JENICA MILLER • The Lima News Just how low will it go?

Love in the
fast lane
Clarett admits
guilt; jailed
SPORTS D1
SPORTS D1
The elderly deal with
nighttime fears. HEALTH C1
TUESDAY
High 60
Low 49
Page A7
Sept. 19, 2006
50 CENTS DAILY • $1.50 SUNDAY
87,500 daily/107,000 Sunday readers
Racial profiling concerns addressed
Meeting called by Councilman Pitts
over complaints during ticket push
By HEATHER RUTZ
[email protected]
419-993-2094
JENICA MILLER • The Lima News
LIMA — One black man after
another detailed their experiences.
Of the four who talked, one was
cited, the others were not. Most
Lima City Councilman Tommy Pitts listens as Lima
Police Chief Greg Garlock speaks Monday regarding racial profiling in area law enforcement.
weren’t sure why they were pulled
over and three were stopped twice
in the same weekend.
At a City Council Safety Services
Committee meeting Monday called
by 5th Ward Councilman Tommy
Pitts over concerns about racial
profiling, police and officials cau-
tioned that only one side of the
story was being heard.
Police said they respond to reports of officers’ improper behavior and were already working on
several of the cases detailed.
Pitts called the meeting after
hearing complaints of profiling following a community law enforcement blitz that ran from Sept. 7-9
and involved 22 agencies.
See PROFILING • A7
Just how low will it go?
Gas prices
hover near
$2 gallon
Cle
Tol e d o
$2.0
5
ve
la n d
$ 1.99
[email protected]
419-993-2097
A kro n
$1.9
9
REPORT
Ford, GM
talking
mergers
By DAVID N. GOODMAN
Li m a
The Associated Press
$2.1
0
Pilot
Beaverdam ........ $2.09
Flying J
Beaverdam ........ $2.10
lu m b
$1.9
6
Swifty
Lima.................. $2.10
us
Co
Shell
Lima.................. $2.24
BP
Lima.................. $2.24
D a yt o
n
LIMA — Don’t expect gas
station managers to start
pulling down the twos next to
the dollar signs just yet.
Though the price of gas locally
hovered close to the $2 per gallon mark, Monday’s adjustment pushed it back above
$2.20 in many parts of Lima.
Pilot Travel Center in
Beaverdam was advertising
$2.09 gasoline. Swifty on Elida
Road kept its price at $2.10.
Most chains increased their
price to $2.24.
Even so, Spencerville’s Mark
Youngpeter looked upon the
price favorably.
“I saw it $2.06 over the weekend and it looked even better,”
Youngpeter said. “Any time you
can get a little more money in
your wallet, that’s always a
good thing.”
Youngpeter couldn’t remember the last time prices were
that low.
In May 2004, The Lima News
was writing about local gasoline prices reaching a high of
$2.01 per gallon. It hasn’t been
that low since December 2004.
“It is pretty bad when they
got you feeling good about
$2.25, as opposed to $3.10,
doesn’t it?” Youngpeter said.
— DeMond Liles
pulled over for loud music
Discussions
may be a sign
of the times
prices from
around the
state
By TIM RAUSCH
“When I was pulled
over, before I was
asked for my license,
they asked where
my drugs were.”
Meijer
Lima.................. $2.24
$1.9
8
Speedway
Elida.................. $2.24
Prices are current as of Monday Sept. 18
at 5p.m.
Source: www.gasbuddy.com
“It is pretty bad when they got you feeling good about $2.25,
as opposed to $3.10, doesn’t it?”
— Mark Youngpeter, Spencerville
See GAS PRICES • A7
DETROIT — General Motors’ talks with Renault and
Nissan on a possible alliance —
and reports Ford may be pursuing a megadeal, too — show
how automakers constantly
turn to each other even amid
fierce industry competition.
GM and Ford declined to
comment Monday on an Automotive News story that their
high-level executives discussed
a merger or alliance. Ford
Motor Co. also declined comment on last month’s Wall
Street Journal report that Ford
proposed its own deal with Renault and Nissan.
In July, General Motors
Corp., Renault SA of France
and Nissan Motor Co. of
Japan announced a 90-day review of a possible alliance
among them.
Auto executives talk frequently about “what-if scenarios” and possible deals large and
small, said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor.
“These kind of discussions go
on all the time,” Cole said. “Collaborating ... is part of how
they’re doing things.”
See MERGERS • A7
Al-Qaida in Iraq
warns pope that
Islam will prevail
Armed man crashes barricade
at Capitol, taken into custody
Building
locked down
By JIM ABRAMS
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — An
armed man ran through the
hallways of the Capitol after
crashing his SUV through a
barricade Monday in the worst
breach of security on Capitol
Hill since a gunman killed two
police officers eight years ago.
