Pensacola News Journal from Pensacola, Florida • 17

220 T1 DISASTERS HIT PETS TOO An animal welfare group is making plans to help pet owners and farmers in emergencies, 3B 'DOWNTURN' IN ECONOMY Fed chief Alan Greenspan blames oil prices for the deteriorating economy, Money, 5B ACTOR ARRIVING FOR FUND-RAISER Robert Conrad accepted an invitation to come to Pensacola because of his memory of a famous Marine fighter ace, 8B Newsjournal Pensacola, Florida. TO REPORT A LOCAL STORY 435-8561 Thursday, November 29, 1990 BRIEFLY TT Tl a "fl ne Mile Roa a wicl enim The Florida Department of Transportation will listen to residents' comments tonight on a plan to widen Nine Mile Road and a portion of Pine Forest Road. The project could take up to 10 years to complete. project wi iscussei Nine Milflosd: 'versiiy By Craig Myers News Journal The Florida Department of Transporta I tion will set the wheels in motion tonight on a plan to add two lanes to Nine Mile Alabama Road from University Parkway almost to 2p A Proposed six lane the Alabama line. But don't hold your breath DOT Kevin Parker, DOT manager for the widening project, said the plan calls for six-laning Nine Mile Road from University Parkway west to U.S.

29. And from U.S. 29 nearly to the Alabama line, Nine Mile Road is scheduled to be widened to four lanes, Parker said. A portion of Pine Forest Road from 1-10 north to Nine Mile Road also will be widened to four lanes in the plan, Parker said. Parker said he doesn't expect a lot of interest or controversy tonight, because he said the state already owns about 200 feet of right-of-way along most of Nine See HEARING, 2B The hearing will be informal, and the public is invited to come and go at its convenience.

Because the proposed extension is not in the DOT's five-year plan for road projects in Escambia County, Planning Manager Jim DeVries said it could be closer to the year 2000 before work begins. DeVries said the hearing tonight is part of the preliminary design and environmental work necessary to lay the groundwork for the project. "We're trying to get several projects ready so when the funding becomes available, we don't have to do all our studies again," DeVries said. Proposed four lane portion of Pine Forest Road engineers said it may be six to 10 years before construction begins on the $16 million widening project. Engineers will be on hand from 5 to 7 Proposed four lane tonight at the DOT conference room at Gulf of Mexico 1651 E.

Nine Mile Road to answer questions about the project. Maps and aerial photographs also will be available. Ron GriswoldNaws Journal i i i If i 1 'i Vet should head shelter, group says By J. Todd Foster NewsJournal Escambia County officials acted prematurely in hiring a new manager at the animal shelter and should hire a veterinarian to run the facility, local veterinarians say. The troubled shelter should be operated by an administrator with a background in public health and a degree in veterinary medicine, according to a proposal from the Northwest Florida Veterinary Medical lb Chamber of Commerce identifies its new officers MILTON County Commissioner Millard Adams a former Milton radio station owner, has been elected 1991 president of the Santa Rosa County Chamber of Commerce.

Other officers will be: Milton attorney Dan Stewart, president-elect; supermarket owner I.H. Northrop secretary, and federal civil service employee Walter Martin, treasurer. The remainder of the Chamber's directors for the coming year are Alice Guidy, Gene Osmondson, Linda Barber, Orville Beckford, Dave Boykin, Georgieanna Bryant, Bobbie Culpepper, Nanci Drake, Lydia Ezell, Dr. Michael Hartsfield, Navy Capt. Kenneth Johnson, William T.

Johnson, Dr. H.V. Lundy, Marie Plowman, Jerry Young, Paul Young, Clayton White, Jerry Wood, Paul Stelzner and Tom Henry. Fund-raising campaign exceeds $65,000 goal WHITING FIELD The Combined Federal Campaign for Santa Rosa County topped its fall fund-raising goal with a record-breaking $88,053, according to Navy Capt. Ken Johnson, drive chairman and Whiting Field Naval Air Station's commanding officer.

The goal for the drive, which began Sept. 17, was $65,000. The Combined Federal Campaign gives military and other federal employees an opportunity to make a single, annual donation to charities, rather than contributing to numerous charitable organizations throughout the year. The drive at Whiting Field is conducted under contract by the United Way of Santa Rosa County. Subway restaurants offer subs to well-wishers Local Subway restaurants will give away free six-inch sub sandwiches tonight to people who sign special greeting cards to servicemen and women in the Middle East.

