The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 4

The Courier-Journal, Friday morning, March 21, 1980 Television Regional news Marketplace Accent UCKY KENT TT Prisoner squeezed out of hideout Amendments called 'afterthoughts9 Legislators pass up opportunity to update archaic constitution i 1 Staff Photo by Stowart Bowman Legislators can make a case for any one of the bills. Sheriffs are the only county officers who can't succeed themselves, which reflects the suspicion of the office held by residents of many rural Kentucky counties. With the one-term limit removed, the sheriffs will have an opportunity to become more professional. The lottery bill is hailed as a potential boon to the state's treasury, which would get the receipts from the lottery after the bonus is paid. And who can argue against some little old lady in Newport sitting down to a bingo game, without having to worry about a police raid? Extension of the homestead amendment to give the disabled an exemption from real-estate taxes on the first $6,500 of assessed valuation on their home is proposed as appropriate relief in inflationary times.

Longer terms for legislators would provide more continuity in membership, while the option on the extra term for state officials would end the game of political musical chairs in Frankfort The voters will have to decide on those arguments and the ones certain to be mounted against them if any of the amendments finally reaches the ballot. But none of them represents the kind of systematic review of the archaic provisions of the constitution that was promised when the amendment that doubled the number of amendments was proposed. Analysis by Bob Johnson Courier-Journal political writer Sen. Walter Baker, R-Glasgow, a member of the Senate committee, calls the proposed amendments "afterthoughts." Those who have cried the loudest for constitutional change, he said, have not appeared at this session with any ideas for change. Not surprisingly, the proposed amendments to be considered in the final days of the General Assembly are highly political.

The Senate has approved bills proposing amendments that would provide for the unlimited succession of sheriffs who are now limited to one term and for an annual lottery on the Kentucky Derby, with the initial proceeds paying for a Vietnam veterans' bonus. The proposed lottery amendment would also legalize bingo if conducted by religious or non-profit organizations. The House has sent the Senate a bill that proposes an amendment with a Christmas tree full of changes for public officials. The amendment would allow sheriffs to succeed themselves, would extend the terms of General Assembly members by two years, and would permit the state's constitutional officers, including governors, to seek a second term. FRANKFORT, Ky.

When Kentucky voters unexpectedly approved a constitutional amendment in November doubling the number of proposed amendments that can be considered at one time, they handed the General Assembly a tool to update the state's archaic constitution. But, judging from the nature of the amendments proposed during the 1980 session, it appears that the legislature was unprepared for the opportunity to present four suggested amendments to the electorate in November 1981. It is too early to tell which proposed amendments will be approved by the legislature. But it is possible to say now that none of them will address any of the problems that some lawyers say have made the Kentucky Constitution an embarrassment to the state. The power of the lieutenant governor to act in the governor's absence from the state, a source of mischief in past administrations, was not addressed, for example.

Nor have the legislators moved to eliminate sections of the constitution that the state's highest courts have had to wink at in keeping the docu ment current such as salary limits for public officials more appropriate for an earlier era. The constitution will retain its provisions against dueling and for separate schools for blacks and whites. There was no consideration of reducing the long list of elective offices, including the Railroad Commission, that makes the state ballot such a burden. In short, the elections and constitutional amendments committees of the two chambers did nothing to generate a comprehensive review of the constitution. Instead, they took what Individual members proposed.

New part Labors for labor Gerald Wilson, left, and Charles Ross of the state Department of Finance removed signs and trash yesterday that had been discarded Wednesday after a protest at the state Capitol. Union members had protested labor-related proposals being considered by the legislature. Another proposal pending in the Legislators say that review will prob-House would extend the homestead ex- ably have to wait until the 1982 ses-emptioq to the totally disabled. sion. of 1-24 finishes 4-lane route across state INTERSTATE 24 PROGRESS By BILL POWELL Cauriar-Journal Staff EDDYVILLE, Ky.

Ronnie-Meadows was segregated yesterday in a-six-by-nlne-foot cell at Kentucky State Penitentiary. But that was spacious compared to where he hid for 22 hours Wednesday. Meadows, serving a life sentence, squeezed into a space 4'2 inches wide between an inner and outer wall pf a corrugated metal building. Meadows was supposed to be working in the masonry shop in a wire-fenced compound behind the stone-walled prison when his supervisor realized hewas a man short. Prison Superintendent Dewey Sowders ordered a lockup 'and count of the inmates.

