New Castle officials reject request for a parade because of safety issue

By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- City officials said they denied Westminster College students' request for a parade in the downtown area because it would snarl traffic the peak afternoon hours and be unsafe for pedestrians.
City Administrator John DiMuccio said the city council did not rescind its approval for a rally on Kennedy Square, but police denied the request for a parade.
Mark Meighen, senior director of marketing at Westminster College, said representatives of the Green Party and Allies, both student organizations, stated at a press conference on campus Wednesday the rally planned today in downtown New Castle was canceled.
He emphasized the opinions of Westminster students are not necessarily those of the Westminster administration.
What had been planned
In a joint press release Tuesday, the groups said they planned a rally with the topic "Support Our Troops, Not Our Policy," but the city refused "to provide an area for people to peacefully assemble."
"Council approved use of the public square for the rally," said City Administrator John DiMuccio. "It's a public place, and they have a constitutional right to meet there."
Police Chief John Kindel said the students requested the rally, then the parade, and asked for police protection.
"It's not about the group, or the topic," Kindel said Thursday. "They wanted a parade in the heart of downtown at 4:30 p.m. on a weekday," he said. "No one is going to be allowed to have a parade then, it doesn't matter what group it is. That is a peak time for traffic, and particularly with the downtown area torn up the way it is, blocking off the streets would be a nightmare."
Kindel told the students they could have the five patrolmen they requested, if the groups could pay the officers' overtime salary for the event.
He said the department had no problem with a rally at Kennedy Square, if the students stayed on the sidewalks.