Banner Graphic, Volume 13, Number 116, Greencastle, Putnam County, 22 January 1983 — Page 2
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The Putnam County Banner-Graphic, January 22,1983
Rate of inflation for 'B2 finishes at 3.9 percent; lowest since 72
c. 1983 N.Y. Times News Service WASHINGTON The Consumer Price Index, pulled down by interest rates on home mortgages, dropped 0.3 percent in December, the Labor Department reported Friday. The surprising decline brought the inflation rate for all of last year to 3.9 percent, a full percentage point less than most economists predicted. It was the lowest rate since the 3.4 percent recorded in 1972, when wage and price controls were in effect, and far below the double-digit rates of 1979 and 1980. The index rose 8.9 percent in 1981. Declines in food and apparel prices also helped produce the CPI decline in December, the second last year. For the year, the inflation rate slowed chiefly because of gasoline prices, which fell 6.6 percent, and because of the the drop in mortgage interest rates, which was 12.5 percent. So sharp a fall in the price index, the most widely followed guage of inflation, is the strongest signal to date that at least for the the next year or two, the economy has finally arrested the runaway price increases that provoked wide distortions in the economy High inflation forced up interest rates, encouraged
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Gas tax credit eliminated Trucks, buses must pay road tax too: Pearson
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Attorney General Linley E. Pearson has ruled state law requires motor carriers to pay both a road tax and a gasoline tax. The Revenue Department says the opinion could result in an additional $25 million by July 1, 1984, and $32 million in by July 1,1985. Pearson gave an official opinion on the status of the taxes Friday in response to an inquiry from state Revenue Commissioner William D. Hahn. After receiving Pearson’s assessment, the Revenue Department announced motor carriers will pay both taxes beginning July 1. All motorists pay a gas tax
Legal Notice ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT - FOR CALENDAR YEAR 1 982 GREENCASTLE TOWNSHIP. PUTNAM COUNTY STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS, DISBURSEMENTS. CASH BALANCES Total Cash Cash Cash And InvastBalance 1982 1982 Balance ments At 1-1-82 Receipts Disbursements 12-31-82 12-31-82 Township 4,803.55 12,304.02 9,400.89 7,706.68 7,706.68 Poorrelief 22,892.46 50,452.83 63,219.54 10,125.75 10,125.75 Fire fighting 3,599.74 23,406.45 19,339.91 7,666.28 7,666.28 Federal revenue sharing 241.88 23,199.00 23,199.00 244.88 244.88 Dog 78.40 550.00 627.50 90 90 Totals 31,616.03 109,912.30 115,783.84 25,744.49 25,744.49 RECEIPTS Poor Fire Federal Township Relief Fighting Revenue Dog Fund Fund Fund Sharing Fund General property taxes & excise 12,304.02 32,299.58 23.406.45 Federal revenue sharing 17,397.00 23,199.00 Miscellaneous receipts Dog Tax 550.00 Refund 356.25 Donation 400.00 Total receipts 12,304.02 50,452.83 23.406.45 23.199.00 550.00 Cash balance 1-1-82, Plus 4,803.55 22,892.46 3,599 74 241.88 78.40 Total receipts Plus 1-1-82 Cash balance 17,107.57 73,345.29 27,006.19 23,440.88 628.40 DISBURSEMENTS Poor Federal Township Relief Revenue Dog Fund Fund Sharing Fund Personal Services: To Whom PAID: Joseph Ward 3,864.00 Karen Ambler 480.00 Juanita Crosby 480.00 Joan Stevens 225.00 Richard Asbell 225.00 Paul Gover 225.00 Total 5,499.00 Supplies: To Whom PAID: Audry Meyers 252.30 Books Plus 31.10 Greencastle Post Office 10.00 Shuee & Sons 15.11 Headley Hardware 4.15 „ Total 312.66 Other Supplies & Expenses To Whom PAID: Banner-Graphic 46.79 General Liability Age. of Ind 224.00 Ray's Insurance 80.00 Ind. Impl. Service 119.96 Put. Co. Council on Aging 900.00 General