Island Dispatch, 2006-03-03

              Island Dispatch March 3. 2006 V01.61 No. 50 20 Pages $1.00 ¥or Home Delivery of the Island Dispatch Call 773-7676 Niagara Frontier Publications proud publishers of Niagara-Wheatfield Tribune Island Dispatch Lewiston-Porter Sentinel Grand Island Penny Saver www.wnypopers.com St. Stephen's helps Katrina victims page 9 Meeting his namesake... page 13 Job search teaches skills page 20 Mary Jane Fonte, home and careers teacher at Connor Middle School, and her 8-year-old daughter, Katherine, work on arranging bouquets to deliver to | the residents of Riverwood Health Care Center, 2850 Grand Island Blvd. The j I Grand Island Teachers Association volunteered to arrange and present the | I flowers to the nursing home residents. About 80 vases filled with fresh flowj ers were delivered by approximately 15 volunteers. The flowers were part j of the Hospice of Buffalo sale that was conducted at the school this week. j (photo by joe Eberle) School budget concerns kick into high gear by Kathy Duff Concern about the upcoming district budget vote kicked into high gear Monday night as the Grand Island Board of Education reviewed major impact items from the first draft of the 2006-07 budget. Loraine Ingrasci, assistant superintendent for Business and Finance, described the budget as one "with no fluff and said Gov. George Pataki's state budget shows no increase in funding for 2006-07. This fact looms large beside the increasing student enrollment across the district. "Last year we cut to the bone, and this year we may be cutting into bone," she said. The district has been operating on a zero tax increase budget passed in the spring of 2005 after the first spending plan was rejected by Island residents- the first budget to fail since 1992. "Most districts are spending about 7 to 8 percent more in their budgets because of increased fuel costs," for heat and for transportation, Ingrasci said. Transportation costs are also rising because higher petroleum prices impact "consumables" such as replacement parts for buses. Teens arrested on burglary, theft of weapons Good police work by an Erie County Sheriffs deputy resulted in arrests in a before thejjfmeowner wajmven aware the crime had occurred. The officers mvolfed were praised by Sheriff Timothy Howard. Deputy Terrance Guenot of the Grand Island Substation was on patrol on Crescent Road at about 11:30 a.m. Monday, when his attention was drawn to a group of youths who appeared to be of school age. When Guenot approached the youths to speak with them, he recognized one of them as being a 14-year-old who was wanted on a Family Court warrant as a Person in Need of Supervision. While taking the youth into custody, Guenot found him to be in possession of a 38-caliber revolver. It was subsequently determined that the handgun, along with two others and a rifle, had been taken from a house on West Park Road earlier that morning. It was apparent that the homeowner, who was at work, was not yet aware that the crime had taken place. All of the weapons were recovered. Coppola wins Senate seat; Island goes for Jacobs by Karen Keefe Although Democrat Marc A. Coppola was the winner of the 60th District Senate seat, Grand Island bucked the trend and voted for Republican Christopher L. Jacobs by a 2-to-l margin in Tuesday's special election. Registration is heavily Democratic in the Senate district, which covers parts of Buffalo and the City of Tonawanda and all of Niagara Falls and Grand Island. In unofficial election results, Coppola had 55 percent of the votes to Jacobs' 45 percent. The two men were vying for the seat left vacant when Byron Brown became Buffalo mayor. Coppola's victory keeps the job in the hands of the Democratic Party, which is still the minority on the state Senate. Coppola represents the Delaware District on Buffalo's Common Council. Jacobs is a real estate developer, lawyer and Buffalo School Board member. About 6 percent of Coppola's vote total came on the Independence line; the same percentage went to Jacobs on the Conservative line. Grand Island's results may be attributable to its higher percentage of registered Republicans in a district that is Democratic by a 6-to-l margin. Jacobs has said his better-thanexpected showing in the race may encourage him to run in the November election, when the full, two-year term is up for grabs. Grand Island Town Clerk Patricia Frenzel said Jacobs' tally on Grand Island was 1,011 votes on the Republican line and 151 on the Conservative line, for an unofficial total of 1,162. Coppola garnered 498 votes on the Democratic line and 60 on the Independence line, for an unofficial total of 558. Coppola has told the Dispatch that improving the quality of life in Western New York is the key to this region becoming economically competitive. "There's no silver bullet... I think that our slow decline in our upstate economy has happened over a period of 40 to 50 years; if s not going to get rebuilt overnight," he said. Marc Coppola During a lull in activity at Town Hall during the Tuesday's special election for state Senate, poll inspectors, Yolanda Ortenzi, Liz AuClair-Smith and Donna Webb. Voter turnout was low for the special election, (photo by Bari Lore} continued on page 2 continued on page 2 continued on page 2 Linda gg Kutzbachflpjf Associate Broker  #1 island Agent V^H in the ■—mwaw #1 Company in WKY 743-73*1 or 628-1719 0* Do you need to buy or * sell a home? jk •Call Linda Kutibach, ***she knows how and wonld love to help yon. WW 841 Amy Drive i___-_PI Grand Island slißl Call Joan for all your |MM Real Eaate N__ds,