Ukiah Daily Journal from Ukiah, California • Page 1

Ukiah Dculq Journal neth Year No. 187 Ukiah, Mendocino County, California Friday, November 24, 1978 24 Pages Sections Cent: from the desk By Jim Garner The Friday Catch-All: Response to a campaign for the Ukiah Boosters has been un derwhelming, to say the very least The letters were sent to parents of high school students and, to date, only 225 have responded. The Boosters' goal of $10,000 to help support various athletic programs at Ukiah High School is about $5,000 short. So, come on, parents, send that $5 or $10 today to Ukiah Boosters, P.O. Box 1168, Ukiah You know about the problems we've had with the newsprint shortage caused by strikes at various west coast pulp mills.

Strikers were told this week that if the newsprint companies meet the wage demands of the unitjn, the strikers will be in direct violation oiNPresident Carter's anti-inflation program. The union is percent pay hike over two years. From John Taylor's "Crop News" bulletin, this tidbit about what caused the tax revolt: "Most politicians have lost sight of what a billion really is. For example, one billion seconds ago, the first atomic bomb had not been exploded; one billion minutes ago, Christ was still on earth; one billion hours ago, men were still living in caves. Yet, in terms of government spending, one billion ago was onJy yesterday! Uncle Sam now owes over $9 trillion and your share comes to $113,000." Holiday death count passes 100 By United Press International Icy highways and poor visibility in many areas of the nation and roads packed with Thanksgiving travelers combined to push the weekend holiday death count past the 100 mark today.

The National Weather Service said snow, ice and fog would pose problems for holiday motorists in wide areas of the Midwest and Plains states Thursday. Dozens of accidents were blamed on the conditions, including a four-fatality wreck in dense fog in southern Arkansas. Correction The Daily Journal erroneously reported Tuesday that the People's Temple church on East Road in Redwood Valley was being purchased by the Redwood Valley Community Church. The temple is actually being purchased by three members of a group called the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship, according to the group's secretary- treasurer, Ross Case. Case told the Journal today that negotiations have been underway to sell the temple building to John Paju and Rick and Doris Spencer.

Paju is president of the Full Gospel organization. Rick spencer is a past president. Case was affiliated with the People's Temple in the early 1960s. He told the Journal that the tempie building has been in escrow for some time, but Paju and the Spencers have had difficulty securing a loan for it. He said they planned to use the property for a variety of Christian-oriented but hot limited activities of the Full Gospel Fellowship.

Weather SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) California extended forecasts for Sunday through Tuesday. Northern Californa Mostly fair through Monday but with local dense valley fog. Threat of showers Tuesday mainly far north and Sierra Nevada with snow in the mountains in the upper 50s to mid 60s. Lows in the mid 30s to low 40s at low elevations. Northwestern California: Fair through tonight with night and morning fog.

Increasing clouds in the north Saturday but remaining fair in the south. Cool nights and warmer days. Light winds. Fort Bragg 44 and 58 Ukiah 35 and 62. 1978 1977 Date Hi Lo Date Hi Lo 23 60 32 23 55 41 11 a.m.

Today Low Today 48 33 3.62 Last Year 9.07 GRISLY GUYANA DISCOVERY More bodies found; death toll expected to reach 800 GEORGETOWN, Guyana (UPI) U.S. troops conducting recovery operations at the Peoples Temple settlement in Guyana said today they are finding "new bodies every minute" and that the death toll in the mass suicide is expected to reach 800. The team said it had flown out 270 bodies of the 408 originally reported dead Today it said it had discovered more than 200 bodies not previously counted in the Rev Jim Jones' Jonestown jungle commune 150 miles northwest of Georgetown where Jones' fanatical cultists willingly drink a mixture of purple Kool-Aid and cyanide. "We are finding more bodies every minute and expect there will be up to 800 of them," a spokesman said. US Embassy spokesman Fred Shaver in Georgetown said it appears that the original count of dead "is seriously in error." "At this time it appears that as many as 780 persons may have died at the Jonestown site," the spokesman said.

"At this time 485 bodies have been removed, 20 more bodies are at the Jonestown site, and the head count has reached 270 There are more expected as the head count continues." Search officials at the scene said the number of dead may reach 800. Shaver said the bodies were "at the site" but whether they were found in the the temple or in the jungle, "I'm not sure precisely. They were not in the jungle as I understand." He said some may have been found around the camp perimeter. Asked whether he could say how they died, he replied, "I can't say." By early today more than 200 bodies had arrived at Dover, and Air Force sources said they hoped to have all the bodies at the base later today. As soon as Jones's casket arrived, 10 FBI fingerprint specialists verified the body marked 13-B was indeed Jones, ending speculation it might have been the body of a double.

