Banner Graphic, Volume 15, Number 283, Greencastle, Putnam County, 19 July 1985 — Page 2

The Putnam County Banner Graphic, July 19,1985

Meeting with Chinese leader Tuesday

President flashes 'OK' sign; returning to White House soon

WASHINGTON (AP) - With a gesture from a hospital balcony, a series of telephone calls to world leaders and announcements of forthcoming meetings, the White House is signaling that President Reagan is rapidly resuming his duties. The president could return to the White House as early as Saturday, one week after he underwent cancer surgery, presidential spokesman Larry Speakes said. Reagan appeared publicly in person Thursday for the first time since he entered the hospital July 12, giving reporters an OK sign from his third-floor balcony at Bethesda Naval Hospital when they asked how he was feeling. In other moves that accentuated the positive: —Vice President George Bush, one day

Families of seven still hostages claim they're getting only 'runaround'

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - The families of the seven remaining hostages in Lebanon are “getting the proverbial runaround,” from the State Department, says the wife of one of the seven. Carol Weir, wife of the Rev. Benjamin Weir, 61, A Presbyterian minister who was kidnapped off a Beirut street on May 8, 1984, said the families are frustrated by the lack of action in trying to free the hostages. “At first we were asked not to say anything, just keep quiet and let the State Department work on the case,” said Mrs. Weir, a participant in the 1985 United Prebyterian Women’s Assembly on the Purdue University campus. “But after all this time it’s apparent to me, and to others who have relatives being held hostage, that not much is being done.

Still time for 'B6 budget compromise?

WASHINGTON (AP) Congressional leaders are searching for fresh ideas to revive budget talks aimed at stopping the government’s flood of red ink. Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole, RKan., and Rep. William H. Gray 111, D-Pa., the House Budget Committee chairman, both have indicated there still may be room for the House and Senate to work out a compromise version of fiscal 1986 budgets passed by each chamber. Nonetheless, Dole says it is less than an even bet the effort will be successful. The smoke has vet to clear from an

Banner-Graphic (USPS 142-020) Consolidation of Tha Daily Banner Established 1850 The Herald The Daily Graphic Established 1883 Telephone 653-5151 Published daily except Sunday and holidays and twice on Tuesdays by LuMar Newspapers, Inc. at 100 North Jackson St., Greencastle, IN 46135. Secondclass postage paid at Greencastle, IN. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Benner-Graphic, P.O. Box 509. Greencastla, IN 46135. Subscription Rates Per Week, by carrier *l.lO Per Month, by motor roi’te ‘4.95 Mall Subscription Rates R.R. in Rest ol Rest of Putnam County Indiana U.S.A. 3 Months *15.75 *16.00 *17.25 6 Months ‘30.30 ‘30.80 *34.50 1 Year *59.60 *60.80 *69.00 Mail subscriptions payable in advance ... not accepted In town and where motor route service Is available. Member of the Aasociated Preas The Aseociated Preaa la entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all tha local news printed in this newspaper.

puyo'/ ‘Your measure of quaditv in utomen's wear. ► —oo —4

■ All Summer Apparel ■ ■ For Ladies & Children I ■reduced 1/2I Corner of Shop: 9 a m. -5 p.m. Mon. Washington and Indiana through Sat. ■ ■ Downtown Greencastle Friday until 8 p.r». ■

after paying his first visit to the convalescing president, made telephone calls to foreign leaders in which he was quoted by a spokesman as saying, “The best medical evidence is that the president will make a full recovery and resume duties here at the White House next week.” —The White House announced that Reagan will meet in September with the new Soviet foreign minister, Eduard Shevardnadze, and an administration official said privately the president may also address the United Nations General Assembly in New York that month as he has in the past. —White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan, addressing members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, predicted the president “will be full of vigor” after a three-week stay at his ranch in California

