Island Dispatch, 2007-04-06

              Island Dispatch  Niagara Frontier Publications For Home Delivery of the Island Dispatch Call 773-7676 proud publishers of Island Dispatch Lewiston-Porter Sentinel Grand Island Penny Saver Niagara-Wheatßeld Tribune www.wnypapers.com V01.63 No. 3 773-7676 $1.00 April 6, 2007 24 Pages Inside this paper: Easter Section pages 12-13 Parable in Puppetry page 6 Make an Easter Bunny Cake page 12 GI Gymnast Qualifies page 15 Rainbow of colors for Easter Children in kindergarten through grade 5 enjoyed an Easter egg decorating program recently at the Grand Island Memorial Library. In the photo, the children are expressing their artistic creativity in a rainbow of colors, with the help of A-sistant Librarian Anne J. Slater, (photo by Barbi LareJ School Board adopts budget with 0.6% tax hike by Kathy Duff Grand Island School Superintendent Robert Christmann presented a budget forum to the Board of Education and the at- Robert Christmann tending public in the Veronica E. Connor Middle School Monday night - The point of it all was to communicate how the $47,341,765 price tag for the 2007-08 school year was determined, what the anticipated expenditures and revenues are, and what the impact on students and Grand Island taxpayers would be. At the end of the presentation, the pubic was allowed questions, and the board had the opportunity for comments and to vote on adoption of the budget The budget proposal will be upior a public vote on Tuesday, May 15. Christmann began his remarks with a reiteration of his G.I Chamber to honor Lions Club, Dr. Robert H. Miller The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce has announced that the lions Club of Grand Island will receive Organization of the Year and Robert H. Miller, M.D., will receive Community Service Person of the Year at the 41st annual Citizen of the Year Banquet. This year's event will be held at the Holiday Inn Grand Island Resort and Conference Center on Wednesday, April 25, at 6 p.m. Channel 4 Meteorologist Mary Beth Wrobel will serve as emcee Proud 50-year history As the Lions Club of Grand IslandIsland celebrates its 50th anniversary, it is important to note the commitment and professional service of the club's membership. Not once has the office of president ever been held by the same person. A father and son have served as president, two members were elected as district governor, and many have served on the cabinet for District 20N. In addition, the club has paid tribute to its members as Robert Uplinger and MeMn Jones Fellowship Recipients. In 1981, a relationship was formed with the Lions Club of Merritton, an association that has strengthened under the lions' Motto "We Serve:" The Lions Club of Grand Island has continually benefited from the support of the community. This Dr. Robert H. Miller Grand Island Lions Club members are, from left, third row: Fred Ruocco, Ross Kaiser, Tom Ruserf, Dick Planavsky, Tom Witkowski, Floyd Doring and John Mc- Carthy. Second row: Dick Crawford, Paul Basseite, Bert Wixson, Ann Fahning, Annette Lobl, Jerry Dubiel, Larry Furnia, Earl DeGlopper and Dan Morabito. First row: Mike Steinagel, Shelia Ferrentino, Norm Hahn, Diane Dubiel, Kathie Norris and Dave Chervinsky. GI getting checks for October storm Story and photos by Karen Keefe It's payback time for some hard times back in October. Grand Island is receiving three checks totaling $264,664.35 to compensate for expenses the town racked up while coping with the October Surprise snowstorm and its aftermath. Councilwoman Mary Cooke pointed out at Monday's Town Board meeting that the state's Emergency Management Office had sent the first installment to reimburse Grand Island for town funding expended on the clean-ups during the storm emergency. Three-fourths of the money in the first instajUment is from the federal government, and the rest is comprised of state and administrative funds. "It does represent the first of the money that we're getting back from the work that we did in the storm - the cleanup," Cooke said. "Just-to letpeople Imow that thatis coming through—all the stuff you saw bfl TV and heard on the radio and read in the papers about FEMA helping out and the federal and state taxes coming back to the town is actually happening." The first check was mailed on March 29, the second on April 2 and the third on April 3, the state Emergency Management Office confirmed. 400,000 Without Power The lake-effect storm on Oct 12-13, 2006, dumped up to 20 inches of snow on Western New York and left 400,000 area residents without power in its wake. If s estimated that 70 percent of the Island was without power, some SEE TICKETS, continued on page 18 SEE TOWN, continued on page 2 SEE DISTRICT, continued on page 18 Monday Madness LARGE CHEESE PIZZA -!_l_OT_l_K___fl_l >fc' n J '■ #§*?l>is) .'[ 2131 Grand Island Blvd.f ICutzbach fHPN : 628-1719 IfJ-jJ] 773-2573 |ff ;jf§B @fe Do you need to buy or sell a home? _\% Call Linda Kutzbach, she knows how and would love to help you! . Each office independen-y *■ J? Wsr¥s& owned & operated S4 NOftO