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

J- 2ATHE PES MOINES RF 3ISTER Saturday, December 10, 1988 DATELINE IOWA Down-home diner in downtown D.M. to close Mom called 'enforcer' in torture case BOB NANDELLThe Register i By LOU ORTIZ Register Staff Writer Donna Simmons acted as the "en By VICTORIA BENNING Register Staff Writer William Hoffmann said he is going to miss the spaghetti at Gloria's Restaurant. Richard Lozier said he will miss the "convenience, coffee and ambience." The down-home diner in downtown Des Moines where you can still get stick-to-the-ribs food like meat loaf and real mashed potatoes and gravy for about $3 will close next week. The cafe, located in the Des Moines Building at Sixth Avenue and Locust Street, is being evicted. Owner Gloria Woolley said her landlord, The Statesman Group, forcer" in the confinement and torture of her 7-year-old son and once watched as her boyfriend repeatedly dunked the boy's head underwater in the bathtub as he gasped for breath, a iurv was told Fri- rlav.

1 "She knew at that 31 point what damage could be done at the hands of Larry Sie-mer. Mom DONNA SUMMONS Boy charged in brother's death will stay in hospital Tht Reeiittr't Iowa Ntws Service MASON CITY, IA. Twelve-year-old Gabriel Hudson, accused in the shooting death of his 10-year-old brother, will remain in a local hospital until at least next week. The decision to continue holding Hudson was made after a 2 H-hour hearing Friday. Lex Smith of the Cerro Gordo County attorney's office said a juvenile court hearing is set for next Friday on the involuntary manslaughter charge facing Hudson.

He is accused of shooting David Hudson at the home of their parents, Dennis and Julia Hudson, Dec. 1. Illinois truck driver dies in accident near Iowa City Th Register's Iowa New Service IOWA CITY, IA. A Galesburg, 111., man died Friday when his semi-; trailer truck rolled and was struck by another truck near Iowa City. James L.

Baker, 30, died in the accident, Iowa State Patrol officials said. The other driver, Stanley Ed-: ward Brown, 40, of Knoxville, was in fair condition Friday night at an Iowa City hospital. 1 i sJt 1'' assisted in the torture of her son," prosecutor Melodee Hanes told jurors during opening statements in Simmons' trial. Simmons, 32, is on trial for first-degree kidnapping for aiding and allowing Siemer, her boyfriend, to handcuff and physically abuse her son, Tracey Simmons, from December 1987 to April 1988. Siemer Found Guilty Siemer, 33, was found guilty of first-degree kidnapping last month and next week will be sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison without parole.

He subjected Tracey to abuse that included intentionally breaking the boy's leg, suspending him by handcuffs from basement pipes and then threatening him with a knife, and feeding him cat food. Hanes told jurors Friday morning that Donna Simmons went along with Siemer because she was more interested in the security that he provided than her son's safety. "It came down to a choice between Larry Siemer and her children, and the evidence will show that the chil Elsewhere: which owns the building, has notified her she must vacate the premises by Dec. 31. "I'm unhappy about it," said Hoffmann, a lawyer whose office is in the building.

"A lot of business has taken place in there." Hoffmann has had coffee with a group of business associates in the diner nearly every morning for the past five years. He has been a regular at the diner for 50 years. "I feel awfully sorry for my customers," said Woolley. "I'm going to miss them. It really hurts." Woolley, who took over the business in April 1980, has operated without a lease since 1983.

She recently inquired about getting another lease because several people had expressed interest in buying the cafe. But four days after paying her November rent, she received an eviction notice. "Just last year they were asking me if I wanted more space," she said. Building manager Herbert Miller said Statesman Group needs the space for its own use. Woolley's neighbor, PIP Printing, also is being evicted.

Miller declined to say what Statesman will use the space for. Gloria's has been a popular eatery and meeting place for downtown folks, from lawyers to stockbrokers to bank presidents. Woolley boasts that first lady Chris Branstad used to stop in for the homemade rolls during her first pregnancy. "I don't even think she knew I knew who she was," she said. Woolley was looking for something to keep herself busy when she bought the diner in 1980.

