CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK NJ PAGE #1A

One of Lifes Necessities One of Lifes Necessities

FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2008 MANSFIELD, OHIO | 50 cents
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INSIDE INSIDE
Advice ............................6B
Business ........................7A
Classified........................4C
Comics............................7B
Daily Calendar................2A
Editorial ..........................6A
Lifestyle ..........................1B
Lottery ............................2A
Nation/World ..................8B
Puzzle..............................5C
Sports..............................1C
OBITUARIES OBITUARIES
Loretta B. Bishop
Jessie Brooks Jr.
Lillard Gibson
Kenneth Henry Sr.
Ruby M. King
Margaret McCune Plantz
Harvey R. Rice
Rose Rugola
Mabel Saunier
WilliamJ. Turner
Charles W. Wolford
Obituaries, page 4A
YOUR YOUR
NEWS NEWS
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news to place in the
News Journal or on
our Web site, e-mail
yournews@mansfield
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TELL US TELL US
Were you married in
Mansfield in 1958?The
News Journal is looking
for four area couples who
were married in the citys
Sequicentennial year to
feature in our upcoming Bi-
centennial edition.
We will want to see your
wedding photos and hear
stories fromeach decade of
your life together. Preference
will be given to couples who
have spent the majority of
their years in Mansfield.
To be considered, give
News Journal reporter
Angel N. Ross a call at
419-521-7205, e-mail her at
angross@nncogannett.com
or mail her at P.O. Box 25,
Mansfield, OH44901. Tell
her your names, when you
were married and why your
Mansfield experience should
be one of the four featured.
WEATHER WEATHER
TODAY
HIGH 50 50
LOW 32 32
Forecast, back page
LIFESTYLE 1B LIFESTYLE 1B
Dr Dr. Seuss tale Horton Hears . Seuss tale Horton Hears
a Who opens in theaters a Who opens in theaters
Investigation into water Investigation into water-bill dispute continues | Local 3A -bill dispute continues | Local 3A
SPOR SPORTS 1C TS 1C
Catching up with a Catching up with a
Galion hoops great Galion hoops great
BY MARK CAUDILL
News Journal
MANSFIELD Twenty-
three years after Mark Mel-
lick was brutally murdered,
his family longs for closure.
Mellick, 35, was beaten to
death outside his Amoy Gan-
ges Road home March 14,
1985, and found face down
in the fenced-
in back yard
with a trail of
blood leading
to his truck.
Mellick was
beaten with a
blunt object.
There have
never been
any arrests.
I know theres a lot of
people that know some-
thing, said Pam Richter,
Mellicks sister.
The Richland County Pro-
secutors Office has reopen-
edthecaseat Richtersurging.
Afamilymember is offering
a $5,000 reward for informa-
tion leading to an arrest.
Richard Duffey, who
heads up the prosecutors
Unsolved Homicide Unit,
said there are about a dozen
suspects. Authorities think
the murder might have been
tied to an affair Mellick re-
portedly was having.
The suspects have not co-
operated. Duffey said they
have either denied involve-
ment or obtained an attor-
ney. None of themwill take a
polygraph test.
One more credible lead
couldbreakthe case, Prose-
cutor James Mayer Jr. said.
Authorities have traced
Mellicks final hours. He
went to a bar named Scottys
and ordered a pizza, which
heatewithafemaleacquain-
tance. Hewalkedtohis truck
around 12 to 12:30 a.m.
The next morning, Mel-
lick did not show up for
work. He owned Lehr
Awning Co. across from
Arlin Field. An employee
found his body.
There was blood all over
the yard, some on the pas-
senger side of his truck,
Duffey said.
Mellick left behind twin
daughters who were 9 at the
time. One nowlives inTexas,
the other in Colorado. Rich-
ter said Mellicks twin broth-
er Mike and their parents
took the death especially
hard. Mark lives in Atlanta.
They were very, very
close, she said of the twin
brothers.
Assistant ProsecutorFrank
Ardis represented Mellick
and his parents while in pri-
vate practice.
MomandDaddidnt take
this very well, Ardis said.
Mom really, really took it
bad. I could see her going
downhill after Mark died.
Mellicksparents, whohave
been married for 65 years,
are in their 80s. Richter said
they have given up hope of
finding their sons killer.
Theyve decided its just
not going to happen, Rich-
ter said.
Richter, 63, is trying to re-
main optimistic and still feels
a connection to her brother.
He was always there for
me. Hes always there in the
backof your mind, she said.
You just wonder: Why?
mcaudill@nncogannett.com
419-521-7219
BY LINDA MARTZ
News Journal
MANSFIELDPressure
from a federal investigation
intensified the acrimony
during City Councils Thurs-
day meeting on community
development block grants.
