News-Journal from Mansfield, Ohio • 11

REGIONSTATE 11A NEWS JOURNAL Saturday, January 4, 1997 Enter New Year with heads Mgh. in-uWMimwiiaiiuiy in brief ROBERT MOTTER Around Ashland The clinic, with Cindy Payne as its director, is committed to serving Ashland County women and children by providing prenatal care and well child care to those who are unable to obtain care from a private physician. Its goal is to provide and promote good health. The'clinic can be reached at 289-6699 for more information. Editor's note: Robert Motter, a lifelong Ashland resident, writes a weekly column about happenings in Ashland.

If you know someone who deserves recognition or to submit articles about Ashland, write Motter at 1010 Smith Road, Ashland, Ohio 44805 or call him at 289-3478. 6699. You will need to bring a pillow, mat and a birth partner. On Jan. 16 at 6 p.m., there will be a course for expectant moms on breast feeding basics at the library.

This is a two-hour course that will address health factors, why nursing is important, how to prepare yourself for breast feeding, now to get started in the hospital, home management strategies, and maintaining a milk supply if you return to work. Preventative wellness education in childbirth is being promoted throughout the nation as a part of good prenatal care, especially with the shortened hospital stays for. new mothers. Among the services now offered in Ashland County are home visits to new mothers The New Year has us firmly in its grasp now. I would like to start each year full of hope and tranquility; or, all else failing, a good night's sleep.

The successes and failures of the past exist, and they are there to be a source of learning. So, let's break most of those New Year's resolutions with a pure heart, and head into this year's successes and failures with our heads held high. Library offers services Registered nurse Kathy Mullins, childbirth educator of the Ashland Well-Child and Prenatal Family Services Clinic, has called our attention to a number of services and pro- who have received their prenatal care through the clinic, and these visits offer skilled nursing assessments of the mom and baby to detect any possible problems following hospital discharge. Follow-up screenings are also done in the home for babies who need additional blood work. Assistance is provided for new moms who are breast feeding and have any questions andor problems establishing a good milk supply.

The programs offered by the clinic are open to any mother, or mother-to-be, in the area with a sliding fee based on insurance and income. No one is ever turned away because of inability to pay. grams that are being sponsored through the Ashland Public Library on Jan. 7, 14, 21 and 28. These classes include Lamaze breathing techniques, videos on vaginalCaesarean births, handoutsgift packs, and newborn care gift certificatescoupons.

Classes run from 6 to 8:30 p.m., and they are taught by childbirth and breast feeding educators. To register, call 289- Charges filed in 1-car crash FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP A Shelby woman has been charged with failure to control her vehicle after a one-car crash Monday night which injured her and a passenger. Sarah Brennan, 20, of 4167 Ganges Five Points Road, was released Tuesday from MedCentralMansfield Hospital. According to the Mansfield Post of the Highway Patrol, she had been driving east on Chesrown Road just west of Ohio 13 at 6 p.m. Monday when she apparently lost control on the gravel road and went off the right side of the road, hitting a ditch and overturn-, ing.

The car came to rest on its wheels. A passenger in the car, Cherie R. Dean, 20, of. Mansfield, was treated at MedCentralMansfield Hospital and released that night. The accident is under investigation by the Highway Patrol.

Airborne Knox New Hope board teachers await next talks i i By Jim Siegel News Journal stumbling block is when the new pay increases should begin. The union wants increases to be retroactive to 1995, when the original contract expired. Schwartz said the board is reluctant to give retroactive raises. Schwartz said the two sides also have failed to negotiate one- and two-year deals, saying the MRDD board prefers a three-year pact. Miller said he could not make further comment on negotiations.

The union has voted to strike if necessary, but no strike notices have been issued. Schwartz said no strike is planned, but it still a consideration. The union includes bus drivers, teachers, office staff, case managers, oi custodians and workshop specialists. "All they want to talk about is money," Schwartz said. "We would like them to address other issues, but apparently they don't want to talk about them again." He said those additional issues include bidding open positions based on seniority, rather than hiring new people; reasonable shift scheduling; and a system of arbitration to solve problems.

"I understand that any contract comes down to money, but we felt there were other related issues that need to be addressed," Schwartz said. "He (Miller) thinks we are trying to tell him how to run the program, but we are just looking for fairness." Schwartz said the two sides remain far apart even on the issue of money. He said a major MOUNT VERNON The Knox. New Hope Education Association continues to work without a new contract, as recent negotiations provided no settlement. The union and Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Board are entering their '16th month of negotiations.

Knox New Hope Center Superintendent Michael Miller said Friday that the federal mediator has not scheduled the next meeting, but one is expected soon. The two sides last met Dec. 19, and union President Dick Schwartz said he asked for the board's best offer. It wasn't good enough. 3k Judge won't toss out tower suit TV-54 to stay on cable BUCYRUS Continental Cablevision will keep TV-54 on its cable lineup for the Upper Sandusky, Nevada and Sycamore areas, TV-54 owner J.C.

Church said Friday. Continental had indicated it might remove the Bucyrus station from the cable lineup in those areas, but is now saying TV-54 will remain, he said. Continental had said in December it was going to remove TV-54 from all its area cable lineups. But the cable company changed its plans and said the Bucyrus-based station would remain on the cable lineups in Crestline and Galion after local protests by the station and by area residents. utility status or township zoning.