By late Thursday, all the bodies, bloated from days under the steamy tropical sun, had been removed from the Jonestown commune to Georgetown for transport to the United States aboard the aircraft shuttling between North and South America. First Temple suicide returned for Sat. services Memorial services will be held Saturday, 1 p.m. at Eversole Mortuary for Jack Barron, 57, a former resident of Redwood Valley, one of 409 persons to die last Saturday from poison or gunshot wounds in Jonestown, Guyana, headquarters of the Peoples Temple. It is planned that inurment be made at Evergreen Memorial Gardens after the body is flown from Dover, Delaware.

A veteran of World War II, Barron was born Nov. 9, 1921, in Delaware. He is survived by his father, Fred Barron of New Jersey, by two sons, Garry Barron of Minnesota and Dennis Barron of Redwood Valley; by a brother, William Barron of Maine and by a sister, Grace Belcher of Texas. Six grandchildren also survive. GREAT ESCAPE One Thomas Turkey made his escape Wednesday from the N.

Dora home of Maria Durand, where he was to be the guest of honor for Thursday's dinner. Alighting on a nearby rooftop, Tom eluded city firemen who tried to bring him home, and even seemed to enjoy a shower he received when the city crew tried to bring him down with a hose. He finally turned himself in, we understand and presumably took his place of honor at the Durand dinner table for Thanksgiving. photo by Kalkman. State blitzed with suits to hike assistance SACRAMENTO (UPI) A group of welfare assistance legal organizations Used the Thanksgiving Day holiday to announce a series of suits aimed at increasing assistance to the poor.

While most Californians were enjoying their turkey dinners, the legal aid groups held news conferences in several cities to discuss the suits filed in 21 counties the dav before. Thev contended that the counties are violating welfare assistance laws. An attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance said at the capital news conference that Gov. Edmund Brown Jr. is partially responsible for this.

A dinner was purchased from a local restaurant for $6.25 roast turkey with gravy, yams, vegetables, roll, salad plate and pumpkin pie with whipped cream and next to it was placed the dinner a Sacramento County general assistance recipient could afford on a $1.09 daily food allowance The 86-cent meal included a turkey pot pie, lettuce, a banana and milk, leaving the recipient 23 cents for the rest of the day's meals. Sacramento County's basic monthly grant is $109.80. Ralph Abascal, general counsel to California Rural Legal Assistance, said Brown has blocked passage of legislation that would provide a uniform level of general assistance to the poor, indigent, and disabled who receive county grants. He said that although the monthly general assistance grant is less than $50 in 17 counties, Brown encourage the Assembly to block legislation passed in the Senate that would have provided uniformity After stopping the measure, Abascal said Brown formed a blue ribbon commission to examine the general assistance question and then refused to endorse the body's proposals. There's been "uniform opposition from the governor" for uniform general assistance proposals, the attorney said.

Legal Aid has filed suit in 21 counties across the state, including Sacramento, in an attempt to force the local agencies to revise their general assistance programs so that they meet at least minimal needs of the poor. The suits are also aimed at preventing counties from using the federal food stamp program to avoid their obligation of insuring citizens a minimum standard of nutritwn Diane Morrison, a Sacramento lx'gal Aid attorney, told reporters that about 10.000 general assistance recipients would be affected by the outcome of the suits. The suits charge that grant levels are "inadequate to provide a decent and healthful standard of living" and require county officials conduct a study to determine the actual cost of living and recalculate grants accordingly. By law, each county is required to provide assistance to residents that are incompetent, poor, indigent, or incapacitated by age, disease or accident. However, individual counties determine the general assistance grant levels.

Roberta Ranstrom, a Sacramento Legal Aid attorney, said monthly grants range up to $277 in Lassen County. She said suits were filed late Wednesday in Sacramento, Alameda, Placer, San Joaquin, Yolo. Butte, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Imperial, Kern, Mendocino, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare, Ventura and Monterey counties In Sacramento County, the basic grant for a single general assistance recipient is $109.80 for food, clothing, rent and other necessities. If the individual lives in a hotel and must buy restaurant meals he or she may receive up to $159.50 per month. State removes 13 from Temple care center By ERIC KRUEGER Journal Staff Writer To safeguard 13 young retarded men in the wake of the Guyana massacre-suicide, the state removed them Monday from a Redwood Valley home care center owned and run by the People's Temple.

