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November 2008 |
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By MATT NICHOLS
Staff Writer
A former Wapakoneta law enforcement officer’s future is now in the hands of seven state Supreme Court justices.
Former Wapakoneta Police Chief Dave Harrison’s 6-year-old sex crime case reached the pinnacle in Ohio’s court system Wednesday, as justices heard arguments from Harrison’s attorney Dean Boland and state prosecutor Scott Longo.
Each party had 15 minutes to present their case to the justices. After both attorneys argued their cases, a single word in Harrison’s sentencing entry and a grilling delivered to Longo by justice Maureen O’Connor left Boland optimistic about his client’s future.
In June, 2003, Harrison plead guilty to a six-count bill of information after child pornography was found on his computer. After entering his plea, the man who served as police chief from 1988 to 2002 was sentenced to one year in jail.
Seven months after he completed his sentence, it was discovered by county prosecutors that Harrison should have been sentenced with an additional five years of mandatory post release control, or probation.
During a court hearing, Harrison was given the option to either be re-sentenced or withdraw his plea. Harrison chose the latter, taking things back to square one.
With the plea withdrawn, the state of Ohio slapped Harrison with a 23-count indictment which he was ultimately found guilty of and sentenced to six years in prison.
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Tuesday, 24 June 2008 |
Finance Committee recommends injecting pesticide into ash trees
By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
The emerald ash borer is here — now city administrators and officials plan to take a proactive approach to save the trees and kill the insect.
Wapakoneta City Council Finance Committee members agreed Monday to recommend spending approximately $7,200 for an injection system to administer pesticides to ash trees in an effort to kill the emerald ash borer, which burrows under the bark of the tree and stops the natural flow of nutrients from the roots to the leaves.
“I think that piece of equipment is well worth the money we are going to spend to get it,” Finance Committee Chair Wilbur Wells said after Monday’s meeting. “Hopefully, the pesticide program works in killing the emerald ash borer in the infested trees and saves those trees from further damage without having to cut them down as well as to save the other ash trees in the city — that is a key environmental issue right there.
“The machine can be used for more applications than to inject pesticides into ash trees,” the councilor-at-large said. “The injection system can be used for multiple applications, such as battling other insects or other problems such as iron chlorosis.”
Wells said the cost to cut down all the ash trees on city property, including tree lawns, would be in excess of the $7,200. The recommendation is to be made to full council during its July 7 meeting.
The injection equipment, developed by Arborjet Inc. of Woburn, Mass., could be used for injecting other pesticides and fertilizers into city-owned trees to battle various insects and to improve the overall health of trees. They provided the Wapakoneta City Tree Commission with a quote of $7,180 to treat the city’s trees.
Mayor Rodney Metz said Arborjet company officials indicated they would inject the trees the first year until city crews could be certified as pesticide applicators. Arborjet company officials also said they would “adopt” the larger ash trees at the city park with application of the chemical at no charge.
Metz said he favored the purchase because the equipment could be used to treat iron chlorosis and to battle the bagworm infestation, which hit the Wapakoneta area two years ago. The mayor also reported two other insects are moving toward the city including an insect which affects linden trees.
Finance Committee member 1st Ward Councilor Jim Neumeier said he favored the purchase saying, “anything that keeps the trees in the ground — I am in favor of — as long as it works.”
Tree Commission Chair Scott Risner said city officials should know next year if the product is helping combat the emerald ash borer, which was first identified in the area in August 2005 at the northbound and southbound rest areas along Interstate 75, north of Wapakoneta. He indicated ash trees in the city along Bellefontaine Street near Interstate 75 are infested, as well as trees near the Wapakoneta City Administration Building.
“This will give us a tool to fight this infestation,” Risner said. “Everything that comes back to us is that this is the best product out there.”
Risner cited three university studies conducted at Michigan State University, Purdue University and the University of Hawaii which indicate the injection application has as high as a 99 percent success rate in treating the infestation for the larvae and 100 percent success rate in treating an infestation by adult emerald ash borer.
“As far as the Wapakoneta City Tree Commission is concerned, we have looked high and low for other solutions rather than taking the trees down — nobody wants to take the trees down,” Risner said. “We feel this is the best solution.
“I feel, and the Tree Commission members feel, that with all the other issues and infestations coming toward us from here and overseas that this product is a real decent way to cope with the problems we currently have and those problems out there in the foreseeable future,” he said.
Risner said Tree Commission members are trying to inventory ash trees on private property. They also are working on developing a program to rent the equipment to city residents so they can apply the pesticide to their trees.
Council President Don Jump told Finance Committee members they also need to look long term at assisting the Tree Commission.
“If you budget this and do this, we need to realize the Tree Commission will need more money in the future to deal with this issue and other issues down the road,” Jump said. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 June 2008 )
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