We feel we are getting the proverbial runaround,” she said. “... It’s so frustrating knowing that little if anything is being done to free my husband and the others.” The other hostages are William Buckley, 56, U.S. Embassy political officer; Peter Kilburn, 60, a librarian at American Univerisity of Beirut ; the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, 50, director of Catholic Relief Services operations in Lebanon; Terry A. Anderson, 37, the chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press; David Jacobsen, 54, administrator of the American University Hospital; and Thomas Sutherland, 54, acting dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut. Mrs. Weir said she was grateful for all the prayers and concern people have ex-

acrimonious session Wednesday when the talks broke down after Senate negotiators rejected a House compromise offer as being too short on serious domestic spending cuts. Senators also said the offer violated an agreement with President Reagan on military spending. No time has been set for resumption of talks, but some legislators expressed hope work could resume next week. “We can utilize this weekend to mellow some feelings,” said House Republican Leader Robert H. Michel of Illinois.

$lO million GE settlement ends supper club lawsuits

ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) A $lO million out-of-court settlement by General Electric Co. ended the last of an eight-year string of civil lawsuits on behalf of victims of the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, said plaintiffs’ attorney Stanley Chesley. Class-action suits by the families of the 165 people killed and by 81 of those inrured in the 1977 nightclub disaster have involved 1,100 defendants all told, netted SSO million in settlements and been a major project for Chesley for years, the Cincinnati lawyer said Thursday. “Beverly Hills was my baby, and now it’s gone.” William McCracken, representing GE, last of 14 defendants in a suit against makers of aluminum wiring and related devices, said the company wouldn’t com-

beginning in mid-August and “we will pursue a very active course this fall” in pursuit of Reagan’s tax overhaul plan. —Speakes said Reagan attended to more business Thursday than on any day since his operation and would probably make a decision by the end of the week on a successor to Budget Director David A. Stockman, who is leaving one of the key positions in the administration to become a banker. Since the White House has said that Reagan will meet with visiting Chinese President Li Xiannian on Tuesday morning, it appeared likely that he would return to the White House on Monday at the latest, barring a hitch in his recovery. The president himself was quoted by his staff as saying, “I’m feeling great.”

pressed toward the situation. Still, she said she wasn’t satisfied with how the situation was being handled, especially in the wake of the kidnapping and release of the passengersing of TWA Flight 847 last month. “I have called the State Department many times. All I get is, ‘We are working on it,’ but we see very little effort. “We were hopeful that when the 39 passengers on the TWA flight were released, we would soon be reunited with our loved ones, but no such luck. We have been told over and over again that the U.S. won’t negotiate with terrorists. Yet we believe there were negotiations between the U.S. and the terrorists that resulted in the release of the (TWA) passengers,” Mrs. Weir said.

However, White House chief of staff Donald T. Regan fanned the embers Thursday with an angry, podium-thumping denunciation of Congress for failing to come to grips with cutting federal spending. He also said it would be “disgraceful” ifCongress broke off its budget talks. “The federal government, the world’s largest economy, the strength of the free world, is about to go into a new fiscal year without a budget,” Regan said in an appearance before the U S. Chamber of Commerce. “How ridiculous can you be?”

ment on the amount of Thursday’s settlement and Charles Brown, another GE attorney, said he was “verifying nothing.” “They wanted us to keep that secret. I said no deal,” Chesley said. The settlement was announced as a federal court jury was about to deliberate on GE’s liability in the nightclub disaster, and one juror, Nancy Dillon of Oldtown in Greenup County, said “I’m glad they settled.” Ms. Dillon said she was glad to be relieved of the need to decide “anything that deals with so many people.” She didn’t say how she leaned on the liability question. McCracken stressed that the settlement was “not an admission of liability. We felt that now was the time to do it, as opposed to working and going on to 1990. An economic decision was made.”

