Titusville Herald (Newspaper) - June 28, 2003, Titusville, Pennsylvania INSIDE THIS ISSUE Titusville students will now be able to apply some of their credits at PML See Page 5 IN YOUR NEXT HERALD Plan your week ahead with The Heralds Calendar of Events published in every Monday edition y Birthplace of the oil industry TITUSVILLE PA Established June 141865 First Daily Newspaper in the Pennsylvania Oil Region 50 CENTS Saturday June 28 2003 WEATHER MORNING NOON NIGHT For complete weather forecast see Page 2 In the news Lumber graders The first class from the new lumber grading school held in received their diplomas Page 5 Sports Reason to race Drivers wives strap into Sunday to raise money for Victims Resource Center PageS Stocks Dow Jones Industrials Close 898905 High Low 910551 897028 NASDAQ Close 163526 Change 875 S P 500 Close 97622 Change 960 For details see Page 6 Deaths Blanche Guise 87 Titusville Martha Kelderhouse 105 Alta Snyder 76 Curwensville Elizabeth Young 83 Trumball Conn For details see Page 2 Lottery Pennsylvania Lottery Number 326 409 Big 4 4029 2940 Cash 5 0607142436 Super 6 041719313860 Index Business 6 Community 5 3 Help 11 Legal ads 12 Vital Graffiti scrawled across equipment at new Titusville skate park Robert Morris practices his skill on one of the ramps at the McKinney Family Skate and Bike Park on Friday afternoon Police along with Tim McGregor recreation director are trying to find out who is responsible for the graffiti which was put on the skate ramps in paint and magic marker Herald pho tos by Tom Boyle by Tom Boyle As of last weekend graffiti some with alleged refer ences to the illegal drug methamphetamine was sharing the ramps with skaters and bikers at the McKinney Family Skate and Bike Park The graffiti is comprised of letters and symbols which were scrawled on the skate ramps with paint and magic mark ers Its expect ed to be cleaned up by Monday On Friday Robert Morris who skates at the facility in Burgess Park every day said he had no idea who defaced the ramps but the did not inter fere with his skating I really like it here Morris said The skate park is working out really well Somebody put graffiti on the ramps I know its not right Some of the graffiti includ ed slogans such as Death Crew DBM Death by Meth and a mis spelled No Way with Crystle Two other messages were BRM Down and RAZ According to Brian Paschal a skater at the park RAZ is a reference to the Latin Kings street gang Paschal who has lived in Titusville for about a since moving from Knoxville Tenn said There are no gangs around here Morns the ti as being meth Other skaters using the facili ty Friday evening did not know what the symbols or slogans meant A reward is being offered for informa tion leading to the arrest of whoever is responsible for the graffiti according to Tim McGregor city recreation director All information given to authorities will be kept confidential he said Those with information are asked to call either Titusville City Police at 8271890 or the city Recreation Center at 827 3741 According to police any damage done by graffiti total ing more than is a third degree misdemeanor which carries with it a fine of up to up to a year in jail If the damages done total less than whoever is responsible can be fined up to face up to 90 days in jail What makes the references to methamphetamine curious is the fact the Titusville area is in the grips of a Death by Meth is one of the messages written last week on the ramps at the skate park See PARK Page 2 Graffiti large and small was marked on equipment at the skate park Skater Robert Morris pictured above thinks whoever did it was wrong Israel to pull back troops Militant groups accept ceasefire JERUSALEM AP In a boost to peace efforts Israel agreed on terms for a troop pullbacks from the Gaza Strip and Bethlehem after Palestinian militants con firmed Friday that they will halt attacks on Israelis for three months The progress in negotiations which sources said included a commitment by Israel to halt targeted killings of militants came despite continued vio lence A raid by Israeli com mandos left four Palestinians and an Israeli soldier dead in the Gaza Strip We are pleased with the progress we have seen Secretary of State Colin Powell said in Washington The road map peace plan the latest bid to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has been on shaky ground because of escalating violence ever since President Bush launched it on June 4 National Security Adviser Rice was expected in the region Saturday for talks with the Palestinian and Israeli prime ministers about the plan which outlines steps toward ending violence and establishing a Palestinian state by 2005 Her visit would coincide with an expected formal announcement by militant groups Sunday that they are ending attacks The announce ment would be a turning point in the 33 months of violence although Israel has been skep tical of the truce idea and it remains to be seen whether all militants will comply Gaza militants said Friday that leaders of the two Islamic militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad had accepted a temporary ceasefire ed with Yasser Fatah movement providing first con by the militants that such a deal has been reached The trilateral document is now ready a senior militia leader told The Associated Press on condition that neither he nor his group be identified Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin said his group has informed Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas of its views but stopped short of declaring acceptance The truce document first reported by AP on Wednesday applies to settlers and soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza in addition to civilians in Israel fulfilling a key Israeli demand In exchange the Palestinian groups asked Israel to suspend targeted killings of militants and release prisoners But these demands were not condi tions for beginning the truce I believe that it will be a See CEASEFIRE Page 2 April showers bring May flowers but not always West Nile ATLANTA AP With rainfall along the East Coast its already a hop M CUB INSTITUTES WEST NRE TESTING PAGE 3 SOME MOSQUITO PENNSYLVANIA PAGE 13 ping mos quito sea son the experts say But that may not mean a big ger out break of West Nile virus Over the past 70 years of viruses people have tried to correlate out breaks with vague associations with the weather said Dr Anthony Marfin a medical epi with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The logic does not always translate The virus has thrived even in states Last year Louisiana was already one of the states when two large storms dumped even more rain on the swampy region in October The increase in water didnt cause more West Nile cases health officials there said Its not the number of mos its the age of the mos Dr Raoult Ratard state epidemiologist for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals It takes an old mosquito to transmit the disease It has to feed on a bird the virus has to multiply The virus is passed to humans or horses from toes that first have fed on an infected bird the virus host reservoir Virus activity is usually slow in the spring then as more mature mosquitoes are avail Outbreak not always tied to weather rainfall along East Coast doesnt always t translate to a of st Nile virus rainfall Normal Above normal M 120160 Much higher than normal Over 160 percent SOURCE able to spread the virus from infected birds it picks up in August Culex mosquitoes AP believed to be the main carrier of West may live up to 50 days This spring was one of the wettest ever in Virginia and the Carolinas with above average rainfall from New York to Florida Although some states have seen early evidence of infected birds it remains to be seen if there will be more cases of the virus The disease is not spread by all mosquitoes said Laurel Garrison epidemiologist for the Georgia Division of Public Health The Culex breeds in small containers near homes not in puddles of water formed by recent rain However recent heavy rains have created plenty of potential breeding spots filling small vessels that people dont nor mally consider to be mosquito habitats Last years West Nile out See WEST NILE Page 2
