The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 9

i4k bc VfilUnt v. I 4 i is. A id t. V'l i( v. HH DES MOIIIES Set lion HI ti ouEicil to seelt bids DATELIIJE lOlVA Oil GOIIVGiifiOfil GGilie 4 I J1F If i iV It 2 I 5 l.t t.

Thief who fled jonu jaU (its probation twict --t3 By JIM HEALEY Th Molne City Council voted Munday eight to ask for bids on the planned downtown convention rmtrr and committed the city to building the facility if It ran be done for $12 I million or Ins The council also divorced a proposed parkirg garage at Fifth Avenue and Locust Street from the Walnut Mall the Hubbell Interna plan to build nearby. That maneuver apparently would strengthen the city's poKitiofl In a court fight with owners of the Original Coney bland Restaurant, which would be duplartd by the garage The action on the convention renter waa the result of several votes on a complicate set of alternatives, and at one point the entire convention center project lay dying for want of the necessary four-vote majority. That bippem-d because the resolutions soliciting bids on the project. I the council all the btd dorumenti and advertising had been prepared "at ronuVf b)e cost," and that "It would be quite an embarrassing situation to have no action" Uken by the council "I gue I didn't anticipate thia kind of a problem, Smith said, ei plaining why he went so far without council vote. "The coastraclies achedale wasn't tied to" the option tame until the council linked tnem Monday, be said.

Mayor fete Crivaro then declared. "I have no objection to taking bids. I think It will be interesting to get this up front and find out how murk thi, will cost If bids are for more than $121 million, the city would have to reoVign the convention center so it could be built for that amount. But he also likened voting now on the matter to "putting the cart before the horse" because the council still hi awaiting report on how to finance the center and Its required parking How to Pay City Manager Richard Wilkey uid that report, by a New York consulting firm, should be ready early nest month. He and Finance Director Charles O'Connor have said It will detail a way to pay for the ramps and the center Neither has been willing to discuM specifics until then The vote to setk bids was 4-1.

with Archie Brooks dissenting without con'nvnt. Separating the proposed Fifth and Locust ramp from the planned Walnut Mall was done at the request of James W. Hubbell III, vice COUNCIL Please turn to Page iM considered non-controversial, were considered by council members at the same time as a more controversial matter involving paying city money for land options. Two of the seven council members were absent Monday, and only three of the five in attendance favored a motion to pay $32,400 to keep alive the city's option of withdrawing from the convention urena projrct. Likewise, there were (fily three votes in support of not paying for the option.

Same Effect City Attorney Riley said the council's failure to act on paying the money was the same as voting not to pay. At the same time, however, the council was voting on whether to seek bids City Engineer Harold Smith told Polk Teamsters get 3 raise: Arbitrator Obstacle course Fast I'nlvrrsity Avenue adjacent to the Iowa State Fairgrounds looks like an obstacle course la this photo, in which the view has been compressed by a telrphoto lens. work, saca as modification of sewer before the actaal street-widening this summer on East University east of Freeway. The road Is reduced from four lanes to Payments to 4 two lanes through ex-official he had asked Parker to leave or whether the resignation was tied to the travel-pay questions. Parker said he did not know why Pawlewski would not confirm that his resignation was not asked for or related to the travel questions.

The state auditor's office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation reportedly have looked at copies of Parker's travel vouchers during a period of about 2 Mi years. Both Parker and his new boss, Donald Dunn, executive director of the hospital association, said state officials have told them that the investigation of Parker's travels has been completed and that no wrongdoing was found. State Auditor Richard Johnson said, however, that the auditor's investigation is not complete. DCI Director Gerald Shanahan said an agent has completed work on Parker's travel and "the matter is being submitted to the county attorney for adjudication." Shanahan said he cannot say what the agent found. Parker was contacted Monday by PARKER Please turn to Page 8M the area as itilities lines, Is andertaken project slated for the MacVkar again subjected to probe ANAMOSA, IA (AP) A man who escaped from the xws County Jul In ArumoM Uit Oct 27 and remained at tare antil last month hi been placed on probation lor two years Nathan Rrque, 21, of Lacrosse, Wu, was sentenced Friday on a charge of escape from custody, Rcque fled the Jail lait fall at he was awaiting sentencing on a charge of second-degree theft filed in ronncc-ttoa with Ue theft of a car from an Anamosa man.

