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Jim's Towing Service
January 19, 2001     Cape Gazette
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January 19, 2001
 
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16 - CAPE GAZETTE, Friday, Jan. 19 - Jan. 25, 2001 Harbeson girls survive 12-hour ordeal after accident Milton father and son discover wrecked truck off Route 5 By Kerry Kester Two small children may have survived a fatal crash because of the keen eyes of 10-year-old Joshua Levis. The 6- and 7-year- old girls were stranded in a pickup truck for more than 12 hours after the vehicle that struck a deer and killed their stepfather became lodged in a remote wooded area. The children were flown from Beebe Medical Center to Chil- dren's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where the old- er girl was admitted in critical condition and the younger child was admitted in stable condition. Both sustained injuries in the crash, and both were suffering from hypothermia. According to Gilbert Holt, Lewes Board of Public Works power and water plant supervisor, during the time the girls were trapped in the vehicle, the lowest temperature recorded in Lewes was 23.3 degrees. The area where the accident occurred is approxi- mately 8 miles inland from Lewes. "Usually, the more inland you go, it's colder," said Holt. "You get away from the water, and it's a little bit cooler. Sometimes, though, we're right even with the inland temperatures." Delaware State Police Cpl. Wal- ter Newton said the Fatal Accident Investigation and Reconstruction (FAIR) team estimates the acci- dent occurred at approximatley 7 p.m., Jan. 13, when Reeves R. Vest, 28, of Harbeson, was driving his stepdaughters home from day care. "It appears that Vest was driving north on Route 5 near In- dian Mission Church when a deer darted in front of the pickup," said Newton. "The truck struck the deer, caus- ing the carcass to flip over the hood," said Newton. The carcass crashed through the windshield into the passenger compartment, which caused the truck to veer off the east edge of the roadway. The truck then traveled through a field for one-quarter mile before strik- ing a tree and coming to its final stop. Newton said when the family did not return home when expect- ed, Vest's wile called Troop 7 to inquire whether there had been any accidents reported that may have involved her family. "We did not have the crash reported to us, and we relayed that informa- tion to her," said Newton. "She called back later in the morning and a general broadcast was placed on the vehicle." Joshua Levis was helping his fa- ther, Bill, who delivers the "News Journal." The two were following their Sunday morning routine of delivering papers then stopping at a Long Neck store for a treat be- fore returning to their Milton home. "We were riding down the road and I was talking to my dad," said Joshua, "and I looked over and I saw the truck over there and I told my dad, 'look, there's a truck over there.' " "He said it had been in a wreck, and I didn't believe him," said Bill. "I thought it was a deer hunter parked." He said that from the angle in which he viewed the truck, damage wasn't easy to see. With a little prodding from Joshua, however, he pulled over, backed up to look again, and saw the truck was damaged. "I called 911 first and told the gentleman it looked like the car had been wrecked," said Bill. "He asked if I'd walk over to it. I did- n't expect nobody to be in there." Father and son then hiked the quarter mile until they reached the truck, all the while keeping the line open with the Sussex County Emergency Operations Center (Suscom). When they arrived, the Levises saw the windshield had been bro- ken, exposing the front seat where they saw the family. "I asked if anybody had been hurt," said Bill. "I saw the little girl move her head, then I saw another little head." He said he attempted to try and find out in what way and how badly she was hurt, but she was somewhat incoherent. "She said she was cold," said Bill, who said she also said her back hurt and her mom was home sleeping. "I knew they had been out there for awhile, because you could tell they were really cold." At the re- quest of the Suscom dispatcher, Bill tried to get a pulse on Vest. However, because of the truck's damage and how it was posi- tioned, Levis wasn't able to reach him. Despite his frustration at not be- ing able to provide some immedi- Ferry workers try again to unionize Oldest maritime group in the nation seeks to organize By Jim Cresson Cape May-Lewes Ferry work- ers are again seeking the right to unionize. The Marine Engineers Benefi- cial Association (MEBA) - at 125 years old, the oldest maritime union in the nation - has requested the Delaware Bay and River Au- thority (DRBA) recognize its de- sire to unionize ferry workers. Late last year, the MEBA filed a formal