Valley Independent, The (Newspaper) - February 22, 1975, Monessen, Pennsylvania The VALLEY INDEPENDENT 201 Second Class Postage Paid at U.S Post Office The Newspaper of the Valley Area SATURDAY FEBRUARY 1975 per copy per week by Charleroi Board wins Sunshine case Washington County Court has refused to let the sunshine in at meetings of leroi Area School Board In a decision written by ident Judge Charles G Sweet and concurred to by Judges Richard DiSalle and Thomas the court ruled that a civil suit in filed by three Charleroi Area residents failed to show cause why committee meetings should be opened to the public The suit by Frank Paterra and Thomas both of North and Anthony McGrew of charged the school board with violation of the new Public Meeting Law also called the Sunshine because t h e board did not open a whole meeting last Sept 18 to the public The represented in court by Atty Thomas J of sought an injunction against the board to prevent it from holding closed committee meetings In his Judge Sweet wrote that we decline to issue the requested injunction and dismiss the with This means the plaintiffs must pay costs The Sunshine went into In Washington Hearing on new county home set A hearing will be held March 7 at 10 on a request by Washington County Commissioners for court approval to spend more than million on a new extended care facility at Arden President Judge Charles G Sweet set the ing yesterday in a late afternoon order Judge Sweet said testimony will be taken at the hearing and the matter will then be submitted to the court en consisting of himself and Judges Thomas D Gladden and George K Hanna no later than April 4 A decision will follow The requirement of court approval for ture of the money has heretofore not surfaced Bids on site preparation were opened in No- and on general construction and nine other services in December Ram Construction Co of Canonsburg has been preparing the site since January 13 and tual construction of the facility is scheduled to begin in August On Feb commissioners signed the general construction and other ostensibly ing the way for erection of the building which will eventually replace the existing Men's and Women's Homes The order setting the hearing does halt tion In their petition to the the commissioners said the precise total to be spent is out the need for incurring any indebtedness They have been counting on the county's share of federal revenue sharing funds through 1976 to pay the great bulk of the cost In his order Sweet the ability of the county to pay for this seems to be the prothonotary A is directed to serve a copy of this petition upon the controller R in order that he may ize himself with these matters in the event we de- cide to call upon estimates of the final cost of the ing include site equipment and architect's have differed sharply with those of the commissioners He says the total could reach and revenue sharing monies See 3 effect Sept 1974 At a com- meeting of Charleroi Area School Board on Sept a group of nine attempted to attend the session They were turned away after a half-hour discussion on the matter a member of the school walked out of the meeting with the citizens group Terputac appeared before the board at its regular public meeting Sept 25 and asked that all action taken at the Sept 18 session be rescinded The board and another vote on opening all meetings was de- The civil suit was then filed and began a lengthy series of court proceedings that ended Jan 16 in argument court be- fore Judges DiSalle and Gladden Terputac asked the court to declare the executive session on Sept 18 void and to enjoin the school board from holding any meetings at which policy is established or items of business scheduled for future action want us to enjoin the board and some of its members from excluding the public ther or not formal action is taken or contemplated and to enjoin all action taken at the committee meeting on Sept as an illegal wrote Judge Sweet The board filed preliminary which the court dis- missed pro as to come to grips with the real the decision recalled A hearing was held and then oral arguments held few facts are rather wrote Judge Sweet board held an agenda conference on Sept 18 at which they ran through a potpourri of items listed by the preparatory to the regular board meeting of Sept 25 is undenied that the were e x c 1 from the agenda meeting and that board member Paterra declined to participate there- he continued had no original proof within their own knowledge of what went on at the agenda con- ference They also sought to de- an inference from the length of time the agenda con- ference compared with the full board meeting The ord covering as it does 102 pages plus discloses very little factually certainly has been no proof that any formal tion was taken at the agenda where no minutes were kept the argued strenuously that the very fact and privacy of the meeting is worthy of con- and justifies the drastic relief sought The board insists that it has done no that it had been advised by its solicitors that the shine Law went into effect that and that absolutely ing which should be done in public was done in It said Charleroi School Board See 3 WATCH DOG Ever mindful of her nap a cute seems to be running away from