The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 44

CS) 2'B THI TlHNtWAN ThureUiJUNt mi STATE NEWS School prayer supporters heartened by pledge ruling VA smoking rooms cost estimate put at $142,000 By DUREN CHEEK Staff Wnttr The sponsors of Tennessee's new school prayer law said yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to bar daily recitations of the Pledge Allegiance in public schools bodes well for the prayer law be-; ing upheld. That Is, if it is challenged. "I am very much encouraged by it," said Sen. Don Wright, R-Galla- tin.

"What we are seeing here 30 years after the fact is that people in high positions realize the avenue America has taken in the past 30 years is not very idea of trying to do away with ev-. erything that America stands for is Indeed going to be the ruination of I our country and they are trying to make amends." In its ruling Tuesday, the na- tion's highest court let stand a low-I er court ruling which rejected an atheist's complaint that the "under Nashville chapter said the pledge and prayer are separate Issues. "I would argue that a prayer is very different than a pledge of allegiance," she said. Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling was on an Illinois law that requires all public schools to start the day with the pledge, although compliance by individual students is voluntary. Wright said Tuesday's ruling could bode well for Tennessee's school prayer law.

"This argument that keeps being used by people who don't believe In prayer and don't believe In the Pledge of Allegiance this separation of church and state that they keep bringing up that is probably the most asinine argument that one could use," Wright said. "From the beginning of this whole situation concerning prayer in schools, the Pledge of Allegiance, it is the state that has taken prayer out of schools. God" phrase Congress added to the pledge in 1954 violates the separation of church and state provisions of the First Amendment Wright and Rep. Eugene Davidson, D-Burns, were the prime sponsors of legislation recently passed by the Tennessee General Assembly to allow student-initiated prayer at non-compulsory functions in public schools. When he heard of the Supreme Court's ruling Monday night, said Davidson, "I thought, 'Well, that certainly is a somewhat different twist than the court has taken in the past' Til have to admit I got a little encouraged by it I don't want to get too enthused, by any means." The new state law, which faces an almost certain challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union, will go into effect no later than Wednesday.

Hedy Weinberg of the ACLU's law The Veterans of Foreign Wars, with 12 million members, support the congressional action because many older veterans have smoked since World War when the government gave them cigarettes as part of their food ration. "They were encouraged to smoke," said VFW spokesman Hal Servln in Washington. "This Is the last remaining pleasure for many of these old codgers." Dr. Stephanie Hall, Knox County's medical director, said she was surprised the government would pay for new smoking facilities at a time when many VS. hospitals are banning smoking.

"It's very difficult to ask taxpayers in a time of tight, tight budgets to pay that kind of money to help citizens in pursuing an activity that we know is detrimental to health," Hall said. Bicentennial logo revealed of the state's 95 counties. On top of each column will be a chime, which will be arranged to create a carillon. When the carillon is played, it will be answered by a large bell placed beside the State Capitol. The chiming is meant as a tribute to the state's musical heritage.

A musical festival will begin several weeks before the June 1 anniversary on the new mall and will lead to a giant extravaganza on Chattanooga mimbb i 1 iann i -r-rmn-i Man suspected of burning mother's body gets court date 3 will be located at the north end of the mall, and will be called the Court of Three Stars a tribute to the three stars in the state flag. -The stars represent the state's three grand divisions: east middle and west Surrounding the Court of Three Stars fountain will be 95 columns, each 35 feet tall, representing each 25 of 90 seniors fail English; probe set a still undetermined. For many students earning a high score on the English final examination worth 25 of the semester grade In Shinton's class determined whether they passed the class and graduated, Principal Dewayne Oldham said. "Some of the students had already failed all three six-week terms of the semester with a low enough average that they had to make more than 100 on the final to pass the course," Oldham said of some of the students who learned on Friday they would not receive their diplomas during Sunday's commencement exercises. "It's the first time we've had this large a number of students to fail this particular class," Oldham said.

Oldham refused to comment on the specifics of the investigation, saying he was waiting on direction from Hubbard's office. that day, Ingram said. The mall also will feature a amphitheater where visitors can see live entertainment or watch a proposed fireworks display over the State Capitol. At some point during the spring of 1996, a statewide Volunteer 200 Day will be held. Tennessee's tradition of being the "Volunteer State" will be the focus as local communites are asked to create special projects.

his mother, who was in her 80s, was staying in an Alabama nursing home. Gruzella refused at that time to tell authorities where the nursing home is located, adding that it was "illegal" and not licensed by that state, Hensley said. Meanwhile, Hensley said, deputies found government Social Security checks in Foster's name that her son had been signing for about a year. A Lewis County grand Jury indicted him on forgery charges in April. Gruzella was being held In the Lewis County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond.

