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The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 2

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Des Moines, Iowa
Issue Date:
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2
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2A Ths Des Moines Register Wednesday, August 27, 1997 Iowa News Dateline Iowa part ies unveil campaign finance plans Iowa recent campaigns," said McCqri mick, who was co-chairman of an ethics reform Peterson said the governor has aw history of vetoing campaign finance reform. ''Those who resisVtf change are those who benefit mosf vV from the present system." Peteraofrv said. 1 Both Vilsack and McCormicIc said that as governor they woulcf provide more funding of the diacfe sure board so it can provide better enforcement and more of information. reform proposal that calls for public financing of elections, probably with $1 from every auto license sold. Democrats also would contributions from individuals and political action committees to candidates for governor.

Democrats would limit the influence of outside groups by deducting anything they spent from the public money given the gubernatorial candidate who benefits from their activity. Both sides' plans drew criticism from the other. The Democrats said Branstad's ideas don't solve the problem. Branstad said Democrats want taxpayers to pick up the tab for elec-' tions. "I am concerned about the growing influence of out-of-state groups and out-of-state big money, particularly gambling money, that could substantially corrupt politics in the state of Iowa," Branstad told reporters.

"I would like to basically ban contributions from individuals that do not live in the state of Iowa." He also would ban contributions from out-of-state political action committees. The bans would apply to donations to political parties, which are becoming ever-larger conduits of money for specific candidates. Branstad said the bans should apply to all offices, not just the governorship. While there's no evidence of improper gambling influences in Iowa politics, he said, "There's been some real big scandals involving gambling interests trying to control legislative interests in other states. We need to be vigilant to keep that corruptive influence out of the state of Iowa." He said he also would require more last-minute disclosure by can1 didates so voters could see any major donations near the end of campaigns.

Meanwhile, Democratic candidates for governor Mark McCor-mick and Tom Vilsack made a rare joint appearance, along with state Democratic chairman Mike Peterson, to endorse their party's plan. Peterson said both parties have had recent ethical problems with campaign financing and need to work together on reform. "We have in this state crossed a new threshold of fund raising that promises to get worse before it gets better," Peterson said. "We've got loopholes in our cam- paign finance laws that are big enough to drive a truck through, and we've seen examples of trucks being driven through them in DnocrstswsRttofund elections publicly; i Republicans want more disclosure of spending. By DAVID YEPSEN Reoister Staff Writer Gov.

Terry Branstad said Tues- day he would push for campaign finance reform including a ban on foreign and out-of-state contributions, including gambling money. He also said he would ask the Legislature to provide more money for the state campaign finance dis- closure board, which monitors candidate spending. The Republican governor made his comments the same day Demo-, crats unveiled a campaign finance Five selected I for police panel Fkom The Register's IowaGty Blrkai' Iowa City, la. Five people were named Monday night to an Iowa City Police Citizen Review Board created Sftef artist Eric Shaw was shot to eath by a police officer last year. I Named to the board by the Iowa (jity Council were? i David Coleman, 57, assistant director of residence life at the University of Iowa.

I Leah Cohen, 45, owner of Bo-james restaurant. Paul Hof fey 63, director of public safety in Cedar Falls, who plans to retire next month and live in Iowa City. 1 Margaret Raymond, 37, an associate law professor at the of I. I John Watson, 55, president of Goodwill Industries of Southeast Iowa. 1 Later Tuesday, Republican Stated Auditor Richard Johnson quesv tioned the constitutionality of tip Democrats' proposal, saying fye thinks the Iowa constitution prohibits the use of motor vehicle U-A cense fees for anything other road building purposes.

rim Drinking Gosch lives 9 mom is told form dr ivirig xnt criticized What Johnny Gosch might look like today Gosch history Age 27 Trial is moved I in house fire death Cedar Rapids, la. (AP) Trial for an eastern Iowa man charged with murder in a house fire that killed his wife and young son has beeri moved from Linn CountjrtoClarke County. The trial for Stephen Keyes will be held Sept. 22 in Osceola. I Keyes, 28, is charged with setting a fire that killed his wife; Sandra, 26, and their 2-year-old son, Joshua, on Dec.

