Island Dispatch, 2003-10-10

              Island DISPATCH GI Students Honored PageS Getting To Know Page 14 " __'".. The Farmer's j Almanac ! predicts: i Warm • T-Storms />/, >■~/,/' _ ■ On ' / ''(. I"' U'i" ' '"/a 2 57 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 Vol. 59 No. 32 October 10,2003 20 Paj-esSsc Phone: (716) 773-7676 • Fax: (716) 773-7190 * E-Mail: NFPNews@clmail.com - Founded 1944 * Complete Community Coverage GI Town Board moves on agenda items by Lisa Ariganello Monday night's meeting of the Grand Island Town Board proved a another productive one, with a positive outlook towards 2004. With all board members in attendance, the session led off with a routine approval of the minutes from the Sept, 15 meeting, and members proceeded to address the following:,. . ; •,_-,...  •It was announced that night that the town of Grand Island will join in recognizing Oct. 9 as National Lights On After School Day. The parents of an estimated 28 million school-aged children work outside the home, therefore leaving as many as 15 million latch-key children coming home from school to an empty house. As such, Oct. 9 has been declared the national day of recognition of the importance and value of after-school programs. •Next up, the Explorer Scout Group presented the board with a special project built specifically for the town of Grand Island. As their final Eagle project, 10 Bat Boxes were constructed in order to help eliminate the mosquitoes on the Island without the use of pesticides. •Councilwoman Mary Cooke announced that the Community Development Block Grant Public Hearing will be held Monday, Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. From Supervisor McMahon Richard Crawford Jr. reported that night that the Supervisor's Hometown Hevots on display at Tops mh..,—., i >im»n-i.i.».. ii.'CTTW^agaamaa&w,.,nju. —.„ ™... -».—..,.,., ... jMaJMirymffi <.. iaA<r^««ft»rwiiiMga«aaaoa»Ma»iaiiim«wi»He« On behalf of Tops Friends'/ Maike!, &toie manaqcr fran Dpvis is inviting al! Grand Island residents who have served or are currentl/ sen/my in thr miliary or acTtPd (oices to have their phoios (J'Sfjlayed at the- Granti Island Boulevard Tops location Otiioals at 7ops ara collecting pictu'ess of locai rpilrary personnel as part of their HomeGiown USA Project Fcmal or informal photos ate being accepted and can tic left at the service desk in the store Photos shou'o be ancomonnied by the pe> son's name, branch of service, and contact information Shown in the photo aoove are three staff meTihcs at tne fops Grand islana stoic, placing a new photo m:o the Hometown Heroes display from left to right, Lon Weselak Pran Oa\is. anu Pam Moiaci A1! three wcnon are 'os'ounis if Grand Island War of words grows between GI Independence Party, write-in candidates by Joshua Maloni The town of Grand Island Independence Party has filed a complaint with the Erie County District Attorney's office and initiated an ethical inquiry with the town of Grand Island Ethics, Advisory Board against town council candidate Kevin Rustowicz and town clerk candidate Robin Swedish, alleging the two of misconduct in their handling of absentee ballots for the Sept. 9 primary election. Independence Party Chairman Mike Sendlbeck and Secretary Jean Orsini-Clabeaux contend that Rustowicz and Swedish "violated the spirit of a secret ballot." Both allege that the two candidates targeted non-voters and compelled them to fill out absentee ballot applications and absentee ballots in an attempt to gain votes.. "The spirit of the absentee ballot application and absentee ballot, both, are designed for people who fruly are out of Erie County, or can't get to the voting booth for reasons of being disabled," Orsini-Clabeaux said. "What I believe happened here is that these candidates, for strictly purposes of securing votes, went out and asked people who truly were not going to be out of town or didn't meet any of the qualifications to file for an absentee ballot form ... knowing that they were not going to be out of Erie County or that they did not qualify under the terms and conditions of that ballot." Private investigator In documents offered to the Dispatch, Sendlbeck and Orsini- Clabeaux state that a private investigator was hired to look into the handling of absentee ballot applications and absentee ballots. He contacted the absentee voters to ascertain,ascertain, through two dozen questions, the exact nature of the voter's need for an absentee ballot, the ballot's level of completeness and any contact with Rustowicz and/or Swedish. Based on the investigator's alleged findings, Sendlbeck wrote to the Dispatch, "It is believed that the write-in candidates, Kevin Rustowicz and "Robin Swedish, in an attempt to defraud the Erie County Board of Elections, solicited, coerced, and/or intimidated many voters to sign absentee applications with full knowledge that the application was misleading, inaccurate or false." In another letter to the Dispatch, Orsini-Clabeaux wrote, "Based upon our private investigator's reports and other information, we believe that Rustowicz and Swedish utilized the system and approached voters, who would not and/or did not qualify for absentee ballots, for purposes of securing votes. In doing, they may have caused voters to falsify statements and violate the law." However, despite phone inquiries and requests for disclosure of proof of the aforementioned continued on page 20 eS" continued on page 3 eS" 133IHl5_! i At a Glance Sunday Bowl-A-Thon Joan A. Male Support Center Recckio's Bowling Lanes noon to 5 p.m. TMsdaj Scholastic book fair and family night event Kaegebein Elementary School 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. For more information call 773-3138 For a complete listing of area-events, visit NFP's Web site at www.wnypapers.com H' |FREE $2S0 ENERGY AUPIT WITH pft5-APPROVAL -«v Smj% 691-HOME(4663) g^™™j