the aging jail on Ross Street with a $116 million, high-rise jail and criminal court complex. The debate included an exchange between Commissioners Cyril H. Wecht, who favors the proposal, and Wiliam R. Hunt, who says it would be a waste of money.

Other legislation proposed by the commissioners included: Increasing the Port Authority's reimbursement for senior citizens' transportation from 75 percent to 100 percent of the regular fare. That would give PAT an additional $14 million. Selling a $90 million state bond to acquire land for conservation and recreation. Increasing state aid for Kane Hospital, Children and Youth Services, Common Pleas Court, the Community College of Allegheny County, the public defender, the Elections Department and other offices and departments. By Chet Wade By Ken Fisher Post-Gazette Star! Writer Passenger train advocates won't be mourning the passing of "The Fort Pitt" intercity train between Altoona and Pittsburgh when it makes its final trips this weekend.

Instead, fans are planning to be on board for the last eastbound run tonight and final westbound trip tomorrow morning to suggest where future passenger trains could operate successfully. They're also going to hang a "Last Trip" banner on the front of the Amtrak locomotive. The train has been co-sponsored by Amtrak and the state Department of Transportation since April 1981. Low ridership has prompted PennDOT to stop service. C.E.

Rompala, a director of the Keystone Association of Railroad Passengers, a statewide transportation advocacy group, said the final run should be more in the spirit of an Irish wake than that of a mourn William J. Hannan, fact-finder in Office Building, Downtown, after it impossible to continue them, said Eleanor Barry, manager of the board's program. Last year the staff analyzed 100 telephone calls from parents who wanted day care, Barry said. It found that two-thirds were not eligible. But stricter eligibility requirements are not the only reason for the drop.

The birth rate has gone down; more parents are unemployed today and thus are able to care for their children; and the state dropped its licensing requirement for family day care two years ago. For example, a housewife who wants to care for three children or less no longer needs to be licensed. If she wants to care for the maximum allowable six children she only has to register, a simple procedure. Since the licensing was dropped, the number of family care centers in Western Pennsylvania has doubled to 880, said Louise Sutton, daycare director here for the Department of Public Welfare. But most children of working parents apparently are left with relatives, neighbors or wear keys around their necks, letting themselves into their homes.

train would arrive in Harrisburg at 10:33 p.m. and in Philadelphia at 12:23 a.m. The return train would leave Philadelphia at 5:20 a.m. and arrive in Harrisburg at 7:05 a.m. and in Pittsburgh at 12:20 p.m., returning as "The Pennsylvanian." Under that proposal, no additional equipment would be required, and connections would be available to New York City on both trips.

"I'm not ruling out any of the plans," Bryan said. "But I've got to conclude that the passenger market just isn't there in Western Pennsylvania." He pointed to the failures of "The Parkway Limited" in 1981 and now "The Fort Pitt" as examples. "The Fort Pitt" will make its last eastbound trip at 5:15 p.m. today from the Pennsylvania Railroad Station on Grant Street. The last westbound trip will leave Altoona at 8:30 a.m.

tomorrow, arriving in Pittsburgh at 11:07. Woods, supervisor of group care for the nine Louise Child Care Centers in Allegheny County. There are still many questions about the new day-care system. Would private centers that don't want children from low-income families have the right to reject them? If their cost is higher than the amount specified by the state, who would make up the difference? One state official said the new system would make all day-care centers "feel the winds of competition." A few years ago a report to Congress by the Health and Human Services Agency listed Pennsylvania as spending the third highest amount on subsidized day care in the country. Only California and New York spent more.

In 1981-82, Pennsylvania spent $61,334,926 on subsidized day care. The budget for 1982-83 is $58,439,000. When the federal government cut day-care support 20 percent, the state did not cut its subsidy. By cutting costs, it managed to keep most of its children in day-care centers, losing only 1,200 out of 2,000. Legislators to county's The county Board of Commissioners proposed yesterday that the state establish an emergency fund to bail out unemployed homeowners who face mortgage foreclosure.

In introducing their biennial legislative "wish list" to the county's delegation in the Legislature, the commissioners also asked for property vtax exemptions for senior citizens and for help in building a new county jail. A total of 14 fiscal requests and 29 program changes were included in the package presented at a luncheon at Poll's restaurant, Squirrel Hill. Were all the fiscal requests to be granted, the county would save $61.2 million annually. Reaction to the proposals was mixed, although all the legislators contacted pointed out that the state is short of funds. "It's a wish list, that's all," said Sen.

