ThisWeek Northland 6/30

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June 30, 2011

North Side Health Advisory Committee

Nonprofit quest gains some urgency By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers

North Side Health Advisory Committee members have been talking about obtaining nonprofit status for several months. Now they have not only an incentive to do so, but also a fast-approaching deadline. At last week’s monthly meeting, Columbus Public Health management analyst Mathew S. Baldwin, who advises the panel, informed members of a

possible grant for which the committee might be eligible, but only if they can become a nonprofit organization, and do so by the filing deadline of Aug. 5. The grants, for between $5,000 and $10,000, come through the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, which is under the Department of Health and Human Services and part of the federal Healthy People 2020 initiative. Up to 170 projects could receive the one-time funding, according to Baldwin.

“Healthy People is a set of topic areas and objectives with 10-year targets designed to guide national health promotion and disease-prevention efforts to improve the health of people in the United States,” according to the application form for the grant money. “Healthy People 2020 represents the fourth generation of this initiative, building on a foundation of three decades of work. This request for proposal recognizes the lead role that community-based organizations play in improving a community’s health. The purpose of this RFP

is to solicit community-level projects that use Healthy People 2020 overarching goals, topic areas and objectives to promote improved heath at a community level.” According to the document, the grants are intended “to support activities above and beyond general operations. Using the projects funded through this RFP, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion intends to evaluate how the Healthy People 2020 overarching goals, topic areas and objectives are being used to improve the health of

communities.” The document goes on to state that the money will be awarded in the areas of “environmental justice,” “health equity” and “healthy behaviors across all life stages.” Baldwin indicated that the health advisory committee, perhaps working in partnership with the Helping Hands Health and Wellness free clinic, North YMCA and even a senior citizens’ center, could qualify in that third category. See NONPROFIT QUEST, page A2

County coroner discusses ‘CSI Effect’

Old soldier to be among parade honorees

By KEVIN PARKS

By KEVIN PARKS

ThisWeek Community Newspapers

ThisWeek Community Newspapers

If no one used a fingerprint kit, jurors might be inclined to acquit. Wildly popular television shows such as the “Law and Order” and especially “CSI” franchises that celebrate and elevate the scientific aspects of crime-fighting have created unrealistic expectations among the public when it comes to evidence presented in a courtroom, Franklin County Coroner Dr. Jan M. Gorniak said during a presentation last week to Block Watch captains from the Northland area. “The people who watch these shows end up on a jury,” GorniDr. Jan Gorniak ak said. “It’s entertainment. We have to remember that.” But people serving on juries don’t always remember that, she added, instead expecting conclusive, scientific evidence in every case and automatically mistrusting non-scientific evidence. They are also, according to Gorniak’s PowerPoint presentation, “oblivious to constraints of cost, time, manpower and priorities.” Gorniak, the county’s first full-time forensic pathologist to serve as coroner, said it isn’t only potential jurors who believe conclusive DNA tests and fingerprint matching should be part of the evidence in all criminal trials. Crime victims, too, expect science to solve their cases. “Why people get caught is they talk too much,” she said. Sometimes even prosecutors get caught up in the DNA fervor, according to Gorniak, who was elected coroner in November 2008. She related the case of a corpse found in a closet. The victim, a man, had been strangled. His arms had been cut off and weren’t found at the scene. They did not turn up until police pulled over the man’s stolen car, which was being driven by his son. The severed arms were in a tote in the back seat. As the son was coming to trial, the prosecutor in the case sought out Gorniak to ask if her office had done DNA testing to prove the arms from the car belonged to the body from the closet. She hadn’t put the county to that expense, Gorniak explained, because of the supreme unlikelihood of two men being murdered and having their arms cut off on the same night, let alone that one victim’s arms would turn up in the back seat of the other victim’s car, which was driven by his son. “If those aren’t his arms, we have a problem,” Gorniak said. “The CSI Effect,” as the coroner titled the main portion of her address to the Block Watch representatives during their monthly meeting, has been an issue discussed in legal and law enforcement circles for quite some time. Rather naturally, no definitive conclusions have been arrived at. Writing in the Yale Law Journal in 2006, former Maricopa County (Ariz.) Chief Prosecutor Andrew P. Thomas stated: “Real prosecutors’ offices are constrained by their limited resources. While some jurisdictions

