St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 61

THURSDAY Pag Pag Pag 1 Election '84 Sports Events ma I It io me Races for the Illinois House from the 113th, I and US districts are previewed. More election stories are on Page 2 and Page 8. 1 i lL Regional A soccer tournament, Belleville East today. veueviue wesi cages auboii "I Got the Music in Me," a salute to black entertainers. Is among the events this weekend In the Metro East k.0J Pages 14 SILOUIS POST-DISPATCH Illinois Sports and More News Follow Section School Districts Take Money Problems To Collinsville Publishes List Of Cuts Granite City Seeks By Safir Ahmed Ottha Post-Dispatch Suit Granite City School District officials say the elections on Nov.

6 will determine the fate of the district either the district will be able to maintain the status quo or it will face bankruptcy. If voters reject the two proposals on the ballot a $6.6 million bond Issue and a 40-cent increase in the district's education fund tax rate the district will have too little money to operate beyond February, officials say. "And that's no scare tactic that's the" plain fact" said David Partney, School Board president The primary burden on the district reductions copies of which are being distributed to thousands of residents in the district is designed to scare voters into approving the increase. "There is a fine line between telling it like it is and using scare tactics," said Superintendent John Renfro. "The fact Is that we will still be under the gun if the tax increase passes, but it will give us some breathing room." If approved, the 75-cent increase will bring the district's total tax rate up to $3.41 tor each $100 of assessed valuation.

The increase will generate about $1.3 million in additional revenue, officials say. They point out that the increased tax rate will still be See COLLINSVILLE, Page 4 1 0-Year School Record In Collinsville, Granite City Changes Since 1 973-74 School Year By Safir Ahmed Of tfw Post-Dispatch SUM Because voters rejected a 58-cent tax rate increase in March for Collinsville schools, district officials decided to take a different approach this time in asking voters Nov. 6 to approve a 75-cent increase in the tax rate. At its last meeting, the School Board approved a list of 20 different areas where reductions will be made if the tax increase is rejected. The list includes closing three elementary schools, eliminating all junior and senior high school athletic programs, laying off 12 teachers and reducing course offerings at the high school.

Officials deny that the list of b.f It and faces Enron. Daclina Current Tai Rat Proposed Incraasa 30 $2.66 $75 36 $3.45 $.40 plus $6.6 million bond issue Kevin J. ManningPost-Dispatch School Closings Staff Cuts District Collinsville 11 123 Granite City 12 475 1 Accused Officer Gets Lower Bond II JL' On Sex Charges SECTION I Voters Tax Hike, Bonds Is a debt of $8.5 million that has been accumulated over several years. The interest on the debt is $800,000 annually. That amount must come from the district's education fund, said Norman Owca, district treasurer.

"If we didn't have to pay the interest this year, we'd have a balanced budget" Owca said. The district's operating budget for this school year Is about $26.5 million, down from about $29 million two years ago. Owca said the projected deficit for the year in the education fund is $500,000. The officials said they have exhausted all of their options to reduce the budget. In the last 10 years.

See GRANITE CITY, Page 4 Jerry McHenry explained. Both the grand jury and state's attorney's office are operating under a new state law governing sexual offenses. Baricevic admitted that it has caused a few hitches as lawyers conducting the cases accustom themselves to the changes. Defense attorney James J. Gomric told the judge that McHenry is a lifelong resident of the area, owns his home in East St Louis, has been steadily employed and would be unlikely to fail to appear for trial.

Baricevic said he did not want to complicate the proceedings by bringing up the new charge he was planning to issue. He said McHenry is See McHENRY, Page 2 specifications, he said. Aldermen had questioned the additional cost of the greater wheel base. Veizer has said the department needed the larger cars for both comfort and safety. But Alderman Paul Ray Bowler said the wheel base difference seemed "rather minute." In addition to the bids, the police committee had received a letter from a dealership la Collinsville, Dave Croft Chrysler-Dodge.

The letter, dated Oct 1, was received after the bids were in the hands of the city clerk, so the letter could not legally be acted on, Veizer said. Croft's letter was In accordance with state specifications, offering five cars for $48,588.20, with trade-ins. Alderman Jake Varadian said he voted against accepting the Novotny Chevrolet's bid the previous week. "I had the feeling the specs were written so that he could bid on if he said. Veizer denied the allegation, saying "every dealer in the city could have bid on it except Chrysler, because they cant make a car according to those specs." He said the larger cars were not only more comfortable for the patrolmen, but also were safer in the event of a crash.

