The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 18

Jtccpfcf In I i lj iUi RANDY EVANS, Mctrolowa editor, 515-284-8065 Moines )H t.i3 Thursday, September 14, 1989 Excitement follows vote on schools GITEUnilOWA MAffffV SAUMEffTTM Rtthtaf Convenience is cited for i SCllOOl H10VC3 By LINDA LANTOR IT Riilo station helps Iowa City nan propost -IOWA dTY. IA. AP) William Silvia asked hit girlfriend to marry him over the airwave of KRNA-FM radio here Tuesday morning, but it was the disc jockey who began to sweat when she took a long time to answer. i Susan Clarke said "yes" but only I By MELANIE LEWIS Linda Chamberlin Is grateful to Det Moines School District voters. She and her music classes were singing the praises of voters for overwhelmingly approving a 14.5 million bond issue and the extension of the schoolhouse tax levy.

The measures mean the district's schools will get $55 million In repairs, renovations and additions over the next 10 years, and Hiatt Middle School, where Chamberlin teaches, is near the top of the list for a SI. 8 million addition and remodeling. Right now she teaches in a regular classroom that is too small for an 80-person choir and is located within earshot of regular classrooms. Chamberlin said it was difficult for teachers and students to concentrate on English or geography while her students were practicing. No Holding Back When the addition is completed, Chamberlin will move her students into more spacious surroundings where they can sing as loud as they want "We won't have to hold back," she said.

Voters approved both issues with 71 percent of the vote, a margin of victory that supporters say shows confidence in Des Moines and its schools. "It's a pretty overwhelming endorsement," said Hiatt's principal, Joan Roberts. "We are on fire out here because we are so excited," she added. The Hiatt addition will bouse a new gymnasium. The old, deteriorating gym will be used for a new library.

Ripple Effect "The whole thing will have a ripple effect because when you change one part of the building you change the whole building," Roberts said. Excitement will have to be bridled for a time. Work on Hiatt isn't expected to begin until 1991 and won't be finished until a year later. "Dynamite couldn't blast me out of BONDS Convenience rather than academics so far Is the primary reason Iowa families are expressing Interest la switching school districts next year under the state's new open enrollment plaa Friday Is the deadline for families who wish to participate In open enrollment, beginning with the 1990-91 school year, to present a letter to their home school district stating their intention. Under the law, parents may choose their children's school district without regard to where they live.

Most school officials around the state contacted Wednesday said only a few parents bad expressed Interest in the plan. Many administrators have heard from families Interested in transferring Into their district, they said. But In a few districts where large percentages of families want to switch schools, officials sound worried. In Grand Valley, with 171 students, where officials have received eight requests for transfers out. Superintendent William Hulllnger said be thinks open enrollment Is designed to shut down small districts.

No one has expressed Interest in sending sta-dents Into the district, be said. The roughly $24,000 that will follow the students out of the district is "crucial," HuUinger said. He Is cot-, cerned, he said, but added, "How do you stop it? You don't So I guess yon have to live with It" Statewide, educators uid most parents wishing to change are trying to find an arrangement closer to home or more convenient to where they work. Some examples: Van Meter has received four requests from families wishing to send children elsewhere starting in the fall of 1990, said Larry Holland, Van Meter school superintendent. Most patents want their youngsters to attend class nearer their places of employment, he said.

But a family from Add has expressed interest in sending their child to 394-student Van Meter. "I think it will probably balance out in the long run," Holland said. In Cedar Rapids, about eight families have indicated they want to leave starting in the fall of 1190, while 16 from outside the district have expressed interest in sending children to the district, said Superintendent Stephen; Daeschner. Daeschner said he believes the Iowa Legislature passed the open enrollment law in large part to give parents the opportunity to select schools for academic reasons. "That's not happening," Daeschner said.

"The ones we have are for reasons of baby-sitting, for reasons of extracurricular activities or for coave-nience." Burlington has received six requests from parents interested in sending their children outside the dis- ENROLLMENT v. it frit, a1 Bathed in morning dew, for unsuspecting prey. Please turn to Page 2M Cattle vs. children: What counts in jobless pay rulings By GENE RAFFENSPERGER RHlittr Staff Writer Missing work to take care of cattle is not job misconduct, but being absent because one cannot find a baby sitter is. That's the gist of rulings by the Employment Appeal Board in separate cases involving two people who sought unemployment benefits.

