Pensacola News Journal from Pensacola, Florida • 3

Fort Walton The Pensacola Journal Wednesday, March 11, 1981 mm Beach Nonaa News, o-yu Deaths, 9C The eyes of Russia upon Okaloosa cities and Eglin; and a host area which includes the rest of Okaloosa along with Walton and Holmes counties in Florida and Houston County, Ala. Among the data a feasibility study will determine is how many people would have private autos to get them to a host area and how many would need public transportation; how to transfer the sick from hospitals; how much food and water will evacuation facilities need and where additional supplies can be diverted. According to FEMA, the first priority mission is to plan for relocating people who would be directly endangered by a enemy attack on 51 U.S. strategic retaliatory bases and facilities, such as missile fields and nuclear submarine or bomber bases. and a "counterforce" area which faces the greatest significance of attack.

Nichfls said the survey team in the area now is a continuation of a protect started in 1974 to identify structures in the "most likely wartime target areas in the United States As part of the review, Nichols said lower-risk communities near each target area also are studied to determine "how much protection against fallout might be offered by structures there in case people in high-risk area had to be relocated In the relocation plans, Nichols said there is a Fort Walton Beach "conglomerate" consisting of two parts: the risk area comprising Fort Walton Beach, adjacent But Nichols, in a statement issued Tuesday, said the south county area also has been categorized as a "coun-terforce" area because the "retaliatory" significance of the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing's F-15 aircraft stationed here. The statement also describes Eglin as a "major Air Force base logistical center." Eglin spokesman Maj. John Toner said base officials "don't know enough" about the issue to comment. "I'm glad the Russians think so highly of us," he added. "I don't know that we're players in this at all," Toner said.

"I think it's civil defense business based on their estimates of DOD (Department of Defense) estimates." According to civil defense guidelines, there are three designations: a "host" area which runs little risk of attack; a "risk" area which faces the probability of attack; By JIM CHITWOOD Fort Walton Bureau CMal FORT WALTON BEACH Okaloosa County has been classified a "target area" in a nuclear war, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has launched an analysis of the structural protection offered from a nuclear blast, fire or fallout. Tom Nichols, county Civil Defense director, disclosed Tuesday a FEMA survey team is analyzing facilities in Okaloosa, Walton and Holmes counties for their ability to protect people from "various wartime hazards" created by the proximity to Eglin Air Force Base. As part of a "crisis relocation planning," Nichols said the Fort Walton Beach area has been defined as a "risk" area if Eglin were attacked. Islander, state settle on little tip Okaloosa ends bus system's red-inked run i i it in tit i l.tu'l If I L-s 1 I k' II-- Vl 1 I it fA iL. SLal 'i I notch efficiency," said administrative assistant B.B.

Sadler. Sadler said Cox, aware of his physical limitations due to ill health, has accepted another county job. Learned from county airport manager Coy Thomason a $100,000 Coastal Plains Regional Commission grant for Bob Sikes Airport improvements is "in limbo." With construction nearly complete on the $816,000 project, the commissioners will have to await further word from the regional agency to see if $102,000 or $202,000 in local funding will be obligated. Set a public hearing for March 24 on a proposed 60-bed cluster See BUS, Page 2C Walton pitches for road By JEFF NEWELL Journal StaH Writi SHALIMAR The Okaloosa County Com nissioners hit the brake pedal ar put the financially-ailing county bus system in park Tuesday, follo wing a recommendation from Commissioner Bill Peebles to end ie 3-year fling with mass transit "ii nmediately." The commissioners also learned county ambulance director James Cox has steppe down and accepted another county job. Peebles' recommendation to end the bus service was approved despite recent appeals from the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce and local military officials to keep the buses on the streets.

The end was predicted by April 12. Peebles blamed the lack of rider-ship, loss of fur ding for Comprehensive Employment and Training Act employees and expected loss of federal subsidies For the death of the service. The bus system lost $124,000 in its three years operation. The system produced revenues of it required a county outlay of $50,446. The re mainder of its more than $158,000 operating cost came from federal anJ state subsidies.

Buford Jenkins, mass transit director, said bjus routes will be phased out over, the next few weeks. The commissioners voted to funnel all phase-out money through the board's budget review committee headed by Commissioner Larry Anchors before the! funds are spent. Peebles and dther county officials will meet with (social service agencies Friday to determine to what extent the county Will assist the agencies in providing transportation to the disadvantaged. Service for St; Mary's School and the Okaloosa Association for Retarded Citizens will continue for a month as required by the contracts. In other business, the commissioners: Were' told that ambulance director Cox has been replaced by former assistant ambulance director Nick Steiger.

