Banner Graphic, Volume 12, Number 114, Greencastle, Putnam County, 22 January 1982 — Page 2

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The Putnam County Banner-Graphic, January 22,1982

Tougher marijuana law debated; House approves anti-busing bill

INDIANAPOLIS iAP) Casual users of marijuana would face a felony charge for possessing an ounce of the plant under a bill before the Indiana House. A bill aimed at cracking down on drug pushers was at the printers today to incorporate the marijuana amendment. After printing, the bill will be eligible for a final vote in the House. Meanwhile, a bill that would forbid use of tax funds to finance cross-district busing in school desegregation cases was sent to the Senate Thursday after clearing the House on a 59-33 vote. The Senate sent the House a bill to give the attorney general subpoena powers. Before the Senate voted on any bills Thursday, Lt. Gov. John M. Mutz broke a 24-24 tie on a bill that would allow safe motorists to skip the written test when they renew a driver’s license. Drivers with more than seven traffic violation points on their licenses and drivers over age 75 would still have to take the renewal test under the bill. Mutz voted against the measure, killing it. Possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana is a misdemeanor now . Rep. Darrell Felling, D-Terre Haute, proposed making possession of 26 grains of marijuana or more a Class D felony, punishable by up to four years in jail and a SIO,OOO fine. An ounce is just over 28 grams. Rep. Mary Jane Petterson, D-Hammond, opposed Felling’s amendment.

Court studying Indiana's appeal of busing costs

CHICAGO (AP) A threejudge federal panel has taken under advisement an appeal by Indiana to overturn a lower court decision requiring it to finance the entire cost of courtordered desegregation busing in Indianapolis. Representing the state before the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals panel Thursday, Deputy Attorney General David Michael Wallman argued Indiana should be allowed to transfer funds from different accounts to pay for busing costs. U.S. District Judge S. Hugh Dillin last summer ordered the state to pay for the busing bill, estimated at $lO million a year. He ruled a state law enacted in 1974 could not be put into effect to transfer funds from the public education appropriation and other allocations. The case began in 1968 when the federal government sued the city school board on charges of discrimination against black students. This fall, about 5,600 black students were bused from the Indianapolis Public Schools district to six predominantly white suburban districts. Dillin has said the state was responsible for the segregated condition of Indianapolis city and suburban school districts. He said that was because the

Banner-Graphic "If Woves For AM" (USPS 142-020) Consolidation o! The Daily Banner Established 1850 The Herald The Daily Graphic Established 1883 Telephone 653-5151 Published daily except Sundays and Holidays by LuMar Newspapers, Inc. at 100 North Jackson St.. Greencastle. Indiana 46135. Entered in the Post OHice at Greencastle, Indiana, as 2nd class mail matter under Act ol March 7,1878. Subscription Rates Per Week, by carrier *I.OO Per Month, by motor route *4 55 Mail Subscription Rates R.R. in Rest of Rest of Putnam Co. Indiana U.S.A. 3 Months >12.00 >12.55 >15.00 6 Months 24.00 25.10 30.00 1 Year 48.00 49.20 60.00 Mail subscriptions payable in advance not accepted in town and where motor route service is available. Member of the Associated Press The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use tor republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper.

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state didn’t merge them during the 1970 s when it consolidated many other city and Marion County services under Uni-Gov. He also said the city confined all new public housing projects, in which 98 percent of the residents were black, within the city’s boundaries In a closing rebuttal Thursday, Wallman told the panel the state has no unappropriated surpluses to pay for the busing costs. He added use of the transfer act would provide some incentive for the suburban school districts to consolidate or annex neighboring districts and thus provide a fairer remedy. “Fourteen years of litigation resulted in a strange decree.” said Wallman, who argued that Dillin’s ruling had less force in bringing about a more integrated school district. Attorney John Preston Ward, representing one of the parties opposing the state’s appeal, said the transfer act was enacted before the state admitted its part in the segregated connditions. If the act were applied, it would interrupt the normal education process by drawing off funds to remedy segregation.

