Banner Graphic, Volume 13, Number 122, Greencastle, Putnam County, 29 January 1983 — Page 3
Natural gas plan blasted INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Rep. Phil Sharp. D-Ind., says he will ask President Reagan and Panhandle Eastern Corp to renegotiate the sale price of expensive Algerian liquified natural gas to protect Hoosiers from a 15 to 40 percent price increase. A federal recommendation that would send Algerian natural gas flowing into Indiana and other Midwest states is a “tragic one” for consumers, Sharp said Friday. “Algerian gas is too expensive, and we simply do not need it now .” Administrative Law Judge Curtis L. Wagner Jr. in Washington recommended that import contracts for the highcOst Algerian gas be upheld. His decision rejected requests filed by a number of utilities, industrial customers, state agencies and congressmen contending Panhandle Eastern Corp. should be blocked from importing Algerian liquified natural gas. Unless the recommendation is overturned by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the higher rates will take effect March 1 and cost consumers $994 million in one year, according to Panhandle figures. By one estimate, that would niean a S7O increase for an av'dwage homeowner the next six months. If ttra commission follows past practice, it is likely to allow the in-creases to take effect subject to refund if opponents later win their case. Commission spokeswoman Rachelle Patterson said the five-member panel will act on Wagner's ruling on an “expedited basis.” Sharp said he will asr Reagan to negotiate with the Algerians to reduce the sale price. “In addition, I am asking Panhandle to reopen their own negotiations with the Algerians, just as they are doing with U.S. producers to change their gas purchase contracts,” he said. Critics have complained that Panhandle cannot justify paying up to $7.16 per thousand cubic feet for natural gas from Algeria when the average domestic price is $2.49, and many wells are shut because of oversupply. The current Algerian price is $6.65. But Wagner said Panhandle’s 1975 agreement to import the Algerian gas was valid.
Lobbyist admits faking notes, but claims no coverup try
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The federal trial of Thomas V. McComb capped its third week in U.S. District Court with the lobbyist admitting he prepared fake minutes of an association board meeting. The former state senator from Fort Wayne denied the ficticious report was an attempt to obstruct justice and cover up illegal payoffs to politicans. McComb is charged with obstructing justice and lying to a grand jury investigating allegations of payoffs to legislators. The lobbyist testified Friday he wrote a 12-page chronology of events dealing with the Construction Managers Association of Indiana’s legislative and political activity. He said it was
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Sen. Richard Lugar (left) and Lt. Gov. John Mutz (right) present Hobart and Helen Risley with a Hoosier Homestead award. The award is given to recognize those farms that have been in a family consecutively for 100
State Senate approves bill to join 17-state waste compact
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana would join up to 16 other states in a regional compact to dispose of low-level radioactive waste under a bill on its way to the House. The Senate voted 41-8 for the measure Friday amid arguments the bill could turn Indiana into a dumping ground. The bill would appropriate $50,000 to join the Midwest Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact. Sen. Joseph V. Corcoran. RSevmour. who sponsored the measure with Sen. Ralph Potesta, R-Hammond. said the federal government required Indiana to either dispose of its own low-level waste, or join ther states in a regional system. Corcoran said the regional arrangement was “far more economically feasible.” A study commission concluded it would cost the state $l9O per cubic foot if it processed its own waste, but that cost, when shared, could drop to as low as $6 per cubic foot, he said. Under the bill, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, lowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota. Ohio. South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin would be eligible to join. So would other states that petition the governing body of the compact and are granted
prepared for board members and was not an attempt to impede the grand jury probe, as the government asserted. Rather, he said, it was a written attempt to recall the proper sequence of events. The former Republican legislator said association members were worried in May 1980 that FBI agents might discover that the group’s treasurer, Wendell Ealy, wrote a $1,200 check to cash. Federal agents had subpoenaed association records. McComb said the association officials told him the $1,200 was for “start-up” expenses, including legal fees and office supplies, for the group’s political action committee. After the check was cashed, Mc-
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approval. Sen. William C. Dunbar, RTerre Haute, said the legislation requires a member give five years notice before withdrawing from the compact. He said the worst that could happen if the state didn't join the compact would be it would have to dispose of its own waste. If it joined the group, “we’re going to be married to it,” he said. Dunbar said Indiana stood “a very real possibility were going to become the dumping site for 15 o other states.” Corcoran said Indiana stood a 1 in 16 chance of becoming a dumping ground if it joined the compact, but if it didn't, it would stand a 100 percent chance of housing the waste. “If I understand my geography, Indiana, because of its location, would stand a much better chance than 1 of 16,” said Sen. Jame Butcher, R-Kokomo.
Comb said he kept the money locked in his office for a time, then gave it to Michael M. Carr, the group’s president. Carr, the government's chief witness, had testified the $1,200 check was part of an association effort to raise $2,500 for a contribution to former House Speaker Kermit O. Burrous’s unsuccessful campaign for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor in 1980. The $2,500 was a partial payment “to show good faith” on a $5,000 payoff allegedly demanded by H. Kent Howard, He said the payoff was in return for assigning a bill, opposed by the Construction Managers Association, to a House committee the group hoped would kill it.
years. Mrs. Risley's family has owned their Putnam County farm since 1853. The award is presented through the Indiana Department of Commerce, Division of Agriculture. (Photo courtesy of Indiana Department of Commerce).