DAILY SPECIALS 11 a.m.-9p.m/ 'except all-you-can-eat specials MONDAY Ham & Beans $ with cornbread and salad *l* Vegetable Soup and Barbecue t Sandwich *2" TUESDAY Chicken & Dumplings *3 45 Potato Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwich *2 10 WEDNESDAY Fried Chicken with salad, vegetable, roll (all you can eat 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.) ... *3 95 Cheese Soup and Tuna Salad Sandwich *2 95 THURSDAY Lasagna *4’ 5 Bean Soup & Hot Dog *l* s FRIDAY Catfish with salad, vegetable, roll (all you can eat 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.) ... *4” Clam Chowder & Fish Sandwich .. *2**

TUESDAY IS SENIOR CITIZEN NIGHT 3:00 to 9:00 p.m. 50% OFF*-?; Waffle Houstt/%.' Fowfly R«»touront > J Open 24 Hours vl ,L U.S. 231 North, GreancaMlo 653-3531 , Greencastle Only

•> * • i ! * H 1 1 j

Rep. Silvio Conte (R-Mass.) donned an exterminator's jumpsuit last spring to demonstrate what he said was a serious roach infestation in the U.S. Capitol. The publicity stunt gained installation of 35,000 bait

Congressman vowing to wean Capitol Hill of 'utterly useless jobs'

WASHINGTON (AP) - Enough is enough, says Rep. Silvio Conte, claiming that Capitol Hill is awash with excess employees. He says there are so many garage attendants he’s afraid he’ll run over one of them some morning on his way to work. The size of the congressional police force member of Congress make him feel like a hostage. Elevator attendants operate elevators that already are automated, and there are 72 doorkeepers more than when Conte first came to Washington in 1959. “I have gone around and checked the House and Senate and there isn’t one additional door,” Conte said Thursday while serving notice he intends to cut into the 31,000-member Capitol Hill work force. The Massachusetts Republican’s remarks came as the House approved, 263-135, a money bill of more than $1 billion for congressional operations and support functions for fiscal year 1986. The measure was sent to the Senate. Conte succeeded in persuading the House to trim 10 garage attendants, through attrition. The savings would total about $230,000. Declaring the 64 garage attendants are “just too many,” Conte said, “I am concerned about those poor people. ... They must have terrible problems because they sit in those chairs all day 10ng...” Later, he said he feared he would run over a garage attendant driving

Handicapped Boy Scout headed to Jamboree

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Robert, Michel Lankford, the buddy system has worked. The handicapped youth will be attending the national Boy Scout Jamboree after all with a special companion. Local Scouting officials and the boy’s mother, Ruth Lankford agreed Thursday on an escort to accompany 16-year-old Michel, who suffers from cerebral palsy.

Putnam County Playhouse

Round Barn Rd., Greencastle presents H.M.S. Pinafore July 18,19, 20 8:00 p.m. performance Tickets ’3.00 Available at the door and Gjesvold’s Photo & Art Center.

tray debugging devices. Now Conte is claiming that Capitol Hill is awash with excess employees and says he'll seek to reduce the 31,000member work force. (AP Laserphoto)

his car into one of the underground lots. Congress, however, rejected an amendment that would have trimmed roughly $107,000 in expenses for the elevator operators. “These jobs are utterly useless,” said Rep. Hank Brown, R-Colo., who has tried for three years to persuade his colleagues to get rid of operators in the age of electronic elevators. But Rep. Vic Fazio, D-Calif., prevailed with his argument that the operators are needed to run elevators smoothly and efficiently when congressmen are summoned from their offices to the House floor to vote within a specific period of time. Fazio shepharded the entire bill through the House. The legislative money measure, covering fiscal 1986 which opens Oct. 1, totaled about $1.3 billion, including $447 million for House operations, about $321 million for joint congressional functions, and $526 million for related agencies such as the Library of Congress, the Copyright Royalty Tribunal and the Government Printing Office. The measure included a provision prohibiting the Library of Congress from printing Playboy in Braille. The action, 216-193, to slash $103,000 from the library’s account covering Braille translations came after Rep. Chalmers Wylie, R-Ohio, complained of articles portraying “wanton idleness and illicit sex” in Playboy. Fazio said the measure freezes spending at fiscal 1985 levels.