Meadows didn't turn up. After a search of the area," It was thought Meadows might have hidden In a Prison Industries Inc. truck that had just left the institution. i -S- Prison officers and police fanned' out in a swift search for the truck'They stopped it a short distance from the prison in Lyon County but Meadows wasn't aboard. Searchers backtracked to the prison.

While some searched the countryside, one peeped into the wall spacij. 4 Meadows was there, lying on his side. The space wasn't quite large enough for him, and his body caused a bulge at the bottom of the wall. Kentucky State Police Detective James Potter said yesterday he decided not to charge Meadows with attempting to escape. The charge would have been a misdemeanor carrying no more than a $500 fine and a year in jaiU r.a Meadows was paroled in 1 $75, after serving time for The day after he was released, he was accused of killing a woman with a shotgun at her home near Paducah.

ii He escaped once from the McCracken County Jail at Paducah where he had been brought for a court appearance. (J tt Sowders said there was a fine fine between hiding and trying to escape: He said Meadows, 27, would be held Indefinitely in the administrative control unit for breaking prison rules. -t He was considered absent from his job without permission, and that's a taboo at the maximum-security prison. Meadows automatically drew segregation for nine days. The disciplinary commission can sentence him to subsequent 90-day terms after required reviews.

Sowders said hideouts are a problem at the 92-year-old prison. The cellllouses are honeycombed with passageways, abandoned storage areas and, service tunnels. Sowders said he hoped to discourage hiding by disciplinary action. Beg your pardon Because of an editing error, a story in yesterday's Courier-Journal incorrectly referred to the Museum of History and Science as the Museum of Natural History and Science. The Louisville museum recently dropped the word: "Natural" from its name.

Because of incorrect information received, a story in Wednesday's Marketplace section said that automobiles head the consumer-complaint list at the Louisville Better Business Bureau: Mailorder complaints are first, with automobiles second. StaH Photo by Michaal Cor Completion of the 11 miles is expected by May 1. Except for 4.8 miles of Interstate 471, from Interstate 275 in Covington to Interstate 71, in Cincinnati, Kentucky's original allotment of 762 interstate miles is complete. The six-lane bridge across the Ohio for 1-471 has been completed. A two-mile section designated as I-265 in Jefferson County was awarded to Kentucky in added interstate mileage by former federal highway administrator William Cox, of Madison-ville, but has not been built But Robert Johnson, a federal highway division administrator for Kentucky who is based in Frankfort, said $757 million remains in the interstate fund for Kentucky for upgrading of highways, such as 1-65 between Louisville and Elizabethtown.

Other Kentucky interstates are I-71, from Louisville to 1-75 south of Cincinnati and 1-264 in Louisville. The nation's allotment of interstate highways is 41.500 miles. last year but could not be used until 1-24 was completed to the junction point. Travelers from Fulton desiring a direct four-lane route to the eastern border of Kentucky may use the Purchase Parkway, Interstate 24, Western Kentucky Parkway, Interstate 65, Blue Grass Parkway, and U.S. 60, circling Lexington on New Circle Road to 1-64.

The latest segment of 1-24, which was approved in 1957 under the National Defense Highway Act, cost $9.4 million. The cost was pushed up, highway officials said, by the necessity of seven bridges and the interchange with the parkway. Except for two segments of a 25-mile stretch between the parkway interchange and U.S. 68 east of Cadiz, 1-24 is complete from Chattanooga, where it originates, to Interstate 57 at Pulley's Mill, 111. Fourteen of the 25 miles are finished, but they cannot be used until the two uncompleted sections, totaling 11 miles, are ready for traffic, according to Kentucky Bureau of Highway officials at Paducah.

