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••••'\AW- •• •;.•:.•. '.:r-.j'.'.-.-. PRiSSBiEPPBUICAN PLAfRSByRGH,N,Y. PAGEA-3 THURSDAY, DECEMBER K V995 i • \ ;' ; ••''•'. . .•••-:••-••... ....... Photo Editor/Dave Paczak Head Start offers young learners projects that involve their parents and establish a home/school link, for example a recent experience where students made wreaths with their parents. Student Michael Rivers and his mother, Mary, talk about the program under some of the completed wreaths. From left, are teacher aide Karen Carges, family worker Renee Julian, the Riverses and teacher Colleen Monty. Giving the coats off their backs, and more By JEFF MEYERS Staff Writer .-' PLATTSBURGH - Several area children can bundle up comfortably this winter, thanks to the support of a warm North Country community. Youngsters participating in the Clinton County Head Start program received early Christmas presents when the Joint Council for Economic Opportunity held a successful clothing drive. \Some of our family workers mentioned that kids were coming into class without snowpants, boots and even winter coats,\ said Donna Daley, who coordinates the Head Start family workers. \So we thought of starting a winter-clothing drive to try to help some of the families.out.\ - JCEO ran a couple of announcements about th'ei^ clients' needs on local radio stajtion, WIRY, and the response was almost immediate. , rf ItV almost like Christmas has^ come earl/at JCEiO,\ Daley said. \We've had a lotjof community people come in and drop , off stuff; our Hobby-was overflowing for a while. The response of this community is just overwhelming.\ JCEO also received at least 25 coats from Stafford Middle School, which held a coat drive in response to the agency's needs. Workers at Altona Correctional Fa- cility donated money to JCEO to purchase boots for Head Start children. Head Start provides early educational opportunities for children between ages 3 and 5, but family members are also an im- portant part of the program. \One of our biggest goals is involving the family,\ said Jackie Skiff, director of Head Start. \While working with the children, we also work with the family to help them become self-sufficient. Through our family workers, we teach the parents some of the stuff we teach at school, so they can apply the lessons, at home.\ Family workers are assigned to each of the 10 Head Start centers throughout the county. The family workers act as liaisons between the centers and the 170 or so families in the program. \If any questions or concerns need to be shared, we're 'that catalyst,\ said Renee Julran,' the family worker for the two Peru Head Start centers. \We act as a resource, a support system for the family.\ The family workers separated the winter clothing and distributed jackets, ska pants, boots and other items to the families in need. \By this time of year, we've gotten to know our families well,\ said Saranac fam- ily worker Carol Walker. \The parents have been very grateful. For my part, it's been nice seeing the families light up when you bring them something.\ \As a family worker, the Head Start families become our families, too,\ Julian added. Other resources are available for needy families in Clinton County, but the Head Start program provides both children and adults with a chance to grow beyond the information they receive while in Head Start. It's also given family workers a chance to recognize the needs of many North Country families. \There's a lot of resources that we've become aware of, as well,\ Walker said. \As we're learning, we're better able to help families find help4rrt-he-e©m*minity^ —- JCEO, at 54 Margaret St. in. downtown Plattsburgh, has gathered a good collection of clothing that will last into next winter. However, the program is still looking for snowpants and'boots for children under 5. S budget By MITCH ROSENQUIST Staff Writer PLATTSBURGH - Legislators unanimously passed Wednesday the 1996 budget of $75.8 million, but without base- pay increases for managers. They also denied $3,300 of funding for the Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board. The final budget cuts taxes — if only minutely in some cases — for every landowner in the coun- ty. Cuts in taxes range up to 6.9 percent in Saranac. Legislators did approve a re- troactive 1.5-percent cost-of-liv- ing raise to their 16 department heads, bringing the total raise for 1995 to 2.5 percent. However, they opposed in- creasing base pay as part of a salary schedule. Those increases would have averaged between 3 and 4 percent, depending on the specific job and