News Herald from Port Clinton, Ohio • 1

Vacationland puts on a show Festivals, live bands, sales on tap for Memorial Day weekend Step' Out, A3 Saturday May 25, 1996 Weather, cloudy High in mid-60s Waves 3-5 feet Winds northeast, 10-20 knots Details, A2 Bridge damage forces lane closure on 1-90 COLUMBUS (AP) Part of Interstate 90 eastbound in Lake County was shut down Friday after structural damage was detected in a bridge over the Grand River. The Ohio Department of Transportation said the bridge east of Painesville will be closed indefinitely. It may be weeks to hire a contractor to fix the damage and rerouted traffic to the westbound bridge because of the complexity of the highway design and the level of traffic, ODOT said. About 27,000 cars cross the Grand River bridges each day. The closure, which effects eight miles of the highway that travels from Boston to Seattle, was ordered after an ODOT contractor found fracturing in four gusset plates under the bridge deck.

The cause of the damage was being investigated, said Neal Gresham, ODOT District 12 acting deputy director. Traffic on eastbound I-90 will be detoured to State Route 44 northbound, to State Route 2 eastbound, to U.S. 20 eastbound, to State Route 528 southbound, and back to I-90 eastbound. No one injured in boating accident MIDDLE ISLAND A 32- foot cigarette boat sunk Friday after hitting a Middle Bass Island reef. No one was injured when the boat driven by Michael Chapin, of Cleveland, hit Lonz' reef at 4:14 p.m., said Seaman Apprentice Brian Trondson of the U.S.

Coast Guard, Marblehead station. The five people on-board swam to shore where they were taken care of at Put-inBay, Trondson said. The accident damaged the boat outdrive, authorities said. Deaths Irma Rose Helfer Toledo Ray Leemaster Gibsonburg Details, A2 Lottery Pick 3: 2-2-4 Pick 4: 0-7-4-4 Buckeye 5: 11-12-17-33-36 The Super Lotto jackpot is $16 million. Call us For news, sports, advertising or home delivery: Port Clinton: 734-3141 Oak Harbor: 898-7451 Toll-free: 1-800-636-6906 Index Ann Landers A6 Neighbors A6 Religion A5 Obituaries A2 Classified B3-4 Sports B1-3 Comics B5 Stocks A8 Editorial A4 Weather A2 Kathy Estep A3 A Gannett Printed on Newspaper recycled GANNETT paper.

Teen brews up business in Lakeside Night-time alternative music is one feature of the resort java shop Business, A8 News Herald Mastronardi di gets maximum sentence for 1995 fatal crash ordered Mastronardi to serve five to 10 years in the Ohio State Penitentiary for involuntary manslaughter, a thirddegree aggravated felony. He was given six months for vehicular homicide, a misdemeanor, to be served concurrently. An appeal to the decision was also filed Friday in the case, Festival 5-10 years Background WEEKEND Great Weekend Getaways David Hasselhoff of 'Baywatch' rates top beaches USA Weekend, Inside Port Clinton, Ohio Ontario boater gets By ANN MILANOWSKI Staff writer SANDUSKY Canadian Ollie Mastronardi, 43, got the maximum sentence Friday on charges from the fatal boat accident on 1 Lake Erie near Kelleys Island last year. Erie County Common Pleas Judge Ann B. Maschari Port Clinton Walleye Fest kicks Browne, Norton win 1996 royalty crowns By ANN MILANOWSKI Staff writer PORT CLINTON Karlene Browne was crowned the 1996-97 Walleye Queen Friday night at the official kickoff of the 17th Annual Walleye Festival at Water Works Park.

Browne, 15, 717 Taft is the daughter of Douglas and Paula Browne. She replaces the 1995-96 Queen Monica I. Stevens. "Ever since my older sister was queen in 1990, I saw how much excitement she had and wanted to do it," Browne said. "It'll be the greatest achievement I ever have had in my life, my biggest dream." The secondrunner up was Kami Surovjak, 18, the daughter of Kimberly Norton Drew and Beverly Surovjak.

The first-runner up was Rachel Shanteau, 17, the daughter of Tammy and Emmett Estep. In promoting Vacationland as the "Walleye Capital of the World," at various functions across Ohio this year, Browne will travel with the new Walleye Festival Princess Kimberly Norton. Norton, 7, 615 Viola is the daughter of Jim and Annette Norton. While pageant watchers huddled in a tent safe from the wind, several hundred festival-goers braved the not-so-picture-perfect weather a windchill of 48 degrees to enjoy themselves. "It's not really that cold," said Gina Ceccolini, 14, of Port Clinton who sat huddled in her woolen coat eating a funnel cake with her friend Jamie Meade, 15, which stemmed from the June 24, 1995 death of 24-year-old Scott Brabander, of Broadview Heights.

