Banner Graphic, Volume 18, Number 182, Greencastle, Putnam County, 9 April 1988 — Page 2

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THE BANNERGRAPHIC April 9,1988

Mutz says employees’ suit is ‘totally without merit’

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) State employees unions filed suit against the Indiana Department of Employment and Training Services on Friday, claiming that private groups are being given too much authority over state unemployment and retraining programs. Lt. Gov. John M. Mutz, whose responsibilities include overseeing the employment division, called the lawsuit “totally without merit” and said a new merger of employment andtraining programs is working. The lawsuit was filed Friday afternoon in Marion Superior Court by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Indiana State Employees Association, the Indiana Local Office Managers Association and five employees of the state department The Department of Employment and Training Services administers unemployment compensation and helps Hoosiers find jobs or obtain job training. Under a 1987 law, the department was created through the merger of the Indiana Employment Security Division and the Indiana Office of Occupational Development Employment security offices were manned by civil service workers. The lOOD was a smaller agency that oversaw distribution of RESIDENTS SUE MINE TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) More than 100 Blanford-area residents charged in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court that blasting at Peabody Coal Co.’s Universal Mine has damaged their homes and health. The lawsuit contends that explosions used by the company to free coal deposits had seriously damaged 42 homes in Vermillion County, Ind., and Edgar County, 111., since Peabody began surfacing mining in the 19705.

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federal Job Training Partnership Act funds in the state. JTPA activities are controlled at the local level by organizations called Private Industry Councils. By law, a majority of the councils’ members represent business. The lawsuit claims that after the merger, the local councils have assumed too large a role in administering the state programs and distributing funds. The suit seeks an injunction to stop the councils, an order for the state department to issue rules and regulations on how the local offices should operate and a mandate to the department to stop delegating authority to the councils. Michael C. Kendall, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said they fear the new department is “intentionally dismantling the civil service system in this state.” Other representatives of the unions said they fear that the merged agency will not supply service as fairly or equitably as under the old system. “It’s almost as if government went on vacation and left the three stooges in charge,” said Kump. Kump also claimed state officials had violated an informal agreement, negotiated with employee unions, on how the merged agency would be run.

Guidelines set for workers’ drug tests

WASHINGTON (AP) The government will publish stringent technical guidelines Monday for the random drug testing of federal employees in sensitive jobs, according to a published report The Washington Post reported in Saturday’s editions that the guidelines will guard against employee cheating by requiring that toilet water be dyed blue to prevent dilution of urine. Temperature readings will be taken from the samples to detect substitution. Quoting an unidentified government source, the newspaper said next week’s printing in the Federal Register will be followed by a certification by Health and Human Services that all federal agencies have a drug-testing program that meets the guidelines. Although all agencies have submitted plans outlining who will be tested and for what drugs, the final certification date

Pressure from the private managers could impair the performance of civil service employees, most of whom have kept their jobs, the representatives said. The privately run offices also could “become political plums,” said Timothy Kelly, one of the plaintiffs. Mutz said the new system eliminates duplication and allows similar services to be offered at one location. He estimated $2 million has been saved since last June due to improved efficiency. Mutz said the set-up “allows local initiatives” but claimed that was the intent of the 1987 law that permitted the merger. The lieutenant governor, the only Republican candidate for governor, suggested the suit might be politically motivated. “The make-up of those bringing the lawsuit gives one question as to what is going on,” said Mutz. But Kendall, a former Democratic state senator, and Philip Hayes, a former Democratic state senator and congressman, denied the suit was connected with politics. “This isn’t a gang-up on John Mutz,” said Hayes, who represents the AFSCME.

was unclear. Agencies will be required to test for cocaine and marijuana, but may test for PCP, opiates and amphetamines. Finally, the Office of Management and Budget must estimate the cost of implementation to Congress before the regulations become effective. The working estimate is thought to be “about $7 million,” the paper said. The new guidelines draw heavily on the experience of the testing which has been conducted in the military for the last seven years. Currently, the Department of Transportation is the only non-military agency testing employees in sensitive jobs. The American Federation of Government Employees, which has filed suit in federal district court in New Orleans against earlier informal standards, contends the random drug testing violates workers’ constitutional rights.

Bowell after education post

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) A former U.S. Department of Education official says he’s in the race for the Republican nomination for state school superintendent until the end even if current Superintendent H. Dean Evans decides to run. David W. Bowell, a former official of the U.S. Department of Education, announced his candidacy Friday. He said he would mix educational experience with political skill if he

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It’s amazing what a little bit of mousse will do, huh? Actually this is not the latest in punk hairstyles. No, because...hey, hey it’s the monkeys, a rare species that zoo officials are trying to save from extinction. The wide-eyed pair represents two golden lion tamarins. The