The pullout came after the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office called the state Department of Developmental Services Monday morning and advised "precautionary measures" for the men, according to Albert Brown, the department's chief deputy director. By Monday evening, the men had been placed with their families or at other care centers. They were told the staff at the Road Ranch (once named Happy Acres) was taking an "extended Thanksgiving" vacation, said Curt Firestone, North Coast Regional Center director. Firestone said that to the best of his knowledge, all of the ranch staff members belonged to the People's Temple. He estimated that the staff had 12 people, some holding outside jobs as well.

The regional center oversees much of the home care program the ranch is involved in. Former temple member Lena McCown of Ukiah set off the pullout when she told the local social services department Sunday that the men living at the ranch could be in serious danger. McCown told the Journal she and her husband George decided to contact a local social services investigator after hearing about the mass suicide in Guyana Investigator Don Scotto notified the sheriff's office of McCown's report. Social Services Director Dennis Denny said, "We made the decision that we had to get that information to them." The informant (McCown) had "grave concern" for the people at the ranch, said Denny. Bonnie Beck, who operates the ranch with her husband, declined to comment on the pull-out.

The 37-acre ranch is at 2451 Road in Redwood Valley. Grapes take up 11 acres, while pastures and buildings occupy the rest of the land, according to county records. All of the grounds and buildings are owned by the People's Temple, Firestone said. State Department of Social Services licensing records list the temple as the ranch's owner on the original, January 1972 appliction for a home care license. Health officials were unanimous in their praise for the work done by Bonnie and Don Beck, who head the ranch's program for retarded young men.

Firestone called the program "excellent." He lauded the Becks for their teaching efforts and for helping clients reach their maximum potential The Becks were cooperative about the pull-out, said Supervising Psychiatric Social Worker Maggie Diephouse She noted the couple had created "a really outstanding program" for the clients, who lived with them at the ranch Deputy Director Brown said the care provided by the Becks "has been good." He did not rule out returning the men to the ranch, noting instead that the removal is on a "temporary basis" until the Guyana affair settles down to the point where his department can rationally assess the situation. Meanwhile, Brown said he wasn't exactly sure why the sheriff's office feared for the safety of the men at the ranch. But given the Guyana situation, an "ounce of prevention" was called for, and there was no time to deliberate, he said. Brown said he thought the sheriff's office action might have been triggered by reports of People's Temple assassination teams. A sheriff's investigator had spoken not to him but to an investigator in his department, said Brown.

According to Curt Firestone of the regional center, the actual decision to pull the men from the ranch was made by state developmental services chief David Loberg. Firestone said his agency acted on Loberg's direction. The People's Temple events last weekend were enough to justify precautions on behalf of the clients, he added Developmental services deputy Brown said the Road Ranch is the only temple-owned, home care facility in the state. However, he said he was still trfing to find out if there were any other temple-run homes At one lime, three were in operation, he said. In a curious footnote to the pull-out, Assistant Sheriff Ralph Maize said the sheriff's office had made no "recommendation'' to the developmental services department According to Maize, the sheriff's office simply advised the state mat the oung nun ere the Road Ranch Any assistance the slate required offered, said Maize That assassination attempts would be directed against people at the ranch was not a fear of the sheriff's office, Maize noted.

According to Mrs. Diephouse the fact that People's Temple members were running the ranch was not unusual because so many religion- oriented people are involved in home care facilities statewide. The state evaluates home care programs and pays operators a certain amount of money per client per month. The amount depends on the kind of program offered by the home. The amount of money can range from $400 to $900 per client per month.

North Coast Regional Center reported that the Beck's have been getting an average payment of $536 per client per month This amounts tc around $84,000 a year for 12 clients. North Coast's Firestone said that his agency has always known that any profits the ranch made went to the People's Temple in San Francisco. It is not known whether the ranch made any profit from its home care operation. The ranch is still technically licensed to a Richard and Claire Janero land has been since Wil'SK said the state Department of Social Ser vices in Santa Rosa A spokeswoman indicated a license for the Becks is being worked on The current license expires in March She added that no action to revoke the ranch's license is being planned There are no grounds tor such action, she said.