According to records, James F. Willoughby of Fort Madison was fired by IBP Inc. for absenteeism. He said he missed work because hired hands on a ranch he owns in Wyoming walked off the job and he had to go to Wyoming to take care of his livestock. Willoughby eventually was granted unemployment benefits.

Cynthia M. Ward, 27, of Marathon was fired by IBP Inc. for absenteeism. She said she missed work because she could not find a steady baby sitter for her three children. Ward was denied unemployment benefits.

after a long, long pause, said disc Jockey Mark Vos. Here's how It worked: Silvia asked Clarke over to his bouse. He then left, saying he needed to run to the store. Instead, he went to a pay phone and called the radio station, which in turn called Clarke to set up a conference call, oo the air. Silvia proposed and Clarke responded: "Are you serious?" After Silvia said he wasn't Joking.

Vos said, there was a long pause. "We were nervous when she didn't answer. We thought maybe we'd put her in a situation she didn't feel comfortable with," Vos said. "Finally, she said, 'Well, of course IH marry Vos said it was the first radio marriage proposal in his 17 years as a disc Jockey. "Stajihands' torch sits firt to UNI theater stage TIM HnMifi towl Mm Swvtct CEDAR FALLS, IA.

Fire damaged much of the stage in the Stray-er-Wood Theater on the University of Northern Iowa campus Wednesday afternoon. Although flames were confined to an area under the stage, the entire building filled with smoke, said Lt. Jim Boileau, Cedar Falls firefighter. Stagehands were using a torch to cut a metal frame that supports stage scenery when sparks dropped through a trapdoor and ignited plastic foam stored under the stage. Flames spread under the stage and firefighters had to cut away about 100 feet of the damaged stage.

A dollar estimate of the fire and smoke damage to the theater had not been 'determined by Wednesday night. There were no Injuries. Council rejects agency bid jsrjndependtnce TM RMfctafi Iw Nm Swvic COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA. The Council Bluffs City Council has declined the city's Human Relations Department's request to become an independent agency and instead voted to keep the department under the mayor's control. The council on Monday declined to vote on the department's request to become independent and instead voted, 5-0, to reject an earlier motion placing the department under the city's legal department, said Randy Barrett, assistant to the mayor.

"Evidently, there's something in our ordinances that would prohibit by law the creation of a new department," Barrett said. Blackmun lecture to open series at Buena Vista TM RwUtar'l trwi Nw Swvlc STORM LAKE, IA. U.S. Su-1 preme Court Justice Harry A. Black-! mun will speak at Buena Vista Col-I lege here tonight, inaugurating the school's new William W.

Siebens American Heritage Lecture Series. The lecture series, made possible by the late Harold Walter Siebens' 18 million gift to Buena Vista in 1980, is named for Siebens' son, Wil- liam, of Calgary, Alberta. There will be at least one lecture a year in the series, which will focus on American i freedoms, said college spokeswoman i Susan Cameron. The 8 p.m. lecture at Anderson Au- ditorium in the Harold Walter Sie-: bens School of Business is not open to the public because of space limita-.

tions, Cameron said. Iowa judges and lawyers have been invited to attend, i she said, and the remaining seats will i go to Buena Vista students, faculty and staff. Ottumwa woman pleads I fuilty of kidnapping baby OTTUMWA, IA. An Ottumwa woman who was been charged in North Carolina with kidnapping a baby boy after she befriended the child's mother a few days earlier pleaded guilty to that charge last week in Greensboro, N.C. Sheri Dawn DeMoney, 27, and her husband, Terry Michael Blackburn of Ames, were arrested in May in Montgomery, after a multistate search.

Eight-month-old Larry Wayne Tarlton, the son of Susan Tarl-ton of Greensboro, was recovered unharmed. DeMoney's trial had been scheduled to begin Tuesday in federal court in Greensboro. she was granted a three-week leave of 1988 to look for a sitter and one two-day counted as a one-day absence. fired after she missed work last 28, her fourth and fifth days off the job 29, 1988. for unemployment benefits and was by a deputy hearing officer.

That ruling by an administrative law judge. She again and the ruling was upheld by the Appeal Board. Employment Appeal Board cited a ruling by Supreme Court in 1984 that holds that absenteeism the result of purely personal responsibilities as child care is not excusable. The that although Ward acted in good faith JOBS Please turn to Page 8M "Kids are a lot more important than cattle," said Steven Hamilton, a Storm Lake attorney who handled Ward's appeal. Hamilton added he was not really surprised at the ruling against Ward.