Her 19-year-old daughter had been killed in a car accident, and her husband, Jason Joseph Birchard, 68, of Oelwein died early Friday when the car he was driving struck a concrete railroad viaduct in Oelwein. Fire damages building in downtown Muscatine The Register's Iowa News Service Gloria Woolley, whose restaurant is being evicted Dec. Locust Street, says, "I feel awfully sorry for my cus-31 from the Des Moines Building at Sixth Avenue and tomers. I'm going to miss them. It really hurts." MUSCATINE, IA.

Firefighters battled a major fire in a three-story commercial building in downtown dren lost," said Hanes. Simmons also has a daughter, April, 10. Muscatine late Friday. Donna Simmons, who is divorced, Assistant Fire Chief Steve Dalbe said the fire was brought under con-' trol before 11 p.m., three hours after moved into Siemer's west-side Des Moines home in June 1987, and almost immediately there was "tension between Larry Siemer and Tracey," Hanes said. it started.

The building, with an exer just a cup of coffee to go with his Wall Street Journal every morning. "He always leaves the paper for us when he's finished," Woolley said fondly. Woolley said she will "rest a bit" after the restaurant closes. But she hopes to reopen in a new location. In the meantime, her customers are looking for another spot to call home, too.

Said Lozier, a lawyer, "If you hear of a good place, let me know." cise studio and doctor's office on the Jack, suggested that she attend a seminar on women in business to get out of the house. When she expressed interest in starting a business, friends and family suggested a restaurant. So became Gloria's. Today, she sees 500 to 600 customers a day and the crowds turn over three times during the noon hour alone. During conventions, customers sometimes lined up outside the doors.

From 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, patrons have gathered to chat and chew over home-cooked favorites like bacon and eggs, liver and onions, or homemade cinnamon rolls and on real dishes in a homey, '50s decor. In the simple, unpretentious atmosphere, business leaders have gathered for good food, met good friends and made big deals. One loyal customer comes for first floor and about eight apartments Siemer began spanking Tracey and then, as the abuse escalated, he beat on the upper two floors, was exten sively damaged, Dalbe said.

No injuries or deaths were discov' the boy with a belt and later a wooden board, Hanes explained. ered, Dalbe said, although not all the apartment dwellers have been ac "Make Up Stories" counted for. "Mother knew when Tracey was being beaten, and she saw the injuries afterwards," Hanes continued. "But Half of 1st lotto check to be held she told the children to make up stories on how Tracey received his in Students rally for graduation at auditorium juries. in uecemDer iaa, Memer nana- By GENE RAFFENSPERGER Register Staff Writer The Iowa Lottery Commission was ordered Friday to withhold $250,000 from the first check that will be given Human Services that a judge hold Richard VanDeBoe in contempt of court for refusing to follow earlier cuffed Tracey to his bed in the basement of the home at 846 41st St.

The boy was released only to go to school court orders about paying child sup- and to take a bath, and he was given little to eat, Hanes said. port. The department operates Iowa's child support recovery unit. By MELANIE LEWIS Register Staff Writer "Mom was the enforcer of that rule Judge Miller ordered VanDeBoe to In the chilly, pre-dawn hours Fri and she handcuffed him herself on many occasions," Hanes said. "She to the winner of the $13.6 million Lotto America jackpot.

The order, signed by Polk County District Judge Theodore Miller, says Richard VanDeBoe, 37, owned the ticket and then gave it to Kelly Elsinga, 27, day, some East High School students forsook a few precious moments of extra sleep to protest a decision to ordered April to lock him to his bed every day after school. Tracey had no way to get out, he didn't want to be there, and he didn't know why this hold graduation in the school gym rather than at Veterans Memorial was being done." Auditorium. Man charged with murder after Mystic woman dies The Register's Iowa News Service MYSTIC, IA. Charges of at-; tempted murder filed against a Mystic man have been upgraded to first-degree murder after his girlfriend died late Wednesday from gunshot wounds. Michael Andrew Miller, 25, is accused of shooting Kimberly Renee Jellison, 22, in the neck and chest.

Jel-lison died early Thursday at a Des Moines hospital. DOT foreman charged after truck accident The Register's Iowa News Service SPENCER, IA. An Iowa Department of Transportation foreman faces charges of drunken driving and following too closely after an accident near Spencer involving the DOT pickup truck he was driving. Lonnie Wilson, 41, of Storm Lake was charged after the truck he was driving struck another pickup truck north of Spencer, Iowa State Patrol trooper Dean DeKoter said. No one was injured.

