St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 9

6 3 SEP 15 1994 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH I Kl I IP NEWS ANALYSIS: Marion Barry was the issue EDITORIAL: President Clinton should consult COMMENTARY: Our economic system obituaries 4B 1 1 1 1 1 1 in D.C. election 5B Congress before invading Haiti 6B guarantees there will be winners and losers 7B weather 8B ST. LOUISREGION SECTION THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1994 Some Stinging Insects Break In Main Spreads Dirt Tainted By Dioxin Fighting Battle Of iThe Bees "There was 5 feet of water in my yard it looked like a lake," said Mark Little, who lives in a one-story older brick home across Second Street from the terminal. Sampling found dioxin in at least five spots in amounts slightly above 1 part dioxin per 1 billion parts soil, the level of contamination at which the federal government mandates cleanup.

Most of the contamination was in mud scooped from the street and ditches into a pile by city employees. The EPA said the pile would be excavated, possibly today. Beth-ann Eichenser of the EPA went door-to-door Wednesday with a list of the areas where dioxin was detected. She said the only residences affected were five vacant trailers and Little's flooded basement. Eichenser told Little the EPA would clean up his basement, but he complained that nothing had been done over the last several years to remove the dioxin from the neighborhood.

"When this all started, they took samples from the street, my yard and from a vacuum cleaner bag in the house," he said. "Dioxin was found 3 to 5 feet inside my yard, and they said a buyout was a possibility or they'd scrape it up or cap it. "But there's never been anything more done about it." Experts Are Abuzz With Tips For Wary By Patrick E. Gauen Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Donna Beck is an exterminator, not a stripteaser. But she figures nobody ever got out of a shirt faster than she did when bees swarmed into "it to try to exterminate her.

Tim Cashatt kept his shirt on but jound himself, urgently abandoning 'his pants one day when bees rushed up one leg to further educate the zoologist about their species. Knowledge, it seems, does not confer immunity when dealing with bees, hornets and other unfriendly creatures of the air. Beck escaped with four stings, Cashatt with about six. Both reported some bruised pride as well. Yellowjacket: Yellowjackets, often incorrectly labeled sweat bees, are in the wasp family.

They often nest underground, but will nest in buildings. A nest in September may contain 5,000 workers. The yellowjacket is aggressive both around its nest and areas where it is foraging for food. It is considered the area's major stinging insect. By Tom Uhlenbrock Of the Post-Dispatch Staff A water-main break near a dioxin site in St.

Louis washed contaminated dirt down the street and into at least one home, the Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday. The break early Saturday sent up to nine inches of water into the offices and warehouse of Helping Hands Recycling Center, 4205 North Second Street. The EPA said sampling there showed no detectable traces of dioxin. The break was near the East Texas Motor Freight terminal, which shut down nearly a decade ago after dioxin was found in its yard. The 11-acre yard had been sprayed with dioxin-laced waste oil.

The terminal is among 27 dioxin sites in eastern Missouri, including Times Beach. Sixteen of those sites, including the terminal, are "uncontrolled," which means they are fenced off but no cleanup work has begun. A 6-foot cyclone fence posted with signs saying "dioxin site keep out" surrounds the weed-filled yard in a light industrial area near the river. The break erupted under May Street adjacent to the yard, gouging out a hole and sending water and mud through the neighborhood. Service Corps Gets Variety Of Applicants Federal Program Will Recruit About 150 Youths Across Area By Melanie Robinson Of the Post-Dispatch Staff President Bill Clinton's new service corps will recruit troops here to keep students in school, make life easier for people with disabilities and cut down on crime.

Almost 150 youths in the area will join the program, called AmeriCorps. Tonia Hutchinson, 22, of University City, was the first to apply Tuesday for one of the 80 jobs available at the American Youth Foundation in St. Louis. The foundation is among 17 AmeriCorps programs in Missouri planning to recruit some 300 youths statewide. More than 60 people have called for information about the AmeriCorps jobs, financed with $1 million.

Hutchinson, a recent graduate of Northwestern University at Evanston, 111., said, "We need to create an atmosphere for people in the community to want to build from within," starting with schools. Honevbee: 'A Bald Faced Hornet The hornet is technically a yellowjacket, but larger and with a different color scheme. It isn't aggressive away from its nest. Like all wasps, the bald faced hornets are beneficial and should not be destroyed indiscriminately. Its nests are usually in tree cavities, not in the ground.

It is the major pollinator of many field crops and almost all tree fruits. It is the world's most beneficial insect, and is the state insect of Missouri. George A. Winkler, entomologist at the St. Louis Zoo, said Wednesday ithat yellow jackets are an even big-jger problem than bees.

He said many people mistake yellow jackets for bees, so bees may get blamed for Jstings they didn't commit, "Yellow jackets are everywhere time of year. They are at the end iof their cycle. They are not building inests, not raising broods they Jiave nothing to do right now," Winkler said. "They are out foraging, looking for insects to eat but also for jsweet things. That's why they show jup at picnics." Winkler said the insects will be (dead by winter.

i So what chance do ordinary civilians have in the world's longest-running air war? Actually, a decent one with a little junderstanding, according to Cashatt, a sort of answer man for the Illinois State Museum. The population of stinging insects Seems to be growing, and fall is the eeason that finds them in especially boor humor. Wouldn't you be too, protecting the nest for the comfort of queens who will sleep the winter f' way while you freeze to death? More stinsers are abuzz. aDoarent- K1 4t 0 Scott DinePost-Dispatch Tonia Hutchinson is the first to apply for a job at the American Youth Foundation in St. If chosen, Hutchinson would work to improve school achievement of fourth- to eighth-graders who might be likely to quit school.