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“This looks to me to be a very serious change in our philosophy about drugs,” she said. Rep. William Drozda, D-Gary, said the change “belittles the meaning of what a felony is.” Drozda said the state’s drug laws are tough enough without making felons of people who possess small amounts of marijuana. The House voted 50-41 for the amendment, making the bill eligible for a vote. The anti-busing bill sponsored by Reps. Anthony L. Miles and Gordon Harper, Rs-Indianapolis, was approved the same day Indiana’s attorney general argued before the federal appeals court in Chicago that Indiana shouldn’t foot the bill for courtordered desegregation of Indianapolis public schools. Miles, a longtime opponent of busing, said the bill was sparked by U.S. District Judge S. Hugh Dillin’s order requiring the state to pay the full cost of busing in the Indianapolis desegregation case. The state appealed the order. A hearing was conducted Thursday by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. The three-judge panel has taken the case under advisement. “Why should the people of Batesville or Marion or New Harmony have to pay forever for a problem that appears to be unique to Indianapolis,” Miles asked. “The issue is who appropriates the tax dollars in the state of Indiana.”

PRESIDENT REAGAN . Statements haven't always been accurate

'Good-faith effort to check accuracy 7 WASHINGTON (AP) The White House is making “a goodfaith effort’’ to ensure the accuracy of information before President Reagan uses it in his public statements, White House communications director David R. Gergen says. Gergen told reporters Thursday that a research group tries to verify information before the president uses it in speeches or at news conferences. Gergen made the comment after questions were raised about Reagan’s recent statements about a program in Arizona to feed the elderly and Pope John Paul ll’s support of U.S. actions in response to martial law in Poland. In Tucson, the program director, Frances Freeman, said Reagan was misinformed when he said $50,000 was saved by eliminating administrative help and using volunteers. Gergen said the White House called an official in Tucson, who verified the figure before it was used by Reagan in a speech last week in New York City. On Tuesday, Reagan told his news conference that the pope said in a Jan. 4 letter that he “approves what we’ve done so far” in ordering economic sanctions against Poland and the Soviet Union. Although the Vatican responded by saying the pope had not specifically endorsed the sanctions, Gergen said Thursday that “we do stand by what the president said about the letter.” Also questioned this week were Reagan’s press conference statements that employment had increased in 1981; that fiscal 1982 defense spending takes a smaller percentage of the gross national product than in fiscal 1981; and that the steel industry is embarking on a multibillion-dollar expansion plan. Official government figures showed 97,282,000 people working in December 1980 and 97,188,000 employed a year later. The Defense Department estimates fiscal 1982 spending will be 5.7 percent of the GNP, up from 5.5 percent the previous year. A steel industry spokesman said Reagan used the word “expansion” too loosely, and an industry analyst said he knew of no such multibillion-dollar expansion plan.

FmHA has emergency funds: Block

c. 1982 N.Y Times WASHINGTON - Although most American farmers are still in good financial health, the Farmers Home Administration is ready to extend special assistance to those relatively few who are in danger of going bankrupt, Agriculture Secretary John R. Block said Thursday. “We want to keep farmers in

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business,“ he told a news conference. “Any farmer who shows a reasonable chance of making payments, I’d say he he can be assured of getting enough emergency money from the FMHA to stay in business for another year.” The FMHA, which is considered the farmers’ lender of last resort, makes emergency operating loans to those who

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The ban on tax-financed busing wouldn’t apply to extracurricular activities or special education. Rep. Joseph Summers, D-Indianapolis, one of four blacks in the House, said he considered it “utterly ridiculous” to bring the matter before the House. “I can’t believe this House would sit here and violate a federal mandate from a federal judge just to satisfy what I can only deem as a racist action,” he said. Rep. Hurley Goodall, D-Muncie, another black lawmaker, said, “I think there’s no point in kidding us. We all know what the issue is.” Goodall said the Legislature should take responsibility for the segregated Indianapoolis Public Schools because when the Unigov law was passed in the late 1960 s to consolidate city and county government in Marion County, schools were left out. Rep. Merle Brown, R-Webster, said the issue was more critical now because the entire state is being ordered to bear the full cost of busing in Indianapolis. “If we do not pass this bill, it would be a dereliction of duty on our part.” Sen. James Robison’s bill giving the attorney general subpoena power in civil investigations was forwarded to the House on a 32-18 vote. Under the Frankfort Republican’s bill, evidence obtained with a civil subpoena from the attorney general can’t be introduced in a criminal prosecution unless a separate criminal subpoena

