Fans Get Close to the Action

FOR THE BEST HOMETOWN NEWS, SUBSCRIBE TO THE FOCUSMi Franklin Focus Serving Somerset, Franklin Park, Middlebush, East Millstone, Griggstown and Kingston Vol.7, No. 4 Thursday, January 26,1995 A Forbes Newspaper 25$ Focus on Franklin Fans get close to the action By MIKE D. SKARA Szucs is named THE FOCUS Knight of the Year There's really nothing like being John Szucs has been close to the action. The 1,150 local fight fans who named Knight of the Year packed the Ukrainian Cultural by St. Matthias of Somerset Center Thursday night for the pro- Council No. 9925 of the fessional boxing matches were Knights of Columbus. near enough to the ring to see the Mr. Szucs, chairman of fighters' grimacing faces and even the council's Membership hear the sound of the leather Committee, was cited for his gloves striking flesh — all without tireless effort to increase having to drive for hours first. council membership. Dur- For many, the seven-bout card ing 1994, Mr. Szucs con- featuring 1976 Olympic gold med- ducted membership drives alist Howard Davis Jr. represented an interesting and original evening and open houses that, of entertainment at the Davidson brought 19 new members Road facility. into the council, increasing "This is my first time actually membership by 16 percent. going to a boxing match," said Mr. Szucs. his wife Patri- Somerset resident Jim Loureiro. cia, and three children have "I've watched it on TV before, but lived in Somerset for 25 I think it's a lot better being up close. My father got us tickets, so -years. Mr.-Szucs-joinedthe r Knights of Columbus in we'nFhere.""~ ••*" 1991. • For others who watch boxing more often, it was a chance to size The Knights of Columbus up the area's fighters and the cen- is an international Catholic ter's accommodations. lay organization with more "I'm a fight fan and I heard RANDALL MILLER/THE FOCUS than 1.5 million members there was a lot of local talent on Imamu Mayfield of New Brunswick gets his hands raised in victory by referee Brian O'Melia throughout the world. the card," said New Brunswick Thursday night during his professional boxing debut at the Ukrainian Cultural Center on The Somerset Council do- resident Bob Madarria, who Davidson Road in Somerset. nated $5,700 and more than brought his son. '900 hours in personal ser- "It's the first time I'm here and Since boxing matches aren't- ' "I'm a big fight fan and there stopped hosting fights. hosted very often locally, some pa- vice to charitable and be- it looks'like a pretty good facility aren't too many other places "This is about the only place to trons at the event voiqed a desire around to see fights," said Ken go." •• nevolent activities in the fis- for local fights. It's not the (Madi- for the growth of the sportln Cen- Bertrand of Bernards Township, cal year ending June 30, son Square) Garden, but it's not too bad," he said. tral Jersey. 1994. noting Ice World in Totowa has For more on the fights, seepage 15. Catholic men interested in membership can call John Szucs at 249-1229. Officer, town settle case out of court By ARMANDO DIANA clined further comment. Intervention Unit. Mr. Ferguson for Mrs. Bandtlow, suggested dur- FOCUS CORRESPONDENT Juvenile Division Detective testified that she admitted the ruse ing hearings that she falsified the Marie Bandtlow was charged in 17 when he confronted her about it. reports because she wanted the ac- After, several months and nu- instances of not following proper merous rescheduled disciplinary procedure when preparing reports Francis Hartman, the attorney (Please turn to page 2) hearings, Franklin Township and sending them to the appropri- reached an out-of-court settlement ate agencies. The charges alleged with a 10-year police department that Mrs. Bandtlow, in reports to Inside veteran accused of violating de- her superior, claimed she con- partment policy. tacted juvenile offenders and their Art is all around for Franklin Fact Details of-the settlement were parents.-Those people later told, police investigators they had not The Franklin Township not readily available for a definite new department announcement as The Focus went been contacted. Department of Public Works to press, as township officials were The detective admitted to writ- supervisor......Page 10 has 600 tons of salt and waiting to hear from attorneys in- ing specifics in reports before they more than 1,200 tons of volved in the case. actually took place, according to sand on hand. So far, Police Chief Daniel Iivak said Detective Sgt. Richard Ferguson, they've used "at the most, 5 the agreement was not officially her immediate superior. Hard luck comes to tons," according to DPW Di- settled. Township Manager John Mrs. Bandtlow also was accused rector Andy Twiford. Lovell added that