Hue was aught In Colorado lat month He alto at given two years' probation on the theft charge. Dubuque conductor lair' after collapse DUBUQUE. IA. Parvlt Mahmoud, conductor of the Dubuque Symphony for 25 years, was luted ia fair condition Monday at Flnley Medical Center after collapsing daring performance of the orchestra at the Five Flags Center theater Sunday. Several doctors In the audience rushed to aid Mahmoud, who fell just after rawing the baton to direct the orchestra He reportedly was recov ering from a bout with the flu, which had left htm In a weakened condition.

Suspended sentinel given fat extortion Tim Iwnn Mm fxc WATERLOO. IA. JuamU M. Boos. 39, a former secretary in the Black Hawk County attorney's office, was given a suspended five-year prison sentence here Monday on a charge of extortion.

She earlier pleaded guilty to the charge that she had extorted about $10,000 from a rural Cedar Falls man since mid-1981 by threatening to tell his wife of an affair he had with Boos. Black Hawk District Judge Carroll Engelkes ordered Boos to pay court costs and court-appointed attorney fees, and placed her on two years probation. Free airline coffee banned at D.M. airport By JIM HEALEY There's no such thing as a free cup of coffee at the Des Moines Municipal Airport any more. The airport director has told Ozark, United and Frontier airlines they no longer may give complimentary coffee in the morning to sleepy passengers waiting for flights.

"Their leases, in our opinion, technically prohibit that," George Perry said. Airlines are not allowed to have vending machines or in other ways compete with airport concessionaires, be said. But the city had looked the other way for quite a while some three years, in United's case because there was nowhere nearby for passengers to find hot coffee. It required a trip to the restaurant, which meant the coffee drinker had to walk the length of the concourse and cross the terminal lobby. Then the drink-toting passenger had to queue up and pass through the airport's metal detector a second time on the way back to the boarding area.

Now, however, a snack shop is closer to the boarding gates. Dobbs House, which runs the restaurant and gift shop at the airport, opened the snack shop about three weeks ago. Perry said it allows passengers to buy coffee, sandwiches and the like without the long stroll and the encore pass through the metal detector. Thus, the free coffee is not as necessary nowadays, he said. And, Perry noted, the airlines' free coffee would compete with the snack shop's business.

That is bad for the city, he said, because Des Moines collects a percentage of sales from the concessions in the terminal. Polk straw ballot favors Mondale Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Walter Mondale won a straw poll of 407 Polk County Democrats, Monday night during the party's off-year meeting at North High School. Mondale got 202 votes, followed by Colorado Senator Gary Hart with 80, California Senator Alan Cranston with 32 and Ohio Senator John Glenn with 20. There were 44 undecided votes, with the rest scattered among minor candidates. By DICK BROWN An arbitrator has ruled that Polk County must give 125 Teamsters union members a 3 percent pay raise July 1.

Three week ago, members of a union that represents 650 other county employees ratified a contract that will freeze their wages for six months and then increase them by just 1 percent. The Teamsters represent some of the employees in the Sheriff's Department. About 650 other county employees are represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Members of AFSCME Local 1868 voted overwhelmingly Feb. 14 to accept the three-year contract that was reached in negotiations between the union and county officials.

Union leaders said they wanted to help the county avoid additional layoffs by holding wage Increases to a minimum. Talks Deadlocked But talks between the county and the Teamsters reached a deadlock, and both sides agreed to accept binding arbitration. In binding arbitration, both sides present final offers on certain items and the arbitrator picks one or the other. The county wanted a waee freeze; the Teamsters proposed a 3 percent rise. A St.

Louis arbitrator was called in to resolve the Polk County dispute, and her decision reached county and union officials Monday. James Merrifield, business agent for the Teamsters, said he is 'naturally glad we got the 3 REGISTER SKETCH BY TOM WEINMAN frustrating for the staff at KCBR. The station was scheduled to go on the air Jan. 17, but delays in building the transmitting tower near Alleman threw a wrench into those plans. Atlas Tower Co.

of Vinita, the firm that built the transmitting tower, began construction in mid-December about two months KCBR Please turn to Page 4M percent" raise. But he uid he is "a little disappointed on the holiday and insurance" Issues. The arbitrator ruled that Tea mi ten no longer will get Election Day as a paid holiday and that no changes will be made in employee insurance plans. The Teamsters wanted to switch carriers and increase coverage. The county's personnel director, Dougl.is Hall, conceded that the Teamsters won on the wage issue.