26 at their home near Springville. -I 1 A VkV veunr Mpraa, la. lAri 'A new SLaLe law is removing umri satety net used to deter repeat si) The cases of Johnny Gosch and Eugene Martin, two missing Iowa paperboys, have remained unsolved. Here's what Gosch might look like today and a brief history: drunken drivers by keeping thosey. people out of treatment, prosecu? tors and corrections officials said "We're going to have OWI of- fenders, who have been high-risk traditionally, no longer on proba Johnny Gosch Age 12 tion," said Johnson County Attoxvi ney J.

Patrick White. "We'll no lcW? ger have a probation monitoring them to see if Tj 12-year-old Johnny Gosch, a West Des Moines 1 I 7 I rVy" v-t I -nJk' SJrBssU(i iMailuJll SJiljl. ai newspaper earner, disappears aoout a.m. following up on treatment. Her sources say he is hiding hiis identify because he's wanted for his involvement in a child porn ring.

By FRANK SANTIAGO Register Staff Writer Fifteen years after the apparent abduction of her son, Noreen Gosch says she now has information that he is alive. The details are credible, she maintains, although authorities say they have no way of knowing whether it's a break in one of the state's longest and most baffling crime mysteries. Gosch says the information came recently from investigative sources she has developed over the years to help find Johnny Gosch. He was 12 years old when abducted from his Sunday morning newspaper route in West Des Moines and would now be 27. Gosch has handed the information to local law enforcement officers, who are investigating.

MGoodNewiM "From the standpoint that he could be alive, it's good news," says Polk County Attorney John Sar- ounaay as ne oegins nis newspaper route. uiiuer uie oia mw, a juuge couia I Ex-bank worker i charged with theft The Rkoistkk's lofrA Newsservice Waterloo, la. A Waterloo woman faces charges she stole money from a Cincinnati bank where she was once employed. Tauna L. Hart, 42, was a teller at the Star Bank in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1995.

The FBI issued a federal warrant charging her with the crime and arrested her Monday at her workplace in Waterloo. Hart was released on her promise to appear in court, and a hearing was scheduled for Aug. 29. Dissatisfied with police efforts, the Gosches mount an unprecedented private campaign to find their son. sentence an offender to a year in jail, with most of the sentence dej ferred and tied to an order to complete substance-abuse treatment Ml during probation.

Now, an offencM er whose blood-alcohol level tests at greater than 0.15 percent may Ruol serve a longer jail term but will br? rplpnspH frnm iail urith nn fnrthdi' obligation. i niS ucuics lite puieniuu iur pcokk. Eugene Martin, 13, disappears from his paper route In a south Des Moines rwighbortood, about seven miles from where Gosch disappeared. Like Gosch, Martin was delivering the Sunday Register. President Ronald Reagan calls The Des Moines Register to offer help and extend "regrets and sympathies" in the disappearances of newspaper boys Eugene Martin and Johnny Gosch.

Anderson-Erickson Dairy announces plans to reproduce posters of Gosch and Martin on milk cartons, beginning a practice that will be pie to slip through the safety saia uarv Hinzman. director or tnms 5 aMtHt4 John and Noreen Gosch divorce after 26 years of marriage. They cite the burden of the case but both vow to continue the search for their JaprTlI 40J 6th Judicial District Department'oi' Correctional "I'm real-' son. concerned that's getting tough ohotr Mi with a mandatory jail sentence and then letting the person- off.lthsV' cone, who recently met with Gosch and several local investigators to nooK. r1 rwww a KiiiIaui tomiMr wmmv discuss the case.

"I know that law enforcement is i tor or the Division of CommunftVrf Man from Liberia, one of scores of people who claim to have information about the missing Gosch, contacts father in West Des Moines to say he has seen Gosch and Martin in Liberia. Police investigation finds no Services, estimates about haltot- IC Tl rvais anvr uunnny uisauuoarance, police I9 and family continue to search for answers. File the 1,900 lowans presently on ro- bation for first-offense drunk Ti caDineis or information, oozens ot so-called sightings produced no suspects, no leads. delay ot trial Rose Hill, la. (AP) A Rose Hill man accused of killing two women and stealing their cars as pari of a bank robbery has waived his right to a quick trial.

i Jamie McMahan's motion is similar to one filed last week in U.S. District Court by stepbrother Christopher Kauf man of Oskaloosa. The two were indicted on federal carjacking charges, $nd conviction could carry the death penalty. 1 The motions seek to delay the trial scheduled for Oct. 6 for up to 14 months.

