St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 1

On Today's Editorial Poge After Nicaragua's Election tdihtrial Walter Monday's Valedictory 7 4.53 Vol. 106, No. 56 257A FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 198 1 76 1984 23' Mid In! 5 SILO SPATC 1 ".7 v- i I ly i i F7 i Si Thomas E. Zych Aldermanic President Sorkis J.Webbe Jr. Former Alderman J.

Webbe Sr. Hotel Owner II James D. Cullen HI Lawyer By William C. Lhotka, Edward H. Kohn and Michael D.

Sorkin Of the Post-Dispatch Staff St. Louis Aldermanic President Thomas E. Zych and Democratic Party power brokers Eugene Slay, Sorkis Webbe Sr. and Sorkis Webbe Jr. were indicted Thursday on federal corruption charges in the awarding of a cable television franchise.

James Cullen, who is an attorney for Webbe and Leroy Tyus, a former Democratic committeeman for the 20th Ward, also were charged In the 11 -count indictment. All six were charged with conspiracy and attempted extortion. All except Zych were charged with mail and telephone fraud. Cullen was charged with lying to the grand jury that handed up the indictment. The indictment follows a two-year investigation by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation into how the Board of Aldermen awarded the city's potentially lucrative cable television franchise.

The Investigation is continuing and expanding into other areas of city government, officials said. The six indicted men demanded shares of Melhar a cable television company, to ensure that Melhar won the franchise, the indictment charges. Some of the stock was to go to other aldermen, who were not Identified; all of the stock was to be held by "fronts" to conceal its true ownership. Because Melhar and Its partner, Telecommunications Inc. of Denver, eventually withdrew their bid for the city's cable franchise, none of those accused of being conspirators profited from the scheme, authorities said.

According to the indictment, Webbe Sr. participated In most of the key meetings where the scheme was devised. Some of the meetings held at the Mayfair Hotel, which is owned See CABLE, Page 3 i Aldermanic Chief Won't Quit THE CHARGES COUNT 1 Charges Sorkis Webbe Sorkis Webbe Leroy Tyus, Thomas E. Zych, Eugene Slay and James Cullen with conspiring to commit extortion between July 1982 and Feb. 28, 1983.

They allegedly sought stock and money from Melhar Corp. and Telecommunications Inc. (TCI) which were seeking the cable television franchise for St. Louis in exchange for help in the Board of Aldermen. The stock was to have been put in the names of straw men to conceal its true owners.

COUNT 2: Charges Webbe Webbe Zych, Slay and Cullen with trying to extort stock from Melhar's officials. COUNT 3: Charges Tyus with trying to extort money from Melhar officials. COUNTS 4-10: Charges all defendants except Zych with mail and telephone fraud in trying to carry out the scheme. COUNT ,1 1: Charges Cullen with lying about the scheme when he testified on April 1 8, 1 984, before a federal grand jury. Twins Killed In Fire On North Eugene P.

Slay Businessman Calvin and Kevin Hill gx)4 Sorkis Lawyer, Leroy Tyus Peal Estate Developer city figures Indicted for attempting to extort stock from a cable television company that wanted the city's i franchise. I Alderman James F. Shrewsbury, jD-16th Ward, called for Zych to step down as president shortly after the indictments were announced Thursday afternoon. Shrewsbury said Zych should relinquish his duties "at 'least until he's found not guilty." If Zych were found innocent, he could return as president, Shrewsbury said. "The central Issue is whether he is able to effectively serve as president of the Board of Aldermen, on the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, make committee assignments and assign bills to i.

(left) and Lakieta Hill 1 Side By Gregory B. Freeman and Claudia MacLachlan 01 the Post-Oispatch Staff Thomas E. Zych says he will not step down as president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen despite having been Indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury for cable television improprieties. "I have done nothing illegal or unethical," Zych said.

"I'm obviously disappointed by the grand jury, but I've fought tough battles before, and I'm confident I'll be vindicated. "An indictment Is an accusation no more, no less," Zych added. "I was elected to office to carry out certain duties, and I intend to carry them out." Zych was one of several prominent Lakiet Features MODERN-DAY VIKINGS: A reproduction of a 10th-century Viking ship (right) sails past St. Louis. Page IE of Everyday Business I A i J.

Ted I I m. rlt.Jt,u.dL.,jMi 2 Sets By Marjorie Mandel Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Willie Covington and Herbert Hill of north St. Louis stood by the burning building, catching desperate women and children who were jumping for their lives from the roof. But their strong arms weren't enough to save two sets of young twins who died Thursday when fire swept through a two-story white frame house at 5426 North Euclid Avenue. The children apparently never had a chance to jump before the flames trapped them.

Three bodies were found on the second floor near a window; the fourth child died in his crib. Killed were Lakiet and Lakieta Hill, 5, and their 10-month-old brothers, Calvin and Kevin. The children's mother, Eddey Merrion Hill, 25, sobbed and screamed as the bodies, wrapped In white sheets, were carried by firefighters from the debris. Escaping from the burning house were Ms. Hill, four other children and five other adults.