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FCC action to raise phone rates $1 billion

c. 1982 N.Y. Times WASHINGTON - The Federal Communications Commission, putting into effect a policy change approved more than a year ago, gave final approval Thursday to a plan that would increase telephone rates across the country by as much as $1 billion. The agency authorized the American Telephone and Telegraph'Company and other major phone companies to speed up depreciation of their equipment and facilities. The higher depreciation expenses are expected to cause an additional $1 billion of local rate increases as state utility commissions adjust rates to the higher allowable costs. FCC officials, noting that the rate increases will vary around the nation, said they could average 50 cents a month per customer. The rate increases resulting from Thursday’s action would be quite apart from any rate increases arising from the antitrust settlement announced two weeks ago under which AT&T is to get rid of its 22 regional operating subsidiaries.

Patrolman cleared in Circle shooting

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - An Indianapolis patrolman has been exonerated by the Police Merit Board of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a motorist on Monument Circle. The board announced its decision for Patrolman Dennis A. Cress after the five-member civilian board’s second inquiry into the Nov. 25 death of James E. Grimes, 25. The merit board ordered the

have no other sources of credit. It also will help financially troubled farmers by guaranteeing loans to them from commercial banks for a part their of emeregency needs. Block gave the outline of a new FMHA directive to the agency’s field offices instructing loan officers to continue working with delinquent borrowers, considering all available rescheduling and deferral of FMHA loans that will give them the best possible chance to succeed. In return, these farmers must show they have made an honest effort to repay their loans but could not. “These are cloudy times for farmers,” he said. “Many of them are now borrowing against their assets. We’re certainly not in a farm depression. But many farmers are in a stressful condition. Some who are in trouble because they were encouraged to overextend their credit will now need special help.”

Many experts say the divestiture will result in higher local rates because revenues from the Bell System’s longdistance service will no longer be available to subsidize local service. Bell System officials disclosed last week that in 1981 the operating companies were awarded $3.16 billion in rate increases, compared with $1.45 billion of increases in 1980. More than $3.2 billion in further increases are now pending in 27 states. For the phone companies, Thursday’s decision was welcomed as an opportunity to speed up recovery of capital costs and use the revenues thus generated to compete more effectively in the telephone equipment business. The implications for consumers and others, however, are thought to hinge on how individual state regulatory commissions decide to treat applications by local phone companies for adjustments in service rates. “There’s no question about it,” said Joseph R. Fogarty, a member of the FCC. “This

police department’s firearms review board to reopen the case Dec. 1 because three new witnesses to the shooting were located. However, the new witnesses supported the firearms review board ruling that Cress was protecting his life when he killed Grimes, said Dr. Charles R. Thomas, merit board president. ‘‘With remarkable consistency, all witnesses agreed to

The Reagan administration has reduced the amount of FMHA funds available this year for loans for land, housing, or machinery but has increased the amount available for emergency operating loans. Block said. “Many farmers a year ago faced drought, a precipitous decline in prices, a grain embargo, high interest rates, and double-digit inflation,” Block said. “Then we had a record grain crop in 1981 and the big crop resulted in more low prices. So we’re still up against it.“ He said the FMHA was eager to transfer as many FMHA loans back to private banks as possible. He discussed this today with leaders of private banking associations and brought several with him to his press conference. These bankers told reporters they were willing to cooperate and that most country banks now had ample money to loan.