The man who led police on a
chase through the building
was Carlos Greene, 20, of Silver Spring, Md., said Acting
Capitol Police Chief Christopher McGaffin. Greene had a
5
on
the
go
BUSINESS ............B5
CLASSIFIED ......C5-8
Former Lima resident on scene
Monday’s lockdown at the U.S. Capitol affected at least one
former Lima resident.
Erik Johnson, an Ohio State University graduate and son of The
Lima News Publisher Stephen Johnson, was at work in the Capitol when a man crashed his vehicle into a security barricade
“I was already in the office. I came in at 8 a.m. and it happened not long after,” said Johnson, a staff assistant to U.S.
Sen. George Voinovich. “The Capitol police were keeping us
informed. We were notified the building was closed. But by
9 o’clock, everything was back to normal.”
See ON SCENE • A7
loaded gun and crack cocaine,
McGaffin said.
Police charged Greene with
federal felony possession and
assault of a police officer.
McGaffin said there would
be a review of Capitol secu-
1
Officials in Aspen, Colo., voted
to hire a security firm to patrol
late-night weekend bus service,
which is known as the “Vomit
Comet” because of the number of
drunken passengers.
COMICS ..............C3
COMMENTARY .....A6
By LEE KEATH
The Associated Press
LIFESTYLE ........C1-2
OBITUARIES .........B2
rity measures.
Police officials and congressional aides said the man was
tackled outside a basement office. They said he was carrying
See CAPITOL • A7
2
Ron Zaleski is hiking the
Appalachian Trail, which
runs from Maine to Georgia,
barefoot to bring attention to
the need for combat veterans
to receive counseling.
PEOPLE ..............A2
REGION/STATE ..B1-4
SPORTS ...........D1-5
PUZZLES/TV .........C4
• Associated Press
Iraqis burn an effigy of Pope Benedict XVI during a demonstration Monday in Basra, Iraq’s
second-largest city.
3
Residents of crime-plagued
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, have a
new kind of predator to worry
about — hawks. A pair of hawks
have attacked dozens of residents during the past year.
CLASSIFIEDS ...........866-546-2237
DELIVERY .................800-686-9914
NEWS ......................800-686-9924
CAIRO, Egypt — Al-Qaida in Iraq warned
Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that its war
against Christianity and the West will go on
until Islam takes over the world, and Iran’s
supreme leader called for more protests over the
pontiff’s remarks on Islam.
Protests broke out in South Asia and Indonesia, with angry Muslims saying Benedict’s
statement of regret a day earlier did not go far
enough. In southern Iraq, demonstrators carrying black flags burned an effigy of the pope.
Islamic leaders around the world issued more
condemnations of the pope’s comments, but
4
A 26-year-old German man
made a dusty brown suit of
armor and attempted to blend in
with the ancient warriors of Emperor
Qin Shihuangdi’s (221-210 B.C.)
terra cotta army in Hong Kong.
FREEDOM COMMUNICATIONS INC.
© 2006 • Published at Lima, Ohio
See AL-QAIDA • A7
5
A Maine couple upset that
their 19-year-old daughter
was pregnant tied her up, loaded
her in their car and began driving
to New York to force her to get
an abortion, police said. /A5
28 pages
4 sections
BASEBALL
Astros beat the
slumping Reds, 5-3.
D3
Sports
Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2006
The Lima News
SECOND BASE
Briefs and opinions /D2
SCOREBOARD
Standings and stats /D5
KID NEWS
Everything about hurricanes /D6
TO REPORT GAME RESULTS: 419-993-2085 or 800-686-9924
Clarett pleads guilty
Jeremy
Schneider
The Lima News
[email protected]
419-993-2088
Former football star sentenced to prison
COLUMBUS (AP) — When
the day comes that Maurice
Clarett can be released from
prison 3 1/2 years from now,
the former Ohio State football
star’s life story will hardly
have been told in full.
If his lockup ends on the earliest possible date, Clarett,
who struck an unexpected
plea deal Monday for robbery
and concealed weapons
charges, will be all of 26 years
old. His 8-week-old daughter,
who was present for his sentencing, will not yet have
turned 4.
“It’s in a range that will
allow him to get his life back
together after his release,”
Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said.
Judge David Fais announced
the agreement on the day
Clarett’s aggravated robbery
trial was to begin. He was sentenced to 7 1/2 years with release possible after 3 1/2 years,
and five years of probation.
A bearded Clarett, wearing
handcuffs and jail-issue clothing, remained expressionless
throughout Monday’s hearing.
“I’d like to apologize for my
behavior, and I accept the time
that was given to me,” Clarett
said when asked if he wished
to address the court.