Telephone 292.44 Tim Green 150.00 Ira Stout 225.00 Roy York-*775 Baker s Remove all'so 825.00 Total 2,863.19 Capital Outlay: To Whom PAID: Greencastle Fire Dept 19,339.91 Total ~ 19,339.91 Other Disbursements: To Whom PAID: Whitaker-Bittles & Hurt 75.00 Forest Hill Cemetery 275.00 Hopkins & Rector 350.00 James Reasor 125.00 Thomas Huber 37.50 Gerald Birt 220.00 Arlie Saggs 245.00 Total 700.00 627.50 Other Disbursements: To Whom PAID: Poor Relief Fund 17,387.00 Senior Citizens Transportation 1,799.00 Greencastle Fire Dept 4,000.00 Twp. Poor Relief: Administration 800.00 Direct Assistance 62,419.54 Total 63,219.54 23,186.00 Total Disbursements: 63,219.54 INTERGOVERNMENTAL EXPENDITURES 1. Fire Protection ‘19,339.91 Total '19,339.91 EXPENDITURES MADE FROM FEDERAL REVENUE SHARING FUNDS . Proposed (Budgeted) Revenue Sharing Funds Revenue Sharing Expenditure Actually Spent Fire protection 4,000.00 4,000.00 Welfare 21,369.00 17,387.00 Allother 1,799.00 1,799.00 Totals 27,168.00 23,186.00 TAIL I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct statement of the receipts and disbursements of the above named township; that a complete and detailed annual report together with all accompanying vouchers showing the names of persons having been paid money by the township has been filed as required by law in the office of the county auditor, and that a copy of such annual report is in custody of the township advisory board. Said report is subject to inspection by any taxpayer of the township. Joe Ward, Trustee Jan. 22/1T
when they buy gasoline or diesel fuel in Indiana. Indiana’s road tax, known officially as the motor carrier fuel use tax, is assessed operators of vehicles with seats for nine or more passengers, road tractors. tractor trucks and trucks having more than two axles. Pearson’s opinion found that commercial motor carriers must pay both taxes. Hahn said the opinion considers the two separate taxes and the gas tax should not apply as a credit toward the road tax due on fuel used in Indiana. Currently, the department gives motor carriers a credit against their road tax for the gas tax they have paid when purchasing the fuel.
consumers and businesses to spend, borrow and speculate, rather than save and invest, and helped stall the whole economy. Finally, inflation brought on the general acceptance of a stringent anti-inflation policy that brought the economy to a standstill. The anti-inflation policy at the end of the Carter administration and that of President Reagan mark the third round of a struggle against inflation since the run up in prices after the Vietnam War. In the early 1970 s President Nixon instituted wage and price controls that brought inflation, then at an unacceptable level of 6.1 percent in 1966, down to 3.4 percent in 1971 and 1972. But prices began to rise again after controls were lifted and the Arab oil embargo and strong money grow th helped push inflation into double digits, with a 12.2 percent rate for 1974, during the severe 1973-75 recession. That recession finally managed to push prices down to 4.8 percent in 1976. The current inflationary spurt came during the Carter administration, and was again helped by surges in energy prices and interest rates.
After July 1, there will be no such credit allowed for gas taxes on fuel bought in Indiana. The change will mean trucks, tractors and buses operating in Indiana must pay a road tax on fuel used to travel Indiana highways in addition to the gas tax on fuel purchases. “We think it would mean about $25 million additional revenue to the state for an annual period,’’ said Deputy Revenue Commissioner James D. Mundt. “That’s really an estimate. It’s our first time to look at it. Motor carriers not now paying the road tax would have to pay.’’ The gasoline tax brings in about S3OO million annually from all vehicles, Mundt said.
