Lititz Record Express

              L THURSDAY, August 31, 1995
L i t i t z R e c o r d E x p r e s s
119TH YEAR 28 Pages- No. 20 LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA 30 cents
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Drag ’Net
Warwick police chief takes a bite out of crime... On-line
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Photo by Richat \
INTERPOL — Warwick Police Chief Al Olsen uses his police skills
to investigate crimes on the Internet.
H.CHARD REITZ
:>r'<fd Express Editor
■ (>■ 12 years, Warwick Town-
>k:; ' 1 ‘'lice Chief Alfred Olsen has
been netting criminals, and for the
past seven years, he has been
using a net to do it.
The internet, that is.
Since Olsen first became
intrigued by the Internet in 1988
after hearing a lecture by a Florida
investigator about illegal activity
on-iine, he has become well-known
himself among law en­forcement
officers nationwide for
his efforts.
' There really wasn’t much to it
at the time,” Olsen said of that
first exposure to cyberspace. “It
wasn't very topical, but it kind of
piqued my interest and I got
involved.”
Since then, he has been in­volved
in countless investigations
across the country, and has been
instrumental in bringing numer­ous
criminals on the Internet to
justice, as well as training other law
enforcement officers.
Many of the crimes he and other
investigators have uncovered are
appalling.
“You can find ‘how-to’ manuals
on how to rape children and not
cers were not welcome on many
bulletin boards. So he developed a
technique to go undercover on-line
to find out if illegal activity is tak­ing
place.
“All I’ve done is taken some
tried-and-true standard undercover
“ You can find ‘how-to’ manuals on how to
rape children and not leave evidence. Kids
can find manuals on how to kill their parents
and dispose of the bodies. And you can find
manuals on how to build a bomb or manu­facture
drugs.”
leave evidence. Kids can find man­uals
on how to kill their parents and
dispose of the bodies. And you can
find manuals on how to build a
bomb or manufacture drugs,” Olsen
said. “It’s stuff that’s out there.
“There are more and more cases
of children being led away from
home by pedophiles,” he added.
Early on he found out police offi-techniques,
and employ them in an
electronic environment,” he said.
After his first successful convic­tion
involving a man in Fresno,
Calif., there was a surge of media
attention that for Olsen continues to
this day.
He initially thought that the atten­tion
would subside within a year as
on-line law enforcement expanded,
but that never happened. Soon the
FBI became involved, then the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
and others asked him for training
assistance. He remains at the top
of many media information lists.
Olsen said there are now hun­dreds
of law enforcement officers
who have as much knowledge
about it as he does, but he is still
deluged with media requests. In
fact, he receives so many
inquiries, he said he has to refer
most of them to other similarly-trained
or more regional enforce­ment
officers whenever possible.
His work on the Internet does
not take away from his duties in
Warwick Township, and the 2-4
hours a week he spends with it
may actually serve to benefit the
community, he said.
“There are a lot of people in
Warwick Township who are on­line,”
he said. The township often
receives local calls referring to
suspected criminal activity on the
(See Drag ’Net, Page 28)
Record Labor Day
deadline changes
Due to the Labor Day holiday,
deadlines for the Lititz Record
Express advertising and editori­al
copy have been changed.
Retail and classified display
ads and all editorial copy for the
Sept. 7 issue must be in the
Record Express office by 5 p.m.
on Friday, Sept. 1.
Classified reader ads will be
accepted until 10 a.m. on
Tuesday, Sept. 5.
The offices of the Lititz
Record Express will be closed
Monday, Sept. 4.
For more information, contact
the Record office at 626-2191.
School returns
on Tuesday
Students in the Warwick
School District return to classes
on l uesday, Sept. 5. Remember
ihax classes will begin two
hours later than usual on that
day.
The bus schedule for the
1995-96 school year appears on
pages 6-7.
Antiques Show
arrives Saturday
The annual Lititz Springs
Park Antique Show returns on
Saturday, an annual fund-raising
event for the Lititz Springs Park
Board.
For more information, see the
chart on page 28.
Business.................... ....... 18-19
Church....................... ........16-17
Classified.................. ........25-27
Editorial/Letters....... ..........4. 21
Entertainment............ ........ 24-25
Manheim New; 20
Obituaries.................. ..........2, 22
Out of the Past. 12
Police L.og...... 21
School News............. ...........6 -7
Social......................... ....... 14-15
Sports......................... ...........8-11
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Thesday, Sept. 5* 7:30 p.m.
— Lititz Borough Planning
Commission, municipal build-ing,
7 S. Broad St.
Wednesday, Sept. 6, 7:30
p.m. — Warv/ick Township
Supervisors, municipal build-ing,
315 Clay Road.
Wednesday, Sept 6, 7 p.m.
— Elizabeth Twp. Planning
Commission, twp. bldg., 423 S.
View Drive, Brickerville.