Gruzella has more recently told authorities his mother died and he disposed of her body, Hensley said. "We're still looking into that" the sheriff said. protect By BONNA M. de la CRUZ Staff Wnttr HOHENWALD, Tenn. A man who sheriff officials believe may have burned the body of his dead mother somewhere on the 20 acres where he lives in rural Lewis County was scheduled yesterday for a Circuit Court hearing on June 28.

"The Buffalo River is right below his house. He could have done anything to her," Lewis County Sheriff Larry Hensley said yesterday. "We've had bloodhounds out there and are still investigating." Gene Gruzella, 44, of Metal Ford Road, was charged with forgery in January after neighbors reported to sheriffs deputies that his elderly mother, Thora Foster, had been missing for about three months, Hensley said. Gruzella told them JOHNSON CITY (AP) Federally mandated smoking rooms at Veterans Affairs facilities in Tennessee could cost taxpayers $142,000, according to a General Accounting Office report VA hospitals earlier banned smoking inside buildings because of the harmful effects of smoke on non-smokers. Smokers were required to go outside.

Congress, pressured by complaints from veterans groups, passed a law last year mandating separate inside or outside structures that were both heated and air-conditioned. The report shows that building a smoking room at the Nashville facility will cost between $45,000 and $50,000. At the Mountain Home in Johnson City, the cost would be between $24,000 and $45,000. A smoking room at the Memphis hospital will cost between $36,500 31 1. Gibson County BRADFORD Bradford Schools Superintendent Bobby Joe McCartney got a unanimous vote of confidence from the district's school board despite pleading guilty to theft earlier this month.

McCartney maintained his innocence Friday, but said a court battle would have been long, Involved, expensive and bad for the school system's Image. He pleaded guilty to theft over $1,000 May 13 after an investigation by state Highway Patrol revealed that $2,781.56 was taken from funds set aside for 1990 and 1991 senior trips. McCartney contends and school board members agreed he never took any money, but nearly $3,000 in expenses over two years cant be documented. GIBSON State Investigators are looking into allegations of wrongdoing in the city of Gibson in hopes of putting rumors to rest District Attorney General Clay-burn Peeples of Trenton asked the Department of Safety'? Criminal Investigation Division to look into the city's "administrative expenditures and activities." After suspended Police Chief James Bowles was rein stated, questions about the city's law enforcement administration were raised. He was suspended after an April 6 state warrant charged him with theft of property over $1,000 but under $10,000.

The charge resulted from a property sale. 2. Madison County DENMARK Denmark Presbyterian Church, where community ancestors prayed for the sons they sent to the Civil War, where Rebel soldiers eluded capture with the help of their sweethearts finally has its leaking roof replaced. Roofers were at work in recent days on the project Denmark Presbyterian Church was built in 1864, to provide a permanent home for the band of Presbyterians who formed their church at a brush arbor in 1821. Regular services no longer are held there.

The approximate $10,000 needed to reroof the building came from funds raised at annual Denmark Days community festivals and from private donations. 3. Shelby County MEMPHIS A 3-year-old girl found asleep hugging her slain father's body with her dead mother nearby has been taken in by relatives and is "doing OK." The girl's parents, Thomas Jackson, 25, and Tensia Jackson, 24, were killed by gunmen who went to the wrong apartment while planning to rob a drug dealer, police said. Three men have been charged with murder and rape in the slay-ings. Police and relatives described the Jacksons as hard-working parents devoted to raising their daughter, Tierney.

Kenneth Jackson, the slain man's brother, discovered the bodies and found the 3-year-old huddled against her father's body. She was not physically harmed. "She just reached up for me," Jackson said Tuesday. "I guess she cried herself to sleep that night" -i wmnnri and $37,000 and it will cost between $6,700 and $10,000 at the Murfrees-boro facility. Barbara Wray, the acting administrative officer at the VA Outpatient Clinic in Knoxville, said smokers may go to a covered, open-air area outside the building.