The two are accused of killing Barbara Garber, 52, and Island Schultz, 18, in their farm homes, stealing their vehicles and then robbing the Gibson Savings Bank on June 11. They were arrested June 30 in Pensacola, Flai VB UL UIVIIQIIlt I i .9 proof. bation under the new law. Eugene Martin Age 13 The new law: i Requires first-offense ininWi drivers to spend a minimum twcnl days in jail and pay a $1,000 fine; second-offense drunken drivers to: spend seven days in jail and paJ $1,500: and thirriffpnsp vinlatnA tn cruinrl in i Mil L.J-.'ll i $2,500 fine. Doubles to 12 years the during which a previous drunken? going to check out any leads they get.

But there is no way at this point of substantiating what we have," he says. Investigators say they are approaching the new information cautiously, mindful that scores of so-called leads, some from as far away as Africa, have gone nowhere since Gosch and Eugene Martin, another local newspaper carrier apparently abducted less than two years later vanished without a trace. The Gosch case continues to fill several file drawers at the West Des Moines Police Department although there have been few additions in recent years. "When it comes right down to it," says Capt. Bob Rushing, "we don't know much more than what we knew that morning" Gosch disappeared.

Remains Optimistic Noreen Gosch says she has been encouraged by the recent informal tion from her sources. "They have never been wrong with any information. I'm ful.but I have to be realistic. This does, though, make the best sense The Register center's Steve Loftin, who prepared it. Johnny Gosch was delivering The Des Moines Sunday Register when he disappeared a few blocks from his home Sept 5, 1982.

Police found his wagon loaded with newspapers, which indicated he had Just begun to deliver the papers. Eugene Martin, 14, who was delivering the Sunday newspaper on the south side of Des Moines on Aug. 12, 1984, also vanished without a trace. The cases had striking similarities. The boys were about the same age, the incidents were a few miles apart and about the same time of the day.

Not a shred of evidence was left behind in either case. Officially, the apparent kidnappings haven't been connected. Police have not found any evidence that suggests they are linked. I've seen yet." Gosch says she has been told her son is living in the country, has married, has a child, and has attempted to hide his identity. He has changed his name, and has allowed his hair to grow to shoulder length, she claims.

The disguise is an attempt to avoid police, she speculates. Gosch says her sources claim her son is a criminal and is wanted. He has been involved in child pornography and other crimes, activities that he was drawn into by his captors, she says. Gosch believes her son was taken by pornographers who trade in children. It's the criminal background, she contends, that has made it difficult to find him.

She says she has been told her son doesn't want to be found, in part, because of what he knows. Some of the information is linked to the Des Moines area, she says. Gosch won't say on the record where Johnny Gosch might be. She says her contacts have directed her to certain areas of the country. 15th Anniversary On Thursday, she will conduct a press conference to discuss some of the new details as the 15th anniversary of her son's Labor Day weekend disappearance nears.

She will also show a recent computer age-enhanced photo of her son prepared by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va. The photo contains facial details from Noreen Gosch and her ex-husband John and is the third enhancement in the case. The latest picture is a likely representation, said the i CD-ROM 'tour' i of of I honored Iowa City, la. New University of Iowa students can tour the campus without ever setting foot in Iowa City, thanks to an award-winning pilot program developed by a of I professor. 1 Political science Professor Bob Boynton's "Online at Iowa" CD-ROM was named grand prize winner this week in Microsoft 1997 Inno driving conviction stays on dri ers record.

i Jir Bans deferred judgments forr, many convicted of drunken drill- ing. Bans probation for virtualrjrB all drivers caught with a 0.15 pfS cent or greater blood-alcohol levsj Drivers are considered legally tips toxicated in Iowa if their blood-alcohol level exceeds 0.10. "I think they (legislators) weraT so focused on looking tough that they forgot about the ways w. change people's behavior," Linf County Attorney Denver DillarJL said. vators in Higher Education Challenge.