Mrs. Lankford said Tom Fox, 19, of Indianapolis, will accompany Michel to Fort A.P. Hill, Va., where the national Jamboree will take place next week. Local scout leaders threw Michel’s trip to the Jamboree in doubt last week, expressing concern over his handicap and cancelling his previously approved application. The boy and his mother argued an escort

Allison plants get contracts

WASHINGTON (AP) The Defense Department has awarded General Motors Corp. divisions in Indianapolis two contracts totaling $16.4 million. GM’s Detroit Diesel Allison Division received a contract for more than $12.4 million from the Army to build 86 transmissions for the Ml ABRAMS tank. The

Shorts, tennis shoes for police

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - City policemen assigned to foot patrol duty are sporting the traditional summer fashion this year short pants and tennis shoes.

Fear 100 dead in dam break ROME (AP) The retaining wall of a dam crumbled today after recent thunderstorms and flood waters poured into a popular tourist area in northern Italy’s Dolomite mountains, killing at least 100 people, officials said. Italian state television quoted the civil defense minister, Giuseppe Zamberletti, as saying at least 100 people perished, and other officials said the toll in the disaster may be as high as 200. The dam site is 193 miles northeast of Milan. The closest major city, Bolzano, is 29 miles away. The Civil Defense Ministry said initial reports were that the dam collapsed but that later information said an earthen retaining wall gave way, pouring mud and water over as many as 20 houses and four hotels. The waters of a mountain stream, swollen by recent storms, rushed toward the break and a big gush of water burst out in the the first 20 seconds, the Civil Defense Ministry said. “Many families were wiped out with their houses,” said Alma Bernard, who owns a hotel in Tesero, a little over one mile from the disaster scene. “Earth and mud cover the village,” she said in £ telephone interview with The Associated Press. The Italian news agency ANSA quoted Giuliano Amato, a top aide to Premier Bettino Craxi, as saying that the number of casualties has not yet been determined, but that “the first reports give terrible figures.” “There may be many dead,” a police officer reached by telephone told The Associated Press. The policeman, who insisted on anonymity, said the waters from a lake were pouring into a residential area in the village of Stava, near Cavalese in Trento province. He said the area included two hotels. The dam was on an artificial lake above the inhabited area of the village. The officer reached by phone said that police in nearby communities closed the roads to all but emergency traffic. He said army helicopters were sent in to join rescue efforts. The area reported affected is between Trento and Bolzano in the Val di Fiemme, a picturesque valley nestled amid the snow-capped Dolomite peaks. In this season, the region is filled with vacationers, mainly Italians and northern Europeans.

Ex-Martinsville C of C head is missing MARTINSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - The former president of the Greater Martinsville Chamber of Commerce, who resigned earlier this week in the wake of an investigation into missing funds at his grocery store, has been listed by police as a missing person, authorities said. No charges have been filed against Joseph W. Moran in connection with a “discrepancy” in business records at Schwab’s IGA store, said Martinsville Police Sgt. Jeffrey C. Buskirk Wednesday. Morgan County Prosecutor Jane S. Craney confirmed the investigation into “the possibility of missing funds” at the store. Moran’s wife filed the missing person report on her husband because he had been despondent about his resignation from the chamber post he had held since January, Buskirk said.

was not needed, based on medical opinions, but agreed to the stipulation in order to facilitate approval. I Fox, a Life Scout and candidate for Eagle Scout, said he wanted to go along “to make sure Michel has a safe and fun time.” He works with a local real estate firm, which is giving him time off to attend the Jamboree with Michel.

work is expected to be completed by * November 1986. GM’s Allison Gas Turbine Division received a contract for more than $4.2 • million to design, develop and test 10 tur- ! boshaft engines for the Navy’s E-2C I Hawkeye early-warning aircraft. The - work is expected to be completed by Sep- I tember 1987, officials said Wednesday. i

Police Chief Ray Hamner said the new uniforms will be cooler for the two officers “ recently assigned to walk around a downtown neighborhood.