Titusville Herald (Newspaper) - March 6, 1998, Titusville, Pennsylvania June 14 1865 Oldest Daily Newspaper in Northwestern Pennsylvania Cloudy Becoming mostly cloudy today High around 40 Tonight mostly cloudy Low near 30 Saturday mostly cloudy High in the upper 40s TITUSVILLE PA FRIDAY MORNING MARCH 61998 50 CENTS Hurt As Van Hits Embankment j Two people suffered minor in on a tie which was being used as a bus slid off the road in Township Crawford County Meadville state police said Wi that the driver Erin Ardell j 28 and passenger Holsopple 21 both of Guys Mills were treated and re from Meadville Medical Center with mindr injuries fol Blowing the accident Troopers said the crash oc curred when a vehicle operated i by Kaszynski was northbound on SR 0086 It went off the road and struck an embankment Po Ilice after impact the rear of the vehicle spun counterclockwise striking the ground again Troopers said that the vehicle H being used as a school bus and that the third occupant a See VAN page two State Police Have No Suspects in Shooting Of Pleasantville Couple SIGN POSTED signs reading Thanks for the prayers were posted on a utility pole in front of the Prank Matkovich home Herald photo by Jon Sherman by Jon Sherman No new developments had emerged Thursday in the inves of Tuesday evenings shooting of a Pleasantville area couple in their home along Route 27 Both victims Frank Red and Ardelle Matkovich remained hospitalized at Eries Hamot Medical Center Frank Matko vich 77 remains in serious condition with a gunshot wound to his neck Ardelle Matkovich 72 is listed in fair condition She reportedly suffered a wound to her wrist Tpr Mark Zakeski public in formation officer for nia State Police Troop E in Erie said Wednesday there were no suspects and no firm de scription of the individual who fired the shots that injured the couple The were in their home at about pm Tuesday when they heard either a knock at their front door or someone moving around outside When Frank Matkovich opened the front door he was shot through the glass in the storm door Mrs Matkovich was shot when she came to see what had happened to her husband Zaleski said there was no known motive for the shooting At about a 24yearold Oil City mother and her two children were robbed of about at gunpoint in their Colbert Avenue home by three masked assailants Asked about any evidence to link the two incidents Zaleski said nothing is being ruled out at this point The home is lo near that of their sonin law and daughter District Jus See SUSPECTS page two Auditorium included a long list of deficiencies in the current fa including poor lighting lack of ventilation inadequate sound system small stage and too few seats Superintendent of Schools Ken Winger prefaced the testi mony by explaining that school personnel have been examining heeds including the auditorium for five years He said the pro cess has included meeting with an auditorium architect from Chautauqua as well as the mu sic and theater staff to help de what would be desirable if we could build an audito rium Also addressing the board was School Directors Study Options for Auditorium Residents and Teachers Describe Shortcomings of Present Facility by Holly Matthews School district personnel and community representatives last told Titusville Area School Board why they believe a new or renovated auditorium is They spoke during the final in a series of meetings scheduled 1 bythe board to review proposed educational specifications for I the school ig The Aboard is currently gath on educa tional specifications and the au proposals but has made iiio final decisions v Arguments for a new audito or an improved Colestock must decide whether to work with existing space Colestock Auditorium or construct a new auditorium Fox discussed proposals for both options noting that he can adapt plans to whatever the board finally selects He is possible for the transform Colestock into a small auditorium a great larger audi torium A new auditorium which would be constructed where the See BOARD page two by Holly Matthews If youre going to do it do it right because its going to be with us 30 40 arid 50 years from now former Titusville High School Music Department Chair man Mowrey told Titusville School Board last night Mowrey was among those who addressed the board con deficiencies in the cur rent school auditorium Mowrey said he taught in the district for 38 years and is famil iar with Colestock Auditorium He said the facility is hazardous noting there are not enough escape routes He also said the auditorium is not handicapped accessible The auditorium is not big enough for large functions he observed Mowrey said the school dis has not been able to host a district chorus in over 30 years because the auditorium cannol meet the needs of such a pro gram He noted that a district cho rus event would attract 200 vis iting students who would stay with local residents for three days Between 400 and 500 par ents would be here for the ac See RESIDENTS page two AMERICANISM PROGRAM Dorothy Woodford chairman of the local VFW Americanism Committee gave a program on the history of the American flag Pledge of Allegiance to first second and third graders at St Titus School on Thursday She spoke about the meaning of the words in the Pledge and distributed coloring books on the flags history Herald photo by Jon Sherman White House