The Gettysburg Times from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania • Page 1

Gettysburg Times 300 THURSDAY GETTYSBURG, PA, NOVEMBER 16, 1989 VOL. 87, NO. 270 Keefer 'satisfied' with no contest plea in Aspers murder trial By T.W. BURGER Times Staff Writer "Not pleased, but satisfied" is how Adams County District Attorney Roy A. Keefer described his feelings Wednesday after Erin E.

Havens pleaded "no contest" to a charge of voluntary manslaughter. In a move that surprised many, Ms. Havens, 21, entered the plea at the opening of the second day of her trial for the Aspers stabbing death of Randal S. Kaufman, 28. Keefer said that defense attorney Christian Ness, a former York County District Attorney, had called him at home at about 9:30 p.m.

Tuesday and said that Ms. Havens had decided to offer the plea. "It was not a complete Keefer said. There had been some discussion about it a couple of months ago. Attorney Ness came to me to reopen the discussion yesterday, but we couldn't finalize it until last night." A plea of no contest, or "nolo con- tendere," while falling short of an admission of guilt, is an admission that a jury would find one guilty of the charge to which one is pleading "no contest." Ms.

Havens had been facing trial on one count each of murder in the first degree, murder in the third degree, and on two counts of voluntary manslaughter. The charges had grown out of the Valentine's Day 1989 stabbing death of Kaufman, her live-in Cowan accepts post on Casey advisory panel By T.W. BURGER Times Staff Writer Adams County Commissioner Catherine W. Cowan has accepted an invitation to serve on Governor Robert P. Casey's Advisory Council for Young Children.

The announcement came during the commissioners' regular public meeting Wednesday morning. The first meeting of the council will take place Nov. 20 at The Governor's Residence on North Front Street in Harrisburg. The meeting will open with the swearing-in of council members followed by an orientation and discussion of the directions to be taken by the body. The council was created by Executive order 1989-7, which includes in its list of purposes of the council to: rf Recommend nolicies that would improve the conditions in which families and other institutions nurture and develop children; Improve the climate for collaborations and coordination between families and institutions that provide services to children; Explore the opportunities for improving conditions for Pennsylvania's children presented by new policies at the federal level and by emphasis being given to young children by private foundations.

The order states farther that the council shall include representatives of cabinet agencies, members of the public who represent parents, advocacy groups, academia, local government, education, unions and other entities. Tin pleased with this recogni- tion of my concern regarding how government policies affect the lives of children in said Commissioner Cowan. "I will attempt to represent county policy positions with this group." In other, unrelated business, the commissioners: Received the caseload report for October from Juvenile Probation. The document shows a decrease of eight in total caseload from the September report. Approved a 1989-90 contract amendment for Prospectus Associates, for mental Adult Development Training with a 12-month budget limit of $260,831.

Approved on recommendation of Children and Youth Services Administrator Charles Songer the rescinding of an appointment of Barbara DeMorris as a caseworker trainee. Approved the hiring ofTimothy McCauslin of Biglerville as a maintenance helper at the Green Acres Home. Approved the 1988 Annual Report of the Pa. State Association of County Commissioners Unemployment Compensation Trust. Interest money earned on county employees' unemployment insurance policy amounted to $23,947, which will be plowed back into the a a a i 1990 contributions.

The Adams County Commissioners meet every Wednesday at 9 a.m. on the second floor of the Court House Annex on Baltimore Street. The public is invited to attend. Alabama tornado kills 14, injures 300 By HOYT HARWELL Associated Press Writer HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) A tornado slammed into a shopping district, a residential area and a school Wednesday, killing at least 14 people, injuring nearly 300 and trapping many others in their cars and homes, police said.

"Ifs total destruction where the tornado hit. Cars are piled on top of each other under piles of rubble where buildings used to be," said Danny Cooper, state emergency a a i i Montgomery- Mayor Steve Hettinger said 14 deaths had been confirmed, with 305 people injured and about 500 displaced by the tornado that struck while streets of this northeastern Alabama city filled with rush-hour traffic. Rescue teams with cranes and floodlights searched the rubble through the night for injured or dead. "Several people are still trapped in vehicles and apartment complexes and shopping areas," said police spokesman Ben Jennings after the twister touched down between 4 and 4:30 p.m. in the city's south section.

"It may be tomorrow before we have a final count," Gov. Guy Hunt said at the state's disaster center in Montgomery. The governor dispatched 50 National Guardsmen, along with search and rescue equipment. Rescuers picked through piles of rubble 10 to 14 feet deep, and Cooper said police were unable to determine the extent of the damaged area. Rescuers also were hampered by darkness and plunging temperatures.