After the judge accepted the
deal, Clarett looked over at his
mother in the first row of the
• Associated Press
gallery. She was sobbing and
holding his infant daughter Maurice Clarett listens to a
while sitting next to his girl- judge after pleading guilty Monfriend.
day in Columbus.
“We love drag racing and we love each other.”
— Kevin Fisher
TY WRIGHT • The Lima News
Kevin Fisher, of Lima, celebrates with wife Kathy after a race at the Milan Dragway in Milan, Mich.
Couple finds love in the fast lane
By JOHN S. HULLINGER
and TY WRIGHT
INSIDE
[email protected]
419-993-2085
For more photos, see Page D4.
Kevin Fisher remembers the first
time he saw her.
As he sat strapped into his dragster,
getting ready to make a run, it happened.
“Then I have this beautiful blonde
walk up to me,” Fisher said. “She
comes up and introduces herself to me
and we shake hands and everything.
She says, ‘I see you’re getting ready to
go out and make a pass. Maybe we can
talk later. I just wanted to introduce
myself.’ All my crew was like ‘Who was
that?’”
That was July 1999. A friendship
grew out of that meeting and Kevin
and Kathy Fisher were married on
September 2000.
On Saturday, the couple will cele-
brate their sixth anniversary.
The Lima couple has shared everything since then — a love for drag racing and a love for each other.
They compete together in International Hot Rod Association Division III
Quick Rods.
They even work together running
Performance by Fisher on North West
Street. Kevin builds and repairs the
engines and Kathy does the books.
The Fishers actually had their first
introduction over the phone.
Kathy, who doubles as MIX 103.3 onair personality Kathy Hague, was sell-
ing advertising for the station. One day
she opened the Yellow Pages looking for
leads and stumbled across a full-page
ad for Performance by Fisher that featured a picture of Kevin.
She had been around drag racing her
whole life. Her dad raced and she had
started racing a Camaro Z28 herself.
“I helped him work on the cars when
I was growing up,” Kathy said. “I was
definitely tom-boy material. I had the
farmers tan from wearing the hats and
T-shirts at the track.”
Pollack out for season
with neck injury
By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer
CINCINNATI — Linebacker
David Pollack is out for the season with a neck injury, the most
serious setback for the bangedup Cincinnati Bengals heading
into a highly anticipated game.
Pollack is one of three starters
hurt during a 34-17 victory Sunday over the Cleveland Browns.
The former first-round draft
pick was injured tackling
Reuben Droughns on Cleveland’s second play.
He was taken to a local hospital and place in a halo brace that
immobilizes the neck. Coach
Marvin Lewis said Monday that
Pollack has full feeling in his
arms and legs and is expected to
make a full recovery without
surgery.
“At this point, it’s not careerthreatening,” Lewis said.
“There is no damage to the
spinal cord at all.”
The Bengals placed Pollack
on injured reserve Monday,
making him ineligible to play
this season.
The Bengals also lost safety
Dexter Jackson and center Rich
Braham during the first half,
forcing them to shuffle their line
and secondary. Jackson limped
off with a severely sprained
right ankle, and Braham was
taken off on a cart with a deep
bruise on his left knee.
Neither is expected to be
available Sunday.
Receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh sat out the first two
games with a bruised heel, and
left tackle Levi Jones was inactive for the Cleveland game with
a lingering ankle sprain. Both
could play against Pittsburgh.
Chad Johnson should be fine
as well. The Pro Bowl receiver
was groggy after Brian Russell’s
high hit knocked off his helmet
and gashed his chin on Cincinnati’s last pass. Johnson got
stitches in his chin, but wasn’t
coherent enough to do
postgame interviews.
D
See FAST LANE • D4
Clippers
bigger
than life
Sometimes sports are
more than just sports.
Mention a particular
game or a certain player
and the memories come
flooding back.
Sports can help us remember where we were,
when.
Some people remember
where they were when
James “Buster” Douglas
knocked out Mike Tyson, or
when Barry Bonds hit No.
72, or when Emmitt Smith
broke Walter Payton’s rushing record.
But for me, the Columbus
Clippers and their home,
Cooper Stadium, are one of
those teams and places that
have special meaning for me
outside of bats, base paths
and gloves. My history and
that of the Clippers are intertwined, even if none of
the players or management
realize it.
The news that the New
York Yankees ended their
affiliation with the Columbus Clippers probably didn’t
affect too many people in
West Central Ohio. It probably didn’t concern too many
in central Ohio either, judging by the poor attendance
figures.
Clippers general manager
Ken Schnake said there
would be baseball in Columbus next year. And I believe
him, but it just won’t be the
same.
My grandfather, Marvin
Young, worked as a carpenter at Cooper Stadium, and
I spent many afternoons of
my youth driving to the
west side of Columbus to
visit my grandfather and
See SCHNEIDER • D3
Jaguars blank
Steelers, 9-0
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP)
— Big Ben was back. He
wasn’t back to form.