a timely reminder that Daylight Saving Time begins tomorrow at 2 That's when clocks are to be moved ahead one hour who lives in might have been thinking the loss of sleep is a good example of barking up the wrong tree And area residents who forget to turn their clocks ahead might be gone Move clocks ahead one hour Scene this boy anxiously awaiting party marking his eighth birthday tomorrow Bonora convent visitors enjoying delicious carrot cake baked by one of the nuns yellow crocuses in bloom in yard of home on Wickerham Drive in Twp preparations being made for nial dinner honoring retired Speers Police Chief James Burke flag in window of Charleroi food store young woman sitting on bench in Eastgate district of Monessen Area High seniors taking inven- tory on spaghetti they'll use for benefit dinner tomorrow wearing bright red tennis shoes at Fox Slop as Mon Valley residents are ing to lose sleep tonight Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 and that's when clocks are moved ahead one hour The return to DST two months earlier than usual will mean less daylight in the morning and more in the presenting a need for more caution by motorists School children and buses will be out in the early ing hours as but it will be darker than now for some time Year-round Daylight Saving Time resulted in a flood of complaints to Congress last year from parents who said their children were ed by having to go to school in the dark Some schools changed their starting times during the See 3 Changing public housing at Monessen's Park Manor to a concept is in the works by Westmoreland County Housing Authority The proposed which are still under study and not formally would result in major renovation of Park Manor's 150 apartment units Housing Authority Executive Director Leonard L Paletta said the proposals would mean a completely new concept in lic housing not heard of 20 years ago The which could cost almost to which means renovating the present buildings into the concept and having private entrances for the or's residents could mean that the changes would eliminate a number of but we have BO figure at this More candidates for area John W Peck Circulation of petitions for the May 20 primary election is moving into high gear in the Valley An incumbent and a challenger have announced formally they're running in Westmoreland another incumbent is in the running in Fayette and hundreds of petitions are being distributed elsewhere In Westmoreland Sheriff John W a said he's seeking re-election on my record of service and experience in public of- Peck is a former county treasurer and con- troller of New Kensington wish to assure the people of Westmoreland County as in the I shall conduct the fairs of the sheriff's office with efficiency and courteous attention for the needs of all the Peck said Peck said that during his first term as sheriff im- have taken place in operation of his of- fice to allow for efficiency and better ice He cited a county-wide radio uni- See 3 ta said There is speculation that ss many as 40 to 46 units would be eliminated in the proposed changes The Department of Housing and Urban Development has earmarked toward the if it is approved Paletta said if the work is the authority would plan the major project in three phases doing about four buildings in the first phase Paletta said the changes would give residents of Park Manor a completely new look at public housing family would have its own entrance and its area that they could maintain as Paletta said If the new project would mean the loss of between and 46 units it would result in a loss of in rentals but Paletta said it would be set in a reduction of in maintenance and in es plus elimination of other coste In other business this the Housing Authority ed Donald Craig Young and seph Klus as maintenance em- ployes at an annual salary of A bid of for a 1975 door sedan from Rhey and Mentzer and a bid of for a van truck from Sam Liberto of North Huntingdon Twp were approved The board also approved a bid of for 105 discarded refrigerators John W Won't stop oil fee WASHINGTON A federal judge Friday rejected a request by nine states to halt resident Ford's foe on imported oil U.S District Judge John Pratt said he agrees with Ford that national security would be threatened by continued U.S dependence on foreign oil Reaction mixed to court's opinion There was mixed reaction to the Washington County Court decision on the Sunshine opinion handed down by the court late yesterday John co solicitor for the Charleroi Area School Board who argued from the start of the case over four months ago that the board was not in said he was is the first I knew that a decision was handed a happy Costello told The Val- ley Independent late this ing am very gratified with the results but I have always felt the board was within the scope of the new law and that the suit had no said Costello said he would hold further comment until he reads the entire decision on Monday Melvin the other solicitor for tbe board who de- fended the board in the was attending a Washington and Jefferson College meeting in and was not available for comment Thomas the ney for the three Charleroi Area School District residents who filed the was not available for comment Frank the lone member of