The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 7

April 4, 1989 Page 7A V7" 23 The TV Will Barry extradite juvenile? Road plan's 'pothole' is funding lack 1 1 fill Two's company as we look at the possibility of new revenue, whether it be from the state or federal government." Lawmakers are considering a $197 million road bond issue, proposed by the Hunt administration, that could speed construction of some projects. The proposed projects in the plan in the northern part of the 3rd Congressional District are: CALHOUN COUNTY: Widen a bridge on Interstate 20; 1990. Add grading and drainage on Alabama 21 from Boral Brick Plant to Piedmont city limit and repave and widen portions; 8.1 miles; $9.5 million; fiscal 1991. Widen to four lanes a portion of U.S. 78 from Golden Springs Road; 2.4 miles; $1.4 million; fiscal 1992.

Cut new four-lane road from western bypass in Anniston from Alabama 202 to urban boundary; 1.1 -miles; $2.2 million; fiscal 1993. Cut new road from western bypass in Anniston from urban boundary to 1-20; 1.2 miles; $1.6 million; fiscal 1993. Replace three bridges near Piedmont; $1.1 million; 1992. Replace four other bridges in Calhoun County; $2.3 million; fiscal 1992-93-94. TALLADEGA COUNTY: Build interchange and rest area on 1-20 near Talladega Super-speedway; $8.4 million; fiscal 1990-91.

Grade, provide drainage and pave seven miles of Alabama 77 from Talladega western bypass north to end of four-lane; $6.8 million; 1990 and 1992. Widen and resurface 4.7 miles of U.S. 280 from Fulton's Gap west to Childersburg; $3.2 million; 1993. Relocate, grade, provide drainage, base, pave and bridge portion of Alabama 77 from Porter's Gap to a point west of Waldo; 5.5 miles; $3.2 million; 1994. Replace four bridges; $4.2 million; 1992-93-94.

Cut new "scenic drive" from See Hlghway8A a crowd. But despite dreary weather and some cramped conditions, these Montgomery children had something to smile about as they share an umbrella on their way home from school. Sharockett Sawyer, 3, accompanies her brother Gary Sawyer, 5, and a friend, Tyrelle Pickett, who may be getting the short end of the umbrella. Kimberly Clark on dioxin list 4 Associated Press According to the study, Kimberly-Clark's discharge into the Coosa River registered .035 parts per trillion. EPA is considering setting new, safety levels and asking bleach mills to voluntarily try to improve their performance to produce less dioxin.

Kimberly Clark officials said they will do their best to stay in line with federal rules even though no one is quite sure yet how to completely eliminate dioxin from the waste water. "There's still a lot of research being done in this area," said Ron Helms, director of environmental programs for Kimberly Clark. "But whatever the new standards are, we will comply with them. We always do." EPA is working with the American Paper Institute sampling 104 paper mills nationwide to gain more understanding about dioxin. So far, excessive amounts of the chemical have been found downstream from about 90 percent of the mills tested, said Carol Raulston, vice president for government affairs at the paper insititute.

Th studv should rnmnlete by TnFencf of the MsTRSuTSEjff said. At that time EPA and paper institute officials will try to come up with ways to lower or stop the dioxin disharges, she said. Scientists are not quite sure where in the bleach process the dioxin is formed, Marlar said, but they know it has something to do with the way chlorine bleach reacts with certain chemicals in the wood fibers. By David Pace The Associated Press WASHINGTON Opponents of capital punishment are pressing District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry to block the extradition of a -juvenile sought by Alabama on arson and murder charges until he's assured the youth won't face the death penalty. But Barry so far has refused to interject himself publicly into the extradition case involving a 17-year-old black youth charged in the May 1988 firebombing of a Gadsden apartment.

A 14-month-old black child died in the fire. Rick Blake, the mayor's deputy press secretary, said Barry would not respond to pleas, made at a Monday news confence by a group of death penalty opponents and church leaders. He said Barry refuses to honor Alabama's extradition request unless state authorities guarantee that the youth, identified by the initials O.M., will not be charged with a capital crime. While Barry has remained silent about the case, lawyers for the district government have supported Alabama's bid to extradite the youth, who has been held by district authorities since his arrest in December on a fugutive warrant from Alabama. Superior Court Judge Stephen F.

Eilperin last week granted Alabama's extradition request, but he stayed his order until today to allow the boy's attorneys to appeal. An appeal was filed Friday with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, which issued an interim order Monday extending the stay until April 10 Alvin J. Bronstein, director of the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that Barry, as the district's chief executive officer, can supercede the court ruling and block the extradition until Alabama promises not to seek the death penalty. Bronstein charged that Barry, by allowing his government to support the extradition, has "forgotten the values that motivated him 25 years ago" when he worked for racial-justice in the South as If Alabama refuses to guarantee O.M.'s safety, then Bronstein said the district should release the youth, because there are no other outstanding charges against him. O.M.'s attorneys contend he cannot get a fair trial from the white authorities of Etowah County because of their long-standing vendetta against his family.

