NEWS 6 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2010
LOCAL NEWS
A perfect end to a love story — a ring
‘Doug’ reclaims lost wedding
band that was given to police.
He thinks it fell off while he
was sorting recyclables.
By Manuel Gamiz Jr.
OF THE MORNING CALL
Doug Yingling thought he’d have to
wait until the winter ended to start looking
for the wedding ring.
He wasn’t buying one. He was looking
for the one he’d lost earlier this year.
When he couldn’t find the ring in his
ALLENTOWN SCHOOLS
Dieruff High School football coach John McDowell talks with his team as they eat lunch at the school’s cafeteria Friday.
Dieruff football gets boost
Coach, parents, alumni
gather at meeting to show
support for the program.
By Steve Esack
OF THE MORNING CALL
Football coach John McDowell weaved
his way past parents and students milling in
the Dieruff High School cafeteria Thursday
night. He offered quick, nervous hellos and
started hooking up his laptop computer for
the video projector Athletic Director Tim
Geiger was setting up.
Then in they filed, 16 men. Some were
members of an Allentown church, others
were Dieruff alumni, and one was a coach-
ing legend.
“I just want to be behind the scenes and
offer whatever support I can give in my own
ways,” said Bruce Trotter, 80, who coached
the Dieruff Huskies to three championships
during his two coaching stints at the east
Allentown school, from 1973-79 and in 1981.
“I still believe these kids need the right
shot.”
Trotter and the other men listened to Mc-
Dowell explain his vision for improving the
lives of this generation of Dieruff student-
athletes, who were winless last season and
grow up in neighborhoods far different
from the one Trotter’s players knew de-
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Lynn Township home, Yingling assumed
it came off outside and hoped he’d spot it
when the snow cleared.
Instead the ring turned up weeks later,
during the Valentine’s Day weekend, at a
Waste Management trash facility in
Weisenberg Township.
Yingling said he figures it fell off while
he was sorting through recyclables, got
picked up and taken in a truck to the facili-
ty on Golden Key Road.
The ring, a white gold band with the
inscription “Doug and Andrea,” was a bit
loose-fitting. He thought it might have fall-
en off while he was taking off his winter
gloves.
DIERUFF TOUCHDOWN CLUB
What: Football booster club
Purpose: Raise money to purchase equipment
and pay for team activities; serve as communi-
cation link to parents and community
Phone: 610-762-2715
E-mail: dierufffootball@yahoo.com
cades ago.
“We want to try to start a Touchdown
Club to use as a separate booster club,” said
McDowell, 29. “There’s difficulty in reach-
ing parents at our school, whether they are
athletes or not. This is our big tool to get
people involved.”
The Dieruff Touchdown Club, founded
last month with the help of alumnus Betty
Yarnall, is an independent offshoot of the
school’s larger Booster Club, which helps
all sports. Dieruff now joins nearly all other
area high schools, which have mini-booster
clubs that raise money for individual
sports.
The Touchdown Club hopes to raise
$20,000 this year through raffles, auctions,
car washes and a May 8 social night at the
East Side Youth Center. The money will be
used to purchase athletic clothing, sneakers
and spikes for players, and pay for special
outings to build team unity.
It also will serve as the place where par-
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Even after weeks of frustration, Yin-
gling and his wife of two years said they
believed the ring would turn up someday.
“We were really upset and I guess we
had some hope that it wasn’t lost forever,”
he said. “We thought maybe it dropped
somewhere on the property and it may be
discovered at some point.”
A Waste Management employee spotted
the ring near a container last Saturday. It
was taken to the state police Fogelsville
barracks Wednesday. Troopers issued a
news release looking for Doug or Andrea
or someone who knew them. News of the
unclaimed ring traveled fast.
Yingling said he called state police
MICHAEL KUBEL / THE MORNING CALL
ents, fans and residents can seek informa-
tion for upcoming events like the Little Hus-
kies Youth Football Camp for young chil-
dren in July.
