Lititz Record Express

              THURSDAY, February 8, 1996
Lititz Record Express
119TH YEAR 26 Pages- No. 43 LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA 30 cents
INSIDE
Linden Hr..:* plans
¿■ ¿ J ifi r e e n a c tm e n t
Students at Linden Hall are
planning a reenactment next
week that covers the 250-year
History of the girls school,"For
this and more School News,
see page 6.
Travelogue to visit
Nova Scotia
The Lititz Rotary Club’s next
program in the travel and film
series will take its audience to
the beautiful sites in Nova
Scotia this Saturday, For all of
the details, as well" as a look
at the corrvcs, crossword
puzzle and other local events,
see page 20,
Local man develops
housL -j idea
A M an h ein entrepreneur
has come up with a design for
affordable transit housing for
low income families — which
he hopes will catch on else­where,
For more see page 21.
Local girl featured
in national magazine
A 15-year-old Lititz Christ­ian
School student gained
recognition in Woman’s Day
magazine for her weighs, loss
success. For the complete
story, turn to page 26.
Warrior boys fall
short at McCaskey
Leading after the third peri­od
and playing solid through­out
the game, Warwick lost to
a tough "McCaskey basketball
team 84-68 Friday, For more
details, see page 10.
SNOMI i l l k r
r . ■
Photo by Rtchari.
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
For the first time in more than 14
years, both crime and traffic acci­dents
are on the decline in Lititz.
Business........................ ...18-19 PoSice Chief Douglas Shertzer
Church 16 released Lititz’s 1995 crime and
c ia s s ifte d :::::::::::::::::::^ 2 5 ^ ^ week at Borough
PHitnrio! / i ottprc d Counci1 ta ito r |a| / Letters.......... ...a gharing ^s m ognotohdlY nmeewest.ing, happily
Entertainment........................ .20 According to the report, serious
Manheim News........... ........... 21 crimes decreased by six percent and
Obituaries........ ...................... 2-4 less-serious crimes were down four
Out of the Past........................12 percent.
Police Log.......... 22 The serious offenses includehom-
School News..........................6-7 icide, rape, robbery, assault, burg-
Sociai................... 14-15 lary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle
Sports.................... ................8-11 *e ft and arson.
There were no incidents of homi­cide
or rape in the borough, but
assault vehicle theft and arson all
recorded slight increases.
The less-serious crimes include
Thursday, Feb. 8, 7 p.m. forgery and counterfeiting, fraud,
W a rw ic k S c h o o l B o a rd , embezzlement, receiving stolen
finance and legal commit-tee/
student activities commit­tee,
administration building.
Monday, Feb. 12, 7 p.m. —
Elizabeth Twp. Supervisors,
423 S. View Drive.
Monday, Feb. 12, 7 p.m. —
Penn Township Supervisors,
97 N. Penryn Road.
Monday, Feb. 12, 7 p.m. —
Warwick School Board, build­ing
and property commit-tee/
education committee, ad ­ministration
building.
Tuesday, Feb. 13, 7:30
p.m, — Lititz Borough Coun­cil,
7 S. Broad St.
Wednesday, Feb. 14, 7:30
p.m. — Warwick Township
Zoning Hearing Board, 3 1 5
Clay Road.
Wednesnday, Feb. 14, 7
p.m. — P e n n Township
Zoning Hearing Board, 97 N.
Penryn Road.
Wednesday, Feb. 14, 7
p.m. — E liz a b e th Twp.
Zoning Hearing Board, 423 S.
View Drive.
F l o w e r s a n d c h o c o l a t e s
a n d t e d d y b e a r s , o h m y !
L ititz retailers prepare for Valentine’s Day
Signs from above?
Groundhogs sent mixed messages last Friday, with Punxsatawney
Phil telling us to prepare for six moreweeksofwinter, while Lancaster’s
Octorara Orphie suggested winter was over. Most people will be
inclined to believe Phil, as snow and bitter below zero temperatures
graced the Lititz area last weekend. And that cold weather just doesn’t
seem to want to leave. Other hazards of our “winter wonderland” are
found on the streets of downtown Lititz, such as a sign outside the Hot­ter
Insurance Agency on East Main Street warning of failing snow from
the roof. Ice also seemed to do a number on its rain gutter, which
snapped from its usual position and dangled over the office’s sign.
C rim e d ow n
First marked decrease in
almost 15 years for Lititz
STEPHEN SEEBER
AND RICHARD REITZ
Record Express Staff
For many Lititz retailers, love is
big business.
With Valentine’s Day fast
approaching, area merchants are
arranging gift baskets full of flowers
and candies for local lovebirds... and
lovelorn.
Dawn McKinney, manager at
Victoria’s Florals on South Broad
Street, affirmed that red roses con­tinue
to be “the most romantic gift.”
“This is the heaviest flower-buying
time of the year,” McKinney
said, so Victoria’s expects to double
its delivery fleet of vans to four in
order to handle the rush of orders.
“It’s generally a two-day holiday
for florists,” said McKinney, adding
that Valentine’s Day is virtually the
“Black Friday” of the love industry.
According to McKinney, most of
the customers during the Feb. 13-14
gift-buying surge are men.
“I’d say 60 percent of our business
is deliveries, but men still like to
come in and see what they’re buy­ing,”
she said.
Twana Fierstos, a floral designer
at Hendricks’ Flower Shop & Green­houses,
322 S. Spruce St., said most
of their Valentine shoppers are men
as well.
“Valentine’s Day is a men’s holi­day,
and men tend to be last minute
shoppers,” she said.