Many of them escaped by jumping from the roof. The four children were hospitalized for smoke Inhalation, and several of the adults were treated and released. A firefighter and a police officer also were injured. The one-alarm fire broke out about 7 a.m. and transformed the house into a blackened shell.

Patrolman Raymond Menard, the first police officer on the scene, said the house "had been in flames when he arrived shortly after 7 a.m. He entered the house but was overcome by smoke. Ms. Hill criticized the speed of firefighters in responding to the blaze. "They could have saved my babies," she shouted as firefighters liosed down the ruins.

Ms. Hill's brother, Herbert Hill, contended that firefighters had taken 20 minutes to arrive. it tney woum nave gotten nere a little sooner, the children would have been saved," he said. CIia Marchol Mail Ctratanle caiH .1 tJUVAm tiwa a firefighters did all they could to save the children. He said the Fire ncnortmpnf had ont thp mil nt 7 (19 a.m.

and responded at 7:05 a.m. The four children were pronounced dead at the scene. Hill, 26, said he had been sleeping on the first floor when he was awakened by his girlfriend, Rena Brown, 21. committee," Shrewsbury said. "It wouldn't be a statement of guilt but would allow the activities of the board to continue on a normal basis." The Estimate Board is the city's chief fiscal body.

It is made up of the mayor, the president of the board of aldermen and the comptroller. Shrewsbury said the indictments would hurt the image of city government. "People will be skeptical of everything in city government now," he said. "How can I tell people in my ward that they should obey the law because the city demands it? They'll laugh at me Shrewsbury said. But Shrewsbury appeared to have See REACTION, Page Reagan Likes Plan To Hike Tax Revenue By Lawrence M.

O'Rourke Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -President Ronald Reagan favors simplification of federal income taxes under a plan that would increase tax revenue but would leave untouched tax payments by individuals, his aides said Thursday. As the president spent the day riding a horse and relaxing at his ranch near Santa Barbara, his aides said Reagan would honor his campaign promise to resist higher taxes on personal incomes. The aides seemed to deliberately leave open the possibility that Reagan might send to Congress in the first few months of his second term a tax plan that would eliminate some tax shelters and deductions. Although the aides insisted that the president had yet to make up his mind about changes in the tax laws, he apparently would be considering the elimination of the deduction for state and local taxes.

The aides said the president also was likely to propose the closing of tax shelters. During the campaign, See REAGAN, Page 8 Nicaragua Warns U.S. On Spy Plane Compiled From News Services MANAGUA, Nicaragua Nicaragua Issued Thursday its second diplomatic protest to the United States In less than 18 hours, saying an SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft had overflown major cities in violation of the country's airspace. The protest was signed by Foreign Minister Miguel d'Escoto and was handed over to U.S. Ambassador Harry Bergold shortly after loud bangs believed to be sonic booms shook the capital of Managua and the Pacific port of Corinto.

The explosions made houses tremble in Managua and caused widespread fears of a U.S. attack among residents of Corinto, where a See NICARAGUA, Page II To Vets: 'Guys, in? is i. ui iuu By Robert L. Koenig Of the Post-Dispatch Staff When William S. "Bill" Llll watches the Veterans Day Parade here Saturday, he may well be thinking back to a far different military procession that took place about 40 years ago at Jefferson Barracks in south St.

Louts County. It was the disturbing sight of wounded soldiers returning from the battlefields of World War II, arriving See VETERANS, Page RELATED STORIES on Page IB. Friends console Eddey Merrion Hill, the mother of two sets of twins killed in a fire Thursday morning. "I saw flames on the curtains," he said. "We both went out the side door, and then I hollered to my sister to get the kids out of the house." Police said Ms.

Hill had dropped her two other children, Rita, 7, and Maurice, 6, from a window to the arms of her boyfriend, Willie Covington, 21. Taking refuge on the roof were Hill, her sister, Savannah Hill, 21, an 1 Savannah Hill's two children, See FIRE, Page 14 1 lU-L. 1 CABLE ODNNECTIQN JOTS Shuttle 'Discovery' Launched Into Orbit Compiled From News Services CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The space shuttle Discovery rocketed Into orbit Thursday on a planned eight-day mission to launch two new communications satellites and retrieve two stray ones in the first space salvage operation. After a one-day delay caused by dangerous high-altitude winds, the spaceship took off at 7:15 a.m.

EST with five astronauts aboard, four men and a woman. The Discovery was reported cruising on course for its attempt to pick up two satellites and See SHUTTLE, Page II Weather Storms? Official forecast for St. Louis and vicinity: Mostly cloudy today with chance for afternoon thunderstorms; high In the upper 10s, low tonight near 45. Mostly cloudy and cooler Saturday; temperatures In the mld-40s. Fair, cool and dry through Tuesday; highs In the 51s.

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