Community Development
Director Cindy Baker said
complaints by a 6th ward
resident spurred the U.S.
Department of Housing and
Urban Development to mon-
itor Mansfields 2008 spend-
ing decisions.
Sandra and Melvin Reed,
of 209 E. Second St., first
complained to HUD in 2006
that council was spending
too little on the needs of low-
income residents and too
much on projects sought by
nonprofit groups.
She was furious with the
City of Mansfield because
she felt we have been ignor-
ing the little people of Mans-
field, andgivingtocorporate
America, Baker said.
The Reeds were about
250th on the waiting list of
residents seeking money to-
ward home repairs. Sandra
Reed told HUD in an Octo-
ber letter she and her hus-
band were elderly, disabled
andlow-income. Shesaidthey
were told to expect at least a
two-year wait for help.
The couple objected to
council putting money into
projects like the new Med-
Central College of Nursing
building, airport improve-
ments, downtown business
facade beautification and
the industrial park. Baker
said past allocations are not
endangered.
About 400 people are on
the waiting list for home re-
pairs, she said.
These new guidelines
probably throw out 90 per-
cent of what weve done for
the past 10 years, At-Large
Councilman Doug Versaw
said. Some nonprofit propos-
als dont even come close to
Anyone with information
on the 1985 murder of
Mark Mellick is asked to
call Investigator Richard
Duffey at the Unsolved
Homicide Unit in the coun-
ty prosecutors office at
419-774-5676 during busi-
ness hours or the tip line at
419-525-2583.The tip line
operates 24 hours a day.
There is a $5,000 re-
ward for information lead-
ing to an arrest.
News Journal
staff report
How to Help
Decades later,
brutal murder
still a mystery
Mellick
DANIEL MELOGRANA/NEWS JOURNAL PHOTOS
Students react to Sherman Elementary
School Principal Andrea Moyers un-
veiling as the person behind Lady Ad-
jective, left, during an exercise in Tonya
Bishops second-grade class Thursday.
Students used adjectives to describe
her wild outfit. Read more on page 3A.
MYSTERY GUEST MYSTERY GUEST
This is a tentative list of howMansfield
City Councils public affairs committee
might spend more than $900,000 in feder-
al community development block grants
for 2008. Some issues are still in con-
tention and council wont vote on a final
package until April 1.
Richland CountyTransit board:
$102,000 toward operating costs for its
regular busroutes(about $2,000morethan
what was needed to maintain routes, but
not enough to allowthe transit board to
consider bringing back Saturday service).
Parks department: $21,000 for elec-
tric renovations at Liberty Park and Unity
Pool. Park officials said a workmens com-
pensation study showed electric repairs
were needed at both locations soon.
$192,177 toward the citys costs for
administering the block grant program(20
percent of the total funding).
$250,000 to retire this years debt due
on past expansion at the airport industrial
park. (The committee did not fund Mayor
Donald Cullivers request for another
$100,000 to hire consultants to search for
federal and state job training grants).
$10,000 to share costs with down-
town businesses interested in making
their building facade more attractive.
$10,000 toward sidewalk replace-
ment projects.
$77,387 each toward home rehabili-
tation projects in the 4th, 5th and 6th
wards, along with $65,000 toward home
rehab and emergency need projects in
other eligible wards.
$23,000 to help Harmony House pro-
vide homeless shelter services.
$15,000 for demolition of substandard
properties around the city (that amount is
likely to pay for razing two homes).
$40,000 tentatively allocated to the
MedCentral College of Nursing, for con-
struction of a newacademic building and
for related lab equipment.
News Journal
staff report
MANSFIELD CITY MANSFIELD CITY COUNCIL COUNCIL
Federal probe intensifies bickering over block grants
Recommendations
Staff and wire reports
WASHINGTON Schools could
improve students sluggish math
scores by hammering home the ba-
sics, such as addition and multiplica-
tion, and increasing the focus on frac-
tions and some geometry, a presiden-
tial panel recommended Thursday.
Difficulty with fractions (including
decimals and percents) is pervasive
and is a major obstacle to further
progress in mathematics, including al-
gebra,thepanel, appointedbyPresident
Bush two years ago, said in a report.
Mansfield City Schools Superinten-
dent Lloyd Martin said he agrees with
the panels recommendations.
Thewayweteachmathis obsolete,
Martin said. Im excited the govern-
ment is realizing its a national prob-
lem. Our people are falling behind in-
ternationally. Schools often spend a
lot of time on rote memorization with
no real application.
Martin said total math compre-
hension takes a combination of the
Panel calls for focus on fractions, other
subjects to shore up nations math skills
See PANEL,
back page
See GRANTS,
back page