Island Dispatch, 2000-08-04

              Island DISPATCH  56 Years As the Voice of Grand Island Award Winning Newspapers The Official Newspaper of the Town of Grand Island and the Grand Island School District Founded 1944 • Complete Community Coverage Hydromania page 13 Fish Stories page 12 No Goal page 9 AUGUST 4. 2000 20 pages 65 c Vol. 56 No. 14 (716) 773-7676 Bishop Henry Mansell Honors Retiring Msgr. Cahiil; Successor Named St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church was filled to capacity during eleven o'clock mass last Sunday. Parishioners came for spiritual enlightenment; and to see Bishop Henry Mansell. honor Monsignor Richard M Cahiil for 42 years of service to his church and community. After the service Bishop Mansell dedicated the new gym building. Monsignor Cahiil announced his retirement last month, after 15 years of service to St. Steven's. He served as pastor in the church and mathematics instructor in the school. As the leader of the congregation he directed the improvement, building, and modernization of the property. The property as it stands now is a monument to his vision. For that reason the gym is ordained the Monsignor Richard M. Cahiil Athletic and Convocation Center. Ordained priest in 1958, his career began at Bishop Turner High School. He began his service to Grand Island in .1969 assisting in masses. In 1985 he was transferred to Grand Island. It was announced to the parish that Msgr. Achilles' successor will be Reverend Paul Nagaro, who is presently Pastor of St. Paul's in Kenmore. The new 46' X 70' building can comfortably seat 130 guests on its bleachers. It has padded maple floors which bear the schools emblem (an eagle), retractable glass backboards, and protective cushions, in the walls. It was built with the Monsignor's guidance and the help of John Pappano, Duffy Macguire and the Maintenance Committee of St. Steven's School Advisory Board. Architectural work was done by Kideney and Associates and Acorn Management oversaw constructionBishop Henry Mansell attends service with Retiring Monsignor Richard Cahiil Bishop Henry Mansell visits jj with Grand island parishioners n Monsignor Cahiil listens to the concerns of his parishioners after Sunday's service GM to build new plant in Tonawanda On Wednesday (August 2), Governor George E. Pataki was joined by Erie County Executive Joel Giambra to announce that General Motors has approved plans to construct a new 711,000--square-foot engine plant in Tonawanda.' ■ ~ ■ . According to a press release from Pataki's office, GM will invest more than $500 million • in Western New York to construct' . a new high-tech engine manufacturing plant N. bringing investment ; in Upstate New York by trans- . portation manufacturing firms to more than $2 billion undergo Governor Pataki. "Western New York's economy in 1999 grew at its fastest pace in more than 10 years, but we must keep that momentum going," the Governor said. "Following major investments by Adelphia and Southwest Air, GM's decision to grow in Tonawanda makes it clear that Western New York's comeback from the devastation of the early 1990s continues." The press release states that the new engine plant will retain more than 600 jobs for employees in Tonawanda. The Tonawanda plant currently employs 3,800 workers. It produces four, six and eight-cylinder engines, including the Global 'four-cylinder 2.2 liter LB5O engine. The new plant will produce a six-cylinder, all-aluminum, inline engine that will be used in a wide variety of GM cars and light trucks. Kevin Donovan, Director of UAW L0ca1:774 said,-"We are excited about GM's decision to put the new engine at the Tonawanda plant. This new facility can become a high-tech showplace for union-management cooperation and the production of high quality engines." In return for the company's commitment to build the new engine plant, GM is eligible to apply for up to $2 million in ESD employee training funds. In addition, the Erie County IDA will be eligible to apply for $2.1 million in funding from the Department of Transportation's Industrial Access program to construct a new access road to the plant from Kenmore Avenue. The State will also provide $5.25 million to upgrade Kenmore Avenue, $500,000 to improve access- to the plant from River Road and $3.5 million to upgrade water and wastewater facilities that serve the plant. The State's assistance also includes a 2,000-kw allocation of electricity from the New York Power Authority (NYPA). NYPA provided the electricity from available "replacement Lifepard Saves Drowning Child By Ray Pauley and William O'Connor At approximately 1:40 P.M. last Friday, lifeguard, Dan McCarthy discovered a young unresponsive child floating in the deep end of Martin's Fantasy Island Wave Pool. He quickly removed the child and induced vomiting with back-blows. Other . members of alert park staff ■called 911. Within minutes, the Grand Island Fire Company Rescue Personnel arrived on location. Lifeguards had cleared the airway of. two-year old Pauly Piazza, who regained breathing, but remained unresponsive. He was then given oxygen and stabilized by GEFC paramedics, who arranged transport to Children's Hospital For further medical attention. A hospital spokesperson has confirmed Pauly is in satisfactory condition and was discharged on Saturday (July 29). Longtime GIFC Paramedic Gail Lazenby. who directed on site treatment, firmly believes that immediate intervention by "first responder" lifeguard (Dan McCarthy), saved the child's life. He added thai this neartragedy demonstrates that "water safety cannot be taken for granted, even if under supervised conditions".All GIFC Units returned to service at 2:01 P.M.. The "first responders" Dan McCarthy and his Supervisor- Beth Grey were more casual about the event."I was just doing my job" was McCarthy's response. Grey felt that the media response was too dramatic. Witnesses .to ihe even! report that the two year old was left by his parents in the care of his older brother, who is only five years old. McCarthy was named Martin's Fantasy Island's "Employee of the Week." "1 was just doing my job." Fantasy Island President Martin DiPietro with "First Responder "Lifeguard Dan McCarthy and Assistant Lifeguard Supervisor Beth Grey continued on page 4