Sewickley Herald

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Herald
19 Gateway Press Newspapers
SUBURBAN PITTSBURGH'S LARGEST CIRCULATION
Vol. 87 No. 30©
Wednesday, July 25, 1990
A WARM summer day, the hint of a breeze and thoughts of faraway places. Duane Boydos was showing bis Son, Michael, 5, the wonders ofaerodyamics on thegrounds of Sewickley Manor. Like all ear-thbound mortals, Michael demonstrated the age-old wish to take off and soar by his own power on two tiny arms. However, he’ll have to be content with his model airplane. Or, maybe some day he will pilot the real thing.	(Photo by Doug Kaup)
Orchard Terrace's name is mud with its residents
INSIDE
2	Sewickley star
in national contest
3	Village post office Melts landscaping
g Village voices: human origins
. Creationist talks
*	about conference .
0 Soccer pro joins
*	Academy team
ggRabbi Smith gives interview
By Jerry Pelley
When Sewickley police patrol Orchard Terrace these days, it’s not suspicious activities they’re looking for. It’s rampaging dirt.
The dirt is part of a relentless landslide that has had residents demanding action from Sewickley Council.
At last week’s meeting of council, former Sewickley mayor Marie Guy and her husband, Richard, as well as another Orchard Terrace resident, Jacqueline Taylor, complained about conditions on the street.
According to Mrs. Guy, the borough had to send crews to clean up Orchard Terrace Drive dt least four times last week because, almud and earth slide, aggravated by heavy rainfall, made vehicle traffic extremely difficult.
“You can get a car by.it,” Mrs. ■Guy said, “but you have to go around it. Our only concern is with emergency' vehicles that can’t get around the pile of earth.”
The sticking point of the issue is that the landslide is occurring on private property belonging to another Sewickley resident, Denny Pattyn, whose private driveway is seen as the cause of this mess.
As well, when the sliding earth does block off the road, it cuts off vehicular traffic to about 17 families, Who are Stuck between the landslide and a dead end.
Richard Guy told council that it is Pattyn’s obligation to take the debris from the road:
“There has to be a way you guys (council) can push him to do something. We have a very
Cont’d on p.2
Area break-ins alarm residents
$50,000 Tiffany tea set taken
Bv Greg Hohman	one scarab Bracelet, two amber
■ °     ____ stones, one topaz birthstone ring,
“Residents be advised. Several home burglaries have occurred in the area recently. Please take extra precautions.”
That’s the note Osborne residents found in their mailboxes last week.
Sewickley Valley might or might not be experiencing an unusually high number of thefts lately. But one thing’s for sure: Residents seem to be talking about crime more.
Break-ins have occurred not only in Osborne, but in Sewickley, Edgeworth and Sewickley Heights.
The record so far goes to Sewickley, where a six-piece silver Tiffany tea service valued at $50,000 and an unknown •number of pieces of silverware, also valued at. $50,000, were removed from the Euwer residence at 920 Centennial Avenue earlier this month.
Even Osborne Council, which issued the public warning, is not safe from the burglars. Two members described incidents at last week’s meeting.
Earl Gadbery, president of council, told how his wife, Frieda, thought she heard noises inside their Boundary Street home as she worked outside in the garden. Although no one was found, the couple has decided to activate the alarm system even if they are only as far away as the garden.
Council wo man Rita Fickenscher had a face-to-face encounter. Sitting in the rear of the house at 1304 Beaver Road, Mrs. Fickenscher said she heard someone enter at the front.
The intruder proceeded slowly toward the back, where, unbeknownst, the owner waited. Mrs. Fickenscher said a woman entered the room and began to size up the place. She didn’t realize she wasn’t alone until Mrs. Fickenscher spoke up.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
The stranger replied that she must have the wrong house and left.
The confrontation took place either July 5 or 6. Mrs. Fickenscher said she did not pursue the matter or tell police. Only upon hearing about a theft of jewelry from the Black residence at 1309 Beaver Road did she decide to bring it to council’s attention.
June 22 was cloudy with light rain. Jane Black told police she had been working in the garden for the past few days. Having been outside for 1-2 hours, she came in this time and noticed jewelry was missing from a second-floor bedroom.
Missing were one cultured pearl necklace, six gold chains (one with a small frog with green eyes, one with a cable car), one gold watch, one gold bracelet,
two gold pins and two diamond rings.
Mrs. Black told police she last wore some of the jewelry June 19. She said the front door and garage were unlocked. She and her insurance company, Liberty Mutual, have not come up with a figure for the missing items.
Last month, silver was the attraction for a thief who paid two calls in Edgeworth. Police report an intruder forceably entered the home of Peggy Rea, of Greek Drive, but was scared away when someone asked, “Who’s there?”
The thief also hit the Donald Spalding residence on Maple Lane. Entering through an unlocked door, he/she made off with 12 silver place settings and accessories with an approximate value of $3,000.
Sewickley Heights, too, was hit. On June 22, the same day the Black house in Osborne was burglarized, Aleppo/Osborne Police investigated a possible burglary at the Thomas Schick ■residence, 112 Sewickley Heights Drive.
Noises in the basement prompted the call. A gray sedan had been seen parked in the area. Police found nobody. Nothing was missing.
-Edgeworth Police Chief James Creese said Allegheny County Crime Lab has not 1 returned a report on fingerprints 1 taken at the Spalding home. | Sewickley Police Officer Ken Wolf said “good prints” were taken at the Euwer home and await analysis by the crime lab.
Elizabeth Euwer says she believes the tea set and silverware were removed July 9 sometime between 9-10 a.m. Leaving the house, she spotted near the entrance to her driveway an old, green, rusty \ box-type truck with a dark blue stripe down the middle.
Behind the truck stood a very thin, white male in his 30s wearing jeans, plaid shirt and “very rough looking.” As she pulled her car out the driveway, Mrs. Euwer asked him if he needed help. With a raspy voice, the man answered he was waiting for someone.
At 10 a.m., she returned home to pack for a trip to Ligonier. She didn't notice whether the things were gone. Only the following | morning, having returned from Ligonier the previous evening, did she and her husband, Paul, realize the items had been taken.
Asked whether he believes the cases are connected, Creese j replied, ‘ ‘I have an idea they are. But I haven’t seen the ojher I (police) reports.” Officer Robert Ford of Aleppo/Osborne Police suspects the thief knew the house, citing the short space of
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