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Sen. John Bushemi, D-Gary, objected because the measure could force a community to accept a waste site, and he thought the local residents should have some say. Corcoran said waste from medical research at Indiana University and from agricultural research at Purdue University and Eli Lilly & Co at Indianapolis would have to be disposed of somewhere, and the compact was the most cost effective Voting against the measure were Butcher; Bushemi; Dunbar; Sens. Clay P. Baird, DClarksville, Lindel O. Hume, DOakland City; Roger L Jessup, R-Summitville, Michael Rogers, R-New Castle; and Gene Snowden, R-Huntington. The House voted 94-1 for a bill sponsored by Rep. Stephen Moberly, R-Shelbyville, that sets up a procedure for replacing a mayor who cannot
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perform his duties because of absence, injury or death The measure applies to all Indiana cities except Indianapolis, which already has a mayoral succession procedure The bill was prompted by the Memorial Day shooting of LaPorte Mayor Aloysius J. Rumely, who was hospitalized until he died in November. The bill allows a mayor to appoint an acting mayor to serve a maximum of 15 days out of a 60day period In cases where the mayor is incapacitated, the head of the city council may petition the circuit court judge in that county to appoint an interim mayor who could serve for up to six months. The measure is similar to a bill approved by the Senate. The Senate also upheld Gov. Robert D. Orr’s vetoes of four bills passed in 1982.
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Truckers threaten shutdown By THOMAS P. WYMAN Associated Press Writer Spokesmen for Teamsters and other motor carriers in Indiana say they won’t join a planned strike Sunday by independent truckers in the state and the nation despite claims to the contrary by the independents. Independent truckers say they’re planning a nationwide shutdown to pressure Congress into repealing the recent increases in motor fuel and road-use-taxes. Companies whose Indiana operations would be seriously affected are reacting cautiously to the threatened shutdown, saying they have contingency plans but are uncertain how widespread the shutdown and its effects will be. A Teamster official in Indianapolis said union truckers won’t join the independent truckers. “Most of the people covered by collective bargaining agreements certainly aren’t going to violate the collective bargaining agreement,” Ed Elder, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 193, said. The Indiana Motor Truck Association, which represents 840 motor carriers in Indiana, opposes the users tax but does not support a shutdown. “We would rather they work through the legislative process as we are doing to try and bring about a reduction in the taxes,” association spokesman Paul Berebitsky said. But William Kusley of San Pierre, president of the Fraternal Order of National .Truckers, said Friday, “I’ve got conservative estimates that 90 to 95 percent of the truckers will go along.” including union truckers driving under contracts. The independents don't rule out the possibility of violence. John Jarnecke, vice president of the Indiana chapter of the Independent Truckers Association, said his group does not condone violence. “But in all the past shutdowns, there has always been a certain element that feels they have to destroy someone else's equipment,” Jarnecke said.
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Terminal cancer patient leads cops on 115-mph chase FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) A terminally-ill New Haven man led authorities on a 115-mph car chase going the wrong way on an interstate highway before police were able to force him off the road, a state trooper said. Trooper Louis Brown said Robert D. Cheney, 52, forced about eight cars off the road during the chase Friday. The 20minute pursuit ended after two state police officers fired eight or nine shots at the fleeing car and it crashed and burned, police said. Cheney, who has cancer according to family members, was pulled from his car by police. He was listed in fair condition in Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, Brown said. Brown, who described traffic on Interstate 69 as moderate during the chase, said Fort Wayne police will charge Cheney. However, no charge was filed Friday night. Brown said the incident started when Cheney hotwired the automobile in his garage and drove it through a closed garage door. He allegedly argued with his wife over whether he could drive the car. the officer said. According to police, Cheney’s family notified New Haven police, telling them he was a cancer patient and despondent. Fort Wayne Police Officer Robert E. Johnson stopped Cheney in Fort Wayne but Cheney sped away as Johnson approached the car. “The suspect entered 1-69 from U.S. 24 and was going south in the northbound lane,” Brown said. Fort Wayne police continued pursuit and were joined by eight Indiana state police officers. Cheney once was forced to drive onto the median to avoid two trucks. A bullet struck Cheney’s left front tire. The tire began to smolder, and Cheney crashed. “He still drove 80 mph on a flat and that's what caused his car to catch fire,’ Brown said. “We were told by the family and hospital the subject is a terminal cancer patient. He only has a couple of months to live at the most. ”
Marble Hill halt is ordered by PSI
MADISON, Ind <AP) Public Service Indiana has ordered the electrical contractor for its Marble Hill nuclear plant to stop processing certain work until it can be sure the contractor’s system for controlling certain documents is working properly, a PSI spokesman says. “The primary concern, which was raised to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by a former contractor employee, is for the processing of the paperwork which travels with material used in fabricating electrical equipment, utility spokesman Brad Bishop said Friday. “Primarily involved are the trays which carry electrical
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cables and the hangers by which they are suspended,”Bishop added. The utility is investigating the work in question to determine any potential impact on the quality of work already performed by the contractor. Commonwealth Lord Joint Venture, which is based in Lincoln, Neb., he said. Bishop said he didn't know the name of the contractor’s employee who raised the question some time last week. Commonwealth Lord Joint Venture provides wiring for lighting and all electrical systems at the plant under construction near Madison along the Ohio River in southeastern Indiana, Bishop said
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