“The road tax. on the other hand, brings in about $7 million.’’ Pearson held that carriers using Indiana fuel in another state which has road taxes may apply for a future credit on its Indiana road tax for the amount of tax paid in another state. Motor carriers buying a trip permit for travel through Indiana are exempt from paying road tax. Mother charged in strangling MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP)-A hearing is pending to determine whether a Mishawaka woman charged with strangling her 4-year-old girl, submerging the girl in a bathtub and drying and clothing her, is competent to stand trial. Robert J. LeVeque, investigative division chief of the Mishawaka Police Department, said Linda C. Beck, 29, has a history of psychiatric treatment. has remained in shock and could not give police any information. St. Joseph County Deputy Prosecutor Jane E. Becker said charges were filed Friday in St. Joseph Circuit Court against Mrs. Beck. Miss Becker said she asked the court to determine whether Mrs. Beck is competent to stand trial. A competency hearing probably will be scheduled for next week, she said. Mrs. Beck is held under police guard in the psychiatric ward at South Bend’s Memorial Hospital, Miss Becker said. Mishawaka police found her daughter, Tracy Lynn, 4, strangled in the family home Thursday. After an autopsy, St. Joseph County Coroner Dr. Louis Grwinski ruled the cause of death to be strangulation. Investigators earlier believed the child may have drowned in a bathtub.
Banner-Graphic “It Waves For All'' USPS 142-020) Consolidation ot The Daily 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 Office at Greencastle, Indiana, as 2nd class mail matter under Act of March 7,1878. Subscription Rates Per Week, by carrier qo Per Month, by motor route *4.55 Mall Subscription Rates R.R. in Restot Restot Putnam County Indiana U.S.A. 3 Months *13.80 *14.15 ’17.25 6 Months ’27.80 '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 of the Associated Press The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper.
The Reagan administration hailed Friday’s report, the most positive result of its economic policy. “There is good reason to believe that we have finally ended the upward spiral of inflation that began in the mid-19605,” said Martin S. Feldstein, the chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, at a special briefing at the White House. But officials in the administration and private economists acknowledge that the recession, which is now the longest since World War 11, is one of the main reasons for the dramatic drop in inflation. While the 3.9 percent is the lowest rate of consumer inflation since 1972, it will go down in the record book alongside a 10.8 percent unemployment rate, the highest since 1940, and a 1.8 percent decline in the gross national product, the steepest oneyear decline since 1946 Feldstein would not say directly that the recession was necessary to bring down inflation. But he did say he thought the Federal Reserve had been the principal agent in bringing down inflation. Most economists agree that it was the tight monetary policy of the Fed through the middle of last year that started and deepended the recession.
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Weslee Sicard, 5, of Holyoke, Mass., takes a stroll with his dog, Kojack, in a muddy lot near his home. When his mud-caked boots became too heavy to walk in, Weslee
U.S. experts placed on alert Plunging satellite near re-entry
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sophisticated search gear was loaded aboard Air Force planes and an emergency team of U.S. nuclear experts went on 24-hour alert Friday, ready to rush anywhere in the world to retrieve radioactive debris from s Soviet spy satellite expected to plunge from orbit Sunday. The hulk of of the nuclearpowered Cosmos 1402 satellite dipped ever nearer to Earth on Friday, tumbling to within 104
PIK awaits Hoosier farm signers
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana farmers soon will be able to sign up for a program that will' reduce farm production and cut government surpluses, but some critics say all it will do is raise consumer prices. The federal program is known as PIK, or “payment in kind” and was proposed by President Reagan. Its goal is to get farmers to cut farm production and reduce expensive government surplus stocks of corn, grain sorghum, rice, cotton and wheat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture starts a nationwide signup campaign Monday to lure farmers to participate. One critic is former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz. The Hoosier says PIK may boost farm income but at
Three are
c. 1983 N.Y. Times KINGSTON, N.Y. - A Greyhound bus traveling at high speed rammed into the rear of a tractor-trailer on the Gov. Thomas E. Dewey Thruway Friday, killing three passengers and injuring at least 22 others, many seriously, the state police said. There were 30 passengers aboard the bus. which was