In the program, Boynton will lead a tour by driving an animated bus around the campus. I If all goes well, about 3,000 incom ing students will be able to use the program next fall. Branstad: Rules needed on cell phone use Missing boy was in dreamland Toledo, la. (AP) Bryce McCollis- State agWKies, he says, must ensure that workers en'ti'ackjni'ub charges Study: More Iowa toe money; tef game of mi If they're using that phone for personal business or for fun and games, no, that's wrong. 7 7 The S-vear-old Toledo boV eluded tror personal calls, i two OldiRr brothers 'his hsu-ents aaaar waivoy TVUV oTficers and 200 Volunteers searching By THOMAS A.

F0GARTY Register Staff Writer ror mm Sunday night. i After three hours, a police officer finally found the boy under a large pile Terry Branstad Governor of clothing in the family's basement. The boy mother, Irene McColMer- State agencies need to set cies to minimize the abuse of cellular telephones, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said "It's important for each depart-mentto have a policy that careful- said Bryce went under the clothes while playing hide-and-seek with his elder brothers, then fell asleep. said, 'I was just MtCollister said, 'I guess that phones, which are far more costly than ordinary land-line telephones.

Some agencies, such as the De- partment of Transportation and the Department of Human Services, have' adopted detailed cell phone policies for themselves. Other agencies, including the Department of Natural Resources, have no formal policy that specifically addresses cell phones. Branstad said that decisions re- garding cell phones should be left to the agencies and institutions, but fthat each should set a specific policy. I In general, Branstad said he favors the use of cell phones for state business. "I think cell phones can increase productivity very dramatically, because state employees spend a lot of time traveling from place to place," said Branstad, who himself uses a tax-financed cell phone.

"Before, that's been dead time." A check of state telephone bills by The Register showed that for one monthly billing period in 1996, an official in the Department of Human Rights made 1 1 1 cell phone calls outside normal isiness scrutinizes the use not only of Federal tax relief legislation signed into law by President Clinton earlier this month can be expected to increase Iowa state tax collections this year by about 1 percent, a Legislature analysis shows. The analysis by Jon Muller, a tax expert in the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, shows that during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1998, the state can expect to collect about $46 million more than had been anticipated. Over three years, the analysis says, the federal tax legislation would increase state tax collections by $119 million. At his weekly news conference, Gov. Terry Branstad called the legislative estimate "in the ballpark," but said his branch of government will continue to work on its own analysis of the federal tax cuts' impact on state revenue.

the phones iri the office, but also Branstad said again that heU recommend that the 1998 Legis3k lature enact some kind of tax cut to offset state government's po-e tential financial gain from fedenK al tax relief legislation. "We don't need a said Branstad. "My feeling is we 11 should reduce taxes by that7 -amount." Officially, state government' anticipates $4.7 billion in tax cot lections for the fiscal year ending June 30. According to the bureau analysis, about $14 mil, lion in additional money wilt come to the state because of" smaller state tax deductions fcf federal income taxes ii7 The analysis said the state will si receive additional revenue from, xt increased taxable capital gains, jt activities attributable to the fed) eral tax law changes. Tlumws A.

Fogarty fbti Vi- I Toledo police Chief Wayne Martin cell phones used by their staffs," said McCoJlister and her husband; Marc; discovered the boy was missing hours, including 26 calls over the Labor Day weekend. Branstad declined to criticize such usage. "If they're like me, they work a lot of nights and weekends," he said. "If they're dealing with a problem maybe counseling somebody that might be considering suicide or dealing with some kind of a human problem then we ought to commend them for being there to help people over and above the responsibilities of their job. If they're using that phone for personal business or for fun and games, no, that's wrong." The Oversight Committee of the Iowa Legislature is to discuss cell phone use by state employees at a Statehouse meeting on Thursday.

ground 8:30 p.m. and called officers about 20 minutes later. When yord got out that Bryce was oranstaa saw at nis weewy news An investigation by The Des Moines Register found state agen- cies and institutions last year paid the major cellular telephone service providers $1.2 million, or 35 percent morethan in the preced-' ing year. State government has no central tnissing, volunteers from the area combed parks, the cemetery and Martin decided to go through the htiise' "inch again before an officer spotted Bryce's hand protrud- policy 6n" the acquisition, assignment or proper use of cellular tele ing from the clothes pile..

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