Amherst News-Times, 1997-03-12

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Wednesday, March 12, 1997
Amherst, Ohio
I
City eyes leg; I
offence arou.JL
mobile home park
to act as buffer
by BILL ROSS
Pam Wenzel at work.
Local woman paves the airwaves
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Six years ago, Pam Wenzel
had no idea a career change
would make her a female pion-
eer in radio station
programming.
But in mid-February, she became the first female program
director for country music station WOBL-AM. Wenzel started
her career at the station six years
ago as a part-time announcer.
The only other female program director in the Greater
Cleveland area is Sue Wilson at
WDOK-PM in Cleveland.
This was something I never
Part-time on-air announcer
turns pioneer for equality
expected, but it's great because
there are some things I'd like to
do in time," Wenzel said.
Formerly a secretary and
babysitter by profession, Wenzel
wanted to make some changes in
her life but wasn't sure what to
pursue. As a teenager, she had
wanted to be an actress or singer
but had difficulty overcoming
shyness and quietness.
"I wasn't real popular in
school, but by the time I was 32
I had just started growing and
gaining confidence. I wanted to
start achieving things I never
thought I could," she said.
Now 38, Wenzel got a push in
the right direction one night
when she called in a personal request to Nancy Aid n, a Cleveland DJ. Alden broadcast her request on WDOK, which was
heard by Wenzel's mother and
others.
"My mother said 1 sounded as
good as .her. TtaalsjfcvVn I <fe
cided to give it a try," Wenzel
said
Several weeks later, she en
rolled in an Independence
broadcasting school, where she
met her husband. Bill, who was
working part-time as an office
aide.
He also was working part-
time at WOBL as "Wild Bill," a
weekend DJ, and told her the
station had an opening for
another part-time announcer.
Even though she was just in
her second month of broadcast
school, Wenzel sent station
manager Doug Wilber a resume
and tape. She was hired.
From that point on, it waajall
uphill. Eventually. "Wild BSsT
asked her to marry him. She said
CONTINUED on page 12
News-Times reporter
"Don't fence me in" may become
the battle cry of mobile home residents if a proposed city ordinance to
require a buffer zone between mobile home parks and residential
housing is approved by the city.
At issue during a March 3 building and lands committee meeting,
was whether or not the city should
establish buffer zones, because of
numerous complaints received from
residents who live near mobile
home parks.
Law director Alan Anderson said,
"What we have is a problem in the
city and that (buffer zone) may be
one of the only ways to control the
problem."
Anderson said residents who own
property near a mobile home park
on the city's east side have complained repeatedly, saying that all of
the new construction in the area is
"an eyesore."
The proposed ordinance appears
to target the Amherst Village Mobile Home Park, which has clashed
with the city in the past over its
right to expand. It subsequently won
the right and is now within four units of completion, according to
Sandy Apel, who owns the park
with her husband, Tim.
"It seems to me that what we
ought to have is some kind of buffer
zone," Anderson told couhpU «* the
meeting. "The same way that we
have a buffer zone between a commercial district and a residential."
One man's trash
is another man's
recycling dream
by BILL ROSS
News-Times reporter
; It is almost time for spring cleaning but city officials want residents
to recycle, instead of trash, their
junk
- At a recent city council meeting
councilperson David Rice, who
heads the recycling committee,
talked about the ways people could
improve their recycling efforts.
"I want to remind people that the
city still has recycling bins for
newspapers and aluminum cans just
off of Church Street, on the south
side of the railroad tracks. We are
encouraging people to use them and
to look for other ways to recycle,"
Rice said.
Although the city has shown
some improvement in its recycling
efforts, there is still much room for
Improvement, according to Rice. "I
would say that 10 percent of the
stuff in blue bags shouldn't be
there," he said. "People should
check to make sure that any plastic
Is either number one or number two
(pete or hope) and that all lids
should be removed before putting
bottles and jars into bags."
He said residents have been put-
ling glass into the bags that is not
container glass, like windowpanes
«nd drinking glasses. This type of
glass is of a different composition
and is not recyclable.
Rice also talked about other recyclable, that people might not normally think about, including old eyeglasses, hearing aids and mercury
batteries. "Many people who wear
{lasses have an extra pair or two ly-
t| around — sometimes a whole
drawer full — and they can take
them to Walt Wyvill's Marathon
Suuion or to a Lion's Club member
«nd they will recycle them." Hear-
Don't pitch it
till you check
over this list
Here are some important
dates and phone numbers to
remember.
• April 19 — Mother Earth
Sings Concert at Cascade Park
in Elyria.
• April U —- Tire collection
day,
• May 3 — Household hazardous collection day.
• May 3 — Slick Saturday
collection (newspaper slick
inserts).