miles as it headed for a flaming disintegration that officials hope will be over an unpopulated area. The Defense Department reported the crippled satellite, which has been slipping into a lower orbit for weeks, fell about 10 miles in the 32 hours that ended at 1 p.m. EST Friday. Pentagon tracking experts said later that the satellite, described as weighing about 8,000 pounds, would re-enter the
the cost of higher food prices to consumers. And Agriculture Secretary John Block said the program may quickly deplete the government stock of surplus wheat. The idea is to cut production, which has outstripped demand in recent years and built huge, unneeded grain stockpiles that have driven market prices to Depression-era levels. At the same time, the payment-in-kind would begin eating into that surplus grain so the excess stocks are reduced. Speaking to a convention of farm products dealers in Indianapolis Thursday, Butz said the program was politically motivated to gain support for Republicans, but added “something had to be done.” “The PIK program is a good thing if for no other reason than
killed as bus slams into truck
bound for Montreal from New York City. The collision, at 12:30 p.m., trapped the driver and crumpled the first three rows of passengers beneath the rear of the truck. The vehicles and wreckage careered several hundred feet down the roadway, near Exit 19, about 90 miles north of New York City. The police said the cause of
Critics of the administration, however, said Feldstein was discounting the cost of bringing down inflation. “What a callous and shabby exercise it was to send out your press secretary and chief economic adviser to proclaim victory at recession-fed disinflation,” said Charles Manatt, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, in a statement. “That is akin to having a general take credit for the bloodshed by his troops. General Reagan didn’t drive down inflation it was the army of 12 million unemployed non-consumers that drove down the prices.” Many economists think that the sharpdecline in the inflation rate was real, but that it was slightly exaggerated. They say that the sharp rise in mortgage rates distorted the index in 1979 and 1980, pushing it too high, and that declining rates last year distorted it again, pushing it too low. Feldstein agreed, saying that the decline in interest rates “slightly exagerates what is happening in the current period.” In December mortgage interest rates dropped 4.8 percent and more than accounted for the 0.3 percent decline in the index.
simply removed them and continued to plod along in the boot liners. No word on his mother's reaction. (AP Laserphoto)
atmosphere between 6:45 a.m. EST Sunday and 8:17 a.m. Monday, with Sunday evening the most likely time. That narrowed an earlier projection that extended from 1 a.m. Sunday and 3 p.m. Monday. “It is not yet possible to name a general area of the world over which re-entry will occur," a Pentagon statement said. It added it should have a better idea about six hours before the final plunge.
to give Congress something to chew on to keep something far worse from coming out which would invite inevitably a presidential veto.” Butz said. If the PIK program works, consumer activists will criticize the program, producers and politicians for causing a rise in food prices, he said. Butz, dean emeritus at Purdue University, served under the administrations of former Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford. In Washington, Block said Friday farmer acceptance of the program could be great enough to deplete the entire federally owned stockpile of wheat. “We may have to use part of the 1983 crop farmers may raise
the collision was not immediately clear. Both vehicles were northbound in the right lanes of the thruway. The weather was sunny and clear and the road was dry. “There was a loud smash and people seated behind me flew ahead,’’said Brian G. Aikens, an Army sergeant who was in the eighth seat from the front of the bus.
Spokesman Henry Catto said trackers estimate there is a 70 percent chance the Cosmos debris will come down over an ocean. 15 percent chance over the Soviet Union. 3 percent chance over Canada and 2 percent chance over the United States. The Pentagon statement also said defense officials hoped the “Soviets would provide timely prediction information as well, based on their knowledge of the satellite’s characteristics.”
to satisfy those needs.” Block said. There are sufficient government stocks of corn, grain sorghum, rice and cotton to meet demand for in-kind payments under PIK, but the government owns only about 180 million bushels of wheat. Farmers participating in PIK and the USDA’s land set-aside program will idle up to half their land in return for direct cash payments on 5 to 10 percent of those acres, free grain equaling four-fifths or more of their production on another 30 percent and continued pricesupport protection for the grain they harvest from the rest of their land. The program will be administered in Indiana by tfie U.S. Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service.
"They were screaming and hollering,” the 23-vear-old soldier said. Ambulances and emergency vehicles from as far away as Albany were summoned to the scene as rescuers spent nearly two hours cutting through the side of the bus with pneumatic shears to free passenger trapped in the wreckage.