H e n d rick s’ Manager P h il
McCloud confirmed that, in addition
to the higher frequency of male cus­tomers,
“everybody wants roses” and
(See Valentine, Page 26)
Photo by Stephen Seeber
Floral Designer Twana Fierstos says spring flowe-rs, like this mixed
arrangement at Hendricks’, offer a nice alternative for those Valentines
who desire something other than roses.
P l a n n e r s h e l p s e t t o n e f o r
p r e l i m i n a r y l i b r a r y p l a n s
STEPHEN SEEBER
property, vandalism and criminal
mischief, weapons possession, sex
offenses, drug violations, gambling,
driving under the influence (DUT),
public drunkenness and disorderly
conduct:
Shertzer said the most significant
decreases were thefts, down 13 per­cent;
and DUI, down 24 percent.
Vandalism is down four percent and
criminal mischief 11 percent.
Although overall arrests were
down 22 percent, juvenile arrests —
based on assault and motor vehicle
thefts — were up eight percent.
Assault marked the top serious
offense in the borough at 11 inci­dents,
while disorderly conduct tot­aled
highest in the less-serious categ­ory
with 10 reported cases.
Shertzer credits the visibility of
the department’s foot and bike pat­rols,
in addition to increased citizen
input, for the improvements. _
(See Crime, Page 26)
Record Express Staff
Lititz Library and Luther Acres
officials are waisting no time in pre­paring
plans for a new public library
at Oak and East Main Street.
Library Director Donna Ham­mond
and Lutheran Social Services
East Region President Dennis
Bruce, along with architect Bob
Kornman, presented a general over­view
of the proposal to the Lititz
Planning Commission Tuesday
night.
Planning Commission Chairman
David Bucher, who expressed his -
support for the project, outlined sev­eral
concerns about future develop­ment
at Luther Acres. Among the
issues discussed were maintaining
the seperation of public and private
access and parking.
According to Bucher, a potential
problem could occur in the event that
the building ever changed ownership
or usage.
“You’re asking permission to
build a building without owned park­ing,”
Bucher said.
If plans for the proposed library go
forward, Luther Acres intends to
lease 50 parking spaces to the library.
■ Bruce pointed out that the deve­lopment
plans are not in the approval
stage yet, and that a long-term
strategic plan should address all of
the borough’s concerns.
. Before proceeding further, Luther
Acres will meet with the zoning hear­ing
board to discuss ordinance defin­itions
for “retirement community,”
in addition to other development
criteria.
In other planning business;
•The Planning Commission hopes
to see a more pro-business communi­ty
as Lititz enters a new millennium.
Planners agreed to table (heir
revised sign ordinance for the bor­ough
until the Lititz Retailers Asso­ciation
has ample time to review the
changes.
Bucher said the revision is an
attempt to maintain a pro-business
atmosphere in Lititz.
“The planning commission is
interested in the economic vitality of
Lititz,” Bucher said. “Our business
community is very near and dear to
us.”
Bucher said that the revision effec­tively
rids the ordinance of some reg-
(See Planners, Page 26)
All-inclusive classes
Warwick guidelines will outline
gohls for special needs students
RICHARD REITZ
Warwick matmen w in title s
Photo by Bruce Morgan
Warwick’s wrestling team had a big week last week, as it won both the Lancaster-Lebanon League Tour­nament
championship and the Section One title. Shown here, members of the squad display their two tro­phies.
Read more about the accomplishments of the Warriors’ wrestling team on page 8 in the sports
section.
Record Express Editor
Guidelines for the inclusion of
special education students in regular
classes are being reviewed for adop­tion
by the Warwick School Board.
The board met for its committee-of-
the-whole meeting Tuesday and
began review of the school district’s
proposed “Statement of Least
Restrictive Environment (LRE) and
Inclusion” for all students, as
required by the state.
“The least restrictive environment
is in a youngster’s home school, in a
regular class,” said Dr. John Bon-field,
Warwick superintendent.
According to the proposed guide­lines,
“the extent of the LRE for each
student is determined on the basis of
individual student needs.”
Over the past few years Warwick
has integrated several students with
disabilities into the classes, Bonfield
said.
He admitted that the concept has
been somewhat controversial, with
opponents concerned that special
needs students will hold the class
back, or will be unable to keep up.
But he feels this is not the case.
“The additional support should be
there in the classroom to work with
that particular student,” Bonfield
told the school board.
He added that the benefits extend
beyond general education. The spe­cial
needs students not only benefit
by becoming involved with the regu­lar
class, but the interaction also ben­efits
the other class members.
“When you see the growth in the
youngsters, you know there is a lot of
good going on,” he said.
The guidelines, when approved,
would be distributed to all staff mem­bers,
and will clearly define the dis­trict’s
approach to LRE.
The statement reads that, in order
for inclusion to be successful, “all
members of the school community
must support the belief that all child­ren
can learn and that high expecta­tions
must be evidenced for all child­ren
through shared responsibility for
(See Inclusion, Page 26)
Sat. classes
at Warwick ?
The Warwick School Board may
consider one of two ways to help stu­dents
finish the school year on the
original June 7 finish date.
At Tuesday’s committee-of-the-whole
meeting, Superintendent Dr.
John Bonfield said the state legisla­ture
is giving school districts the
option of adding additional time at
the end of the school day, or to add
one Saturday of classes per month to
make up for days lost due to snow
and weather conditions.
The board could opt to add one
hour or 'A hour to the days until the
time is made up, Bonfield said.
The board will consider the
options in the near future, and Bon­field
asked student representative
Stacey Rutherford to find out how
students feel about the matter.