The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 13

PagelB March 20, 1991 Senators question judge's answers Nominee testifies on civil rights record, club membership George WfW Star Senior Editor By James Rowley Tha Ataoclatad Praai P. v. "You seem to be missing the point entirely," Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, told Ryskamp. 'What the committee has attempted to say is it is not enough for a judge to resign at the point of confirmation." RYSKAMP ACKNOWLEDGED to Sen.

Paul Simon, that he had told a Senate investigator last week that club members wanted a place to go where they wouldn't hear Spanish being spoken. Ryskamp said the club has Hispanic members. Mark Freedman, southeast regional director of the American Jewish Congress, said: "Ryskamp's hollow resignation at such a late date, under the weight of enormous public pressure, should not ex- See Ryskamp5B U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The court rules on cases from Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

Ryskamp endured tough questioning from Democrats about comments he had made from the bench and membership in a country club that has had a reputation for excluding blacks and Jews. At one point, Sen. Joseph R. Biden D-Del, the committee's chairman, said he was more troubled by the explanation Ryskamp gave for a comment made during a police brutality case than the original remark. CIVIL RIGHTS AND Jewish organizations urged the panel to reject Ryskamp's nomination, arguing that the judge's resignation last week from the Riviera Club in Coral Gables, was politically calcu lated to defuse the issue.

Ryskamp denied that the club was discriminatory, but he acknowledged there were no black members. "I've always been committed to the cause of civil rights," he said. Ryskamp has been a member of the club for 23 years and a federal judge for Over the years, Ryskamp said he was repeatedly assured by officers that the club did not discriminate despite newspaper accounts that it did. "If somebody had come up to me and said I'm convinced it's a discriminatory club, I would have taken myself out," he said during nearly four hours of heated questioning. Ryskamp said he finally resigned last week because Jewish friends and Senate supporters advised him to put the issue behind him.

Kenneth L. Ryskamp 111! Thursday is 1st day of spring Thursday is the first day of spring. It is a time of robins and bluebirds, jonquils and azaleas, dogwoods and greening shade, gentle showers and sunny skies, mockingbirds in concert, open windows and fresh air. It is a time to just simply feel good all the day long. God, it's wonderful.

And Thursday, I'm going to do my dead-level best to feel good all the day long and enjoy the wonderfulness of it all all the day long. I'm going to get up with a smile on my face, a song in my heart, and with malaice toward no man or woman, either, for that matter. I will hum a few bars of "Oh Happy Day" while brushing my teeth (I really can hum and brush at the same time) and sing a verse or two of "Zippidy Do Da, Zippidy aye" (I think I've got that right, but, no matter, it works) while I'm showering. WHICH MEANS and I'm putting this promise in print I will not be upset Thursday morning if the blonde fails to prepare the coffeepot tonight. I will smile, wish her a day as happy as the one I'm planning, and be on my way, enjoying the lovely blooming of the Bartlett pear trees along that way.

I will be of good cheer and good nature throughout the first day of spring. I will smile at my fellow persons, say "Hello," and tell each how nice they look and how glad I am to see them. I will kiss and hug the ladies (ladies willing) but not the men. No sir. Even in the spring, some things should remain the same.

But, speaking of the ladies, I will call my daughter-in-law and offer her a deal (peace terms) she can't refuse as in free babysitting. I will invite my son to lunch, pay the bill, and inform him that I am again rewriting my will, that in addition to being my son, he is again my heir. AND AGAIN I will promise to help with the construction of that tree house for his three sons and my three grandsons. This year, I will inform him, I will do what I say I'll do. I will be patient in Quintard traffic, not flashing my lights at the slow idiot in the fast lane nor blowing my horn at the blind idiot who is slow in responding to the green light.

Nor will I curse the poor 9 'A A Mm, i WASHINGTON Democratic senators say they are concerned by testimony that a Miami federal judge nominated for a higher court gave about his civil rights record and membership in an exclusive club. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, said he saw a pattern in U.S. District Judge Kenneth L.