Edward M. Early, D-Ross. "We don't have the money to give them." In a joint release, the three commissioners cited a recent study by ACTION-Housing as evidence of the need for a mortgage relief fund they titled the "Homeowners Emergency Relief Fund." The study showed that there are about 22,000 delinquent mortgages in the four-county Pittsburgh area and that half of the delinquencies are due to unemployment or related economic hardships. Another 22,500 mortgages are near delinquency, the report said. Earlier this month, ACTION-Housing announced the creation of a $200,000 fund to make loans to those in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.

Some community activists say the fund is much too small to help all those who need it. The proposal to aid senior citizens came in the form of a request to exempt from taxation the first employment. A year ago, PMD conducted a survey with two-thirds of the parents affected by the new regulations. It found that more than 200 children were terminated from day care, 73 percent of whose parents were single and 43 percent of whose take-home pay was under $10,000. Most of these were college students, disabled parents or those seeking work.

Their children had to drop out of the subsidized day-care centers because of the new guidelines. According to the 45 percent of these parents were unable to find alternative child care and were forced to quit working or drop out of college. Of those who did find alternative child care, 66 percent said it was worse than what they had in the subsidized centers. Also, "Many parents reluctantly admitted they are forced to leave their school age children as young as 6 unattended part of the day," the survey stated. For a mother who just missed eligibility because of the new lower income requirements, the difference in cost was significant.

She had previously paid $23 a week for subsidized day care. Private day 38 the V.W.H. Campbell Jr. Post-Gazette the California Area teachers' strike, talks to reporters in the State what were called profitable negotiations yesterday. ay-care centers here wary of state policy change (Continued from Page 1) PMD members, though, point to stricter eligibility requirements that they say shut out hundreds of their children, reduce financing and force staff cuts.

"We're very battle weary, though the quality of our day-care programs is still being maintained," said Michael Lambert, director of the family day-care program for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, a PMD member. Other members of the group include the Pittsburgh Board of Education, Urban League of Pittsburgh, Louise Child Care Inc. and Right Start Day Care. Fourteen months ago, in response to a 20 percent cut in federal daycare funds, eligibility for subsidized day care was tightened by the state. Previously, a parent could make up to 115 percent of the state's median income.

That was dropped to 90 percent. The state has several median income figures to match different sized families. For example, a single mother with one child could not gross more than $14,160 annually. College students and the disabled who had children were no longer eligible, nor were those seeking care costs at least $50 a week for an annual jump from about $1,200 to $2,600. Eligibility depends on income and number of children.

A single mother with one child cannot make more than $1,180 monthly to qualify. A mother with three children or the parents of two children cannot gross more than $1,735 a month. If they earn just under that amount they will be charged $20 a week per child. As the wages drop so does the fee. In the past few years, staffs of PMD members have been shrinking, and they have been caring for fewer children.

According to Alberta Thompson, director of the Urban League Day Care Program, the drop at her agency has been from 19 centers in 1980 to seven today, from a staff of 104 to 37, and from 285 children to 171. Where the staff ratio to children had been 5-to-l, it is now 10-to-1, Thompson said. Ten years ago, the Pittsburgh Board of Education was operating subsidized day-care centers. Today it has 17. The number of children has dropped from 570 to 320.

The cuts in financial support and loss of auxiliary services made A survey two years ago found 36,000 children of working parents in Allegheny County under the age of 6. There were only 7,800 licensed "slots" for their care. The county has 39 subsidized centers and 118 private centers, many operated in churches. PMD members emphasize that their centers are designed to stimulate their children mentally and emotionally. The children are also screened for speech, language and hearing problems.

When Denise Robinson of Hazel-wood became ineligible for subsidized day care, she was forced to leave her 4-year-old son with a relative, paying $100 a month. He spent most of his time, she said, watching television soap operas. Last year, the state took away eligibility determination from local day-care centers and centralized the process in Harrisburg with the help of a $2H million computerized system. To apply, parents must now call an 800 number in Harrisburg. The system has had many initial bugs.

"Many parents here have called Harrisburg trying to enroll their kids and have given up," said Steve.