By Robert Goodrich Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Suspended East St Louis Police Officer Jerry McHenry was freed on bond Wednesday after getting his bail reduced to $2,000 from $100,000 at his arraignment on sex charges. But an additional charge was Issued by the St Clair County State's Attorney's Office later the same day, for which an additional bond is expected to be required. McHenry, 45, was arrested Tuesday by East St Louis police on charges of criminal sexual abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Circuit Judge Patrick Fleming said that under the new Illinois sex crimes law, both charges are Class A misdemeanors. The judge said he had set the original bond higher than necessary due to a misunderstanding.

Later Wednesday, after McHenry was released, St Clair County State's Attorney John Baricevic changed the first charge to "aggravated sexual abuse," a Class 2 felony punishable by up to seven years in prison. Baricevic is expected to ask for dismissal of the original "sexual abuse" charge. The second misdemeanor charge remains, he said. That charge is punishable by up to a year in jail The St Clair County grand jury that issued the indictments apparently overlooked the age difference between defendant and victim, Baricevic said. If that difference is more than five years, the proper charge is aggravated sexual abuse, he A bronze grave marker In the middle of the median of St Clair Avenue in Granite City.

Old Cemetery Lies Amid Traffic Lanes Granite Gity Council Votes To Rebid Five Police Cars The marker over the graves of the kids in the neighborhood play ball out there and use the markers for bases." The markers are nearly overgrown by grass and weeds, and the median is littered with beer bottles, soda cans and scraps of paper. Not far from the three markers are large wooden poles supporting utility cables. But one of the descendants, Mildred Burgess of Madison, said the cemetery should be left where it is 4 family of Cpl. John A. and Ruth because It marks some of the earliest origins of the area.

But she would like to see a historical marker put up by the city to explain who is buried there. "My ancestors arrived here from Ireland In 1807, two years after Lewis and Clark went down the Mississippi River," Mrs. Burgess said. "Not many people can say that I'm proud of it, and I want to see it preserved and recognized." By Charles Bosworth Jr. Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Surrounded in the 1870s by quiet farm fields and trees, the site near Granite City had probably seemed a fitting resting place for family members like Cpl.

John A. Brown, who had served with the Union Army during the Civil War. But in 1984, it is doubtful that those buried in the small family graveyard are resting in peace. The cemetery now stands unnoticed In the median of a busy subdivision street The unlikely juxtaposition of 100-year-old graves and whizzing traffic Is between the lanes in the 2200 block of St Clair Avenue in Granite City. Few drivers are aware of the graves because they are noted only by three flat bronze markers.

But descendants of the family say that there are 33 of their ancestors there, as well as the graves of two slaves. Before the area was developed into a subdivision in the 1950s, the cemetery was surrounded by a white picket fence and marked by a 33-foot column and a four-and-a-half-foot statue of a Civil War soldier. One Granite City resident who knows of the graveyard is Steve Conkovich, who noticed the markers several years ago while cutting grass In the median ior the city. Street Department "It really gave me the shivers when I realized what was there," he said. "I Just couldnt believe It I thought they ought to move those graves.

That's no place for someone to be buried. The. In an apparent break with tradition, the Granite City Council has rejected specifications drawn up by its police chief and may use state specifications to buy five new police cars. The council voted 13-1 Tuesday night to rebid the five cars, with either new specifications to be drawn up by the police chief or reliance on the same specifications the state of Illinois uses tor its police cars. Police Chief Ronald Veizer said Wednesday he would not draw up new specifications for the cars.

Alderman Sam Whitmer, a member of the Police Committee, said at the meeting on Tuesday that it had been the first time that he could recall that "we didn't give the men the equipment they thought they ought to have." The original bids were rejected at the council meeting Oct 16. Two bids were entered, one from Novotny Chevrolet for $57,173 for the five cars, with trade-ins, and one from Granite Chrysler-Plymouth at $52,036, with trade-ins. Both dealerships are in Granite City. Veizer said the wheel bases on the Chrysler bid did not meet his specifications of 114 inches. The Chevrolet bid did meet the Kevin J.

ManningPost-Dispatch Emmert Brown. She said some of the graves are actually under the road pavement and others are under the homes on the north side of St Clair Avenue. She said the man who developed the subdivision in 1955 asked her grandmother, Leiza Lewis, for permission to move the graves to Sunset Hill Cemetery in Edwardsyllle. But Mrs. Lewis refused, saying she did See CEMETERY, Page 2.