Indiana Gazette, The (Newspaper) - February 21, 2006, Indiana, Pennsylvania 24 pages 2 sections February 2006 Tuesday Whos in the news There is good news today in The Indiana Gazette about these area people Benjamin Auen Mallory Hoak Jonathan Clark Nicky Neely Autumn Kunkle Erin Hoover Andrew Steighner Justin Reed Alex Summerson Rebecca Krouse Weather Tonight will be partly cloudy with a low of 22 Expect the same on Wednesday with a high of 2 Coming up WEDNESDAY Enjoy Mardi Gras at home with tastes of the sizzlin Inside DISTRICT PLAYOFFS Homer Center and Saltsburg boys advanced after winning 13 GOWDY DIES Legendary sports broadcaster Curt Gowdy died Monday at age HONOR ROLLS Saltsburg School West Shamokin High For young readers FASHION TV Reality television is reshaping fashion for the mass 2fl Correction Rydbom is the wife of Blairsville boys basketball coach Mark Rydbom Incorrect information appeared in Mondays Gazette Deaths Obituaries on Page 4 ANTONUCCIO Josephine 1 84 of Indiana BRANT Virginia 86 Armagh Lawrence S 75 West Lebanon HUSTON Rose Adamchik 75 Blacklick Township Peter 87 Homer City and Sun City Ariz 78 Clymer Late death MARUN Ruth Indiana Grace 89 Indiana Index Lottery Today in Teddy In scandal as in robbery the receiver is always as bad as the Lord Chesterfield English author and statesman 16941773 This newspaper is printed on recyclable paper Please recycle Newspaper contents copyright 2006 Indiana Printing and Publishing Co Indiana Pa www com Vol 102 No 181 Saltsburg considers secession ATTORNEY JOEL SANSONE of Pittsburgh warned the school board Monday that if it proceeds with plans to consolidate the districts high schools in Blairsville he will seek legal action on behalf of Saltsburg residents to prevent it Parents unhappy with board proposals By STEPHANIE Gazette Staff Writer reeling backed into a corner and fighting for the survival of their childrens home town education the parents of Saltsburg students have authorized an attorney to look into secession from the School District Some school board members and a state senator who represents the district said Monday that it might just be the best thing for the people of Saltsburg Sen Don White at tended Mondays meeting to dis cuss board President Paul Bells ac at past meetings of the states inequitable funding of the district He admitted the state formula for funding districts isnt fair to many districts but also said it is very com plex and hard to change I do not have a magic wand or a simple White said theres no way to fix the funding problems of one district without negatively impacting other districts I accept responsibility for being an accomplice to some of the trou bles faced by this school he said also laying some blame on the district itself But Whites discussion with the board about funding was owed by what he called an adver sarial atmosphere between the board and the Saltsburg communi ty about consolidation I read the paper I know whats going on and Ive been very con White said Continued on Page 12 JAMIE STATE SEN DON WHITE spoke to the School District Board of Directors Monday about consolidation and the perceived inequity in the commonwealths funding of school districts Seated in front of White were district solicitor Ronald Saffron of Blairsville and board Vice President Mary Whitfield Consolidation action at least 3 months away By STEPHANIE BERNAT Gazette Stalt Writer Kven if the school board unanimously agrees to one of two basic plans being studied for con solidation of the districts high schools a vote could not come be fore June the solicitor said Mon day The two main plans under con sideration include closing one of two schools on the Saltsburg end of the district and state law man dates that a public hearing be held at least three months before a deci sion to close a school So even if the school board agreed on a plan at its March meet ing the period would delay the decision at least until the boards June meeting At Monday nights school board meeting Greer Hayden of Sharon based architectural firm presented updates on the two con solidation plans and a renovation plan for the Saltsburg schools that would require no changes to the Blairsville schools The board has been leaning toward a consolida tion plan and not just a proposal to renovate the Saltsburg facilities After a final vote on a consolida tion plan Hayden said it would take about a year to get the plans approved by the state Department of Education And once bids arc awarded construction likely would take about 18 months Continued on Page 12 IF REDISTRICTING isn t feasible uv will secession from your school district and e will take our tax money Joel Sansone attorney for Saltsburg residents against consolidation SO cents Governors may fight ports agreement By WHl LESTER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON lican governors are threatening legal action to block an Arab company from taking over oper ations in major ports and some GOP lawmakers say the deal should be closely examined In the uneasy climate after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks the Bush administration decision to allow the transaction is threaten ing to develop a major political headache for the White I New York iov George and Maryland iov Robert on Monday voiced doubts about the acquisition of a British company that has been running six ports by Dubai Ports World a stateowned busi ness in the United Arab he British company lar and Oriental Steam Naviga tion runs major commercial operations at ports in Baltimore Miami New Jersey New Orleans New York and Philadelphia Both governors indicated they may try to cancel lease arrange ments at ports in their states be cause of the DP World takeover insuring the security of New Yorks port operations is para mount and I am very concerned with the purchase of Peninsular Oriental Steam by Dubai Ports Pataki said in a news re lease I have directed the Port Au of New York and New ler sey to explore all legal options that may be available to 1hrlich concerned about se curity at the Port of Baltimore said Monday he was very trou bled that Maryland officials got no advance notice before the Bush administration approved the Arab companys takeover of the operations at the six ports We needed to know before this was a done deal given the state of are concerning told reporters in the State rotunda in Annapolis The arrangement brought protests from both political par ties in Congress and a lawsuit in from a company affected by the Public tears that the nations ports are not proper ly protected combined with the news of an Arab takeover of six major ports proved a combustible mix Republican Sen Lindsay Gra ham of South Carolina said on fox News Sunday that the ad ministration approval was un believably tone deal politically GOP Rep lorn Davis ot Virginia said on ABC s 1 his Its a tough one to explain but were in a global economy I think we need to take i close look at Democratic Sen Roller of Ncu said that he and Sen I Milan Rodham Clinton I will in legislation prohibiting the sale of port operations to for eign governments At least one Senate oversight hearing was planned for later this month Petition shows support for vendors By ROSS Gazette Staff Writer Indiana Borough Council next month will reconsider whether to permit a roaming sidewalk vendor to sell hot dogs downtown The change in stance probably would mean a higher fee to set up shop The councils Public Affairs Com on Monday accepted a peti tion with signatures of almost 600 people said 10 favor the presence of John Mindas hot log cart The panel recommended the full coun cil take another look and its mem bers strongly suggested the bor ough charge much more than which Minda paid the last two years We have 592 people in Indiana that are concerned about the hot dog Jayne Allshouse told the committee as she presented the petition They want to see him come Debate over Mindas business has gone into a third year In 2004 and 2005 council overrode objec tions from downtown merchants who said Minda noses unfair com petition and granted him a permit for Earlier this month coun cil sided with Philadelphia Street restaurateurs who advocated market price competition among owners that invest in storefronts hire workers and pay taxes Committee chairwoman Claire Hogan backed from her suggestion leb 7 that Minda should pay to match the investment that downtown shopkeepers make in their ventures That amount may be too Hogan said But is way too little That was an ble gift If youre going to level the playing field it should be 10 times Continued on Paft 12 THOMAS INDIANA BOROUGH community members presented a petition at the borough councils public affairs committee meeting Monday in support of hot dog vendor John Minda of Saltsburg and potential soup vendor Helen Micco of Indiana Drillers Bar Tuesday And Wednesday Holdem 8 With Food And Drink Specials Wednesday Country Une Dancing Lessons 79 Looking For An Internet Service Call Your Internet For 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