Thursday, September 30, 1999

THE POST

Athens, Ohio * An Independent Daily Newspaper * Ohio University


Briefly

THE POST
[NATO]
Victor Pobedinsky/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Nazi prisoner, Ukrainian Mykola Chogut, 82, mourns during a ceremony at the Babi Yar monument in Kiev, Ukraine yesterday for the more than 33,000 Jews killed by the Nazis in the city 58 years ago.
Steelworkers protest at shareholders' merger vote

PITTSBURGH - Steelworkers locked out of an Armco Inc. plant in Mansfield, Ohio, demonstrated yesterday outside the company's shareholders meeting, where a merger with AK Steel was approved.

About 150 members of the United Steelworkers demonstrated outside Armco's headquarters and sent a few delegates into the shareholders' meeting.

The deal was scheduled to close today, after which Armco's stock will be dropped from the New York Stock Exchange. AK Steel is issuing 41.6 million new shares of common stock to buy Armco, the equivalent of $7.50 per Armco share.

At Armco's Mansfield plant, 650 workers have been locked out since Sept. 1, when their labor contract expired. Three weeks ago, members of Steelworkers Local 169 clashed with non-union laborers brought in by Armco, resulting in eight injuries and four arrests.

Steelworkers say they feel betrayed by Armco. Six years ago, Ohio and Mansfield gave Armco tax breaks to keep the plant open and maintain the payroll.

Ralph Perry, a 52-year-old maintenance worker at the demonstration in Wilmington, said the company hasn't kept its promises.

"Now they've got everything up and running at a profit, they're looking to cut our throats, the working man's throat,'' Perry said.

Republican mayor in Columbus crucial for GOP

COLUMBUS - The city's Nov. 2 election for mayor is crucial not just to the city and the state, but to Republican chances nationwide next year, GOP National Chairman Jim Nicholson said yesterday.

Republican victories in Columbus and a handful of other large cities are a priority for the GOP this fall, Nicholson said at a news conference. With Republican mayors in New York and Los Angeles, the GOP is raising its hopes, he said.

Columbus has had Republican mayors for 28 straight years, but Dorothy Teater, a Franklin County Commissioner, faces a strong campaign from Democrat Michael Coleman, the City Council president.

Other key cities include Philadelphia, which has not elected a Republican mayor in 52 years, and Indianapolis, which hasn't elected a Democrat in three decades, Nicholson said.

"All three of those mayor's races are winnable because we have very good candidates in each of the cities that are doing just what Dorothy's doing - running on core value issues of limited government and more freedom,'' he said.

Nicholson and Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert Bennett agreed that central Ohio is key to Republican efforts statewide. The area can provide the swing vote between Democratic northeast Ohio and the Republican southwest part of the state.

The state also could be important in next year's elections. No Republican in this century has won the White House without carrying Ohio.

School bus crash injures children on field trip

SOUTH BLOOMFIELD, Ohio - A school bus carrying seventh-graders on a field trip flipped over on the side of a rural highway yesterday, injuring 38 students.

The bus apparently slipped off the shoulder of the narrow two-lane road, and the driver overcorrected, causing the bus to skid across the pavement and overturn on the other side, Pickaway County Sheriff's Lt. J. Phillip Brown said.

The accident, ocurring on state Route 316, one mile west of U.S. 23, was the second of three involving school buses in Ohio in two days.

The driver, identified by the sheriff's office and Berger Hospital as Beverly Hoover, 41, of South Bloomfield, received minor injuries. No charges were filed, and Brown said it would take a few days to make sure what had happened.

Hoover said she was advised by the school district not to discuss the accident until the investigation is complete. "There is really nothing I can say, except that I'm glad that all of my kids are all right,'' she said.

Most of the injuries to the Teays Valley Middle School students were cuts, bumps and bruises, Brown said. Nine girls and four boys, some with broken bones, were taken to Children's Hospital in Columbus, said Katie Pakel, a hospital spokeswoman. One child was admitted with a shoulder injury.

Newspaper accuses radio station of stealing its stories

TOLEDO - The Blade has filed a lawsuit accusing a radio station and its morning host of "pirating'' stories out of the daily newspaper and using them on the air as if they were the station's own.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, said the station used the newspaper's articles without crediting The Blade or obtaining permission.