was used to get the same evidence. The Senate voted 26-24 to defeat a bill directing the Departmentof Transportation to develop rules to regulate parachuting in the state. Opponents of the bill, sponsored by Sens. Edward Pease, RBrazil, and Katie Hall, D-Gary, said it was too much regulation. A bill that gives the Department of Correction discretion in where certain felons are sent to serve prison terms was sent to the House on a 47-3 vote. Felons sentenced to at least 30 years in prison fined up to SIO,OOO must serve the first two years of their sentence at the state prison. The bill would authorize Department of Correction to let them serve the sentence in any correctional facility it chooses. Other bills approved Thursday would. —Mandate easy exit from all public buildings during normal business hours Owners who lock or chain doors risk a maximum four years in jail and SIO,OOO fine if a fire in the building results in bodily injury to an occupant. —Raise the minimum amount of liability insurance motorists must carry. The new amounts would be $25,000-50,000 for bodilyinjury and property damage, up from $15,000-$30,000. The increased premium would be $4 a year for the average driver. —Raise the cost of transferring a liquor permit from SIOO to S6OO.

restructuring will cost rate payers a lot.” ' Henry M. Rivera, one of the newest members of the commission, won agreement from his fellow commissioners today to do a study of the changes that are resulting from recent FCC rate decisions and from the historic settlement two weeks ago of the Justice Department's antitrust suit against AT&T. Rivera proposed oday to conduct a public hearing on policies for transferring existing telephones and other equipment from the regional phone companies to AT&T, as provided in the antitrust settlement. Not only are the rate increases resulting from Thursday’s action expected to vary from region to region but also state regulatory agencies must consider how rates for different classes of customers such as business and residential will be affected. The increases will involve all the operating subsidiaries of AT&T, the General Telephone and Electronics Corporation, United Telephone System and Continental Telephone Corporation.

the material facts of the case. All the witnesses agree the officer was in danger.” Thomas said. Police said Grimes was double parked in front of a bank with his wife and 4nfant son when Cress told him to drive on. The men argued, and Cress lunged through the car window to grab the ignition keys, officials said. Grimes pinned the patrolman’s arm against the

American Express campaign to raise Mount Vernon funds c. N.Y. Times News Service WASHINGTON The American Express Co. has announced plans to raise more than SIOO,OOO to help keep George Washington’s Mount Vernon open. Under the three-month program announced Thursday and to begin Feb. 1. three cents will be donated to Mount Vernon from every purchase on an American Express card in the Washington metropolitian area. An additional five cents will be donated from each American Express Travelers Cheques purchase and $2 will be given for each new American Express card. The advertising campaign will include a brief history of George Washington’s home, emphasizing the fact that Mount Vernon is not owned and operated by the government. Purchased in 1858 by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, the S(X)-aere estate has been maintained exclusively through private contributions and admission fees but is facing rising operating costs. 1 he new funds will be used to modernize security and fire detection facilities, purchase additional Washington artifacts and build a library to house Washington’s 500.000-pieee collection.

In its action, the FCC in* dicated that estimates of equipment life and salvage value should be shortened, increasing allowable expenses by $435 million. In addition, the value of' existing equipment would be treated on a “remaining life,”., rather than “whole life,” basis,, thereby increasing expenses by $865 million more. Offsetting those increases in expenses would be a $285 million reduction in allowable expenses for station connections. “The horse is out of the barrt as far as today’s depreciation change is concerned,” Rivera said, “but there will be others and we should get prepared for it.” For the time being, he said; the commission needs to take a look at what some people call the Bell System's “migration strategy.” Bell does not acknowledge that there is such a policy, but many experts see a deliberate plan by the hugecompany to put pressure on business customers to dispose of old equipment and buy newequipment. It reportedly consists of increasing prices for the old equipment.

door and pulled away with Cress hanging from the car Investigators said Cress fired when he thought he would strike a concrete post. Attorney Duge Butler Jr., representing the victim’s widow, said he intends to file a wrongful death suit in March against Cress and the police “Let’s see if a jury of 12 unbiased people exonerate Mr. Cress,” Butler said.