Even if his doctor orders him not to, Dante P. Guzzo is going to be in the Northland Community Fourth of July Parade. It’s the first time he’s been invited to participate in a parade celebrating Independence Day, to have his service to his nation recognized. Plenty of politicians have gotten to ride in Cadillacs, waving to the crowds lining this or that parade route. Others have been feted, as well. “Every year, it’s a developer or one thing or another,” said the 88-year-old World War II veteran, who received both the Purple Heart and Distinguished Service Cross. But not Dante “Tony” Guzzo. Not until now. “And I’ve been waiting since 1945,” Guzzo said last week. “They’ve run out of politicians and now they’ve got me.” A former resident of the Northland area, Guzzo now lives at the Worthington Christian Village. He will be, doctors’ orders or no, among the local WWII vets to be feted as part of the 2011 edition of the Northland parade, a community tradition for just under half a century. Event chairman George Schmidt indicated last week the parade is still in need of a color

See FRANKLIN COUNTY CORONER, page A2

By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek

Dante “Tony” Guzzo, a World War II veteran who fought at Normandy, will ne honored at this year’s Fourth of July parade. Guzzo is a former Northland resident.

See OLD SOLDIER, page A2

Paving the Way

Coordinators offer speakers for civic groups By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers

Any time, anywhere. Paving the Way program coordinator J.P. Blackwood told Northland area Block Watch captains at last week’s meeting that he or a staff member of the federally funded organization that alerts the public about road projects is ready, willing and able to speak at civic association meetings. And, of course, the speakers would-

n’t be late because they would know how to avoid any construction delays. Paving the Way, which is hosted by the Department of Public Service, publishes an annual guide detailing scheduled roadway work in the Columbus metropolitan area and operates a website that provides daily updates, according to Blackwood. The organization’s slogan is, “We keep Columbus commuters moving.” Motorists may even sign up for email alerts from Paving the Way,

Blackwood told the Block Watch representatives. Part of Paving the Way’s mission is the safety of those working on construction projects, he added. “We need to remind people to be extra careful whenever they see orange barrels, orange signs,” Blackwood said. He added that presentations to civic groups by Paving the Way representatives are honed to the specific area involved, offering information about

projects large and small likely to affect residents of the neighborhood. Fact sheets about these projects can be prepared in advance for distribution at meetings of civic organizations, he said. Paving the Way’s mission also includes endeavoring to remind drivers about some of the basic rules of the road, such as pulling to the right for emergency vehicles with sirens blarSee PAVING THE WAY, page A3

Clinger: Cell phones, teen drivers don’t mix By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers

Columbus banned texting while driving in May 2010. Now, the Precinct 1 liaison officer believes it’s time to take things a step further, and prohibit drivers younger than 18 from talking on their cell phones while behind the wheel. When Scott Clinger broached the subject at last week’s monthly meeting of Northland area Block

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Watch captains, one of those present suggested an even higher age limit for new legislation banning using a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle — “like maybe 40.” “It’s in the thought stage,” Clinger said, adding that he had met with the legislative assistant to Columbus City Council member Michelle M. Mills, chairwoman of the public safety and judiciary committee. It’s beyond that stage in several states, and the Federal Transportation Safety Board voted in Sep-

tember 2005 to add a ban on novice motorists using cell phones to the annual “Most Wanted Safety Recommendations to States.” “Learning how to drive while distracted is definitely a recipe for disaster,” the board’s then-acting chairman, Mark Rosenker, told the Associated Press. At that time, according to the wire service story, 11 states and the District of Columbia had placed See CELL PHONES, page A2

Arts, eats and fun in central Ohio The 2011 Special Olympics Ohio Summer Games were held June 24-26 at various locations in the Columbus area. To view a multimedia presentation on opening day, visit ThisWeekNEWS.com.

Click on Social Scene at ThisWeekNEWS.com


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