to FundRaising Tool WASHINGTON AP The investigating cam finance abuses released its report Thursday concluding Democrats reduced the White House the adminis tration and the presidency itself to fundraising tools The report by the Republi Senate Govern ment Affairs Committee alleges that the Democratic Party in a frenzy to boost funds for Presi dent Clintons 1996 reelection campaign sold access to the White ultimately may have compromised national policy The committee which has spent million investigating possible fundraising violations approved the report by an 87 vote along party lines Democrats released their own report calling for reform of laws regulating campaign donations Among the favors merchan were access to senior deci sion makers according to a summary of the majority report Other perks included presiden tial appointments to commissions and administration jobs as in the case of fundraiser John Huang a Democratic fundraiser who became a deputy assistant secretary of the Commerce De The report also said political donations were exchanged for access to the White House in overnights in the Lin coln Bedroom and coffees with the president It also said that Vice President Al Gore know ingly attended a fundraiser at a Buddhist temple although Gore has said he did not know the nature of the event in advance The committee report wraps up nearly a years worth of hear ings but offers very little new information Democrats on the committee responded by filing a report of their own Weve done this because it was left to us to bring some bal ance said Sen John Glenn D Ohio The Democratic report doesnt deny wrongdoing by its party members he said But we also dont shy back from criticizing Republicans and the problems are on both sides he said Glenn said his biggest disap pointment with the committee was its refusal to come up with a bipartisan plan to investigate fundraising abuses in both par ties and to provide suggestions to close loopholes in campaign finance laws Other Democrats denounced the timing of the report calling it an attempt to hide last weeks GOP rejection of a to revamp campaign finance laws James E Kennedy a spokesman for the White House counsels office said the report reads more like a campaign press release than an official government document Sen Thompson and the committee Republicans squan dered an historic opportunity to move the Congress and the country closer to the goal of re forming the way in which cam are run Kennedy said And they squandered millions of taxpayer dollars in partisan pursuit of political points Ag Security Meetings Set in Athens Township Athens Township dairy farm er Scott J Preston a Crawford County Farm Bureau board member has announced two dates for township interested in form an Agricultural Security fArea The meetings will be held Tuesdays March 10 and 17 will begin at pm in Athens Township Building on Cooley Road r These meetings are to start the process of establishing an Ag Security Area in Athens Township Ag Security Areas provide protection against nui sance laws which may interfere with normal farming practices and will protect participating farms against the threat of a radioactive nuclear waste dump being sited on the properties I Attending the meetings will Crawford County Farm Bu reau Ag Security Area represen Rox Byham and Doug Gilbert and George Gregg from the Department of Agriculture They will be able to answer your questions about starting an Ag Security Area in Athens Township Preston said Also on hand will be tax col lector Chris Cornell She will help landowners correctly sign up for the program We are asking all landown ers to attend in person and sign the proposal of the Ag Security Area for presentation to the supervisors Preston added A 10minute video about Systems will be shown at Chem Nuclear is the firm hired by the state to find a volunteer munic to host a ra waste facility in Penn sylvania Preston said that because of overflow crowds at recent meet ings in the township building he is asking that people with last names from A to M at tend the first meeting and land owners from N to Z attend the second If we need a third meeting it will be called later Preston said if for any reason See ATHENS page two SENIOR CENTER OUTREACH George Hawthorne left Marian Hawthorne Barbara List Madeline Wright Marcella DeSanto and Sally Putnam are among volunteers from Titusville Senior Center who will be at the BiLo markets trying to interest area seniors in the centers programs Herald photo by Jon Sherman Senior Center Seeking New Participants Area residents 60 years of age and older shouldnt be surprised if someone comes up to them in one of the citys grocery stores and invites them to dinner Titusville Senior Center is implementing a new program We Need Seniors The pro gram is an ongoing open house in which seniors are invited to come to the center at Burgess Park to look around and stay for dinner Senior center volunteers will be at the BiLo grocery stores on Tuesdays ing center newsletters cal menus and promotion al gift items They also will be handing out buttons that read We Need Seniors Any one who receives a button and comes to the senior cen ter for dinner will get a free gift At that time they can return the button so it can be given to someone else Heidi Seefried center ac director commented I know there are people in See CENTER page two