Eddyville I I I Western Kentucky 'vunopened) Cadiz ILLINOIS The opening of a 2.7-mile section of 1 Fulton to the state's eastern border I 1 is Paducah I jf XlgL-Jv Purchase Parkway-J AREA XmA ENLARGED Rebound for glory College recruiters roam Sweet Sixteen By BILL POWELL CowtarJournal Staff Writer KUTTAWA, Ky. For the first time, motorists can travel from one end of Kentucky to the other without using a two-lane highway. Without any ceremony, the state yesterday opened segments of Interstate 24 and the Western Kentucky Parkway that complete a four-lane route from Fulton just 16 miles from the Mississippi River, which forms the western border of the state to the West Virginia line and beyond. Opened yesterday in a misting rain was a 2.7-mile segment of 1-24 that connects with the final segment of the Western Kentucky Parkway near Lake Barkley just south of Eddyville and Kuttawa in Lyon County. The parkway was completed from Elizabethtown to Princeton, 12 miles east of Kuttawa, in 1962.

A decade later, it was extended to two miles east of Eddyville. The 3.4-mile parkway segment completing the highway was finished mored to be going to Tennessee. Laurel County standout Lisa Collins is being courted, the rumors say, by Tennessee, Kentucky and Old Dominion. Paris' Beth Wilkerson has already gone to Old Dominion and so it goes. What is more important, perhaps, is the collective assessment that girls' high school basketball is constantly improving.

"You can almost see the change from year to year," Ciampi said. "I've been to a good many states, but nowhere have I seen the enthusiasm and team support that I've seen in Kentucky. They play a very good brand of ball here, and I'm very impressed with their passing and upper body strength." So the battle is on among the colleges for this year's crop of Kentucky high school girl basketball stars. Coach Murphy of Eastern Kentucky guessed that as many as half of the senior girls playing in this year's Sweet Sixteen might be approached by college teams. Coach Cousins of West Point, meantime, said, "You have a beautiful crop of juniors and I'm looking forward to seeing them next year." Dont worry, they'll be back and so will the recruiters.

IMA, Th Courlar-Journal SECTION OPENED YESTERDAY Staff Map 24 means drivers can travel from without leaving four-lane roads. Byron Crawford jv ujuner-journai JVLdl columnist burn University's Lady Tigers. "We need a big guard and a power forward," he said, almost thinking out loud, "I'm surprised at McHugh's ability." By the way, coach, Hilary McHugh, the 6-foot-2 center for Dixie Heights, says to tell you her ankle is fine. She just turned it in yesterday's slim victory over Corbin. "We're looking at a few other people here," added the Auburn coach, "we're wondering if Sandy Kinkton (of Mercy) could play a guard." Kinkton is a 5-foot-ll center who's been averaging nearly 16 points and 11 rebounds per game this season.

Asked if out-of-state colleges are snapping up most of the high school girl players in Kentucky, Diane Murphy, Eastern Kentucky University women's head coach, answered "I'm afraid they are." Mia Todd of Calloway County is ru 4 ItSlllffiKi; "-jr. 'I jr I 14 V-' iltlv i 'mkwmmkW0 Zzzzz err sfclf 1 Yk -f A iff' JA 1 iMMMWBf txxvrrsztm frrt hA4 vim: mm Kh Sjsteitiste jf Jim i RICHMOND, Ky. The Sweet Sixteen of the Girls' State High School Basketball Tournament is getting a little sweeter ever year, so say the college recruiters who are here watching the schoolgirl classic. They aren't wearing jackets with "college recruiter" on the back, but they're here, and they mean business. Several years ago girls' basketball was almost unheard of in Kentucky high schools.

But take it from me, girls' basketball has not only arrived it has found a home. The women's coach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Liz Cousins, came right to the point. "I'm interested in Jackie Bearden of Dixie Heights," Cousins said. "She's one of the finest guards I've seen In a long time and a good student" Cousins also said that West Point's requirements often dictate that she look for a special kind of girl who could adapt to the program both scholastically and emotionally.

Bearden, a 5-foot-8 guard averaged 27 points per game, six rebounds and six assists with a sizzling 88 percent average from the free-throw line this season, and is the all-time leading scorer in the 9th region. "This McHugh kid, has her ankle been bothering her all season?" asked Joe Ciampi, head coach of Au- MmisM i for the Sweet Sixteen of the Girls' State High School Basketball Tournament. Both coaches are scouting players for the teams at their colleges Women's basketball coaches Joe Ciampi of Auburn University and Liz Cousins of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point are in Richmond this week.