Banner Graphic, Volume 13, Number 95, Greencastle, Putnam County, 28 December 1982 — Page 2

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The Putnam County Banner-Graphic, December 28,1982

Reagan beefing up Navy PHOENIX, Ariz. (AP) - President Reagan, committed to beefing up the Navy, is recommissioning the USS New Jersey, a refurbished World War II battleship whose future usefulness has been questioned by naval experts. The president was flying from Phoenix to Los Angeles for an afternoon ceremony on the dock at Long Beach, Calif. Reagan acknowledged the $326 million pricetag for the New Jersey’s renovation was high. “But the price of neglect would be infinitely higher,” he said in remarks prepared for delivery at Long Beach. The New Jersey is the first of four sister ships Reagan wants to return to active duty. “We must be able in time of emergency to venture in harm’s way, controlling air, surface and sub-surface areas to assure access to all the oceans of the world,” the president said. “Failure to do so will leave the credibility of our conventional forces in doubt,” said Reagan, adding, “Freedom to -use the seas is our nation’s "lifeblood.” “There are other, cheaper ways to get gunpower on a ship,” said Norman Polmar, a writer and consultant to the ‘ naval and aerospace industries. “We’re talking about 1,800 people to tote around nine guns or 40 missiles. It’s not cost effective.” “From the viewpoint of what we let, the only thing we get that pays is prestige, and there are other ways to get that,” he said in an interview. The Navy wants to bring three of the New Jersey’s sister ships out of mothballs. The USS New Jersey was launched Dec. 7,1942, a year after the Japanese attack on the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor. The ship took part in the conquest of Okinawa and transported 1,000 troops home at the end of the war. The New Jersey was decommissioned in 1948; recommissioned in the Korean conflict; decommissioned in 1957; and brought back 11 years later for use as a heavy bombardment ship off Vietnam. The ship was once again decommissioned after the Vietnam duty. The modernization of the 58,000-ton, 887-foot vessel, which can cruise at 35.5 knots, included installation of eight armored launchers for Tomahawk Cruise missiles, advanced communications equipment, reactivation of 16-inch turrets and 5-inch gun mounts.

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USS NEW JERSEY: Back on duty after $326 million renovation

Regan, not Reagan, studies tax increases

WASHINGTON (AP) Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan is studying the possibility of increasing taxes to curb soaring budget deficits, but officials say the idea is no more than talk so far. President Reagan, referring to published accounts about the issue, said: “Don’t believe everything you read in the papers.” But the president, who made his comments during a stopover in Phoenix, Ariz., Monday, never refuted the accounts.

'Prudent'Bethlehem Steel to eliminatelo,ooo jobs

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Bethlehem Steel Corp., hoping to counteract heavy losses, says it will reorganize its plants in Johnstown, Pa., and Lackawanna, N.Y. a move that will eliminate up to 10,000 jobs. “We believe that this plan is a prudent course of action for Bethlehem at this time,” Bethlehem Chairman Donald H. Trautlein said Monday. “It should have only a limited es-

Regan’s aides confirmed the presidential tax adviser mentioned the idea of selected new tax hikes in discussions within the administration. However, Regan has not talked about the ideas with the president, said Treasury spokesman Marlin Fitzwater. Despite the president’s distaste for taxes, Reagan has pushed two tax increases through Congress in the past six months. Regan’s latest thoughts, according to a Treasury

sect on Bethlehem’s revenues and total shipments under expected market conditions.” The nation’s No. 2 steelmaker said its board of directors has approved the plan to consolidate some operations and discontinue others. The reorganization will cost the company between $750 and SBSO million. Bethlehem Steel reported losses of $209 million for the

spokesman, include ending or limiting the income-tax deductions Americans can claim on interest payments for installment loans and secondhome mortgages. There has been no estimate so far on how much tax revenue such changes might raise or how much they might help reduce the federal deficit. Regan’s concern now, said Fitzwater, is about the effect on interest rates of deficits that some officials say could reach $l9O billion in fiscal 1984. It is a

third quarter of 1982 and predicted major losses for the year. Trautlein attributed the losses at Bethlehem's plants primarily to non-competitive employment costs, marginal facilities in an increasingly competitive market, changing markets and product mix and continuing high levels of imports. Under the plan, the integrated steelmaking at