Prior to the sentencing, the victim's mother, Susan Brabander, addressed Mastronardi in an emotion-packed statement to the court. See BOATER, Page 2 The accident: June 24, 1995, Ollie Mastronardi's 38-foot cigarette boat collided with the Brabander family's pleasure boat near Kelleys Island. Scott Brabander, 24, Broadview Heights, died. A jury, following a three-week trial, found the Ontario businessman guilty of involuntary manslaughter. What's next: An appeal was filed Friday in the U.S.

Sixth District Court of Appeals in Toledo. It also requested Mastronardi be released on bond if the appeal is accepted. into gear despite colder weather are correct, the crowds will come. Or at least that is what the vendors hope. "This is our third year here," said Jim Malaska of Woodville, whose is selling wooden lawn ornaments with his partners tival.

"The first year, it was beautiful," Malaska said. "The second was a disaster. I mean a disaster. I hope it's not going to be a damp one. So far it's positive." News SLOVER 1996 Port Clinton Walleye Queen Karlene Browne, right, gets a hug from 1995 queen Monica Stevens.

also of Port Clinton. casts of 60 to 70 degrees and dry from Woodshop at the fes- "We come here every year and it's real fun," Meade agreed. "You see all of your friends. You have to be crazy not to come, I As long as the weekend fore- Environment Memorial Day underscores need for clean water Gannett News Service WASHINGTON Millions of Americans will be streaming to the nation's beaches, lakes and rivers this long weekend, and according to the Environmental Protection Agency the money those fun-seekers will spend corresponds directly to the quality of the water. Standing alongside the Potomac River described by President Johnson 30 years ago as a "national disgrace" and Lake Erie Limit hike is 'good advertising' for area By SCOTT CARPENTER Staff writer PORT CLINTON Pat Chrysler wasn't surprised to hear the daily walleye limit had been raised to 10.

"It's about time," said the full-time fishing guide from Put-in-Bay. "I think that's terrific," he said from his boat near South Bass Island. "It's going to be nothing but good advertising for us. It says 'We got fish, come get 'em!" The Ohio Wildlife Council approved the increase for one Walleye success story: A 10-fish limit for walleye starting June 1 will be the highest since the bag limit was lowered from 10 to six in 1979. Except for the 1992, 1993 and 1994 seasons, when it was lowered to five, the limit has remained at six for as long as walleye has been the most -after fish species in Lake Erie.

The harvest grew most years, peaking in 1988 with nearly five million fish taken. In 1995, Ohio anglers caught fewer than 1.5 million fish the lowest in 20 years, probably because of clearer water which makes them harder to catch. The daily bag limits in Michigan and Ontario are six. year starting June 1. Mike Budzik, chief of the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said the higher limit in the most productive fishing months of June, July and August, will give anglers an opportunity to make up for lost time because of poor weather this spring.

The change comes after the fishing season has already begun and without public hearings, both of which are unusual but permitted by Ohio law in certain cases. "We felt that because the fish are there, we shouldn't deprive people of them," said Roger Knight, supervisor of the Sandusky Fisheries Research Unit. "The scientific data say that we can take more Knight said a substantially higher quota of fish allocated to Ohio through an international agreement was part of the reason for the increase. Ohio's share of the fish, 5.61 million, is more than sportsmen have ever caught in a season. The current stock of 56 million two-year-old walleye is higher than it was in the 1970s, the last time the limit was 10 fish per day, he said.

Not that higher limits autoSee QUALITY, Page 2 now a hot fishing spot EPA Administrator Carol Browner released a report showing clean water is crucial to the nation's Beaches: local water testing begins soon. Page 2 recreation, commercial fishing, tourism and industrial sectors. "As we head into summer, clean, safe water becomes more important than ever in our daily lives," Browner said Friday as she released an EPA report, shell fishing is a $45 billion "Liquid Assets: A Summertime industry that can't survive withPerspective on the Importance out clean water. Yet there were of Clean Water to the Nation's fish consumption bans on more Economy. than 1,500 bodies of water last "Clean water is a boon to the year and one of three shellfish nation's economy, not a drain," beds is closed because of polluBrowner said.

For instance: tion. Americans make 1.8 billion Manufacturers use 13 triltrips to beaches, rivers and lion gallons of water a year for lakes, pouring $380 billion into a everything from soft drinks (12 recreation and tourism industry billion gallons) to industrial that now ranks second only to processes. health care in jobs. About 15 percent of U.S Commercial fishing and See MILLIONS, Page 2.