"We're even having a few snowflakes," said Cooper. High temperatures in Huntsville were expected to be in the 30s Thursday, he said. Witnesses said the downtown Jones Valley Elementary School, the Waterford Square and adjacent Queensbury apartment complexes were reduced to rubble by the tornado. The only thing left standing was a door frame," news photographer Mike Mercier said of the school, which was empty of staffand pupils when the tornado hit. Police reported one person killed in a car outside the school.

Authorities said at least five were killed at Waterford Square apartments, three at a business school, Southern Junior College, which is located in a converted movie theater, and others in scattered areas. "Rescuers are digging in the rubble," state trooper W.L. Kelly said. He said two people were killed when the twister hit house trailers in rural areas east of Huntsville. The fifth death was reported near the shopping district.

The city is home to Marshall Space Flight Center and the Army's Redstone Arsenal, but no serious damage was reported from the space agency or weapons testing center. Telephone communication and electricity were disrupted by the tornadoes and WAAY-TV, the only station still broadcasting, reported widespread damage. boyfriend. State police charged that Ms. Havens fatally stabbed Kaufman during an argument at about 8:30 on the night of Feb.

14 at the couple's apartment at 1787 Centre Mills Road in Menallen Township. Ms. Havens is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 18,1990. She faces a possible sentence of five to 20 years in the State Correctional Institute in Muncie, a state prison for women, and a fine as high as $25,000.

After Ms. Havens had left the courtroom, her uncle reflected on of the trial. "Erin is my niece, and I love her. But Randy was my friend," said Franklin Williams. "There was no outcome here that would have delighted me.

There was no verdict that would have brought Randy back." Charges were filed formally against Ms. Havens on April 10. On May 3, Adams County President Judge Oscar F. Spicer issued an order to have Ms. Havens returned to Adams County from the state mental hospital in Norristown, where she had been taken after her arrest.

Bail was set at $100,000. She was formally arraigned before Spicer on May 17. Since that time she has been living with a relative in York County. During testimony yesterday, Dr. Isadore Mihalakis, a forensic pathologist working out of the Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allen- town, said that Kaufman died as a result of a single stab wound to the left breast area.

More damaging to Ms. Havens hopes for acquittal, perhaps, was the medical examiners' extensive report on a large number of fresh bruises and scratches found on Kaufman's body in addition to the wound that caused his death. in August, Ness had written Keefer requesting information that the Commonwealth may have had regarding witnesses who might testify that Kaufman was "a very passive sort, and that Erin would beat on him and he was not aggressive in return." Jeffrey Taylor and Harry Mel- hom, members of the Bendersville rescue squad that sat with Ms. Havens for nearly half an hour on night of Kaufman's death, both said that they had not seen any visible signs of injury on the defendant. In a post-trial interview, Keefer had said that a verdict of manslaughter was all he had truly expected to get out of the trial in the first place.

He repeated that he was satisfied with the no contest" plea. Ifs very tough when you are put in the position to prove the negative," he said. In his openingremarksTuesday, Christian Ness had raised the issue of self defense. Keefer said that would have been difficult to disprove. have to prove there was none," he said.

Thaf very difficult to do when your only witness is dead." Environmental mission Planet walker silent for 16 years By ROBERT HOLT Times Staff Writer Along, silent journey to raise environmental consciousness in the world brought John Francis of Inverness, to Gettysburg Wednesday afternoon. Francis, a 44-year-old environmental research scientist, was seen walking through town carrying a large backpack, playing a banjo, and giving out leaflets explaining his mission. He plans "to walkand sail around the world with the spirit of hope that in some way he might contribute to the benefit of the world." Though Francis is an articulate and learned man --he finished a doctorate dissertation at the University of Wisconsin- Madison in September, holds a master's degree from the University of Missouri and an undergraduate degree from Southern Oregon State College he refuses to talk. He is maintaining a vow he made 16 years ago. The 6-foot-2 man with deep black skin and long beard has traveled over 10,000 miles in the last nine years, all while continuing a self- imposed vow not to talk thatbegsn oil his 27th birthday in 1973.

He has broken the silence only once to explain it to his parents, who stall reside in his native Philadelphia. With hand gestures and literature, Francis explained that he took the vow of silence out of a belief that he was doing too much talking and not enough listening. He was led to that momentous decision by a 1972 oil tanker spill under the Golden Gate Bridge and the untimely death of a friend. Times photo by Robert Holt JOHN FRANCIS Research scientist John. Francis of Inverness, Calif, carries Ms silent mission to raise environmental consciousness through.