The newspaper accused WSPD-AM of violating the Ohio Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The Blade said the radio station's use of its product could hurt the newspaper's circulation and ability to attract advertisers.

"All we ask is that when they use our work, they tell the listeners it's ours,'' the newspaper's lawyer, Fritz Byers, said yesterday.

The radio station's manager denied the allegations.

"We would not intentionally pirate any other journalist's work,'' said Andy Stuart, vice president and market manager for Clear Channel Communications Inc.'s five Toledo stations.

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages, an order that WSPD stop broadcasting news or other reports taken from The Blade and asks that WSPD to pay The Blade all advertising profits generated during the broadcasts at issue.

Soccer league puts hush over noisy crowds

CLEVELAND - When players in the Northern Ohio Girls Soccer League boot amazing goals and make stellar saves this Sunday, the only reaction from their fans will be silence.

Parents won't cheer. Coaches will only be able to nod, quietly, in approval.

Fed up with boisterous, screaming, know-it-all coaches and parents, the league has banned cheering for this week's games in an effort to put the sport back into perspective. The league is calling its plan "Silent Sunday.''

"We want kids to be able to learn and to be able to think and play without the constant yelling,'' League President Al Soper said.

Officials with the league for 3,800 girls ages 8 to 14 had previously discussed a possible noise ban, but Soper made the decision to silence the crowds after refereeing a boys' soccer tournament earlier this year.

Mayor addresses leaf pick- up, road construction

Mayor Richard Abel spoke to community members yesterday about the leaf pickup schedule. Beginning Monday, Oct. 4, plastic leaf bags will be available in bundles of five, 10 or 15. Residents may contact the Service Garage to schedule leaf pickup on Tuesdays and Fridays. Curbside pickup will begin Oct. 18 and end Dec. 3.

In other business:

  • Abel also announced that Elliotsville Road will be under construction beginning Monday. New water and sewer lines and a new road surface will be completed by Dec. 10. These repairs are in preparation for closing the West Union Street Bridge.

  • Abel said construction for the public restrooms at the East State Street Recreation Center will be finished in two months.

    Engineering Career fair to take place today

    Students interested in engineering are welcome to attend the second "Engineering and Technology Career Fair" today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Baker Center Ballroom.

    At the fair, companies such as Anderson Consulting, Dupont, Honda, NASA and Cincinnati Bell will be looking for students to fill full-time, co-op and internship positions.

    The event is sponsored by the National Society of Black Engineers.

    Guysville man loses life in tractor accident

    William L. King, a farmer in Guysville, died Tuesday when his tractor malfunctioned.

    King was brushogging, mowing a heavy type of brush, when the tractor flipped over and pinned him underneath, according to the police and the Athens Coroner. Fuel leaked out of the gas tank, and exhaust sparks set the tractor on fire.

    The death was determined accidental by Scott Jenkinson, Athens County coroner.

    The funeral is to be held at Jagers and Sons Funeral Home, 24 Morris Ave., Friday at 10 a.m.

    American Studies scholar to speak at OU

    Beginning today, Ohio University's American Studies Steering Committee is sponsoring a free public lecture by an American Studies scholar.

    Shelly Fisher Fishkin, professor of American Studies and English at the University of Texas, Austin, will speak at 4 p.m. in 136 Bentley Hall. Her talk is titled, "Inventing American Studies."

    Fishkin is a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Japan.

    OU receives $100,000 scholarship donation

    Ohio University $100,000 to endow the Mary Jo and A. Robert Kent Scholarship in the College of Communication.

    The money was given to the university from the estate of A. Robert Kent, a 1933 alumnus of the OU College of Business. Kent died in April at age 87.

    Kent's gift is part of $718,000 given to the university in memorial scholarships this year. Other colleges that received money include the College of Fine Arts and the College of Arts and Sciences.


    • [Front Page] [Top Story] [Today's Edition] [The Post Archives] [About The Post] [Post Phone Numbers] [Staff Resumes] [Advertising Information] [Contact Us] [Useful Links] [Entertainment]