to his knowl- of allegedly not forwarding cases <t . DR. EDWARD hoopsters.:.....Page14 edge, the decision included "sub- to the Somerset County prosecu- stantial punitive action/''Both de- tor's' -office- and' the' Family Crisis • U, v SCHMIEDECKE . ^ / , - - •, -,-.» •>. -. .. ,:. January 26,1995 Small lot OK for new house By BARBARA MENDOZA FOCUS CORRESPONDENT FRANKLIN - A decision by the Zoning Board of Adjustment Thursday night will allow a woman II to have a single-family home con- structed on an undersized lot at 431 Frederick St. The unanimous decision was made after an attorney for Mary Conboy testified that the small lot size was consistent with surround-" ing properties located near the 5,000-square-foot parcel. "Both the lot (to the right of the property) and in the back are the m same dimensions as we are pro- posing," Paul Sica, attorney for the applicant, told the board. Mr. Sica told the board the ap plicant tried to sell the land for $15,000 to neighbors whose property adjoined the undersized lot but no one was interested. i The board unanimously approved three variances — mini mum lot size, frontage and rear yard setback — that will allow con- struction of a home on the site. Settlement (Continued from page 1) tions approved before following through on them. During proceed- ings he stated Mr. Ferguson was never satisifed with any of Mrs. Individual Choice Bonking Bandtlow's work and she didn't know what else to do to satisfy her superior. • CHECKING WITH NO MONTHLY FEES The attorney also suggested Mr. Hartman had animosity toward WITH COMBINED ACCOUNT BALANCES Mrs. Bandtlow and investigated OF ONLY $2,500 her case files in order to make a case against her. During the hearings it was •FREE ATM USE . learned Mrs. Bandtlow twice accused Mr. Ferguson of sexual ha- • OVERDRAFT PROTECTION rassment, but investigations by the police Internal Affairs Division found no evidence to' support • NO-ANNUAL-FEE CREDIT CARD WITH those complaints. A PREFERRED APR Mr. Ferguson denied any personal motivation in investigating Mrs. Bandtlow's actions. In some instances the reports were de- BONUS OFFER layed anywhere from one to 16 days, according to the sergeant, and that could have meant delays • 1/3 OF V7( HIGHER ANNUAL PERCENT- in providing counseling for ju- AGE YIELD ON NEW CDS & IRAS veniles or possibly prohibiting prosecuting the case. Mr. Hartman contended the ju- • No BALANCE REQUIREMENT veniles and their parents either FOR THE FIRST 3 MONTHS didn't remember being contacted or told investigators what they thought they wanted to hear. But • FIRST 200 CHECKS FREE the prosecution presented wit- nesses who testified. Mrs. Bandtlow did not contact them. F ®CALL 1-800&26-1000 The attorney also eantended_lhat OR VISIT YOUR NEAREST BRANCH since no harm was done by her actions, she should not be dis- missed from the force. Hearings in the case were con- tinually postponed because of con- flicts with Township Council tlANTI members' schedules. The council is drafting an ordinance to have a SERV retired judge preside over police in Pennsylvania, May not be combined with other promotional offert. Limited-time offer, i .1 January 26,'1995 Franklin Focus It's back to court for 119 homes By BARBARA MENDOZA The applicant argued that by using the township Master Plan, it FOCUS CORRESPONDENT could theoretically construct be- FRANKLIN - Approval of a tween 160 and 180 units on the plan to place 119 single-family tract. homes on a 60-acre tract of land Mr. Linnus argued that, fol- that was rejected by the Zoning lowing the judge's ruling, the de- Board of Adjustment Thursday veloper could construct 119 homes night will now be remanded back on the site. • to the courts. The lots would be situated in According to Francis P. Iinnus, "clusters" on the site with an aver- attorney for Franklin 27, developer age density of 1.98 units per acre. of the tract, it will be up to Supe- This, Mr. Linnus said, would rior Court Judge Robert Guterl to preserve more open space and decide if the new plan submitted wetlands on the site. to the board last week should be Mr. Linnus maintained that the approved. ;• • court agreed with this arrange- "We advised (the court);" Mr. ment when it supported the argu- Iinnus said Wednesday morning. ment presented during the appeal. "We're waiting for further instruc- Township official;,, however, dis- tions from the* judge." agreed. Franklin 27 presented a revised "Apparently we have different plan to the zoning board after professional opinions," Township The piano duo of Nadia and Vladimir Zaitsev will be featured when the Meadows Founda- Judge Guterl ruled in November Planner Ellen Ritchie told the tion begins the new year of its Candlelight Concert Series Feb.

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