Altoona Mirror (Newspaper) - February 15, 2001, Altoona, Pennsylvania St Francis men keep playoff hopes alive H Grace And Glorie play coming to area mirror Copyright 2001 THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15 2001 500 newsstand Bitterness swells in 9th District race 9th District Republican Alumni Hall Science Center Juniata Saturday 10 to 4 p.m Open to the public Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler takes an in-depth look at how the convention work and how the political drama might play out Saturday at Juniata BY WILLIAM KIBLER After Congressman Bud Shuster retired some people suggested the Republican Party should nominate a caretaker candidate who would step aside for the next election so voters rather than politicians could nominate his true successor said State Rep Rick Geist It might have prevented the ny and bitterness that came to a head Tuesday with a County Republican Committee choosing a split delegation to send to the nominating convention in Huntingdon Saturday 18 delegates for Shuster 10 for John H Eichelberger Jr It might have demanded less sudden uncovering of loyalties and enmities less brandishing of rules fewer bruised feelings relationships and egos It would have eliminated the fil- ing of a lawsuit by Shuster supporters to force a delegate vote of the full Blair committee It might at least given people more time to get ready for the competition But there doesn't seem to be any momentum for the caretaker idea more said Bruce Kelley an aide to state Sen President Pro Tern Robert Jubelirer It's gone too far The bloodletting has already happened so why try to stanch it Candidates and their supporters have worked too hard invested too much paid too big a price to just let it go Geist said The minute Shuster resigned when he did however it was bound to happen this way and Shuster knew it Geist said He wonders why his former aide Ann Eppard set it in motion he said Bud Shuster has answered that ing repeatedly he resigned mainly for health and because he'd accomplished all he could in making laws and ing money for infrastructure projects in his district and nationwide Please see AID Shuster Mixed reviews on public safety plan STATE New focus on treatment as growth wanes Hi BY MICHAEL RACE Gov Tom Ridge appears to be borrowing from President Bush's compassionate conservatism theme in his spending proposal for the state's prison system Ridge played up rehabilitation and treatment of inmates while playing down the talk that first helped get him elected in the budget posal he presented to lawmakers Tuesday The Crime is down and so is the public's concern about it Also the once rapid growth in the state's prison population is slowing Six years ago it would have been inconceivable that public safety would take up so few words in a budget Ridge told lawmakers But last year once again serious crime in Pennsylvania was down across the board Still tougher crime laws enacted when Ridge came into office have helped fill prisons beyond capacity And most of those inmates will be released While the budget plan Ridge rolled out includes more money for prison sions and added staffing the governor's office chose to stress Ridge's plans to put more money into cation and treatment programs Ridge wants to spend another million expanding vocational training programs at nine state prisons and he is asking for to provide alcohol and drug treatment to another 200 inmates in four facilities Corrections Department spokesman Michael Lukens said Monday that the institutions to receive the vocational training money hasn't been decided yet but he said the four institutions that will receive money for additional drug treatment efforts are in Greene Luzerne Northampton and Mercer counties Please see A3 Mirror photo by Gary M Baranec A guard stands in the tower at the Huntingdon state correctional in this Mirror file photo CRIME FIGHTERS Local state police barracks and number of troopers assigned to Hollidaysburg 47 30 Rockview 39 Ebensburg 25 Bedford 37 Philipsburg 20 Clearfield 37 Everett 20 BEHIND BARS The inmate population at the area's state correctional Huntingdon Cresson Smithfield Houtzdale STATE High-tech tools proposed over adding officers BY MICHAEL RACE HARRISBURG Gov Tom Ridge's proposed budget won't put more Pennsylvania State Police troopers on the roadways but the governor insists it will seem like there are more Ridge is pushing a ment in high-tech crime fighting ment as a means to help troopers work faster and more efficiently He predicts the result will be less time behind desks and more time in the field The time spent on paperwork will be cut by half or Ridge said in a statement touting his plan The time troopers save will be like deploying an extra 200 troopers to fight crime and keep our neighborhoods and highways safe greeted with skepticism from some in the General Assembly Not very many lawmakers are going to buy the governor's program today as a way