That is a determination which still has to be made, thf judge ruled. Cellular tower fights are new for Washington Townsh A group of residents spent pa of last year fighting a differen. tower proposed by 360 Communications. The company eventually dropped plans to build the tower north of Straub Road between Ohio 13 and South Main Street, and agreed just to install a mobile switching cials argued the tower fell outside what zoning permitted for the area. Nextel Communications of Columbus, which includes Pow-erfone argued in a motion filed in December that the suit should be thrown out of court since it is a public utility exempt from township zoning laws.

However, DeWeese ruled Thursday, even Nextel admitted in its motion there is no definitive answer in Ohio law as to which has jurisdiction public By Matthew Daneman News Journal MANSFIELD A lawsuit agairist a cellular tower in Washington Township is continuing as Common Pleas Judge' James DeWeese rejected a motion this week to have the case thrown out. The Washington Township trustees filed suit in late October to stop Nextel Communications from putting up the 300-foot cellulardispatch tower on Woodruff Road. Township offi vJL lll -y- Sentencing date set in MANCI case Account set up for family LUCAS An account has been established to accept donations for a Pul-ver Road family who lost their two-story home Dec. 30 to fire. Robert Puckett's brother-in-law, James Merritt, said the Pucketts were having trouble with their insurance company since it was the second house fire the family has had in the past 10 years.

The donations are needed to pay for new clothing, room and board for the family. The account has been set up with Bank One, and donations can be made at any of the bank's Crow has been scheduled for a Jan. 30 sentencing on racketeering charges and firearms violations. Now his girlfriend, Mansfield resident Valerie Hamilton, and another MANCI inmate, Edward Swiger, have also been scheduled for Jan. 30 sentencings.

Hamilton pleaded guilty in June to drug possession charges and to helping bribe former MANCI Chief of Security William Mack. Swiger agreed in August to plead guilty to charges of distributing drugs in prison. gation as they were at the beginning particularly about whether who, if anyone else, will be charged, or about how long the investigation is expected to last. "I don't think we've ever had an investigation at a state penitentiary," U.S. Justice Department spokesman John Russell said Friday.

"So I can't measure it against anything else. The investigation is continuing." Many of the criminal allegations revolve around criminal activity by a former MANCI inmate, James D. Crow III. By Matthew Daneman News Journal MANSFIELD Three defendants in the ongoing federal investigation of the Mansfield Correctional Institution are now scheduled for sentencing Jan. 30 in U.S.

District Court in Cleveland. Federal investigators have been looking into drug smuggling and corruption at the prison since early 1995. And federal investigators remain as tight-lipped now about all aspects of the investi Tom PuskarNews Journal Bruce Newton, 14, goes airborne on his skateboard off a homemade ramp on Sherman Avenue while skateboarding with a group of friends on Friday afternoon. Bruce, like many other area residents, was enjoying the rare January warm spell that has come to Ohio. Honoring fallen comrade Companions killed in 2 accidents on same day Si if )V t-vv $fi City worker now stable' MANSFIELD A city street department worker injured in a hit-and-run accident last week has been upgraded from serious to.

stable condition. However, Curlie Lanier, 52, remained Friday in the intensive care unit of Cleveland MetroHealth Medical Center. i Lanier was hit from behind by a car Dec. 23 while filling a pothole on Bowman Street. He had a leg amputated because of the accident, and has severe injuries to his other leg and head.

a J. hiker about 1 p.m. on Thursday. However, authorities said the accident could have occurred in the early morning hours. Matus said he would try to pinpoint a time next week.

"He wasn't killed on impact," said patrol Lt. Tom Tornabene. Sergent's car went off a curve and into a creek in LaGrange Township. "There were, no marks on the road. In that area there is a curve and he did not make it around the curve," Tornabene said.

Samantha Former, of Amherst, the fiance of Sergent's son, Bryan, said that Sergent and Ms. Smith had been dating for "quite a while." It wasn't the first time Ms. Smith's family had suffered a traffic death. Her 21-year-old son, Okey Fields, died in 1991 in a car wreck. Her other son, Casey Fields, of LaGrange, said Ms.

Smith, worked at a car dealership and lived with Sergent in LaGrange. He said he did not know why his mother left the house so early in the morning. "I don't know why, but I wish I did," he said. "This is really hard for me right now." ELYRIA, Ohio (AP) A man and woman who shared a home died in separate car accidents about 12 miles and no more than a few hours apart. Tests showed both had been Investigators on Friday were looking into circumstances of the deaths.

"At this point we feel this is a bizarre coincidence," Lorain County Coroner Paul Matus said. Patricia Smith, 45, died of head injuries, and Bobby W. Sergent, 46, died at hypothermia Thursday, according to Matus. He said blood tests on both indicated that they were driving under the influence of alcohol. Ms.

Smith's accident occurred about 4:25 a.m. Thursday in South Amherst, according to the State Highway Patrol. Her car went off the left side of the road, overturned, and she was ejected from the vehicle. She died at the scene from a head injury. She was not wearing a seat belt, said Sgt.

Jeff Lynch of the State Highway Patrol's Elyria post. Sergent was discovered by a Li k'rA Board to meet LEXINGTON The Lexington Board of Education will hold a combined regular and organizational meeting Monday at 7 p.m. in the board room. The Associated Press Pallbearers carry the casket of slain Cleveland police officer Hilary S. Cudnik out St.

Anthony of Padua Church in Parma on Friday. Cudnik was the first Cleveland police officer since 1985 to be killed In the line of duty when he was gunned down Dec. 30 while stopping a suspected stolen vehicle. More than 2,000 police officers from acoss the country attended the services..