For lieutenant governor

Johnson’s hat in ring

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Steven R. Johnson says he hopes to bring some fire to the Republican race for lieutenant governor. Johnson, a state senator from Kokomo, announced his candidacy Friday and said he can generate excitement that’s been lacking in the contest. “It may seem like I’m jumping into this a little late,” said Johnson at a Statehouse news conference. “But it does not seem that any of those candidates has indeed caught fire. I’m hoping in the next two months to start some fire.” Johnson, in the middle of his first four-year Senate term, joins Rep. Mitchell V. Harper, R-New Haven, and Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott in seeking the nomination to be decided at the party’s state convention in Indianapolis June 9. His job now is to convince party leaders and convention delegates that “I add something to the ticket to complement the strength of John Mutz,” said Johnson, 40. Mutz, the current second-term lieutenant governor, is unopposed for the Republican nomination to succeed GOP Gov. Robert D. Orr. Orr is barred from seeking a third straight term. Johnson claimed his combination

is nominated at the June 9 GOP state convention. “I’m in it until the end,” said Bowell, who described Evans as a friend. “I think Dean considers himself an educator and that’s his right and doesn’t look forward to a political campaign. Former state Rep. Mary J. Pettersen is the only announced candidate for the Democratic nomination.

STRIKE IN FOURTH DAY CHANDLER, Ind. (AP) AMAX representatives and Ayrshire miners accused one another of violating a nationwide union contract as 250 miners elected to continue their wildcat strike. Roger Myers, international executive board member for District 11 of the United Mine Workers, said striking miners would meet today at the union hall in Boonville to vote on whether to continue the strike.

monkeys, which measure five centimeters and weigh 60 grams, were bom recently at a zoo in the northern Dutch town of Emmen. In a few years, both will be returned to their natural habitat in Brazil.

STEVEN JOHNSON Joins the race

of experience in the Legislature, business and education should set him apart from his rivals. A former two-term member of the House, he said he has experience working with job-promot-ing and economic development legislation. He also holds a master’s degree in business administration and teaches chemistry and mathematics at Indiana University at Kokomo. “That is going to be the strong

Swaggart decides to leave his ministry

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Jimmy Swaggart and the nation’s largest Pentecostal denomination walked away from each other after the church said it was defrocking him for rejecting its punishment for “moral failure.” Swaggart on Friday announced his resignation from the Assemblies of God shortly after the church said it was ousting him for refusing to undergo a year’s suspension from the pulpit and at least two years of rehabilitation. The punishment was ordered after Swaggart confessed publicly to unspecified sins. Though never proven but also never disputed, it was widely reported that Swaggart had committed lewd acts with a New Orleans prostitute. A woman who said she was that prostitute said Swaggart paid her SSO a visit to pose nude for him. Another defrocked Assemblies of God minister, Rev. Marvin Gorman of suburban New Orleans, reportedly hired men who photographed Swaggart with the woman outside a motel. Swaggart, at a Friday news conference at which he refused to answer questions, said his dismissal was inevitable but that leaving the church was vital to save his Bible college and $l4O million-a-year world ministry. “Because of the nature of this situation, we are forced to take a position that does not answer all of the questions nor solve all of the problems. But we feel we have no alternative or choice,” Swaggart said. Asked if that meant Swaggart would form his own church, his

balance of qualifications I could bring to the office of lieutenant governor,” he said. Johnson said he has talked with Mutz, who he said “has been encouraging but as encouraging as he is being to the other candidates.” Mutz campaign manager Michael McDaniel said the lieutenant governor will continue through April to discuss the No. 2 spot on the ticket with party leaders from across the state. By late April, Mutz probably will meet personally with candidates and by mid-May decide whether to endorse one candidate or tell the convention that any of two or three prospects are acceptable, said McDaniel. * Mutz will look at qualifications for the job and the ability of prospects to campaign and raise money, said McDaniel. In addition to the three active candidates, other people who have discussed the job with Mutz or have been mentioned by top party officials could be considered for lieutenant governor, McDaniel said. Previously, Marion County Prosecutor Stephen Goldsmith and Reps. Dan Stephan, R-Huntington, and Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, retired from the race.

lawyer William Treeby replied: “This ministry is an independent church and always has been.” Shortly before Swaggart made his announcement, the Executive Presbytery of the Assemblies of God, headquartered in Mo., said it had dismissed him as a minister for refusing to accept thechurch’s recommended punish*: ment. The church’s decision was an-; nounced in Springfield by the Rev: G. Raymond Carlson, general su-; perintendent of the church. Earlier Friday, the church had; received what Carlson described as; a “gracious” letter from Swaggart; in which the evangelist refused to; accept the church’s terms. Carlson; declined to release details of Swag-; gart’s letter. The Rev. Everett Stenhouse, as-; sistant superintendent of the As-; semblies, said Swaggart’s chances; of returning to the church are slim. : Swaggart voluntarily stepped: down from his pulpit Feb. 21, after a tearful public confession of “moral failure” before his wife, son and congregation gathered in his Family Worship Center. He later agreed to accept a punishment originally recommended by Louisiana church officials a three-month suspension and two years of counseling but the national church insisted on the more stringent discipline. Swaggart said Friday he would stick to the punishment initially decided by the Louisiana church officials. Under that punishment he would not preach sermons until May 22, although he has been “witnessing” at church services.