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Photo by Stephen Seeber
Newest VFW member and WWI vet Galen Balmer, 100, is joined
at the induction by granddaughter Donna Smith (right) and great-grandson
Michael Landis (left) . Can stop sign curb speeders?
On 100th,
WWI vet
joins VFW
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
. Galen Balmer fought hard in
Europe, amidst bloodshed the world
had never before witnessed.
When he returned to his home in
Talmage, he made plans to start a
family. He married Ethel Mae,
bought a farm at 1509 Brunnerville
Road, and before he knew it, there
were seven mouths to feed. The
World War I veteran would have to
put the VFW on hold.
Farming and raising five children
kept Balmer busy, but he knew that
sooner or later he would be joining
his fellow vets for a cigar and a
story. He finally got around to it last
Thursday.
On Aug. 24, Balmer celebrated
his 100th birthday with family and
friends by enjoying a hand-rolled
cigar made with his own home
grown 1932 tobacco...and finally
joining the Lititz VFW Post 1463.
He is now the post’s oldest member,
the only one left from the first
world war.
“I accomplished 100 years with
hard work, being a simple home
man, and living a worry-free life,”
Balmer said. “I don’t get away from
home much,” he added, “But once I
hit the one hundred mark I thought
it would be special to join the VFW.
(See Balmer, Page 28)
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
Residents have complained about
“raceways” in the borough and
police are stepping up enforcement.
Since speeding has become an
issue of major concern within the
community, Lititz Borough Council
expects to help with curbing the
problem, but has not determined
whether or not a stop sign at East
Second Avenue and Kissel Hill
Road is the answer.
Council had planned to make a
decision on the ordinance for the
stop intersection, but after some
uncertainty about the criteria for a
four-way stop sign, action was
delayed until September.
In July, a group of Kissel Hill
Road residents stressed the need for
the sign before Council.
Steve Palkovik, one of the con­cerned
residents, returned to
Council Tuesday to find out about
the possibility of an additional stop
sign at Sixth and Kissel Hill, think­ing
that the Second Avenue sign
“was already a done deal.”
But after Lititz Police Chief
Douglas Shertzer contested the
legality of a Sixth Street sign, in
addition to opposition from other
residents over the Second Avenue
sign, Council was not ready to make
anything a “done deal.”
According to Shertzer, “A stop
sign cannot be used for speed regu­lation,”
adding a legal ramification
that would make enforcement on
Kissel Hill Road even more diffi­cult
for police. Shertzer also
opposed the Sixth Street sign
because of possible winter acci­dents
as drivers attempt to stop on a
downward slope.
Councilman Kevin Zartman said
that he was opposed to the Sixth
Street sign after hearing the legal
criteria. “In that case, Sixth Street
would be a dumb place for a stop
Court order
closes Fry’s
Pontiac, Inc.
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
After almost 70 years of busine---
in the Lititz community, Wm. B.
Fry’s Pontiac, Inc. is closed.
The decision to shut down opera­tions
at 519 and 529 E. Main St. is
the result of lengthy litigation
between members of the Fry family,
said John May, attorney for one of
the family members. A court order
(See Fry’s Closes, Page 28)
sign,” he said.
Palkovik tried to justify the sign
by saying, “We’re not just talking
about speed, but also traffic con­trol.”
Before Council made a decision
on the sign at Second Avenue, a pair
of opponents spoke, saying that the
sign would make it more difficult
for them to get out of their drive­ways.
“I don’t see how people 800 feet
down the block can impose a sign
on us that we don’t want,” said one
(See Stop Sign, Page 28)
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Photo by Richard Reitz
This road marker along Main Street outside Linden Hall iden­tifies
the historical significance of the Lititz all-girls school.
Linden Hall to mark 250th
with year-long celebration
Linden Hall School for
Girls is celebrating its 250th
anniversary in Lititz this
school year.
Throughout the year,
Linden Hall is sponsoring
events to mark the historic
anniversary of the oldest
girls boarding school in
America.
To honor the occasion, this
week’s “Life in Lititz: Inter­esting
Faces, Interesting
Places” takes a look back at
the school’s rich history and
talks to some of its many
former students in a special
commemorative insert, ex­clusively
in this issue of the
Lititz Record.
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Still going
after 73 yrs.
J IL L IVEY
After 67 years of business in Lititz,
no longer showcases new cars.
Photo by Stephen Seeber
the parking lot at Fry’s Pontiac
Record Express Staff
On Aug. 26, 1922, Christ and
Eva Koehler were married. Seven­ty-
three years later, they are still
celebrating.
According to Mr. Koehler, he met
Eva on a blind date. They dated for
two years before getting married.
According to Mrs. Koehler, the cou­ple
was together all the time.
Mr. Koehler was 17 years old
when they met, and Mrs. Koehler
18. Mrs. Koeholer added that she is
(See Koehler, Page 28)