Both the boy's father and uncle died while in police custody. Another of the boy's uncles has arson in connection with the 1988 firebombing. O.M is charged under juvenile law as an accessory to the firebombing, and thus is not facing an immediate threat of the death penalty. But Alabama authorities have refused to rule out the possiblity that he might be tried as an adult and subjected to the death penalty. When the bough As a peer if One of a series By Jay Reeves The Aaaoclated Press Holocaust program slated at JSU A program to commemorate the Holocaust will be presented at Jacksonville State University on Tuesday, April 11 as part of the annual National Holocaust Commemoration.

The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the North Room of Cole Library. Introduction and readings will be given by JSU students David Malone, Glint Baker and Dennis Lashbrook. Dr. and Mrs.

Samuel Brown will provide music for the service and Rudy Kemp will ask the Kaddish. A short film, "The Holocaust," will be shown. Displays of books and bibliographies will be available after the service. The event is sponsored by JSU's Student Government Association. The university's Holocaust Committee is made up of students, community members and faculty.

ABI's 'most wanted' includes area men TALLADEGA A new fugitive unit at the Alabama Bureau of Investigation has started compiling a list of Alabama's most-wanted fugitives and two of the qualifiers are being sought in Talladega County. The new unit headed by Capt. John Cloud, began operating Jan. 1. It has three investigators.

Cloud said that for the past several enforcement agencies across the state have added about one fugitive a week. Jimmy Ray Hurst, 55, a former lieutenant in the Talladega Police Department, escaped from prison March 20, 1977 and has not been apprehended. Hurst was serving a life sentence plus one year for a previous escape in the June 4, 1973 shotgun slaying of Charles "Cooter" Mann. Larry Donald George, 33, is wanted in the Feb. 12, 1988 slayings of Janice A.

Morris of Talladega and Ralph Swann of Alpine, and the wounding of his estranged wife, Geraldine George of Talladega. A Talladega police officer said George was last seen in March 1988 in Brewton, his hometown. Eagle Forum honors Hunts with award MONTGOMERY The Eagle Forum, a conservative lobby, has honored Gov. Guy Hunt and first lady Helen Hunt with special awards. Phyllis Schlafly, national president of Eagle Forum, presented the Eagle Award to the Republican governor Friday.

She said the award is given for "outstanding leadership in patriotic and pro-family causes." Mrs. Schlafly commended the governor for creating a Cabinet-level position for family affairs, supmintjintirobscenitv tion, proposing to double tax creaits for families with dependent children and supporting legislation that requires parental consent for some teen-agers to get an abortion. Mrs. Schlafly also recognized the celebration of the couple's 38th wedding anniversary as an example of his efforts to strengthen families. Mrs.

Hunt received the Full Time Homemaker award, which Mrs. Schlafley said was an honor for being a "role model for other women." Auburn roommates compete for office AUBURN They share a television, stereo and refrigerator, but roommates Tripp Haston and Scott Turnquist of Auburn University have drawn the line when it comes to political ambition. Both are campaigning for the university's top student office president of the Student Government Association. Though the two are campaigning against one another ahead of Thursday's election, they have promised not to allow the competition to interfere with their friendship. Carl Davis of Birmingham is also seeking the office.

"The three of us are buddies, we're involved in many of the same activities and we know the same, people," Turnquist said. "I'm just glad I don't have to choose the winner." Haston is a pre-law student from Conroe, Texas. Turnquist, a junior majoring in industrial engineeering, is from Auburn. Davis, also a junior, is majoring in international trade. Compiled from staff, wire reports Talladega expensive By Frederick Burger Star Political Writer MONTGOMERY A legislative committee, working with the state Highway Department, agreed Monday on the first five-year road plan for the state since 1984.

But it may not mean much: the state is expected to be at least $862 million short on funding the $2.4 billion plan. In addition, dozens of road projects on the 1984 five-year plan projects which initially were proposed in the late 1970s have not yet been undertaken. "It's a very positive step," said Sen. Donald Holmes, D-Oxford, a member of the Joint House-Senate Interim Highway Committee that approved the plan. Holmes and other committee members were pleased with the plan, though the funding shortfall remains a major question.

"All of us realize it's under' funded," said committee chairman Sen. Crum Foshee, D-Andalusia. "What I think we're doing is setting priorities." Those priorities, however, are not set in concrete. Though the plan includes projected dates for construction of hundreds of projects, Holmes said those deadlines now are "tentative." "The committee's going to have to look at each project and decide which comes first," he said. In addition, the Highway Department would have broad discretion on which projects are undertaken and when.