Ryskamp's civil rights rulings "toward the narrowing of the protections of civil rights rather than going the other way." "I must say that is a matter of considerable concern to me," Kennedy said Tuesday as the Senate Judiciary Committee took up Ryskamp's nomination to the 11th other proposed regional reservoirs in Georgia and Alabama be included in the study. Pat Robbins, a spokesman for the corps in Mobile, said the district has made no formal recommendation on the regional reservoirs. But he said district officials believe "that all water resource issues and actions, current and proposed, should be looked at in conjunction with the comprehensive study." The corps' overall involvement appears to be a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. A spokesman for the corps' office tr4imm Break from business On a mild Spring day, Jim Chism takes five from his work at a construction site at Woodstock and 12th Street. The Calhoun County Baptist Association is building a new office, and Chism has volunteered his services.

Study may block water Police will get new cars By Phil Jenkins Star Start Writer The Anniston City Council informally agreed Tuesday to use money from the sale of a confiscated drug plane to buy eight new police cars and restore three others. The council decided on the purchase of the cars at a two-and-a-half-hour lunchtime work session at City Hall. Police Chief Wayne Chandler, who last month asked the council for 10 to 15 new patrol cars, presented the panel with three options: one for 10 new automobiles, another for five new cars and six restored vehicles and a third for three new cars and six restorations. The council decided to buy eight new cars and restore three others after equipment maintenance supervisor Carlton Lowe warned against the restoration. "I think you're barking up the wrong tree," Lowe said.

"I don't have any proof of it, but I have information from other people businessmen who have tried to have vehicles redone like you want to do and it hasn't worked out." "They're going to keep breaking down in other areas unless you redo it totally, which is impossible. I don't think it will work out to our or your satisfaction." Mayor Bill Robison has pushed the restoration proposal, advocating the replacement of engines, transmissions and other major equipment as a way to save money. New patrol cars cost about $13,500. The state prison system, using inmate labor, will recondition an old police car for about $6,500. DESPITE ARGUMENTS against the restoration work from Lowe, Public Works Director Don Warden and Park and Recreation Director Gene Cornett, Robison said he wanted the city to recondition at least two cars to get a first-hand look at the results.

"Trying to recondition these cars is an itch I've got to scratch, if the council goes along with it," Robison told Lowe. "I agree with everything you said, but I've got to try it." The purchase of eight new cars and restoration of three others, along with the purchase of radios, light bars and other equipment, will cost about $150,000. The city's net from the sale of the confiscated plane comes out to less than $102,000. The remainder of the money for the cars is tentatively budgeted to come from city contingency funds, although some additional money could be raised from the sale of other police cars. The council originally received $116,000 from the federal government as its share of the proceeds from the sale of the plane.

The See Cars5B House. Another newcomer and Re publican, Rep. Allen Sanderson, also intends to sponsor the bills, as does Rep. John Hawkins, R-Birmingham. The three are House representatives from the district of Sen.

Jabo Waggoner, also a sponsor. Sen. Albert Lipscomb, R-Magnolia Springs, will be the chief Senate sponsor. Missing, however, were some of the men who pushed bard for sirai-lar legislation last year, Including See Abortion3B in Savannah, which is processing Georgia's request for permission to build the dam and reservoir, said he has had heard nothing from the Mobile district about suspending the permit process. "The Savannah district is continuing to process the permit," Jack Wilson said.

The regionwide water study was mandated by Congress last year in order to provide the information needed for Georgia, Alabama and Florida to negotiate an interstate compact to govern use of the region's water resources. AFTER ALABAMA FILED suit From Staff. Wlra Raporta WASHINGTON An Alabama congressman says the Army Corps of Engineers' Mobile district is ready to recommend that the corps block the west Georgia reservoir project until a comprehensive study of the Southeast's water resources is finished. Rep. Bill Dickinson, a Montgom ery Republican, told a House panel Tuesday that the Mobile district also will recommend to the corps' Atlanta division headquarters that the west Georgia project and all Anniston renews its effort I ni.ii,,.