the board and one of three Charleroi Area dents to file the suit was is the first report I Weather Partly cloudy tonight with of showers Low in mid 30s Scattered showers and possibly a shower tomorrow High in mid 50s have received on the decision and it comes as a real Paterra said is a slao in the face to Thomas Griffiths and Anthony who filed the suit with and to all the people of the commonwealth as well as the people of the leroi Area School terra said said the decision definitely a setback to the right to know the state legislature designed the bUl to do away with all private sessions behind closed doors and it was ed to permit the public to know all that takes place and this decision is a setback to that Paterra said Paterra said he questioned whether politics played a part in the decision it then we must realize that the legislature must look at the again and put some teeth into can we continue to low public officials to meet be- hind closed doors to make cial decisions that affect all voters and residents of the dis- Paterra continued Paterra said he felt they had See 3 Okay for new Donora road Inside Church news 2 Classified 9 Dear Abby 10 Editorials 4 Feature page 11 Hospital registers 12 Obituaries 12 Sports 7 Television news 7 Theatre page 10 Women's news 5 The new Route 837 through Donora's I n d u strial could become a reality this fall The proposed new which will connect the new ISO- million Donora M o n e s sen bridge project with the old bridge at Tenth St in was approved by the State Legislature in the 1973 capital i m p r o vements budget The proposed new which will run along the River in the trial will replace the present Route 837 which runs from the Carroll Twp der at North Donora to Third St and Meldon Ave and then west to McKean Ave on Third St and south again to the new bridge Plans for the new highway reportedly are still on the ing but Donora and Middle Monongahela Industrial Development officials are hopeful work will start this year A portion of the area which will be affected by the new roadway is part of the lion Donora urban renewal project and a number of old Story not over on Watergate U S Steel buildings are being razed now to make room for the highway The new one of the major projects being pushed by Donora Mayor Albert will detour all through fic around the downtown area of Donora and will allow a jor highway for heavy truck traffic into and out of Donora When first proposed four years there was some op- position to the road going through the industrial park Some officials felt the roadway should go from north to south on Meldon Avenue in order to keep most of the traffic within reach of the downtown area But the industrial site area was approved after a study re- that the new roadway would benefit the new industry located in the park At the present time about a dozen new industries are in the industrial park and officials be- lieve the new roadway could re- sult in other developments in the park The new roadway will in- clude construction of two spans over the R a i road at South Donora and at Ninth Street on Meldon Avenue between Ninth and Tenth Sts The proposed plan will also result in the razing of about seven properties along Meldon Avenue near 10th in- two service stations WASHINGTON Richard Nixon's four closest associates have been sentenced to but the Watergate story isn't over John John Ehrlichman and Robert Mardian Friday joined more than two dozen others who have been sentenced to jail in the nation's worst political scandal The former in seclusion inside the walls of the guarded California estate of his friend Walter had no immediate comment on the sentences handed the four who once helped him run the country A secretary said she did not anticipate he would make a statement Nixon had previously been described as at the troubles the Watergate affair brought to his friends and associates Nearly 50 persons have been sentenced for Watergate and a dozen more are awaiting sentence or will go on trial soon Haldeman and lichman received sentences of to 8 years in prison from U.S District Court Judge John Sirica stiffest sentences handed out since those he gave the originally uncooperative Watergate burglars found guilty of only a single conspiracy received 10 months to 3 years in jail Under the terms of sentence all four must serve the minimum term before being eligible for parole But it could be as long as two years before the four go to jail they go at all All have announced intentions to perhaps as high as the Supreme and the appeals process in the complicated and historic case will take that long The most serious charges Sec 3 CONTINENTAL BAR MONESSEN Sunday per pound oil on all lunch meats Cold Beer lo go on led Me bag traffic rules in Monessen There will be no parking on Schoomnaker Ave in Monessen from Fourth St to 12th be- ginning Monday at noon Monessen Police Chief Bruce said that er Ave from Fourth St to 12th St will be two-way traffic to permit construction workers to work on the Donner Ave town Project explained that sons wishing to go into the ner Ave area of downtown can do so by turning east on Fourth St and using the alleyways TRUCK SOLD IN ONE DAY FORD Vi ton pickup niw Call xxx-xxxx FOR ACTION CLASSIFIED RESULTS CALL THE VALLEY INDEPENDENT