DOT District Maintenance Engineer Clyde Bartel said a decision hasn't been made on whether Wilson will be reprimanded. Principal pleads innocent Before Tracey was rescued by au Chanting "Grandma can't go, thorities in April, Siemer scalded board says no," about 30 students Tracey's genitals with hot water and ordered the boy back to the basement. "He was in utter pain and de stood on the steps of the school for a 45-minute protest and pep rally. "It's a very special tradition to spair, and he was wishing someone would come help him," Hanes said. $250,000 from Elsinga's jackpot because that is the amount he figures is needed to cover the past-due child support payments and those due in the future.

Hockenberg said Helga VanDeBoe also is asking a judge to modify the previous $75-a-week payments, which were ordered by a judge in 1982. "He has an increased ability to pay now," Hockenberg said. "And it is obvious that these boys have not had the comforts of life up to now." One paragraph of the court order says an injunction for part of the lottery money is "appropriate to protect the interests" of Helga VanDeBoe and her three children. Judge Miller's order to the Iowa lottery was one of three legal actions filed in Polk County District Court on Friday involving VanDeBoe and the $13.6 million lottery prize. In a separate court action filed Friday, Helga VanDeBoe obtained a temporary restraining order that prevents her former husband from spending, disposing of or placing any money to which he has access out of her reach until the delinquent child support payments are made.

Asked what assets VanDeBoe, who worked as a laborer in a Des Moines meat-packing plant, might have, Hockenberg said: "He's already disposed of a $13 million lottery ticket. We don't want him to dispose of anything else." The third court action Friday was a request by the Iowa Department of graduate from Vets and we want it continued," said Jody Stout of 2700 Hull one of the rally's organiz Simmons lawyer, Peter Berger, agreed that Tracey was subjected to "terrible child abuse," but he asked ers. appear in court next Friday to explain why he should not be held in contempt. VanDeBoe could be jailed if he is found in contempt of court. Friday's court actions ended a climactic week in VanDeBoe's life.

On the night of Dec. 2 at a grocery store in Norwalk, he bought two tickets for the next day's Lotto America drawing. On Sunday, he said later, he learned he had the winning ticket. He said he gave the ticket to Elsinga, his girlfriend, as a Christmas present. She turned the ticket over to officials at lottery headquarters in Des Moines, and lottery officials proclaimed her the winner.

Elsinga said she would marry VanDeBoe. But later that day, it was disclosed that VanDeBoe still is married to Kandy McCullough VanDeBoe of Des Moines, although the two have not lived together for several years. Kandy VanDeBoe said she should get part of the prize money. Next it was learned that Richard VanDeBoe had been married to and divorced from Helga VanDeBoe. In the meantime, the Internal Revenue Service said it had begun an investigation to determine whether VanDeBoe owes a federal gift tax on the The Des Moines School Board vot jurors "to keep an open mind." He said Tracey will testify that his mother didn't want to hurt him badly and would handcuff him loosely to the ed earlier to send graduation ceremonies back to the high schools after more than 20 years at the auditorium.

richard of Norwalk, who vandeboe VanDeBoe has said is his girlfriend. Elsinga had been scheduled to pick up the first of her 20 annual checks for $510,750 on Dec. 20. The court order Friday was issued at the request of Helga Marie VanDeBoe, who was divorced from VanDeBoe in January 1982. She and VanDeBoe have three sons, all of whom live with her.

Court records show that Richard VanDeBoe was cited after the divorce for failure to pay $75 a week in child support. According to records, the amount he owed later grew to $21,450. Lottery director Edward Stanek said state officials will comply with the judge's order. Officials plan to issue a check for approximately $260,000 and give it to Elsinga on Dec. 20, he said.

Louis Hockenberg, the lawyer for Helga VanDeBoe, said he asked Miller to order the withholding of bed. A central issue of Simmons' trial Students and parents unsuccessfully asked the board at its Tuesday night meeting to reverse the decision. will be whether a parent can kidnap Stout said the protesting students want to protect the tradition of re- her own child. Berger argued that Hanes' allegations are more consistent with terminating Simmons' parental rights and with the crime of ceiving their diplomas by walking across the auditorium stage in front of an unlimited number of friends and in Halloween incident The Register's lewa News Service FARMINGTON, IA. The princi felony child endangerment, which carries a term of 10 years in prison.