Gettysburg Wednesday. When asked if he will ever speak again, Francis indicated that ''only time will tell." His decision not to talk indefinitely came after he gave up using motorized vehicles for transportation and began walking consid- eiingit an effort to learn better ways to live in harmony with the environment- The current part of Francis'journey, which has been interrupted to do his environmental research studies, will take him to Philadelphia for the Thanksgiving holiday next week, then New York and New Jersey, before he sails to the Caribbean. As he has traveled from California to Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin, he visited schools, churches and rest homes to play his banjo and show the watercolor paintings he did during his travels. He sees his travels not only as a way to raise environmental consciousness, but to also listen to people from aH walks of life and see and record nature's beauty first-hand. During last winter, he settled in Watertown, where he worked as a printer and volunteer far.

the South Dakota Beace and Justice Center. Francis indicated that he has no formal art education and little music background except studying the piano as a boy. Yet, his art is rich in form, texture and color and Ms music reflects the energy of a world journey. He is supporting his effort through donations, fellowships, his writing and diary reports for a non-profit newsletter called Planet Walk, and his artwork. Formore information, people may write Planet Walk, P.O.

Box 701, Inverness, CA. 94937. Biglerville townhouse plan rejected By T.W. BURGER Times Staff Writer Leather Is "In'At The Apple Tree! Colors, Long Short Skirts, Jackets, Blazers Pants, Sizes 4-18 40 Bait G-burg. 334-9354.

Free Wrapping (Adv) The Adams County Planning Commission voted Wednesday night to reject an eight-townhouse plan for a residential development in the Borough- of Biglerville. Despite some uneasiness over a legal document intended to share responsibility for maintenance and repair of a horseshoe-shaped driveway around the property, the commission axed the latest version of the plan because of paperwork. In August, the planning commission gave provisional approval to a final plan of a Biglerville property which owner Robert Beeler wants to develop into a residential development consisting of eight townhouses. The property is the site of a former car wash on Fourth Street in the borough. On that date, the commission approved the plan on the condition that certain right-of-way conditions are met and approval from the Pa.

Dept. of Environmental Resources was received for the project's sewer module. Those conditions were apparently met. The commission had requested in September that the owner provide some proof that the driveway around the eight proposed townhouses would be maintained. A document prepared by the owner's attorneys did arrive at the Adams County Planning Office.

But the document arrived shortly after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, leaving the members of the commission no time to review it or have its own or the county's solicitor unravel its mysteries. Several of the board members had tried to wade through the sheaf of papers and announced the language too murky for them. In addition, the county's subdivision plan requires that documents concerning development plans must be submitted at least 10 business days before a scheduled meeting. The factor of time entered the board's deliberations in another way.

Under state law, a plan has not been acted upon by a planning body within 45 days of submission is considered automatically approved. However, if the plan is rejected and resubmitted, that time clock is wound all over again. Commission members were unsure of the date of the original submission, so the plan was rejected rather than run the risk of the plan's automatic acceptance through default. In other business, County Direc- tor of Development Richard Schmoyer reported that the county is awaiting a written report from a Hanover developer concerning the location of a floodplain near a project he hopes to build in McSherrystown. OR Oct.

18, a 60-day extension was granted to Jad Sneeringer of Jad's Energy Efficient Homes of Hanover on his plan for development in McSherrystown. In September, the commission had tabled plans for "Sunset Village," a development planned by Sneeringer. Sneeringer, his engineers, county planners, a flood plain expert from the Pa. Department of Community Affairs and others gathered last week at the site of the proposed development, Schmoyer said. There is a possibility that a benchmark elevation measurement was inaccurate," Schmoyer said.

"We asked the engineers to give us a full written report. The 60-day extension will go just beyond our December meeting." Times photo by Randy HitU NICARAGUA VISITOR As part of the Gettysburg-Leon Sister City Program, the Rev. Miquel Gabaldon, right, tours the Biglerville High School Vo-Ag system with, from left, Scott Howell, Vo-Ag teacher, Alexander Lupez, translator, Michelle Miller, Vo-Ag teacher, to find ways to improve the agriculture in Nicaragua. Rev. Gabaldon is in charge of the second largest school system in Nicaragua and will be touring many local businesses and farms during his 10-day visit to Adams County..