No new enclosed smoking facility is planned in Knoxville, according to the GAO report Richard Lawrence, associate director of the VA center in Johnson City, said some had complained that outdoor shelters for smokers were not convenient enough. Nationally, the cost of the legislation is expected to be $4 million to $24 million, depending upon the facilities. Terry Jemison, spokesman for the VA Department in Washington, said officials would have to study the GAO report before settling on a policy for complying with the new 4. Dickson County DICKSON Bottled water for drinking and cooking are being provided to nine residences located near Dickson County Industrial Park after wells on the properties were found to be contaminated, officials said. Tests conducted by Brentwood-based DRE Environmental Services Inc.

indicate the wells have excessive amounts of trichloroethylene, an Industrial solvent in them, a DRE spokesman said. The level of the solvent in the wells Is not dangerous, but is higher than Is permissible under state water standards, officials said. DRE was retained by Scovil Inc. to conduct the tests as part of a cleanup of a licensed waste disposal site once operated by Schrader Automotive, a subsidiary of Scovil. The source of the contamination has not been determined, officials said.

The bottled water is being provided by DRE. 5. Marion County SOUTH PITTSBURG The town's 56-year-old elementary school gutted by fire last February will be rebuilt county Schools Superintendent Paul Turney said. A faulty heating duct overheated the wood interior of a classroom at South Pittsburg Elementary Feb. 25, causing 70 of the school to burn.

Students were not at school that day due to snow. Children have since been attending school in makeshift classrooms at three buildings throughout the community. Turney estimated it would cost about $8 million to rebuild and of that insurance should pay $2 million. 6. Maury County COLUMBIA Two veterinarians have testified that a filly was sore at a 1990 Tennessee Walking Horse show in Columbia The two testified Tuesday for the prosecution in the federal court trial in Nashville of Jimmy McConnell of Union City, a well-known Tennessee Walking Horse trainer.

Federal agents claim McConnell deliberately used chemicals or some other applied irritant to make the horse's feet sore as prohibited under the 1970 Horse Protection Act 7. Montgomery County CLARKSVILLE A renewed search for Susan Lund, 25, of Clarksville, missing since Dec. 24, is being considered, a Clarksville police spokesman said. A meeting is planned for tomorrow by Clarksville, Hopkinsville, and Fort Campbell law enforcement officials to discuss information in the case. Lund, pregnant at the time of her disappearance, was last seen Christmas Eve walking to a store from her North Clarksville residence.

CLARKSVILLE U.S. Rep. Bob Clement is scheduled to make a stop in Clarksville today as part of his statewide tour testing support for a run for state governor. ne is io urnve ai ton lampoeii at 5:30 p.m., then go to QarksvihW Public Square, arriving about 7 p.ra Announcing the rr ill Qltordabe your home in the Nashville area. 8.

Anderson County CLINTON A Clinton Middle School counselor has been arrested and charged with raping a student Stephen Williams, 47, of Oak Ridge was Indicted on two counts of aggravated rape Tuesday, one of raping a child and one of extortion, court records show. He was arrested at the school and was being held In lieu of $100,000 bond In the Anderson County Jail yesterday. Anderson County Schools Superintendent J.V. Sailors said Williams probably will face some sort of disciplinary action before the charges are heard in court "Since he Is directly involved with students, there is no question we'll have to separate him from those duties." Prosecutor Jan Hicks said the Indictment alleges there was one victim. The extortion charge, she said, claims Williams was "coercing somebody Into refraining from doing something." 9.

Blount County MARYVILLE A man convicted of not paying child support for his daughter, who was left paralyzed by a suicide attempt eight years ago, was sentenced to 18 months in prison Tuesday and ordered to pay restitution. Clifton Walters, 50, of Atlantic Beach, N.C, was convicted in Blount County in April of flagrant nonsupport and fined $1,500. Walters told the jury he is dying of AIDS and can't afford the payments. He was convicted of not paying $250 a month for his daughter, Eva Walters, 23, of Maryville, from 1989-92. Tennessee Department of Human Services last year called Walters the state's worst child support offender.

He was allowed to remain free pending a June 23 hearing on a motion for a new trial. 10. Hamilton County CHATTANOOGA VS. Rep. Marilyn Lloyd has denied reports she is seeking a Clinton administration appointment to Uranium Enrichment board.

"I don't know where it the report came from," she said Tuesday during appearances In Chattanooga. Lloyd said she expects to seek reelection in 1994. The agency oversees the nation's uranium-enrichment programs. Lloyd pushed the program for several years and was instrumental in its passage last year. 11.

Knox County KNOXVILLE Nebraska educator John G. Peters has been selected to become top academic officer at the University of Tennessee's flagship campus in Knoxville, Chancellor Bill Snyder said yesterday. Peters, currently dean of arts and sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will assume the post of vice chancellor for academic affairs in August The campus has been without a permanent chief academic officer since George W. Wheeler's retirement In 1989. CONTRIBUTING: Dickson and Montgomery counties 4Terry Batey; The Jackson Surr, Associated Press.

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