Whimpering, Shaking pal of Harmony High School has pleaded innocent to two charges filed Berger also said that, because relatives. As it stands, East's 450 seniors will graduate at their school gymnasium May 26 with a limit of seven guests per student in attendance, said East High Principal Jerry Stilwell. $13.6 million lottery ticket. in connection with an armed confron tation with Halloween pranksters. Simmons is his natural mother, the prosecutor has to prove that Simmons didn't have the authority to Ronald Van Meter entered the innocent pleas earlier this month to Burma-Shave sign set bought for state museum An additional 500 people can watch the proceedings by closed-circuit charges of disorderly conduct and fir ing a gun inside city limits, a Van confine Tracey or that she needed the boy's consent.

Friday afternoon, an investigator with the Polk County attorney's office testified that he found Tracey, whimpering, shaking and in pain in the cold, foul-smelling basement of his home. "He had a look of extreme pain," said Paul Houston. A medical examination later revealed that Tracey had burns to his genital area and buttocks, a black eye, abrasions on his neck, scars on his head, and bruises on his arms and legs, Houston said. television from the cafeteria and another room, he said. Stilwell said rumors floating around the school that the senior class would be divided up and graduate on different days aren't true.

But the students braved 13-degree temperatures to voice their displeasure about the gymnasium commencement. "Seven doesn't even cover the immediate family for most people," said Tracey Waits of 1524 Wayne St. Waits, who coined the protest slogan, is her family's first granddaughter to graduate and her two grand Buren County court official said. Trial has been set for Jan. 26.

Van Meter is accused of firing a shotgun into the air to scare a youth. Grinch strikes again at Monona nativity scene The Register's lewa News Service MONONA, IA. Police are looking for a thief who has been stealing characters from the town's nativity scene. About three weeks ago, two of the wise men were taken from the scene in front of Union State Bank. "I guess that wasn't what they wanted, so they took a king and Mary," Monona police officer George Balckos said.

The 4-foot-tall king was found Wednesday on the lawn of the Clayton County Courthouse in Elkader. The statue of Mary still is missing. The two wise men have been found. By LISA KINGSLEY Register Staff Writer An elusive set of Burma Shave signs, relics of pre-In-terstate highway days, has finally come into view for the State Historical Society of Iowa after a two-month search. The six signs, pulled out of the mud along U.S.

Highway 6 near Kellogg about 25 years ago, were sold to the society by Ed Bailey of Gilman, said Jack Lufkin, a curator at the State Historical Building. The society paid Bailey $150 for the rare red-and-white signs with a rhyming message, far less than the price antique dealers said the signs could demand. One dealer, Mary Barcellano of Antique Alley in West Des Moines, had said a complete set of the signs in good condition could bring as much as $2,000. Lufkin said the signs acquired by the society were made in 1960 and were part of the Minneapolis shaving cream company's advertising scheme from the 1920s through the 1960s. They'll be added to the museum's permanent collection and will be part of an exhibit I called "Out of the Mud," opening in April.

The exhibit focuses on the advent of automobiles and the state's struggle to pave its roads, Lufkin said. Lufkin said money to buy the signs was donated by Early Wheels of Iowa, a Des Moines antique car club. The historical society put out a call for the signs when it started gathering material for the exhibit Lufkin said Baily contacted him after seeing a newspaper story about the search. Bailey's uncle. Merle Paulson of Kellogg, apparently was the original owner of the signs after they were pulled from the roadside.

"They were so popular and endearing, and what is important about them as advertising is that they were geared toward automobile drivers," Lufkin said of the signs. Even more important, he added, was each set's unique six-part ditty. What old-time wisdom lies in this newly acquired set? An ageless caveat for speeders: "Angelswho guard youwhen you driveusually retire at 65Burma-Sbave." mothers will be left out of the celebration because of the limit on guests. Ex-Dubuque man elected to guardianship board The Register's Igwa Newt Service DUBUQUE, IA. Former Dubuque resident David J.

Grant, 38, has been elected to the board of directors of the National Guardianship Association. Grant is an expert and author on guardianship and helped found the association. Several underclassmen joined the seniors' protest. I like what they're doing because I don't want to graduate from here next year." said junior Elaine Cook of 2540 E. Ovid Ave.

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