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A
AP
Pittsburgh
Penguins’
Jaromir Jagr, left, congratu-
lates teammate Jiri Slegr for
scoring the tying goal in the
third period against Montreal.
Jagr scored the game-winning
goal with 50 seconds left.
Page B-1
Stambaugh’s
site deemed
too costly
ÿ ÿ ÿ
By Michael Roknick
Herald Business Editor
Downtown Sharon was cho-
sen over Hermitage as the site
for Mercer County’s one-stop
job shop.
But Wednesday’s surprise
decision came after a fierce
and at times heated debate
among members of the Work-
force Investment Board. With
the potential of employing
scores of people, the shop was
sought by a number of com-
munities.
Cost was the driving force
behind the choice of Cocca
Co.’s building at 217 W. State
St. for the center. Prior to the
meeting, the former Stam-
baugh’s Home Improvement
Center in Hermitage had been
the clear front-runner.
WIB is charged with form-
ing policy decisions for job
training and other work force
issues in Mercer and Lawrence
counties.
Meeting at the New Englan-
der banquet center in New
Castle, WIB members listened
as colleague Angela Lenzi said
a site selection committee on
Monday recommended the
Sharon location.
Formally known as the Mer-
cer County Career Link, the
center is better known as a
one-stop job shop. It is being
designed as the main location
for Mercer County residents
seeking work, training and
help from such agencies as the
state Department of Public
Welfare.
Last summer Mercer Coun-
ty Commissioners appointed a
committee of local community
leaders and heads of agencies
that may be housed in the cen-
ter. The committee picked the
closed home improvement cen-
ter in Hermitage.
Sharon getting job center
MERCER COUNTY
David E. Dale/Herald
The Cocca Co. building on West State Street in downtown
Sharon was chosen for the Mercer County Career Link Center,
better known as the one-stop job shop.
FLINT, Mich. (AP) —
Emergency crews dug through
the rubble of a nursing home
today after a boiler explosion
killed at least five people and
injured more than 20. Two peo-
ple were missing and feared
dead.
The boiler in the basement
of the Clara Barton Convales-
cence Center exploded shortly
before 9 p.m. Wednesday,
blowing out windows and col-
lapsing the ceiling. Firefighters
and neighbors scrambled to
pull dazed survivors out of the
flaming building.
“All of a sudden, our house
shook,” said Debra Sims, who
lives a block away. “I thought it
was a big clap of thunder at
first, then I saw a flash. It was
like a flash of lightning.”
About 110 people, including
93 residents, were inside the
home at the time, Fire Chief
Theron Wiggins said. The vic-
tims and those still missing
were believed to be employees.
No names were released.
Four people were pro-
nounced dead on arrival at
Hurley Medical Center and an-
other died in surgery early to-
day, spokesman Larry Daly
said.
In all, 18 people were
brought to the hospital; one re-
mained in critical condition and
nine were treated and released.
Nine other people went to
McLaren Regional Medical
Center, radio station WWJ-AM
reported. Their conditions were
not immediately known.
The explosion blew out one
side of the home, built in 1964.
It shattered windows and left
pieces of twisted roofing metal
hanging in nearby trees.
Some witnesses reported
smelling natural gas after the
blast, but the exact cause of
the explosion has not been de-
Care
home
blast
kills 5
W
ORTH NOTING
Veterans Day parade
The annual Shenango Valley
Veterans Day parade will begin
at 6:30 tonight in Sharpsville.
Parking will be prohibited on
Ridge Avenue from 12th to
Seventh streets; on Seventh
from Ridge Avenue to Main
Street; and on Main from Sev-
enth to Walnut streets. The pa-
rade will end at the Sharpsville
Plaza.
Roads closed
The second annual Her-
mitage Holiday Light Parade
begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday near
Big Kmart in the Hermitage
Towne Plaza and ends with
Santa’s arrival at the Shenango
Valley Mall.
East State Street will be
closed between the mall and
Kerrwood Drive and state
Route 18 will be closed be-
tween the Shenango Valley
Freeway and Highland Road.
Give thanks
Jamestown Area School Dis-
trict’s annual Thanksgiving din-
ner for senior citizens will be at
1 p.m. next Thursday in the
high school cafeteria.
There is no charge for se-
niors living in the school dis-
trict, but donations are wel-
come.
Jean Neice/Herald
William Rossell, a resident of John XXIII Home in Hermitage, sits in front of a picture of himself taken during his war years. Rossell
and other residents recounted both funny and serious stories of their experiences in World War II.
By Sherris Moreira-Byers
Herald Writer
As the nation prepared to
celebrate Veterans Day, World
War II vets who live in John
XXIII Home in Hermitage gath-
ered to share their experiences
from the “war to end all wars.”