“My real goal of the Touchdown Club is
communication,” McDowell said. “The
Touchdown Club is not by any means for
coaches’ stipends. It’s about the kids.”
They need it.
The Huskies were the subject of a five-
part Morning Call series in November that
followed McDowell’s inaugural season. Mc-
Dowell, a West Coast native who coached on
championship teams in suburban Sacra-
mento, Calif., moved east to be with his wife,
a doctor at St. Luke’s Hospital-Fountain
Hill. He was hired to resurrect the Huskies
football dynasty that had crumbled amid
the city’s rising poverty.
McDowell’s respect for his undersized,
inexperienced players grew through the
0-10 season as he realized with sadness that
many of his players receive little or no en-
couragement from home.
Dieruff’s larger sister school, Allen High,
has the same problems. Last month the
Allentown School Board hired another out-
sider to head Allen’s football program:
Cedric Lloyd, who coached struggling inner
city schools in Indianapolis.
Please see DIERUFF NEWS 10
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THE MORNING CALL
Thursday after seeing a news item about it
on The Morning Call’s Web site and went
to the barracks to claim it Friday.
“He described it perfectly,” said Sgt. Jas-
on Reznick. “He said he lost it while dump-
ing his recyclables.”
Just in case, though, Yingling took his
marriage license.
“I want to express my appreciation to
the Waste Management employees who
turned it in,” he said. “It was a very gener-
ous gesture to return it, and it worked out
perfectly.”
manuel.gamiz@mcall.com
610-820-6595
Allentown
directors
consider tax
forgiveness
$10,706 owed on North Street
properties that are being
rehabbed by nonprofit group.
By Margie Peterson
SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL
The Allentown School District took steps
Thursday toward giving up a little bit of tax
revenue in the short run to help revitalize a
neighborhood that could add to the tax rolls
in the long run.
At issue is $10,706 in back school taxes
owed on about a dozen properties in the 400
block of North Street owned by the nonprof-
it Housing Association and Development
Corp. The group is turning 43 blighted prop-
erties into 25 homes that will be sold to peo-
ple with low or moderate income, said Bob
Wittman, the group’s resource-develop-
ment coordinator.
Wittman told school directors at the
board’s finance committee meeting that his
organization is spending about $250,000 to
build each of the four-bedroom houses,
which will have sale prices of a little more
than $100,000 apiece.
The group is demolishing the blighted
homes, including seven that were destroyed
in a fire, and constructing ones that must be
occupied by the owners.
So far using state, corporate and founda-
tion contributions, the Housing Associa-
tion and Development Corp. has built nine
homes and sold five, Wittman said.
He asked board members to waive the
$10,706 in back school taxes sought by the
tax collection firm Portnoff Law Associates
in the interest of helping a project that he
said will generate more tax revenue in the
future.
School Director David Zimmerman com-
mended the project, saying he’d toured one
of the finished homes and it was “absolutely
beautiful.”
“The long-term benefit to the city is sub-
stantial,” said School Director Jeff Glazier.
“I hate to give up revenue but it’s a good
Please see TAXES NEWS 10
DON FISHER / MORNING CALL FILE PHOTO
Housing Association and Development Corp.
is turning 43 blighted properties into 25 new
homes on North Street in Allentown.
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NEWS 10 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2010 THE MORNING CALL

LOCAL NEWS

TAXES DIERUFF
Continued from NEWS 6 Continued from NEWS 6

thing for the city.”
School Director Donna-Marie Daday
said that while she agrees the project is good
for the city, it sets a bad precedent to waive
taxes.
But school director Holly Edinger said
there is precedence for waiving taxes for
projects that are expected to benefit Allen-
town in the long run. She pointed to proper-
ties in the Keystone Opportunity Zone,
which are exempt from certain state and
local taxes for a few years as a way of attract-
ing businesses to the downtown.
The board voted 8-1 to take up the matter
at the regular board meeting Thursday. Da-
day was the “no” vote.