"I've got to say I'm disappointed," he said. "I don't believe it was in line with the current economic climate in Polk County." Cost To Be $85,000 Hall said the 3 percent raise for the 125 Teamsters and about 30 new employees who will be hired to work in the new county jail will cost about $85,000. However, Hall said the arbitrator's ruling in the other areas was a significant victory for Polk County. Physicians and hospital create a D.f.1. By BILL GORDON Rifr Stiff WrMr A group of Des Moines physicians and Iowa Methodist Medical Center announced creation Monday of a preferred provider organization in response to plans for the area's first health maintenance organization.

Both ventures are designed to cut rising health care costs. While health maintenance organizations (HMOs) contract with doctors to provide all hospital and health care for patients at a set monthly fee, preferred provider organizations (PPOs) allow doctors to retain their autonomy and "fee-for-service" practices. The Mid-Iowa Medical Associates PPO will sell the services of a group of doctors and Iowa Methodist to health insurance companies or employers at discount rates. Dr. Michael Richards, a member of the Mid-Iowa PPO board of directors, announced details of the plan Monday.

James Kenworthy, formerly an administrator for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa and for an HMO in California, will be president of the new PPO. Organizers say the PPO will benefit employers and insurers with lower rates; doctors and Iowa Methodist with a flow of new patients, and patients with more flexibility than an HMO. Members of HMOs may use only the doctors and hospitals affiliated with the HMO. "Employees covered under the PPO Please turn to Page SM Oooney takes medical leave for heart tests By KEN FUSON Rnitxr Suit Wriwr Orval Cooney's future as the West Des Moines police chief will depend entirely on the results of heart tests, the chief said Monday. The 50-year-old Cooncy, who has held the West Des a ine west ues 4 Hry )ines post for r2et ij 'en years, said he zan a paid sick Mo seven began a paid leave Feb.

28 to undergo medical i tests. i "They're doing some research in ORVAL COONEY the area of my heart," said Cooney, who has worked in the West Des Moines department for 15 years. "Whether I go back to work will depend on what they find." Cooney said he has taken medication for high blood pressure for between five and six years. He said he didn't know when to expect the results of the recent tests, which were COONEY Please turn to Page 4M channel 17. Cable subscribers can find KCBR on channel 3.

"Right now, all I can tell you is that we have established communication with our tower (via microwave link) and everything is working perfectly," said Katell. "It feels wonderful. I'm already thinking about how my hangover is going to feel tomorrow," he added, jokingly. The past two months have been By DAVID ELBERT Rrvitor Staff Wrflar For the second time in six months state officials are questioning travel reimbursements made to Cooper Parker, a former Iowa Health De partment official who quit Feb. IS to take a job with the Iowa Hospital As sociation.

Parker resigned his post as director of the division of health planning and intergovernmental relations after state officials questioned a particular reimbursement of $345. He was paid that much by the state to cover a reg istration fee for a meeting he attended in Washington, DC, last December. But an official of the organization that held the meeting said Monday Parker did not pay the registration fee because Parker is president-elect of the group, the American Health Planning Association. Parker said Monday 1345 was withheld from his final state paycheck to cover the amount. He attributed the controversy to a mistake he made, explaining that he had paid the registration fee but that his check was never cashed.

Earlier Question The $345 reimbursement is the second time in six months that state officials questioned reimbursements paid to Parker, 44, whose state salary was 135,193. State records show that during the summer Parker was asked to pay back to the state a total of $512 as a result of questions raised about a trip he made to Washington in June. The records show Parker paid that back in two personal checks. The second check for $370.90 was returned because of insufficient funds and later had to be replaced with a cashier's check. Parker said Monday he quit his state job so he could take a position as assistant to the director of the hospital association.

The association's members frequently do business with employees in Parker's former division about such matters as adding new beds or equipment to their hospitals. Job Change Parker said he was not asked to quit and that his job change was not related to questions state officials had raised about his travel reimbursement. Health Commissioner Norman Pawlewski, who accepted Parker's resignation, declined to say whether COOPM PARKER New D.M. station sends first signals By DAVE RHEIN RNhUr TV ElMor At a little after 3:30 p.m. on Monday, a Woody Woodpecker cartoon suddenly appeared on television channel 17.

After numerous delays, Iowa's first independent station, KCBR-TV, was beaming its first image to central Iowa viewers. The UHF station is not officially on the air, however. Denis Katell, KCBR general manager, said technicians would spend a few days testing equipment and programming before advertisers are charged for any commercials that are shown. But for viewers, it's a chance to sample some of the fare KCBR will be offering on a regular basis probably within a week. "We probably will have something on the air between the hours of 7 a.m.

and 7 p.m. either color bars or programming so we can test our equipment and people can get their loop antennas adjusted," said Katell. A UHF antenna is needed to receive.