News Herald from Port Clinton, Ohio • 1

Grisham offers Christmas tale Exclusive excerpt from new book is holiday treat USA WEEKEND Redskins defeat St. Mary's 65-62 Oak Harbor falls to Huron 55-48 in Sandusky Bay Conference test Sports, Bl Tren f'r tt rr i ews 50 Port Clinton, Ohio www.portclintonnewsherald.com New Year's Eve 'Wylie Walleye' wiggles onto Web Mayor Tom Brown, probably "Wylie Walleye's" No. 1 cheerleader, shows off a "Wylie Saturday Dec. 15,2001 Weather High 44 Waves 2 feet Winds 5-1 Omph Details, A2 for people who can't see the drop." The camera, which is on top of Mary's Blossom Shoppe on Madison Street, is operated by Coastal Wave Wireless Internet, Brown said. It is one of several new twists on the sixth-annual event.

See WYLIE, A5 Thursday. The live shots of "Wylie Walleye" will be available on the official Walleye Drop Web' site, "This will add a whole new audience," Brown said. "It will be great to promote Port Clinton, and it also will offer the community a service By JOSH CABLE Staff writer PORT CLINTON The Walleye Drop is going global. A "walleye cam' perched atop a downtown building will beam live shots of the New Year's Eve Walleye Drop across the World Wide Web, Mayor Tom Brown said News Herald file photo Holiday GREETINGS Marblehead Easy rider 77 graoug This Christmas card was designed by Matthew Fillmore, 6, a student at Jefferson Elementary School. Afghanistan Bin Laden may bo ccmared Associated Press TORA BORA, Afghanistan In the fiercest fighting yet of the Tora Bora campaign, U.S.

special forces joined Afghan guerrillas Friday in attacking al-Qaida positions, including a machine-gun nest. Two Americans were wounded by enemy fire. A tribal leader said he believes Osama bin Laden was cornered in the rugged mountains, perhaps in one of the caves where his fighters have been holding out against the unrelenting onslaught by alliance and U.S. troops and American bombers. More about war, A6 NewsHeraldJOHNWALZ Lloyd Washburn sits on one of the five classic Indian motorcycles he has built over the years.

Retiring airport board member has been roaring through life days to submit the referendum request to the Ottawa County Board of Elections. The referendum would be on the November 2002 general election ballot, but the referendum request would put the income tax on hold until then, she said. Imke said that her next step is to get a certified copy of the income tax ordinance from village Clerk-Treasurer Cynthia Plottner so she can circulate petitions. The ordinance must be attached to the petitions, she said. Imke is no stranger to this kind of action.

She circulated a petition in January that placed a repeal initiative on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. Voters repealed the 1-percent income tax by a vote of 343 to 101. But because the ballot initiative was non-binding, council had the right to bring back the income tax with another ordinance. They did by a vote of 5-1 Thursday night.

The income tax is paid by Marblehead businesses on net profits and by residents on earned income. Mayor Steve Plottner, who defeated Imke in the 1999 mayoral election, said Thursday night that the income tax is badly needed to keep the village on solid financial footing. "We will be in another fiscal crisis in nine months (without the income tax)," Plottner said after the meeting. By JOSH CABLE Staff writer MARBLEHEAD Former village Clerk-Treasurer Nilene Imke said Friday that she will challenge the new municipal income tax ordinance yith a referendum. Imke, who led a successful campaign to repeal the village's first income tax ordinance, said that she objects to the way Marble-head Village Council "jammed it down everyone's throats" with its passage of an income tax Thursday night that superseded the repeal.

"I don't understand why they couldn't have put it on the ballot in May and taken a few months to explain why they want it," Imke said Friday. Imke had a similar problem with the way the first income tax ordinance was passed by emergency measure at council's Dec. 14, 2000, meeting. On Thursday night, council did not pass the new income tax ordinance by emergency measure. But council members agreed to waive the three public readings and pass it on the first try.

Imke said that her phone has been ringing constantly with disgruntled residents. "They're saying, 'What can I 'How can I and 'You are going to do a referendum aren't Imke said. Imke said she that has 30 Deaths Doris Mae Hamann Port Clinton Chris Ihrcke Port Clinton Corrine Fleming Williston Details, A2 By JENNIFER FUNK Staff writer PORTAGE TOWNSHIP Between racing motorcycles in his youth and flying airplanes he built with his own hands, Erie-Ottawa Regional Airport Board member Lloyd Washburn has had his share of adventures. Washburn, 84, has decided to retire from the board after about 25 years of service, but his quest for excitement hasn't diminished much. "He's done it all, and you couldn't ask for a better friend," said Airport Board President Ken Benjamin, who has worked with But he prefers to remember the New York State 10-Mile Dirt Track Championship he won in 1940.

Washburn's large pole barn doubles as a workshop and is littered with motorcycle parts, a plane engine and machining equipment. And though throughout his flying career, which spanned about five decades, he owned 18 different airplanes, he no longer flies. "I'm fresh out of airplanes," he joked while walking through his workshop, explaining that he sold his last one two months ago. "I'm pretty much out of the airplane See LLOYD, A5 Washburn for several years on the board. "He's just a joy to listen to about the earlier days of aviation and how it's changed from then until now." Washburn, who will attend his last board meeting in January, still works on airplane parts and builds classic Indian motorcycles as'a hobby.

The Sand Road resident has five Indian motorcycles, ranging in years from 1932 to 1941, and still rides them occasionally. He still has a bump on his leg that reminds him of the only major injury he ever suffered while racing motorcycles a broken leg. Lottery Pick 3: 4-4-2 Pick 4: 5-7-2-3 Buckeye 5: 5-7-9-10-37 DAY DRAWINGS Pick 3: 8-2-2 Pick 4: 5-5-8-9 Ottawa County Holiday Bureau making Christmas a lot happier for estimated 300 families Call us For news, sports, advertising or home delivery: News: 4 19-734-7503 Sports: 4 19-734-75 19 Circulation customer 419-734-7525 Classified advertising: 419-734-7512 Other departments: 419-734-7500 Toll Free: (800) 636-6906 Members of Ohio National Guard's 200th RED HORSE Squadron, from left, Airman Jef-fery Buchman, Tech Sgt. Dar-rell Maxwell, and Staff Sgt. Angie Michalak load a truck with food at old City Hall in Port Clinton.

News Herald JOHN WALZ if a I MliinaMlnnni muni in 1 II II lull 11 nil II I I ioi.il rum mm I il 111 I ill I I I I 1 1 unrriM Index Ann Landers NationWorld Classified Comics Editorial A8 A2 Bl-3 A6 A2 A8 Neighbors A6 Obituaries B7 Sports A9 Stocks A4 Weather BY JENNIFER FUNK Staff writer PORT CLINTON More than 300 Port Clinton-area families were in need of help this year, and local Holiday Bureau organizers believe they all can be helped. "This year we were very fortunate, and I think we're going to be OK," said Port Clinton Unit Chairwoman Cynthia Witter Distribution scheduled to begin Sunday, A5. Friday morning. "The donations were down originally, but now people are coming up the plate and saying 'Oh no, we didn't forget The Holiday Bureau has sev- See HOLIDAY, AS Business A7 A Gannett Printed Newspaper on Qtotd recycled Copyright 2001 NewsyHerald www.portclintonnewsherald.com.