longevity of the employee, and totaled $16,000. \I think the increment (raises) we presently have in the salary schedule for department heads should be honored as long as we have that schedule in place,\ said Area 4 Legislator Nancy Dufrain, D-Plattsburgh. \If you want to change that schedule, fine, but we should honor what's in place now,\ she said to fellow legislators. -Area 10 Legislator Donald Garrant, R-city, said he agreed department heads should get more than the 2.5-percent raise, but not 3 or 4 percent more. \It has nothing to do with how they do their jobs. . .1 just think it's too much,\ he said of the raises. He said salary increases of 5.5 to 6.5 percent a year would pro- duce overpaid employees \with $100,000 salaries.\ Area 9 Legislator Robert Shimko, D-city,. said the cost-of- living raises combined with base increases leads quickly to an un- fair pay discrepancy between managers and between managers and rank-and-file employees. \We need to look at this and keep it within our resources,\ he said. \We can't keep upping\ salaries to that extent. Besides Shimko and Garrant, legislators Bob Bruno, Sam Trombley and John Zurlo voted against the increment raises. Trombley, R-Ellenburg, did support giving $3,300 to the APA Review Board, saying the agency is \important as a watchdog over the APA.\ \For $3,300, it would be very much appreciated,\ he said. \It's sad to be funding two agencies to fight against each other,\ he said of the APA and the Review Board, \but until things change\ it needs to be done. • Garrant agreed, saying there shouldn't be a problem finding $3,300 in a $75.8 million budget. Voting down the funding was Bruno, Shimko, Dufrain and legislators Susan Castine and Gladys Perry. Domestic violence seen in new light by police By MARK HOLLMER Stoff Writer Board weighs lab for city school By JOE LoTEMPUO Staff Writer PLATTSBURGH - Platt- sburgh City School District of- ficials are examining the best way to Use buildings in the post-PAFB era, but a technology update at Broad Street School is expected to go forward. Its cost to taxpayers hasn't been figured yet, but a large por- tion of the project is state- aidable. Over the past few years, sev- eral school buildings in the district have undergone major renovatiqns. The latest was about $4 ni'illion worth of work at Momot Elementary School on Monty Street. More work is scheduled for the remaining buildings in the district, but first, officials want to see what the future holds in terms of enrollment and classroom needs. Committee assessing future Because of Plattsburgh Air Force Base closing, the district has-lost more than 100 students over the past two years. \So we'll have to look at the future before we keep going with renovations,\ Superintendent Dr. George Amedore said. A committee made up of teachers, administrators, parents and Amedore has been formed to look at building space, par- ticularly at the elementary level. \The committee's job is to look at all the buildings and see what would be the best way to do the renovations. .-Our s job is to in- vestigate and look at future pro- jections and things like that, but we have no options yet,\ he said. Broad Street closure? There has been talk of closing schools, namely Broad Street, but Amedore said that is very premature. \We don't know if we have a problem so those (ideas of closing schools) are solutions for pro- blems that may or may not ex- ist,\ Amedore said. Amedore said it is even con- ceivable that the committee could find the district needs to grow. New computer lab While the' committee is looking at how to handle building space, technology improvements within the buildings will go forward, he said. With that in mind, the district is seeking School Board approval to continue with a plan to create a state-of-the-art computer lab at Broad Street. It could cost up to $300,000 to outfit an area of the school to host computer systems and the wiring, equipment and furniture involved. Amedore said the upgrade will be done in the most flexible way, to accommodate any plans the committee may come up with for the building. \It's important to note that this is a technology project and not a building project. We need to make all our buildings technology-ready, and we are proceeding as carefully as possi- \ ble,\ Amedore said. He said the wiring will be done in a way that allows walls to be moved, if necessary, without disrupting computer services. Cost to taxpayers The district would like to pay for the project out of a fund balance if it can, Amedore aaid, but financing details remain to be worked out. Up to about 70 percent