He said he thinks neither the courts nor the Employment Appeal Board wants to open a door on a situation that would allow persons to miss work because of a problem in getting a baby sitter. "That opens a big door of liability," said Hamilton. Records show that Ward and her husband, Abby, both worked at the IBP plant in Storm Lake and commuted a total of about 60 miles daily. Ward is quoted as saying that because Marathon has only about 500 residents, she was having trouble finding a regular baby sitter. Records show IBP went much beyond its normal rules on absenteeism in order to help her.

At IBP, three unexcused absences are grounds for firing. Records show three Ward absences in 1988 were 'V A- VSfJ ,4 web and spider stand ready BOB NANDELLTht Rnisler lit x-. I not counted, absence in absence was Ward was Feb. 27 and since Nov. She applied turned down was upheld appealed Employment The the Iowa as such board ruled I mynnim'wK cwT.

puiinMim i ipy i imw im Airline executive: Subsidy plan v' 1 A ri I I i i. 'Ja i I N-vH i l-7- lit )AK I I 4 YA yLS i it 7 V. Please turn to Page 43S and the proposed panel's Independence from the existing state transportation commission. Following the veto, state lawmakers authorized a study committee to pursue the idea further and to make recommendations for action to the 1990 Legislature. Voss said the cost of subsidized air service could run into the tens of millions of dollars annually, depending on the extent of the state air route network and on what kinds of Airplanes would be needed to provide the service.

"The subsidy Is going to be extremely expensive," he said. i -wi Voss, whose airline operates in the upper Midwest, said he's never seen a government subsidy program including the one sponsored by the federal government adequately achieve its goals. While subsidies may provide minimal service to "a city, they consistently fail to provide potential air travelers with a convenient schedule of flights to choose from, he said. Whether Great Lakes would provide subsidized service in Iowa is simply a matter of whether airline of ficials think they could make money at it, Voss said. William lannery, the Des Moines airport manager, said he hopes state officials will continue to pursue the possibility of subsidies.

"I'd like to see it come about," he added. Toad A made prize-winning TV 'blooper' By PERRY BEEMAN ftttftttr Staff Writer Blank Park Zoo's world-famous Toad A has once again brought Des Moines national recognition, this time soaking the competition and almost former zoo employee David Mask as well in a national blooper contest. The stage was set some time ago: The now-dead, freeze-dried toad was still alive and basking in her Guinness-confirmed status as the world's largest toad. With the five-pound toad cradled in his hands in front of him, a serious-looking Mask, then the zoo's education curator, proudly began a cable-television program with, "This is the world's largest toad." Then the toad relieved herself. Profusely.

(She apparently had the world's largest toad bladder, too.) "I told you this would happen!" a chuckling Mask said to Win Douglass, who was producing the show and runs the city's cable-television station. Robert "Sherman" Yehl of the city manager's office this week returned triumphantly from a telecommunications conference in Scottsdale, with a snazzy plaque presented to him by Arts and Entertainment Network President Nicholas Davatzes. The award was presented by the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisers. By THOMAS A. FOGARTY Rttftttr Staff Wrftar A state proposal to subsidize air service to Iowa's largest cities is a risky venture that would cost taxpayers millions, an airline executive said Wednesday in Des Moines.

"It's a gigantic risk," said Douglas Voss, president of Great Lakes Avia- tion Ltd. of Spencer. "Unless the people looking at it understand the costs involved, they're better off staying out of it. It far exceeds what ordinary people would expect it to cost." Voss commented at a meeting of a state-sponsored committee on air transportation that includes representatives of the Iowa Department of Transportation, the Department of Economic Development, the airline industry and chambers of commerce from across the state. The panel made no recommendations on whether to proceed with plans for state subsidies, but members discussed at length whether such a plan would keep commercial air service available in all parts of Iowa.

The issue of the state subsidizing air service to Iowa's largest cities arose earlier this year when the Legislature passed a bill creating the Iowa Air Link Transportation Commission and appropriating initial financing of $300,000. Lawmakers charged the commission with developing a system of subsidies to assure adequate air service to an unspecified number of Iowa's largest cities. Gov. Terry Branstad vetoed the legislation, citing its cost Win Douglass admires Blank Park Zoo's Toad which even after death is winning awards, such as the one at top right for a TV "blooper" episode. Toad A won the blooper award because It relieved itself in the hands of the zoo's education curator on a cable television show when it was still alive..