Wearing protective
padding around his midsection, Ben Roethlisberger returned to Pittsburgh’s lineup
against the Jacksonville
Jaguars, barely two weeks
after having an emergency
appendectomy. The Jaguars
harassed Roethlisberger
and ended the defending
Super Bowl champions’
nine-game winning streak
with a 9-0 win — the lowest-scoring game in Monday Night Football history.
Ordonez lifts Tigers
past White Sox
Detroit’s lead moves to 1 1/2 games
The Associated Press
• Associated Press
Cincinnati linebacker David Pollack (99) is attended to by
trainers after he sustained a season-ending neck injury during its 34-17 win over the Browns on Sunday in Cincinnati. Pollack was placed on the injured reserve list Monday with a neck
injury, but the Cincinnati Bengals expect him to be fully recovered for next season.
CHICAGO — Kenny
Rogers pitched six shutout innings for his 16th win, Magglio Ordonez homered twice
against his former team and
the Detroit Tigers increased
their AL Central
lead
TIGERS
M o n d a y
8
night by beatWHITE SOX ing
the
Chicago
2
White Sox 82.
The Tigers lead Minnesota,
which was idle Monday night,
by 1½ games in the division
and are six games ahead of the
defending World Series champion White Sox, whose return
to the playoffs is in deep jeopardy after a sixth loss in eight
games.
Rogers (16-6) allowed just
four hits, escaped several jams
and is 5-1 over his last nine
starts. He improved to 3-1
against the White Sox this
season and has allowed three
earned runs in 33 innings
against Chicago.
Jim Thome’s 40th homer, a
solo shot off Fernando Rodney in the eighth, ended the
Tigers’ shutout bid. Pinch-hitter Josh Fields homered in the
ninth in his first big league atbat for the White Sox.
This time it was Ordonez’s
turn to put a big hurt on his
former team with a pair of solo
homers. On Saturday and
Sunday in Oakland, ex-White
Sox star Frank Thomas hit
homers to help the A’s sweep
Chicago.
Craig Monroe also connected off Mark Buehrle (1213), who was bailed out of a
big first inning by the White
Sox’s second triple play of the
season. Buehrle, just 3-7 in
the second half, gave up 10
See TIGERS • D3
D4 Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2006
L OV E I N T H E FA S T L A N E
The Lima News
Kathy puts
on her
gloves in
her dragster
before racing at the
Milan Dragway. In addition to
racing and
working with
her husband
at Performance by
Fisher,
Kathy is an
on-air radio
personality
at MIX
103.3 in
Lima.
Kevin waits in a line of dragsters before racing at the Milan Dragway in Milan, Mich.
Kathy kisses
Kevin by
their trailer
and dragster
at the Milan
Dragway.
“We love
drag racing
and we love
each other,”
Kevin said.
Kevin
latches his
helmet to
the roll
cage of his
dragster
before racing at the
Milan
Dragway.
TY WRIGHT photos
The Lima News
Kathy and a crew member watch and cheer for husband Kevin during one of his races at the Milan Dragway.
FAST LANE • from D1 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
So she called the man in the
ad.
“We just talked about everything other than radio advertising,” she said. “I told him I
was going over to Marion
(County Raceway) and he said,
‘Yeah, that’s where I’m running
too.’”
They met and their friend-
ship grew.
In May of 2000, Kevin made
his move.
He bought her a dozen roses.
Once at the track, he rode his
ATV over to her pit and gave
them to her.
“I said, ‘These are for you.’
And I swear, to this day, I saw a
tear come out of the corner of
her eye,” he said.
Kathy laughs at that statement. “We’re not even going
there,” she said.
Now they are business partners, teammates, competitors
and best friends.
“Everything we do is together,” Kathy said. “We still
have couple spats like anybody
else would. … Sometimes we
both have different ideas and
we’re both a little bull-headed.”
One issue they have to balance is when one driver has a
good weekend while the other
struggles.
During a race in Ontario,
Canada, earlier this year, Kathy
redlighted by 9/1,000s of a sec-
ond in the first round, while
Kevin went on to post one of
his best results of the season.
“I was fine with it. I was like,
‘Ok, it was really close. You
can’t blink in 7/1,000s of a second. Now we need to concentrate on him.’ And he went on
to do very well that race,” she
said.
“There have been times
though, I’ll have to admit, in
past years, I’d get a little jealous. ‘I’m just as good as you are.
Why am I not still out there?’
But you grow up and get over
that.”
Said Kevin, “We love drag
racing and we love each other.”
www.limanews.com
Visit The Lima News online
for local news, sports & weather
Let’s reminisce
Every Wednesday is a blast from the past
in The Lima News