The "Say Hello to a Hero" holiday greeting cards will be at 34 Subway Restaurants in Northwest Florida and South Alabama. The subs will be given to everyone signing the cards from 10 to 11 p.m. The event also is sponsored by area radio stations, including WGCX in Mobile, WTKX in Pensacola and WWSF in Navarre. Tutoring group plans next meeting on Dec. 4 The Baldwin Professional Tutors League will conduct its next meeting on Dec.

4 in the Foley Public Library Conference Room. After the 6 p.m. business meeting a reading workshop will be held, beginning at 6:45 p.m. Barbara Ashley, a reading specialist and founder of Merry Mariner's Puppet Factory, will be the guest speaker. Information: 205-981-3318 or 205-943-8872.

Area library supporters to attend conference Dolly Berthelot and Ruth Godwin, two library supporters from Northwest Florida, are among 100 delegates selected from throughout the state to participate in Florida's Governor Conference on Libraries. The event, scheduled for Dec. 3-5 in Tallahassee, is a citizen's conference to examine the status of Florida libraries and determine their needs for the next decade. Berthelot serves as community relations chair on the board of the Pensacola Friends of the Library and Godwin is a previous member of the West Florida Regional Library Board. Gary McCrackenNews Journal.

Train crushes car Association. Richard L. "Dick" Gregory, 48, of Mary Esther, was hired Monday as interim manager at the Escambia County Animal Shelter. His appointment could be made permanent in late January after his job officially is posted and all applications reviewed. Gregory's appointment stems from a management shake-up prompted by employee allegations that shelter animals were abused and tortured.

A county investigation resulted in the demotion and transfer of shelter supervisors Jimmy Dykes and Karen Hansen. Dr. Clif Owen, a spokesman for the veterinary association, said a veterinarianadministrator could be lured from a national pool at a base salary of $24,000 to $32,000 a year. He did not question; Gregory's abilities. Gregory and County Administrator Wayne Peacock who hired him, could not be reached for comment.

Rescuers work to free two men from their damaged car after it was struck Wednesday night by a CSX train on Maxwell Street near Palafox Street. The driver of the car, Booker Hollman, 57, of Pensacola, was in stable condition at Baptist Hospital. A passenger, Victor Watts, who lives in the 1000 block of North Street, was in guarded condition at the hospital. The men were trapped in the car for several minutes. Test ex-broker for competency, feds urge "Premature is exactly how I would describe this (hiring).

The county is rushing headlong on this without an overall plan," Owen said. Local veterinarians also are at odds with animal- rights activists wno want a non-meaicai administrator and a countv-run sterilization clinic to reduce' Escambia's pet overpopulation woes. committee of citizens and veterinarians to address the, shelter's problems of mismanagement, deplorable conditions and alleged cruelty. court wants to make sure it's being given freely and voluntarily," Withers said. The indictment charges that Harper transferred by wire $1.1 million in client pension funds to his personal accounts while working for Shearson Lehman Hutton and Morgan Keegan and Co.

in Pensacola between 1984 and 1989. Civil suits allege that he stole an additional $2 million during that period. Withers has moved to seize Harper's Savannah home, valued at $350,000. He alleges that Harper used stolen funds to pay for the property. Harper is being held without bond in the Evans County Jail in Claxton, Ga.

By Ginny Graybiel News Journal The U.S. attorney's office wants a psychologist to evaluate a former Pensacola stockbroker who is accused of stealing $3 million from clients. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Withers said in a motion filed Monday in Savannah, that Gareth Devon Harper has a 15-year history of psychiatric difficulties and should undergo a mental competency evaluation before proceeding further with his criminal case. Harper, 56, was arrested Oct.

23 in Savannah, where he had been living under the name David McDavid. He had been missing since Oct. 14, 1989, when he faked his death and disappeared from a New Orleans motel room. Harper agreed in October to plead guilty in Savannah to a 32-count indictment charging wire fraud. A plea date has not yet been set.