"I did not feel and he (Cox) did not feel that he could provide the aggressive and detailed supervision that is needed to bring the ambulance service back to a top- StaH photo by Jeff Newell Okaloosa buses were sent to the curb permanently by the county commission. Gates: I will not run By JIM CHITWOOD Fort WaNon Bureau ChW DESTIN The state recommended Tuesday a settlement on part of the controversial Holiday Isle property that the state has gone to court to claim. Assistant Attorney General Gerald Curington said Gov. Bob Graham and the Cabinet will be asked to approve the proposed settlement involving beachfront along East Pass Channel. But Curington said the proposal does not affect the major portion of the 62 acres the state is seeking title in both circuit and federal courts.

In a Department of Natural Resources report released Tuesday, the recommended settlement with a leaseholder identified only as Arthur Hill would have the state receive two easements near the westernmost lake on the isle's tip in exchange of a quitclaim deed to the land in disputes Curington said in Tallahassee the individual is "not yet" a property owner but allegedly has a contract for the land. Because of numerous transactions involving the Holiday Isle property, the current leaseholder was unclear. "They have made an offer to the state which is in the best interest of the state," Curington said. "I can't say what the governor and cabinet are going to do." The proposal only involves two of he eight pieces of land the state has laimed to preserve in a natural set- ng. Curington said the state orginally ad hoped it could get all leaseholders together and "work out an ar-angement where the state would have a contiguous piece of land with public access." He said as the litigation progressed "we learned interests are varied, the facts surrounding each piece of property are different and it didn't seem practical." With a 20-foot-wide easement along the waterfront and a 15-foot easement for access to a public road offered in the proposal, Curington said, "The state is getting a lot more waterfront than if it won the lawsuit, plus there's access from a road to the beach." Curington said the recommendation is not related to a settlement offered earlier by Pensacola attorney Patrick Emmanuel, representing several leaseholders.

The offer could have given the state a narrow strip of land around the perimeter of the western end of the isle. The state refused to consider the proposal, and Pensacola developer Wallace Yost and the Saudi Corp. filed suit in federal court to prevent the state from claiming the valuable beachfront. The state followed with a circuit court suit, naming Yost, Saudi and a half-dozen Fort Walton Beach businessmen as defendants. The state, after an exhaustive investigation, contends the land on the isle's western end grew appreciably in size following the construction of the jetties in 1967 by the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers. By state law, the artificially accreted land belongs to the state. However, the law has never been tested in court. Curington said he recommended the state accept the exchange offered by Hill because "we have nothing to to gain by going to court. That is not the case with Yost and Saudi." In the proposal, there also is an agreement that the 15-foot access easement would be released if the state obtains other land access for the public road.

the county did not require sprinklers and that county builders therefore had an unfair advantage. At the request of Public Safety Commissioner Tommy Lee Ray, the council adopted the same ordinance approved by the Okaloosa County Commission earlier in the day. Scheduled a special session for March 31 to discuss a controversial ordinance limiting business signs within the city limits. Mayor Gates initially proposed putting the issue to a referendum vote, but several councilmen urged him to "bite the bullet" and come to a decision with the aid of the public. taking the time from my Councilman Dr.

Daniel Houghton announced last month that he planned to challenge Gates for the mayoral seat. In the past Houghton has criticized Gates' handling of city government and has promised "harmony and increased effectiveness" if elected. In other action Tuesday, the council: Rescinded an earlier decision and voted to require sprinkler systems on all structures over three stories in height. The council abolished the sprinkler requirement two years ago after local builders complained that By BRIAN DOYLE Journal Stalt Writer FORT WALTON BEACH After holding office for a single two-year term, Fort Walton Beach Mayor Bob Gates told the City Council Tuesday he has decided not to seek re-election this May. Gates, a local Realtor who ousted incumbent Gene Smith by a slim 11-vote margin in May 1979, said he decided to bow out of the political arena because of "serious financial troubles.

"Serving as mayor of Fort Walton Beach has been the greatest honor of my life," Gates said. "I suffered severe financial losses this past year, though, and I just can't afford By MARY V.JONES Journal Staff Writar DEFUNIAK SPRINGS With the tourist traffic season looming ahead, the Walton County Commissioners will renew efforts to widen and resurface U.S. 331 from the Alabama line to the Gulf of Mexico. The campaign began with a resolution adopted by the commission Tuesday that U.S. 331 be widened to four lanes and resurfaced.

In the process, the commission wants the Choctawhatchee Bay bridge converted from a drawbridge to a high-rise. With urging by County Clerk Catherine King to "pursue the project" at full steam, the commissioners agreed to send their resolution to state and federal legislators and state and federal heads of transportation departments. They will enlist the help of local civic organizations and the Walton County Chamber of Commerce. Resurfacing problems plague the commissioners in county districts too. But discussion of resurfacing work led the commissioners to the disheartening conclusion that money is too scarce now with little hope for betterment in the near future.