“I remember my first night
in Lae, New Guinea, and we
were warned about the Japan-
ese wandering around,” said
Monsignor Raymond Meier,
88, who served as an Army
chaplain.
“I kept hearing these heavy
footsteps coming towards my
tent late at night, and I would
grab my machete, then it
would pass by,” he said. “Final-
ly the noise stopped outside
my tent, and when I looked I
saw a huge rat. They lived in
the rice fields,” he concluded
with a laugh.
Rats seemed to be the ro-
dent of choice in many of the
veterans’ funnier stories.
John XXIII
residents recall
funny, stark tales
Veterans
share WWII
memories
HERMITAGE
Jean Neice/Herald
Domenic Wolf displays some of the service pins he received
during World War II, including his name plate. Wolf worked for
Pan Am in Miami transporting wounded soldiers home.
Jean Neice/Herald
Jack Heintz, a John XXIII
Home resident, tells a
wartime story about the sum-
mary execution of a rat.
By Karen Coates
Herald Staff Writer
Some surprises are worth
the wait. Just ask Edna Rakoci.
A few weeks ago, the West
Middlesex widow was sent a
special package that will make
this Veterans Day a memorable
one. Mrs. Rakoci said a World
War II historian and a collector
teamed up to return a family
treasure that belonged to her
war-veteran husband, John.
It was an aluminum mess kit
cover left at the site of the Bat-
tle of the Bulge. The lid had
been covered by battlefield
earth and preserved for over 50
years.
The battle, which lasted
from Dec. 16, 1944 to Jan. 28,
1945, was the largest land bat-
tle of WWII with more than a
million men taking part. The
outcome: 19,000 American and
200 British soldiers killed,
81,000 United States and 1,400
British servicemen wounded,
and 100,000 Germans killed,
wounded or captured.
Mrs. Rakoci, 70, said her
husband, who died in 1976,
served in Company H, 394th
Infantry Regiment, 99th In-
fantry Division during the bat-
tle.
John Rakoci was a monu-
ment maker, working most of
his life for his family’s business
in Farrell. Preserved on the
mess kit lid was a bit of his
handiwork — his intricately
carved last name and serial
number, “Rakoci 6910.”
“I bet he didn’t even know
that he left it or lost it there,”
she said.
Mrs. Rakoci said her hus-
band, who she married in 1946,
brought home some war mem-
orabilia, such as photographs
of Hitler, a swastika pin from a
German soldier and drafting
tools. But he did not talk much
about the action he saw.
“He always said anyone who
brags and blows didn’t see any
action,” Mrs. Rakoci explained.
“The ones who sat back and
didn’t say anything, did.”
Mrs. Rakoci said she found
out about her husband’s mess
kit a few years ago when she
got a phone call from Joseph
Keirn. The Altoona man
phoned to find Rakoci after the
lid was found on the northern
part of the battle’s 80 mile
front.
Mrs. Rakoci said she told
Keirn her husband was dead
but soon learned about the
find.
“I was shaking. I couldn’t
wait to the call the kids,” said
Veteran’s
widow
touched
by find
WEST MIDDLESEX
HARRISBURG (AP) — Gov.
Tom Ridge says he will sign a
bill containing a proposal that
would allow school districts to
hire private companies to run
alternative schools for disrup-
tive students.
The measure, tacked onto a
bill that for the first time re-
quires continuing training for
teachers, was approved by the
Senate in a 40-8 vote the day af-
ter it was approved in the
House of Representatives. The
training portion of the bill man-
dates that teachers have at
least 180 hours of instruction
every five years to stay certi-
fied.
House Majority Leader John
Perzel, R-Philadelphia, formally
proposed the measure Tues-
day, and the House approved it
Tuesday night after three
hours of debate. Ridge floated
the idea in his monthly radio
address last week.
Ridge issued a statement
Wednesday saying he would
sign the bill.
Ridge spokesman Tim
Reeves said the bill was meant
to give local authorities a new
option in dealing with troubled
students. “No school will have
to do this if its elected leaders
don’t want to,” Reeves said. “If
they think it’s a bad idea, they
won’t do it.”
Critics said the alternative-
school proposal was enacted
Teacher
training
bill OK’d
D
EATHS
Elizabeth “Emma” Cook,
86,
of 6868 Grove St., Brookfield.
June J. Thompson Herring-
ton,
93, Coolspring Township.
Leonard D. King,
50, Route
965, Polk.
Jack R. Sanford,
83, of 37
Beech St., Stoneboro.
See
BLAST,
page A-2
Thursday
November 11,
1999
2 sections 20 pages
Sharon, Pennsylvania
http://www.sharon-herald.com
Volume 136, Number 212
50 cents
See
TRAINING,
page A-2
See
JOB,
page A-2
See
MEMORIES,
page A-2
See
WIDOW,
page A-2