Highway Director Royce King said some of the long-anticipated projects may cost more than expected; he said projects initially planned in the late 1970s have not been updated as to cost, i The plan focuses off more than 1,000 projects and an undertermined number of miles of roads to be widened and resurfaced. Rep. Jimmy Holley, D-Elba, described the plan as a "wish list." He said that it "could gain credibility Littering could get By Mike Doming Star Staff Writer TALLADEGA Illegal dumping may soon be more risky in Talladega. The Talladega City Council on Monday introduced an amendment to the city's litter ordinance that would make it easier to prosecute people whose garbage was found at illegal dump sites. The amendment would create the rsTffipWoTr a suspecT ir guiTty of littering if his name, address or any other identifying information about him was found among trash at an illegal dump site.

City Prosecutor Craig Dillard said letters addressed to a suspect or magazine labels addressed to a suspect would be some of the documents most likely to help prosecution under the proposed change in the city ordinance. Larry By Polly Saltonstall Star Environmental Writer A Childersburg-area paper mill is one of at least 10 disharging waste containing traces of a cancer-causing chemical into Alabama waters, according to an ongoing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study. Kimberly Clark's Coosa Pines facility near Childersburg and the nine other mills, known as "bleach" mills because they use chlorine to make white paper products, discharge dioxin into rivers in levels that exceed EPA recommended standards, the study shows. Dioxin is a toxic chemical that has been found to cause cancer in laboratory animals and increases the risk of the disease in humans.

Kimberly Clark officials said Monday they are aware of the potential problem and plan to monitor dioxin levels at least once a year as part of a new water disharge permit issued by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. While health officials disagree over what level of the chemical is toxic to humans, the EPA has estab- dioxin per trillion parts water, said John Marlar, chief of the EPA's facilities performance branch in Atlanta. That means a person drinking contaminated water or eating fish caught in a contaminated stream has about a one in a million chance of getting cancer, he said. The guidelines apply to water downstream from a plant, not the actual disharge. breaks review team worked, three babies died Because police rarely find witnesses to illegal dumping, it is difficult to prosecute dumpers.

Dillard said many of his convictions under the current ordinance are the result of cases that are "bluffs," that defendants do not challenge. "If we just show this is John Doe's (garbage), there's still a presumption of innocence now. It's been very shaky," Dillard said. refute the presumption of guilt with evidence such as a contract for garbage pick-up, Dillard said. Violators of the ordinance face a fine of up to $500 and can be sentenced to up to 6 months of hard, labor for the city.

The council had a first reading on the ordinance and is scheduled to vote on the proposed change in two weeks. Dixon ft what he realistically could be expected to meet. "I guess when I became a doctor I forfeited my constitutional rights," Howard said in an interview last week. Dixon said board officials "knew we were going to be charged with racial discrimination when we got into it." He said such claims have become standard when action is taken against a member of a minority. And because officials knew the case would be appealed, Dixon said investigators made sure they "touched all the bases" before proceeding against Howard.

That care resulted in additional time for Howard to do deliveries, which Howard said accounted for only a small portion of his practice. The State Board of Medical Examiners received its first written complaint against Howard on Oct. 2, 1986, records show. Dr. James R.

Lauridson, who performs autopsies for the state, questioned Howard's delivery of Willie Peterson who died within hours of birth. See Babies2C sooner, maybe," Dixon said in an interview last week. But he said the circumstances a black doctor delivering black babies in an office for poor women who had little prenatal care prevented the board and the commission, composed of seven doctors, from moving any faster than they did, said Dixon. "He was dealing with a patient population that has a much higher infant mortality rate than the rest of the state," said Dixon. "We didn't know at first whether we were dealing with gross malpractice or a phenomenon of the population." In all, Dixon said the board reviewed 11 deliveries made by Howard, beginning Jan.

15, 1986, and ending June 9, 1987. "That was just enough to make the case," he said. Dixon said the lengthy review process was "indicative of the special circumstances involved." He said the board performed com-mendably on the Howard case and should not be criticized because of the time it took. Howard is appealing the revocation of his license in circuit court, where a hearing is set for Thursday. Howard claims to be the victim of racial discrimination and says he wrongly was held to a medical standard higher than MONTGOMERY When questions were raised about Dr.

Jesse James Howard's delivery of a baby who died, Alabama's medical review system went to work. Eighteen Sonths later, it concluded Howard should not actice medicine. By then, three more newborns had died after being delivered by Howard at his storefront clinic in south Montgomery. Their deaths were determined to be preventable. Two other babies suffered neurological, problems.

Larry Dixon, a Montgomery state senator who serves as director of the 15-member examiner's board, said the probe into Howard's actions possibly could have begun earlier. Some members of the Montgomery-area medical community had known there might be a problem because babies delivered by the 48-year-old Howard often turned up at hospital emergency rooms. "We should have done something a little.