District 3 Commissioner Bob Anderson said he has investigated the possibility of extending two outstanding bond issues, but the results were not encouraging. The savings "are not enough to fool with because we'd have to reissue the bonds at today's higher interest rates," Anderson told the board. He said that a 1974 issue of $1.5 million was for 15 years at 5.47 percent and the 1977 issue of $2 million was for 15 years at 5.13 percent. The annual payments of $345,000 on both issues are made from the county's 80 percent share of state gasoline taxes collected in Walton County. That share amounts to an annual average of $541,000, according to the state Department of Transportation.

See WALTON, Page 2C State closes escape hatch on museum By JEFF NEWELL Journal SUM Writer VALPARAISO After a legal warning that the city will be liable for operating and maintaining the proposed Air Force Armament Museum should the project founder, the Valparaiso Commissioners backed away Tuesday from signing an agreement with the state. Jim Pearce, attorney for the state Department of Natural Resources Division of Recreation and Parks, said the city may assign the responsibility to another organization such as the Air Force Armament Museum Foundation. But the ultimate legal responsibility for a 25-year operation and maintenance requirement will remain with the city, he said. Pearce's "clarification," which echoed remarks made by Assistant Attorney General Charles Stampelos when the $200,000 DNR grant was approved by the state Cabinet, also left little doubt the city will not be able to depend on wording in the still unsigned agreement to avoid financial liability. The phrase "subject to the availability of funds" refers to the city's liability to budget funds to continue the museum should the foundation find itself unable to provide maintenance and operation of the project.

"It's not an escape hatch," said Pearce. "The state does not want a museum constructed to be turned over to it. We want it clearly understood the responsibility lies with the city as far as the state's concerned." Although commissioners had hoped to amend the project agreement in order to reassign the liability, Pearce said DNR would not approve such an amendment. Acknowledging an impasse, Mayor Bruce Arnold recommended the commission "stop here, not sign the DNR agreement and ask the foundation to guarantee the operation and maintenance." He suggested the foundation explore the use of funds on deposit, a bond, insurance or some other means to guarantee the project. Commissioners unanimously accepted the recommendation, noting the foundation's performance to date in proceeding with development of the project "has not been encouraging." Defendant pleads 'no plea' in young mother's rape scream.

There was nothing I could do but do what he wanted me to do." At one point during the ordeal, the woman' said King marched her into the kitchen and asked where the knife drawer was located. She said he pulled out a carving fork, forced her back to the living room where found the white-handled kni-fehe had carried but had misplaced. The woman said King then handed her the long fork and "told me to stab him, stab him." She said she put the fork on the television set. Later "he said: "I broke down and started sobbing. He stopped (the assault) and put his arm around me, said that he was sorry, that he would spend the rest of his life in jail and he started crying." She related how King told her how he "got mad when I wouldn't talk to him at the mailbox" a few days earlier and again the day before the alleged assault when he came to her house inquiring about a boat for sale in a neighbor's yard.

"He told me how he had been watching me," she said. See TRIAL, Page 2C month prior to the incident. The woman detailed how she was forced to submit to sexual acts at knife point for some three hours before King ultimately walked her to the front door "held my hand, said he was sorry, kissed me on the cheek and walked out the door." Fighting back tears, the woman told the four-woman, three-man jury that she was afraid to scream or escape because her daughter was asleep in a bedroom of the house. "1 would have never left him with my daughter," she said. "I couldn't of the assault, the defense of insanity would be "superficial." The judge later changed his position, saying the use of insanity as a defense "is open to interpretation" and he would not require a election of defense Tuesday.

The victim, a 24-year-old mother of a 3-year-old daughter, recounted how King came to her home about 1:30 a.m. on the pretense of using her telephone to call a hospital about his own ill child. Testimony revealed King had been separated from.e child and his wife for a Walton Beach man charged in the August 1980 rape. However, Barron did not require Wesley to chose between a plea of insanity or not guilty after Wesley claimed a plea would prejudice King's case. Barron first said Wesley had to "deny commission of the offense or rely up the defense of insanity." But Wesley said rules of criminal procedure did not require him to make an election of defense.

Barron then countered, saying that if ng denied the commission By JIM CHITWOOD Fort Walton Bureau CnM SHALIMAR A Fort Walton Beach woman testified Tuesday she was repeatedly raped in her home by a knife-wielding attacker, who the defense claims was insane, is under psychiatric treatment and does not remember the Incident. Earlier, Circuit Court Judge Robert Barron denied a motion by defense attorney Woody Wesley to suppress a tape recording made by Jfmes D. King, a Fort.