• May 10 (tentative) — Earth
Day at BFI.
• June 21 (tentative) — Appliance collection day.
• Nearest I^nsCrafter* locations (ia partnership with
Lions Club Internatioaai):
1-800-869-5367.
• Lorain County Solid
Waste Management District:
1-216-329-5440.
• M illiron Waste Management: 986-5000.
• Rechargeable Battery Re-
cycllag Corporatioa:
1-800-8-BATTERY.
• Used Vara (Roaeasuie
Cake); 322-6081.
Pam utso scrubs a pooch.
When the fur flies, it might
be Pam Utso doing her job
by BILL ROSS
ing aids can also be taken to the
Marathon Station or the Lions Club.
LerisCrafters is also in partnership with Lions Clubs Inteniational,
and used eyeglasses are reground
and sent on optical missions to help
people in third world nations.
CONTINUED on page 2
News-Times reporter
At last count, Pam Utso had four
horses, seven dogs, four cats, a
llama, a white-tailed deer and several pheasants scurrying about her
sprawling Wellington property.
One might think that would be
enough.
But six days a week, Utso can be
found in the Amherst Animal Hospital, washing, clipping, grooming
and assisting with medical procedures on an endless variety of pets
from all over the community.
Utso's love for animals started
when she was a little girl. "I was
one of those kids who brought home
every .'tray in town to my mother
and begged her to let me keep
them," she siiid, while carefully removing some unkempt hair from the
end of Allie the Bichon's snout
The dog barely flinches, and us
Utso attends to * variety of four-
leggou creatures who are having bad
fur days, it is evident that she still
carries with her the desire to bring
them all home with her.
"I guess I do get pretty attached
to some of my regular clients," she
said T just lost one of my favorites,
Roscoe, last Christmas, due to kidney and liver problems, and I still
get teary-eyed just thinking about
him."
It is her love for animals that
makes Utso so much in demaud, and
people bring their pets from several
communities away to her to make
sure the job is done right.
Utso was a 4-H'er who started
raising show dogs as u girl, following in her parent's footsteps. They
raised Irish Setters for show, and
Utso developed a special fondness
for the breed, even though she admits they are a little "high-strung."
Even after she married her husband Dale and started raising three
CONTINUED on page 3
He added that commercial areas
often have a buffer zone of trees,
usually three deep, to provide a visual barrier, but that earthen barriers
or fences could also be an option.
Councilperson David Rice, whose
third ward encompasses Amherst
Village, said he has received complaints from residents.
"When pets come over onto private property and drop things off
and then go back...the people of
course don't appreciate having to go
back and clean up after. Also, there
is trespassing going across the property to go here or there or someplace
else, and I think most of this sort of
problem could be eliminated with
just a simple fence," he said.
Treasurer Kathleen Litkovitz
questioned Rice on whether the residents actually want a fence, suggesting that if there is a buffer zone,
trees would be much nicer than a
fence.
Rice responded by saying that
trees would not solve the problem of
the traffic through people's yards
and that even if trees are eventually
p1 anted, a fence still needs to be put
in to address the problem.
Other council members questioned whether it is legal to require a
mobile home park to erect a fence
while not requiring a housing development to do the same.
"Usually it is up to a homeowner
whether or not they want to put up a
fence to keep people out of their
yard," ^ooirtci'twrson Robert Sister
said.
CONTINUED on page 2
Investor
faces
additional
charges
For the second time in two years,
Joseph T. Nemchik, a financial
planner from Amherst, has been indicted on charges of fraud and selling unregistered securities.
In the latest indictment, Nemchik
was charged with 106 counts relating to selling the unregistered securities, after an investigation was
completed by the Ohio Department
of Commerce's Division of
Securities.
The Division of Securities began
an investigation of Nemchik after
receiving numerous complaints and
determined that they deserved
attention.
Many of the complaints were
from senior citizens, who said they
had turned their entire life savings
over to Nemchik — only to find out
later that the securities he acquired
for them were worthless.
"As far as this case goes, the
Ohio Department of Commerce's
Division of Securities initiated an
investigation involving Mr. Nemchik," said Dennis Ginty, a spokesperson for the department. "Because
the investigation is continuing, all
we can say at this point is that we
referred the case to the Lorain
County Prosecutors on Nov. 22,
1996."
Ginty added that the Ohio Department of Commerce does not have
the authority to try cases; when
complaints are lodged and the department finds sufficient grounds
for the complaints, they are then
brought to the attention of the appropriate prosecutor's office.
Efforts to contact by phone both
Nemchik, 36, and his lawyer, James
Burge, were unsuccessful, but
Burge has said in the past that his
client insios that he was also an investor who lost money.
CONTINUED on page 3
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