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Nebraska latest victim of winter's first blizzard

By JUDY GIBBS Associated Press Writer Travelers from Louisiana to Nebraska were begged to stay put as blinding snow, freezing rain and flooded roads stranded hundreds of motorists, forced evacuation of more than 1,300 people and left at least 13 dead. Snow was falling faster than snowplows could clear it in Nebraska, where a blizzard advisory remained in effect through today. “You can’t even see your hand in front of your face out there,” said Dan McCaslin, the town marshal in Anselmo. Neb. Cold air sweeping south from Canada collided with mild air from the Gulf of Mexico creating weather havoc from Colorado to Minnesota and Michigan, with heavy rain continuing for a third day in the Gulf Coast states. More rain was falling today on floodravaged parts of Missouri and Illinois. The death toll from the storm that began over the Christmas weekend rose to 13, including an elderly man who apparently froze to death on his way to pick up a borrowed heater in Federal Heights, Colo. Up to 10 inches of snow fell on Nebraska in Monday’s blizzard, and blowing snow reduced visibility to nearly zero in Kansas, where at least four highways were closed by up to 9 in-

worry that is shared by Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, some congressmen and many private economists. Both Reagan and Regan have said they won’t consider eliminating or postponing the last installment of the threeyear tax-rate cut scheduled to take effect July 1. Some critics have said the cut was too large and that it has contributed to rising deficits. House Democratic Leader Jim Wright of Texas said Monday that rather than increasing

Lackawanna will be closed, reducing the company’s steelmaking capabilities by 3.5 million tons, or about 15 percent below the capability at the start of 1982, Trautlein said. Total job losses of between 9,600 and 10,000 include those workers already laid off from the company’s plants. After the restructuring is completed, employment is expected to total 1,300 at

world

ches of snow

ches of snow. “We’re begging people not to travel,” said Bob Munger, a spokesman for the Department of Roads in Nebraska, where drifting snow had blocked some access ramps along Interstate 80, according to amateur radio reports. A Greyhound bus skidded off the highway near Kearney, Neb., injuring 25 people. Frustrated state officials pulled snowplows off the roads Monday night. “It’s just coming down so fast,” said state patrol dispatcher Barb Viergutz in Norfolk. In Louisiana, state police closed at least 50 roads due to flooding from a band of weekend thunderstorms that dumped as much as 16 inches on parts of the state and spawned several tornadoes in rural areas. There were no injuries from the tornadoes but severe damage was reported in some areas.

taxes, the administration should be canceling the rate cut, which he called a “rebate for the wealthiest.” In Phoenix, traveling with the president, White House spokesman Larry Speakes told reporters, “I wouldn’t look for any substantial new taxes.” Also coming up is the apparent need for a presidential stand on what to do about the nearly broke Social Security old-age benefit fund.

Lackawanna, where 5,200 people are working and 3,400 are laid off. In Johnstown, employment is projected at between 2,600 and 3,000, excluding the company’s freight car manufacturing shop. About 2,100 people are working at Johnstown, while 3,200 have been laid off. USW officials declined comment on the announcement. Body found in Indy dumpster INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Police say an Indianapolis man was arrested on a preliminary charge of murder in the death of a man found by a minister checking trash containers for recyclable aluminum cans. Indianapolis Homicide Investigator William Burgess said Carl Ernest Wills, 18, of Indianapolis, was arrested about 5 p.m. Monday on a preliminary charge of murder in the death of Elvis Jones, 19, of Indianapolis. Police said Jones apparently was stabbed in the chest, strangled and bludgeoned.

Banner-Graphic “It Waves For All" USPS 142-020) Consolidation ot The Dally Banner Established 1850 The Herald The Dally 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 Ottice at Greencastle, Indiana, as 2nd class mail matter under Act ot 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 Reatot Putnam County Indiana U.S.A. 3 Months *13.80 *14.15 *17.25 6 Months ‘27.60 ‘28.30 ‘34.50 1 Year *55.20 *56.60 *69.00 Mail subscriptions payable In advance . . . not accepted in town and where motor route service is available. Member ot the Associated Press The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper.