request to unionize in Su- perior Court in Cape May County, N.J. DRBA spokesman Jim Salmon said the Authority's legal counsel is "currently in discussions with MEBA to see if an amicable solu- tion can be reached," thus averting a court battle over the issue. That's a far different scenario than what occurred during past at- tempts to unionize the DRBA's marine employees. Twice during the 1960s, the DRBA blocked union organizing efforts, claiming that its bi-state authority status was not subject to state laws al- lowing unions to organize. In 1993, ferry workers took that question to the New Jersey Supreme Court, which ruled 6-1 in 1997 that the Authority was subject to New Jersey laws allow- ing the right to bargaining. The DRBA petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the case, but the court would not hear it. When ferry workers sought in 1998 to join the International Union of Operating Engineers, the DRBA spent big money to fight the effort. Workers defeated that initiative in May 1998 with an 87- 55 vote. In 1999 Delaware Gov. Tom Carper wrote an executive order giving employees of authorities the right to unionize. That set the stage for ferry workers to invite the MEBA to represent them. During a Jan. 18 interview, ME- BA organizer Paul Krupa said: "This is not about wages, which are fair at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. It's about labor relations with management. The union's position is that employees want to organize so they can have a demo- cratic voice in their workplace and facilitate operations. We believe this would help the employees and help the ferry service as well. After all, a happy work force is a productive work force." Krupa cited an alleged DRBA management practice of fa- voritism as being one of the main complaints of ferry service em- ployees. He also cited the lack of an objective hearing board for re- viewing employee's grievances. "It's as if the DRBA has operated like a plantation where people are taken care of but they don't have input about working conditions, promotions or job actions," he said. Glenn L. Cox, director of opera- tions for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, is a 1972 graduate of Cal- boon MEBA Engineering School in Baltimore. In November, Cox was part of a DRBA management team visit to MEBA's current en- gineering school in Easton, MD. After meeting with the school Continued on page 17 Kerry Kester photo Delaware State Police Fatal Accident Investigation and Re- construction (FAIR) team member Cpl. Lance Abbott congrat- ulates the father-and-son team who discovered a more than 12-hour-old crash in which a 28-year-old Harbeson man died and his young stepdaughters were injured. While driving on rural Route 5 in the early morning Jan. 14, Joshua Levis, 10, spotted the crashed pickup truck at the edge of a woods. He and his father, Bill Levis, called 911, which facilitated the children's rescue. Several FAIR team members thanked the Levises for their assistance. "You may have saved the Hves of those girls," said Abbott to young Levis. Shown are (l-r) Ab- bott, Joshua Levis and Bill Levis. ate warmth for the girls, he did not move them for fear of complicat- ing the injuries they had already sustained. "We kept talking to them," said Bill. "I kept saying 'we've got help on the way and they'll be here shortly.' I felt so bad for them just sitting there. Five min- ,,tes later, he s',;d, rescue person- nel arrived. The Levises said they were not surprised no one found the crash site earlier. The truck, which was black, was tucked against a wood- ed area, said Levis. "The way it was sitting in the trees, it kind of blended right in." The FAIR team is continuing its investigation of the crash. Prelim- inary findings indicate Vest and the two children were properly re- strained in the vehicle. Joshua Levis said the 7-year-old girl told him they had unfastened their seat belts after the crash. According to Charlie Pollard, whose daughter is in the same class as the older child, the Vest family does not have medical in- surance to cover the medical costs the girls have incurred at the Washington hospital. In an effort to help the family defer costs, Pol- lard and the older girl's teacher, Linda Sockriter of Shields Ele- mentary School, are collecting do- nations. Pollard is in the process of es- tablishing a special trust account at Baltimore Trust. For now, anyone who is able to assist the family may make checks payable to either Pollard or Sockriter and write "Medical Bill Fund" in the message portion of the check. The Cape Gazette will publish more information on the fundraising efforts as it be- comes available. MOTIVATED SELLERS Many poss f(x this .spedaJ" Ixopey: main hoose has 2 BR, 2 BA plus den, caffle- dral cegings goughout large Uving room and lots o storage space. 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