of the cost is state- aidable, he said. The School Board will vote at 7:30 tonight at the High School library on whether to authorize borrowing of up to $300,000 for the project. \It may not cost the taxpayers, but we won't really know until we look at the 1996-97 budget. But we will try to do this in the most cost-effective way,\ Amedore said. PLATTSBURGH -\*The criminal-justice system used to look at domestic violence as a private matter and not necessar- ily a crime, some officials say. But police and prosecutors have learned otherwise in the last few years, most recently with the O.J. Simpson trial. With New York's passage of the Family Protection and Domestic Violence Intervention Act of 1994, the issue is expected to see still more rigorous treat- ment by police as a criminal mat- ter and not simply a family disturbance. To that end, more than 100 police, prosecutors, probation of- ficers and domestic-violence ad- vocates from seven counties at- tended a day-long conference Tuesday at SUNY Plattsburgh. \The whole way of (handling) domestic-violence cases has changed drastically in the last couple of years,\ said Trooper Janora Stone, a 15-year State Police veteran. \In the past, domestic violence was seen as a private matter, and anything that happened in the home was a private matter,\ she said. \Now a crime is a crime. It doesn't matter if parties are related or not.\ Stone, Trooper Dave Shefton and other speakers talked about the approaches the criminal- justice system should take con- cerning domestic violence cases. Their recommendations for gathering evidence at domestic- violence calls included: • Police should ask about inju- ries that don't show. • Anything used as a weapon should be seized as evidence. \Anything can be a weapon. If the batterer used a frying pan to say 'I'm going to take your head off,' we want that frying pan,\ Stone said. Tangible artifacts from a scene can help during a jury trial, in- cluding threatening notes or messages on an answering machine. • Look for any potential witnesses, including children. \A lot of times children are forgot- ten,\ Stone said. Police can talk to children at a crime scene. •Get photos of any bruises, cuts, scratches or even bite marks from domestic-violence in- cidents, Shefton said. • Take extra precautions with physical evidence, and always wear gloves while handling items, Shefton said. • The more evidence, the better for a jury trial, Shefton said. \The jury can feel and see and touch and understand (physical) evidence.\ Clinton County District At- torney Penelope Clute and Danielle Jose, coordinator of the Clinton County Domestic Vio- lence Task Force, also spoke at the conference, which was spon- sored by the Task Force and the Domestic Violence Prevention Project. Two elderly women were struck by a car Wednesday night 6n Leblanc .Lane and takerito CVPM Medical Center for treatment of unspecified injuries. It is be- lieved that one of the women ; was climbing over a snowbank and slipped. When the second woman went to help her, both were hit by the c'a r, acco rdi ri g to a spokesman at the City of Plattsburgh Fire Department Station 2, the car's wind- shield was smashed arid the sideview mirror was knocked 30 feet down the street from \the accident scene. OF INTEREST Drivers asked to keep lights on Friday PLATTSBURGH — \Lights on for Life\ is a one-day nationwide observance in remembrance of people killed or injured in alcohol- related crashes. Motorists are encouraged to keep their vehicle headlights on dur- ing the day Friday, Dec. 15. This observance also serves as a reminder that law enforcement throughout the nation will especially target drunk drivers during the holiday season; For more information, contact Clinton County STOP DWI, 565- 4824. AuSable Town Board meets this afternoon ••• AUSABLE FORKS - The AuSable Town Board will meet today. The board will meet at 4 p.m., an earlier time than usual. The meeting is open to all. United Way seeks Community Hero nominees PLATTSBURGH — The United Way of Clinton County is working, closejy with the Atlanta Olympic Organizing Committee to recruit \Community Hero\ applicants to carry the Olympic flame in next year's Olympic Torch Relay. The committee is seeking 5,500 people whose service to others and contributions to their community shed light into the lives of many Americans. People wishing to apply for the torchbearer program can pick up entry forms at the United Way Office. The deadline is Dec. 15. Community Hero torchbearers will be announced in February. Pick up an entry form or call the United Way at 563-0028 to receive one. -