to increase state said House Democratic Whip Mike Veon D- Beaver I think they'd rather have the 200 troopers and the governor is going to work real hart to make that case to Republicans and Democrats There now are troopers in Pennsylvania but some lawmakers said more are needed to deal with an increase in incidents and other traffic troubles Ridge wants to spend million to continue the implementation of the state police's criminal incident mation management a work of equipment that includes com- puters in patrol cars The equipment allows troopers to instantly access both state and national data on vehicle registrations driver's licenses lists and other also can record mation and prepare reports Please see A3 Charge filed in murder Former Cambria County resident accused in 1980 killing of man from Emeigh BY PHIL RAY Staff Writer EBENSBURG A lumberjack who once lived in northern Cambria County was charged Wednesday with the 1980 killing of a reclusive radio and television repairman from Emeigh Cambria County District Attorney David J Tulowitzki said Elmer f Thomas arrested without incident at his Mentcle Indiana County I home and charged with the I May 24 1980 killing of I Andrew Fenchock The Fenchock lived at the end of a lane in Emeigh He had a garage westover next to his home in which he repaired radios and televisions Prosecutors believe that Westover then 19 years old was ing the workshop in search of copper and other items when Fenchock entered the building Prosecutors claim Westover shot Fenchock with a single-action revolver Fenchock died of a head wound About four months ago police in Susquehanna Township Cambria received a tip stating that they could find out about the Fenchock homicide if they would talk to a person whose name has not been revealed Township officers passed the information to state police investigators Cpl Frank Adamczyk and Trooper Gregory Bernard From there it was like dominos Tulowitzki said One witness led police to several others Please see Legislation aimed to clean up disputes of dairy farmers BY ROBERT IGOE While politicians on Capitol Hill always are scrambling to form alliances within their party U.S Sen Rick Santorum hopes to get more accomplished by crossing party lines Santorum hopes that by ing with Sen Herb Kohl who has been a major opponent the Northeast Dairy Compact the two can pass legislation that will be fair to all of the nation's dairy farmers rather than create tages to one region at the expense of another up with b piece of legislation that in its goals n What I have tried to do is to work with someone who is 180 degrees from me as far as dairy legislation Santorum said In working with Sen Kohl who has been an opponent of the Northeast Dairy Compact I feel that we have come up with a piece of legislation that is regionally neutral in its goals and can help see our nation's dairy farmers through tough times Under the plan and medium-sized commercial dairy producers would be provided with a safety net for prices through a sliding scale of payments based on the average price of Class III mUk over the past year That price would be calculated for the first hundredweight of tion regardless of the class of milk produced Please see Weatherman vs mascot rivalry may end after e-mail arrives in Altoona By KEVIN On It all ends with an e-mail Hopefully The battle between jovial The Today Show weatherman Al Roker and Altoona Curve mascot Steamer looks to be on the wane after Roker sent an open e-mail to the people of Altoona this week I have received hundreds of e- mails from you folks some upset some agreeing with me and other who want this whole thing to go Roker wrote Roker called stupid on Day after the mascot showed up at Rockefeller Center where Today is taped Since u Steamer in no way looks anything like the front end of a steam engine and I'm a railroad fan 77 then Altoona has exploded in a firestorm of contempt some for Roker some for Steamer But Roker is asking Altoona to recognize that Steamer doesn't quite resemble well anything The San Diego Chicken while not exactly a chicken looks like a the weatherman said Steamer in no way looks anything like the front end of a steam engine and I'm a railroad fan He also asked the people of Altoona to put the rivalry behind them Can you get over he asked Apparently so May 2 originally planned by the Curve as Al Roker is Stupid Day at Blair County Ballpark has been downgraded to Al Roker Gets Educated Day part of a move to lighten the discourse in the debate Please see A3 DUMMY Subscription or home delivery or 800 6 5 I Lottery numbers A2 Cloudy chance of showers Forecast C3 February 27 at Fiiielli's Italian Entertainment Music and Magic Make Reservations Early and Stay All Business Obituaries Opinion High schools Scoreboard A9 Comics C4 j Classified AS I Dear Abby I Dr Gott B4 i Puzzles B5 i Television DS D5 D5 DS IN NATION Federal prosecutors launch investigation into Clinton's pardon of fugitive financier