Later asked if it’s a conflict of interest for
her to vote on the matter because her hus-
band, Robert P. Daday Jr., works for Port-
noff Law Associates, which would collect
the delinquent taxes, Donna-Marie Daday
said she didn’t think so.
“He doesn’t get any money out of it,” she
said. “I personally don’t think there’s a con-
flict. He gets a salary.”
Daday said she recused herself from an
earlier vote when the board rehired Port-
noff to collect delinquent taxes. She pointed
out that as a tax attorney who has worked in
state tax collections, this is her area of exper-
tise.
In other business:
A District financial adviser Scott Shear-
er of Public Financial Management told
board members they might be able to take
advantage of an anomaly in the bond mar-
ket to save about $550,000 by refunding a $15
million bond issue from 2008. It’s a tradition-
Nonprofit Housing Association and Development Corp. is asking the Allentown School District
to waive the back taxes owed on North Street properties that the group is rehabbing.
al bond and the savings would come from a
lower interest rate on the debt service, he
said. Shearer suggested the district could
prepare the paperwork to be ready if the
board decides to proceed in March.
A Shearer also told the board it could
apply for a low-interest loan from a pool of
federal stimulus money set aside by the
state to fund school construction. The inter-
est rate would be 1 percent to 2 percent.
Applying for it “won’t lock you into any-
DON FISHER / MORNING CALL FILE PHOTO
thing at all,” Shearer said. “If you are award-
ed money, you can always tell the state
thanks but no thanks.”
Later in the evening, Bob Sperling, direc-
tor of facility services, gave board members
a list of school roofs that need to be replaced,
which might be worthy projects if the dis-
trict gets the low-interest loans.
Margie Peterson is a freelance writer.
While the newspaper series focused solely
on Dieruff, it cast a light on the problems fac-
ing coaches and teachers at both high
schools. The stories touched an emotional
nerve across the Lehigh Valley. Pledges of
financial and moral support poured into
Dieruff.
A handful of alumni and the men’s minis-
try of Life Church showed Thursday that
they were sincere when they offered help
months ago. Tyrone Reed of Emmaus, a 1980
Dieruff graduate, told students to have pride
in themselves and their school. “I want you
guys to have a future,” he said.
Arnie Matos of Bethlehem, a member of
Life Church in Allentown, offered his
church’s parking lot for future car washes.
“We believe in you and we are here to support
you in any way we can,” he said.
The showing touched players, who gath-
ered with the men afterward.
“It was an eye-opener,” said junior Troy
Marshall, 17. “Our excuse has always been,
‘No one supports us.’ But it’s here. It’s up to us
to take advantage of it.”
Principal Jim Moniz, an ’89 Dieruff gradu-
ate, said he is witnessing a maturity among
the players he has not seen in years. “This is
the beginning of a very long process,” he said.
“These kids are really starting to turn
around and be successful.”
McDowell ticked off a list of goals: Im-
prove players’ GPAs. Keep them by each oth-
er’s sides by forming teams that get points for
good grades and attendance. Husky pride is
now defined by McDowell’s team slogan: “It’s
not what type of player you are. It’s what type
of person you are.”

POLICE BLOTTER
EASTON
YouTube video bursts bubble
of alleged monument jokers
The pranksters who allegedly dumped
laundry detergent and dish soap in the
fountain at the base of Easton’s Soldiers
and Sailors Monument in September might
have gotten away clean had it not been for
YouTube.
City police learned this month that a
video of the Centre Square stunt was post-
ed online. A clip of the soap mess led inves-
tigators to four New Jersey women.
Phillipsburg residents Carly Marie
Ceccato, 20; Kelsey Rockware, 19; and Alli-
son Tharp, 20; and Stephanie Raymond, 19,
of Glen Gardner, will be charged with crim-
inal mischief, police said.
Cleanup costs totaled $1,104.