jL Ken ElkinsThe Anniston kin project in federal court last year contesting short-term water supply contracts the corps proposed for north Georgia cities, the three states began negotiations on an interim agreement to regulate water usage while the study is being completed. Those negotiations have dragged on for months, with one of the most contentious issues being Georgia's plan to build a regional reservoir on the Tallapoosa River just across the border from Cleburne County. Georgia contends it should be allowed to proceed with the reser- See Water3B Scott Barksdale percent favored keeping abortion as an option for women. SHE SAID APPROVAL of any legislation to restrict abortion would "show the officials are not voting along the lines of their constituents' views." Ms. Gordon was joined at the press conference by 13 lawmakers, all white males, four of whom represent affluent portions of Jefferson County.

Those are freshman Rep. Jim Cams, R-Birmingham, who will be the chief sponsor in the I for a Main Street program vision for your town and a work plan that will involve By Mike Stedham Star Bualnaat Wrttar Downtown Anniston is a natural Main Street program, according to coordinates the urban development program for uneducated idiot who does not know it is perfectly legal to turn right on red anywhere in the United States of America. My plans for a happy day include a big smile while the indecisive idiot in front of me at the Hardee's breakfast line changes his (or her) mind three times. Thursday, on the first day of spring, I will see no idiots nor hear no idiots nor speak of no idiots. THURSDAY, IN the workplace, I will show my boss the respect his higher salary deserves, will praise my fellow workers, and will not bitch at desk editors who change my copy strictly on personal whim without journalistic reason.

Spring has sprung and I will be forgiving if not understanding. I will also be good to myself ordering an extra helping of beans with my "greens and beans" (or is it "beans and at Betty's, stop in at Baskin-Robbins for two scoops of black walnut, and treat myself to an afternoon nap out on the sun porch. I will wash and fold the towels, unload the dishwasher, and have supper on the table when the blonde walks in. We will watch what she wants to watch on the tube Thursday night if she wants to watch Alabama against Arkansas in the NCAAs that's as far as I can go on this one, really.) And Thursday night, before I bed down, I will even prepare the coffeepot for Friday morning. And somewhere, sometime, during the first day of spring, I intend to find me a bluebird and let him sing me a song.

Friday? I have some thoughts there, too. on the second day of spring which, in the best interests of the first day of spring, I really don't want to get into at the moment. No sir. the community in the process." Barksdale praised Anniston's Retail and Commercial Development organization, formed a year and response to an earlier drive for the Main But he said downtown needs its own working to meet the area's special needs. that the city use downtown as a target money available on a matching basis That money could be used to hire a coordinator, a position Barksdale said the work of the city's current retail development director.

Scott Barksdale was in Anniston on with several civic groups as part of a renewed effort to start a local Main Street organization. You ve got something unique here: a downtown area that's still basically intact and alive," Barksdale said after touring several buildings and stores along Noble Street. "Now you need to develop a collective House speaker wants Supreme Court to rule on abortion candidate for the the man who Tuesday to meet He made the comments following an announcement by the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition that it intends to push for anti-abortion legislation in the 1991 session. The coalition's bill, labeled the "Human Life Protection. Act," would prohibit abortion unless the pregnant woman was the victim of reported rape or incest, or if continuing the pregnancy would threaten her life.

It would impose criminal penalties for violations, exempting the pregnant women. a half ago in Street program. organization He suggested area, making with merchants. full-time wouldn't duplicate and commercial See Program5B Carrie Gordon, executive director of the organization, said the bill has majority support in both the House and Senate. She said the bill hopefully will "overturn or severely contest" the 1973 U.S.

Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. It also would would "stop 98 percent of the 30,000 abortions performed each year in Alabama." Joan Rickels, a spokeswoman for Citizens for Choice, said a 1990 poll of Alabama voters showed 62 By Pat Lewis 8tar Political Wrttar MONTGOMERY Abortion will continue to be a time-consuming issue for the Alabama Legislature until the U.S. Supreme Court takes it out of the states' hands. House Speaker Jimmy Clark said Tuesday. "Tell that darn court up there to rule on this thing so we can get it out of our hair," Clark said.

"They need to act on it, they need to come with a uniform ruling.".