National Guard troops were helping evacuate about 400 residents of small communities along the rain-swollen Calcasieu River in Allen Parish in Louisiana. Flooding already had forced about 500 people out of their homes in the Alexandria area and about 800 were evacuated around Monroe. Some flooding also was reported in Arkansas and around Beaumont, Texas, where the same storm system dumped up to 9 inches late Sunday and early Monday before moving into Louisiana. Other parts of southeastern Texas received more than 13 inches of rainfall over a two-day period. Up to 60 homes were partially under water Monday in Port Arthur, Texas, and many streets were closed in Pine Bluff, Ark., due to flooding. In northern Mississippi, rescuers used boats and four-

Vandals cause freak triple fatality in suburban Chicago (c) 1982 Chicago Sun-Times CHICAGO Even after he had many hours to think about it, 16-year-old Richard J. Steinmetz still couldn’t believe that his father and two sisters had been killed in a freak traffic accident. “My uncle had to tell me it three times,” said Steinmetz, of west suburban Addison. “After the third time it hit home and I broke down on his shoulder.” For the Steinmetz family, a Saturday evening spent with relatives in suburban River Grove singing Christmas carols and exchanging presents had turned into a tragedy that was almost unbelievable. Vandals apparently had dragged a concrete-filled milk can onto Grand Ave. in unincorporated Leyden Township. A van, traveling in the opposite direction of the Steinmetz family’s westbound station wagon, hit it. The van’s driver lost control on the four-lane roadway and his careening vehicle smashed into the driver’s side of the car, Cook County Sheriff’s Police said. Sheriff’s police Monday were looking for the vandals. Steinmetz’s 40-year-old father, also named Richard, of Addison, and his two daughters, Amy, 10, and Colleen, 7, died instantly in the crash. The elder Steinmetz’ wife, Carol, 40, was in stable condition in surgical intensive care at a suburban Elmhurst hospital. The son was treated for cuts and bruises at the hospital and released. The van’s driver, Jim Mikalsen, 25, of suburban Melrose Park, was in fair condition after a severed ear was reattached. Police did not charge him. The Steinmetz family’s surviving son recalled that he was sitting in the front seat next to his father, who was driving, when the crash occurred. Steinmetz said that as he bent over to change the station on the car radio, he heard a loud noise, looked up and saw the van coming straight toward the car. “My dad swerved but it was too late,” Steinmetz said. “Then it was over. I looked over at my dad but his eyes were wide open staring into nothingness.” He then saw that his mother, who was in the back seat on the passenger side of the car, was alive. His sisters, also in the back seat, were hidden under wreckage. ‘I think I knew my father and sisters weren’t going to make it,” Richard said. “But I refused to believe it. Now, I’d give anything to change places with them. I keep asking, ‘Why them and not me?’ My sisters’ lives were cut way too short.” The van’s driver also remembered hearing a loud noise. Mikalsen said he had just left his home a block away from the accident scene at about 11 p.m., on his way to a friend’s house to wish him a Merry Christmas. “Suddenly I heard a bang, I was knocked out of the driver’s seat and I had no control. I never saw the container in the road,” said Mikalsen, who works for Deltak Inc., a manufacturer of industrial videotapes. Who might have put the milk can in the roadway? “It’s probably kids I see in the neighborhood,” Mikalsen said. “They don’t think about the repercussions of what they do. It’s just cool at the time. Then when someone gets hurt they say, ‘I didn’t know that would happen.’ ”

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wheel drive vehicles to evacuate flood victims. The torrential rains moved out of Louisiana later Monday, but thunderstorms continued to lash Illinois, western Kentucky and parts of lowa, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi, including areas where preChristmas flooding forced thousands of evacuations along the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers. Colorado residents braced for 6 more inches of snow today as travelers stranded by a recordbreaking Christmas Eve blizzard began to move out in planes and buses. Stapleton International Airport in Denver was operating at about 45 percent capacity Monday. Operations weren’t expected to return to normal until at least Thursday, said John Schwartz, control tower supervisor. Travelers were advised to stay home in New Mexico.