— Jenna Portnoy
ALLENTOWN
Man dealt crack cocaine,
had pistol illegally, police say
the gun loaded with nine bullets at his 625
Gordon St. apartment, according the police
arrest affidavit.
City and state police took part in the 1:35
p.m. search. Police said the crack cocaine,
which field-tested positive, will be sent to a
state police lab for further analysis.
Holmes is not permitted to have a gun
because of a conviction on aggravated
assault, the affidavit says.
He was arraigned by District Judge
Karen C. Devine of Allentown on charges
of possession with intent to deliver crack
cocaine, possession of crack cocaine, posses-
sion of drug paraphernalia and illegal
possession of a firearm.
He was sent to Lehigh County Prison
under $50,000 bail.
— Frank Warner
ALLENTOWN
Narcotics agents charge
Allentown man in cocaine bust
State narcotics agents arrested an
Allentown man after reportedly finding
In the vehicle Jimenez occupied, agents
with the state attorney general’s Bureau
of Narcotics Investigation and Drug Con-
trol said they found the cocaine and mon-
ey. They next searched Jimenez’s residence
at 545 E. Susquehanna St. and allegedly
found $5,000 along with the cell phone Jime-
nez allegedly used to arrange cocaine sales.
Jimenez was arraigned Wednesday
night on charges of possession with intent
to deliver a controlled substance, posses-
sion of a controlled substance and criminal
use of a communications device.
He was sent to Lehigh County Prison
under $50,000 bail.
— Arlene Martínez
ALLENTOWN
Drug dealing, pot-growing
operation found, police say
An Allentown man was charged with
dealing drugs after cocaine and marijua-
na were found at his home and a pot-grow-
ing operation was found in a second city
when they searched Riddick’s home at
11:40 a.m. Feb. 12, police said. Five min-
utes later, a search warrant was executed
at 220 N. 10th St., where police said they
found the marijuana-growing equipment.
The hydroponic pot-growing operation
included grow lights, ventilating fans and
a water filtration system, police said.
Riddick was arraigned on charges of
delivering or cultivating controlled sub-
stances, possession of drugs and posses-
sion of drug paraphernalia.
District Judge Karen C. Devine of
Allentown sent him to Lehigh County
Prison under $100,000 bail.
— Frank Warner
MIDDLE SMITHFIELD TOWNSHIP
Charged — Marissa Schneider, 24, of Scotia;
3:16 a.m. Sunday; by state police at Swiftwa-
ter; with drunken driving, careless driving
and leaving the proper lane on Route 209.
Charged — Walter Eppler, 40, of Delaware
Township, Pike County; 12:48 a.m. Tuesday;
with drunken driving on Tom X Road at
Route 402.

An Allentown man was charged with
dealing cocaine and illegal possession of a
loaded .22-caliber revolver after police
served a search warrant Feb. 12 on his
home.
The search found that Jackie R. Holmes,
27, had 89 plastic bags of crack cocaine,
razor blades and bags for drug dealing, and
200 grams of cocaine and $300 in his car
and another $5,000 during a search of his
residence.
Agents approached Felix Antonio Jime-
nez, 55, at the rear of 336 W. Lexington St.
at 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to
arrest papers filed by District Judge
Karen C. Devine in Allentown.
location, police said.
Shakime R. Riddick, 32, of 518 N.
Howard St., had 14 grams of crack co-
caine, 146 grams of powder cocaine, 43
grams of marijuana and 21 grams of hash-
ish in his home, according to the police
arrest affidavit.
City and state police found the drugs
UPPER MACUNGIE TOWNSHIP
Charged — Michael B. Caraballo of Allen-
town; 11:47 p.m. Saturday; with drunken
driving at Route 222 Bypass at Route 100; by
state police at Fogelsville.
Charged — Patrick M. McGeehin, 26, of
Allentown; 1:13 a.m. Saturday; with drunken
driving; at I-78 near Kuhnsville interchange;
by state police at Fogelsville.

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