Banner Graphic, Volume 18, Number 97, Greencastle, Putnam County, 31 December 1987 — Page 2

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THE BANNERGRAPHIC December 31,1987

State looks to new highway taxes to make up for lost federal funds

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Hoosier lawmakers face a double problem as they prepare to debate how to improve Indiana’s roads and bridges: There isn’t enough money now for highway projects and as much as $26 million per year in revenues could soon be lost. The state’s current predicament, compounded by declining and unpredictable federal help, demands immediate attention before it gets out of control, say legislative leaders as they prepare to convene in Indianapolis next week for the 1988 session of the General Assembly. “I DON’T THINK we’ve reached a crisis point yet,” said House Speaker Pro Tern Jeffrey K. Espich, R-Uniondale, an advocate of greater highway funding. “But we need to take action before it gets any worse.” According to the Indiana Department of Highways, the state needs an additional SSO million per year to maintain roads and SIOO million annually to build new roads. At the same time, Indiana Tax Court Judge Thomas G. Fisher is considering a request to strike down as unconstitutional a SSO truck decal tax that raised about $26 million last year. A similar Pennsylvania law was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme

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65 mph not for Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Hoosiers shouldn’t plan to drive 65 mph except on Indiana interstates in rural areas, the state Department of Highways director says. John P. Isenbarger announced Wednesday that Indiana’s noninterstate rural highways don’t meet new federal guidelines that would permit raising the speed limit to 65 mph. A measure approved by Con-

Court, and other similar state laws have been struck down. Fisher has promised a decision by early January. Legislative leaders such as House Speaker Paul S. Mannweiler, R-Indianapolis, and House Minority Leader Michael K. Phillips, D-Boonville, agree that replacing the truck decal should be a top priority. Senate Finance Chairman Lawrence M. Borst, R-In-dianapolis, said lawmakers should consider a new tax that takes into account a truck’s weight and distance traveled on Indiana roads. Gov. Robert D. Orr and Lt. Gov. John M. Mutz also have said lawmakers should consider a weight-

gress last week would allow the speed limit to go up on rural four-lane, divided highways designed to interstate-type standards and connecting with an interstate already with a 65 mph speed limit, Isenbarger said. Indiana’s non-interstate roads don’t meet those criteria, he said. The new law does not affect the more than 800 miles of Indiana interstate where the speed limit was raised to 65 last June.

distance tax. IF THEY replace the decal tax revenue, lawmakers still would have to wrestle with whether to increase highway funding by raising the gasoline tax, making a general fund appropriation or authorizing bond issues for road programs, lawmakers said. According to the highway department, the money is needed because Indiana has a $2 billion backlog of road reconstruction and replacement projects and is 400 miles behind in repaving interstates and 2,900 miles behind in repaving non-interstate highways. The state also has 400 bridges in need of replacement and at least 350 needing repair work,, the

deparunent told a legislative study committee this summer.

Espich believes Indiana has been “short-changing needs of the future and neglecting needs of the present” in the highway program. MUTZ SAID recently that Indiana’s road-building program will be “dead in the water” until at least 1992 if lawmakers fail to pump more money into the highway department He warned that some areas of the state could fall behind in economic development if they aren’t served by modem highways. Espich is drafting a bill that would allow the state to issue bonds for the construction and operation of highways. Orr and Mutz have endorsed that concept. To pay off the bonds, the Legislature would need to make biennial appropriations from the general fund, or perhaps add up to 2 cents to the gasoline tax, Espich said. A penny increase in the gasoline tax would raise S3O million annually. The tax, increased 2.9 cents in 1985, is now 14 cents.per gallon. Espich sponsored a gasoline tax increase proposal narrowly defeated in the House this year, and he acknowledges that pushing through a tax increase in an election year would be difficult. “I WOULDN’T foreclose the possibility of a penny or two increase,” he said.

Judge grants Kiritsis unconditional freedom

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) After winning a decade-long fight for freedom, a man who wired a shotgun to the head of a mortgage company president and paraded him through downtown streets uttered a simple “thank you” when informed he had been freed from custody. Special Judge James E. Harris on Wednesday lifted an order that had placed Anthony G. Kiritsis, 55, in the care of a guardian, thereby freeing Kiritsis from Central State Hospital. “This case is done,” said Harris. Kiritsis’ reaction “was very matter-of-fact,” said Dr. Pamela Drapeau, Central State’s medical director. “I think he was pleased.” SHE SAID Kiritsis was expected to voluntarily remain in Central State until early next week, when he has an appointment to have his physical condition evaluated at a local Veterans Administration hospital. He suffers from back problems, believed to be curvature of the spine, she said. The extra time will give Kiritsis time to pack his belongings and other possessions, she said. Kiritsis has been institutionalized since February

State high court sets aside death ruling

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - ndiana will not execute a person who pleads guilty to murder but contradicts that confession before sentencing, the state Supreme Court has ruled. In a unanimous decision Wednesday, the court threw out the death sentence of an Indianapolis man, but upheld the 132-year prison term given the man for a 1983 attack on a man and his girlfriend in a city park. THE COURT ruled that a death sentence couldn’t be imposed on Keith L. Patton because at his sentencing hearing he contradicted his earlier admission of guilt to the crime. “The trial court should set aside a guilty plea when the defendant denies that he knowingly killed the victim,” Chief Justice Randall T Shepard wrote. “In Indiana, we will not execute people who plead guilty and then protest innocence at their sentencing hearing.” The court sent the case back to Marion Superior Court for a trial on murder and rape charges against Patton. At the same time, the court affirmed the 132-year sentence given Patton for attempted murder and other charges stemming from the attack. Patton was charged with the shooting death of Michael Pack,

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1977, when he took Richard O. Hall hostage. Hall, a mortgage company executive who had angered Kiritsis, was held hostage 63 hours. , When reached Wednesday, Hall refused to comment. He has not talked publicly about his ordeal in 10 years. Kiritsis was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He remained in custody after refusing psychiatric treatment. He has insisted he has been held unlawfully. ON DEC. 7, Harris, of Morgan Circuit Court, oifc.ed to release Kiritsis under the 180day supervision of a guardian. Kiritsis rejected that option, demanding unconditional freedom. Based largely on a recent letter from Drapeau labeling Kiritsis capable of taking care of himself, Harris amended his ruling. “I was satisfied that a guardianship was no longer necessary, and that Mr. Kiritsis could be released forthwith, whenever he chooses,” Harris said. Once Kiritsis walks out of Central State, he is responsible for his own conduct, the judge said. Harris’ order followed three meetings Wednesday.

19, and a sexual assault on Pack’s girlfriend in October 1983 at Washington Park on the city’s northeast side. The woman’s 4-year-’ old daughter was in the back seat of Pack’s c ir at the time of the attack. PATTON, WHO was 17 at the time of the crime, pleaded guilty to all charges. But later, at his sentenc-' ing hearing, he said he did not intend to kill Patton and claimed he did not realize anyone was in Pack’s car when he fired a shot at it. That change in Patton’s confession makes a death sentence unacceptable, the court ruled. "Because a guilty plea is a judicial admission that obviates the need for a trial, guilty pleas should be cautiously received,” Shepard wrote for the court. “The more serious the crime, the more cautious a trial court should be.” In a capital rise, there can be no doubt auut the guilty plea, the court said. If the defendant changes his mind, a trial should be ordered, the court said. In another decision, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the death sentence of Gregory L. Van Cleave, convicted of the October 1982 slaying of a man making repairs outside his home on the ’ north side of Indianapolis.