Withers asked that Dr. Jack Shearer of Mobile, be allowed to testify about Harper's psychological difficulties. Shearer, who works part-time in Pensacola, has treated Harper in the past. Withers said Wednesday that he filed the motion to ensure that Harper is mentally competent to enter the guilty plea. "Acceptance of a guilty plea in federal court is a stringent thing, and the The committee voted Tuesday night to let bids for.

sterilization services to a local veterinarian who will provide the service at low cost to pet owners. Dorothy Kaser, founder of Pensacola's Concerned' Citizens for Animal Welfare, said. "While we think the county should hire a veterinarian, we don't think, the vet should be the administrator. 1 heir specialty is veterinary medicine, not necessarily administrative" skills." Blackbird folds its wings at museum mm Pnlln Air Turner Blvd. i-orce base Top Speed: Mach 3 Altitude: 80,000 feet plus Range: Can survey more than 100,000 miles in one hour World Aircraft Records: Highest speed over a straight course: 2,193 mph Highest altitude in horizontal flight: 85,069 feet Highest speed over a closed circuit: 2,092 mph UPDATE "The airplane that you see in front of you is in better condition today than when I was flying it," said Pugh, keynote speaker at the ceremony.

"I'm absolutely astounded at the job done restoring this thing. The Blackbird has found a good home." The restoration, which cost nearly $250,000, was a culmination of nine months of work, said Larry Scott, president of the Armament Museum Foundation. The SR-71 planes flew for 2G years before being retired this year by the U.S. government. SR-71 No.

959 will nest at the Armament Museum forever. The museum is located just outside the main gate of Eglin on Florida Highway 85 and is open every day from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free. "VyA Armament nu Museum Walton Bpachj Ch6ctawhtch66 By Adam Lynn News Journal FORT WALTON BEACH There's a Blackbird trapped in concrete just north of here.

The bird looks alien on the ground its dull black body baking in the sun. Its sleek shapes are more suited for the sky, or water, or outer space, even. It seems sad anchored to a concrete slab. "Its rightful place is there," said Air Force Maj. Gen.

Kenneth E. Staten, pointing to the sky. But the bird that used to fly at Mach 3 three times the speed of sound at altitudes of more than 80,000 feet, now is a museum piece. About 350 people turned out at the Air Force Armament Museum on Wednesday for the official dedication ceremony of the museum's SR-71 Blackbird reconnais- sance airplane exhibit. They joined several military dignitaries, retired Congressman Bob Sikes and retired Air Force Col.

Thomas Pugh, the last man to fly the plane, in praising the SR-71 and the exhibit. Ron GriswoldNews Journal Indecent exposure case has yet to be resolved Crestview officials continue their inquiry into allegations that a firefighter in October exposed himself to an undercover Pensacola police officer on routine patrol. Hosea Lee Smith, 35, deputy fire chief for the Crestview Fire Department, allegedly made no attempt to cover himself when an officer saw him near Scenic Highway and Langley Avenue. Crestview Mayor Ted Mathis placed Smith, at the firefighter's request, on administrative leave with pay pending an inquiry into the allegations. The mayor's office will be lnoHntr at thp outcome of Smith's Bloody clothes of missing TV reporter worry relatives, friends estry each sent a plane over the Blackwa-ter Forest on Wednesday in unsuccessful searches for the 1978 Chevrolet Nova that Henderson borrowed, said Sheriff Mau-riece Coffman.

The senior snundron of th Civil Air Pensacola Police Investigator Dennis Waldron said WEAR-TV reporter Bob Henderson was driving a four-door, primer gray Chevrolet Nova with a red interior and Florida license tag DXK-73V. He asks that anyone who sees the car call 435-1900. By Ginny Graybiel and J. Todd Foster News Journal Law enforcement and rescue agencies across Northwest Florida were searching Wednesday night for a missing Pensacola television reporter after a friend found blood-stained clothes in his apartment. Bob Henderson, 32, a reporter for WEAR-TV Channel 3, disappeared at 7 a.m.

Monday after borrowing the friend's car, according to a Pensacola police pened. "All I'm saying is he's missing," Waldron said. Henderson's father, Robert T. Henderson of Shalimar, said he is concerned that his son may be injured and needs medical attention. "Right now, we are just sitting on pins and needles, waiting to hear," he said.

"We can't tell you a lot because we don't know a durn thing. Anything we say is just pure speculation." The Santa Rosa County Sheriffs Department and the U.S. Division of For jury trial scheduled for Jan. 2, 1991 to Patrol in Milton sent three planes late Wednesday and may expand the search today, said Maj. Bill Smathcrs.

Volunteers with Santa Rosa County Civil Defense searched by ground near the Red Rock and Munson areas in the north end See SEARCH, 2B determine what action snouia lane, Mathis said. Smith, who remains off the job, faces a prison sentence of up to one year and $1,000 fines if he is convicted of the first-degree misdemeanor. Pensacola Police Investigator Dennis Waldron said Wednesday that foul play is not suspected in Henderson's disappearance. Waldron, however, would not say what authorities think may have hap.