Published Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2002
MERCER COUNTY
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Herald staff rates events
Herald Staff Writer
Events leading up to the resignation Brian Shipley as a Mercer County commissioner and the county's tax assessment ratio change and 36 percent tax hike topped the list of most important stories of 2001, according to a poll of Herald editors and reporters.
The poll choices were based on headline value and long-term story value.
The Shipley saga topped the newsroom's picks for headline value stories.
Shipley resigned on Oct. 29, saying personal mistakes made it impossible for him to stay in office. The 30-year-old Greenville Republican, who had served less than half of his term as commissioner, is being investigated by the state Attorney General's Office.
Problems began to unfold for Shipley in August, when questions were raised about his county credit card use. Shipley later refused to release the records, which resulted in a lawsuit filed by The Herald. Shipley later released the records, which showed a series of cash advances and personal expenses charged to the credit card.
Shipley also used a county cell phone to call escort services, a massage parlor and dating lines, and a county computer to look up adult Web sites on the Internet.
The Shipley stories also tied for third place for long-term value with the commissioners' decision to build a new county jail.
County commissioners' tax decisions topped the long-term news value list.
In March, commissioners changed the basis for property taxes millage from one-third of a property's 1970 market value to 100 percent. The new assessment ratio goes into effect today.
Changing the ratio reduced millage rates by a third, allowing commissioners to avoid exceeding the state-mandated 25 mill limit on taxes.
Commissioners also approved a 3.83 mill, or 36 percent, tax hike Thursday, which sets property taxes at 14.5 mills. The average property owner will pay $59 more in taxes than last year.
The tax assessment ratio change and tax hike also ranked No. 4 in headline value.
The second leading story in terms of headline value was the guilty plea by former Kennedy Christian basketball coach Joe Votino to one count of corruption of minors.
Votino admitted to having sex with three former female Kennedy Christian students during the past two years, was sentenced to one to two years in state prison.
The Votino story ranked ninth in long-term value.
The Sharon mayor's race between city Controller David O. Ryan and Councilman Lou Rotunno was named the second most important story in terms of long-term value. Ryan defeated Rotunno in the race. The story was named No. 3 for headline value.
Other stories named most important for 2001 included:
Construction on the new Oakland Avenue viaduct, which was originally supposed to be completed Nov. 30, has been postponed until the spring after the contractor made an error in the alignment.
Mrs. Felbaum, a transsexual, was accused of killing her husband, James Felbaum, with a crude castration. She performed the operation in February on a table in the couple's trailer outside of Harrisville.
The Violas' suit claims Gallagher failed to diagnose Mrs. Viola's breast cancer in a timely manner and that Garriott did not notice a lesion on one of Mrs. Viola's mammograms.
The story ranked eighth for headline value.