She would take part in service projects in literacy, the environment, safety and sub-J stance-abuse prevention. Hutchinson, like others in the AmeriCorps program, would work for minimum wage, or $7,600 a year, and get $4,725 for higher education. Those interested in working for the foundation should call 772-9002 for more Nancy Spielman, 54, who has been living with multiple See SERVICE, Page 3 Sweat Bee: Missouri and Illinois have many species of sweat bees. All are small; none is aggressive. Nearly all nest in the ground; a few nest in rotten wood Paper Wasp: The paper wasp's nests are of-.

ten found under eaves, in open buildings, or other sheltered sites. Nests are begun from scratch each spring and are rarely reused. Nests are defended by workers; wasps away from the nest are rarely Source: Missouri Conservation Dept. Span Goes Out With Big Bang Explosives Bring Down Old Clark Bridge Across Mississippi At Alton ly because of a mild winter and spring pnd a relatively dry summer. Exterminators have reported an increase in business.

I Cashatt and folks like Beck, who tuns Crestwood Pest Control, agree fhat the best solution is to do nothing unless it's necessary. "They're predators as well as pests," said Cashatt. "A yellow jackets' or hornets' nest near a garden iloes a lot more good than harm. They eat a lot of insects." Remember that bees and yellow ackets like sticky, sweet things, like lectar. Also Coca-Cola, Kool-Aid, emonade, melons and other foods humans are reluctant to share.

One train of thought, Cashatt said, to put one piece of melon at the far of the picnic table for them, while fou eat yours. "I'm not sure about that," he "I don't know how they're supposed to know which one is theirs and ivhich is yours." And of course, he illowed, the guy with the stinger just might decide he wants both, i Keeping garbage cans sealed and Most bee, wasp and hornet stings can be managed at home with common sense, according to Dr. Joseph Primrose, an attending physician in the emergency room of Barnes Hospital. He recommends: Removing the stinger with tweezers. Cleaning the area with soap and water.

Applying cold water or ice for pain. Taking an antihistamine tablet to reduce swelling. A life-threatening allergy to the venom is rare, but certain symptoms following a sting demand urgent medical care: Wheezing. Shortness of breath. Fainting.

Seizures. Primrose offers some other thoughts: It may help to apply meat tenderizer, baking soda or com starch. Topical antiseptic probably won't help, since germs already have been driven in deeply. Immediate swelling at the site is not a sign of infection. But the appearance of an infection in a day or so, or difficulty in removing a stringer, merits a trip to the doctor.

The old structure's main span, 445 feet long, came down about 8:20 a.m., said Vic Modeer, an engineer with the Illinois Department of Transportation. It had been scheduled to fall at 7:30 a.m., but a short in the wire leading to the detonator caused a slight delay. "The first time they pushed the plunger, it didn't go," Modeer said. "You could see a flash. I guess that's where the short occurred." Barge traffic was expected to start moving again this morning, but some demolition work still remains.

"We still have one span to go," Modeer said. That will be a shorter section over the old lock at the Illi- Picture of bridge's demolition 3B By Robert Goodrich Of the Post-Dispatch Staff An explosive charge dumped the main span of the old Clark Bridge at Alton into the Mississippi River Wednesday. The Coast Guard halted river traffic for 24 hours for a crane to fish the steel chunks out of the channel. Highway 67 now connects Illinois and Missouri across a new Clark Bridge that opened in January, built at a cost of $118 million. The old bridge had become worn and obsolete.

At 20 feet wide, it was so narrow that truck drivers sometimes joked that their driver's side mirrors clicked when they met on the span. The new bridge is four times that width. nois edge of the bridge. Tentative plans are to blast that section Saturday morning. It is not expected to hold up river traffic except for a brief halt for the actual blast.

After that explosion, the only job left will be the removal of the old bridge piers, which also will be blown' up. "We're waiting for a permit for! that," Modeer said. "We want to; leave the rubble in the river." The Illinois Department of Trans- portation hired Anderson Excavating and Wrecking Co. of Omaha, to dismantle the old bridge, at a cost of almost $1.7 million nearly; $500,000 more than it cost to build it-66 years ago. food spills cleaned up probably helps.

doors, it prudent to look in that See BEES, Page 3 CHRISTINE BERTELS0N Dealing With A Go-Getter Can Be A Tad Taxing have a responsibility to cooperate with the administration. He is doing an adequate job as assessor, but he has probably created more ill will with corporate citizens and other offices he is supposed to in 9 Housman Case Advances With Finding Of Car By Joe Holleman Of the Post-Dispatch Staff The search for Angie Housman's killer' escalated Wednesday with the discovery of a car that may have been used in the crime. Col. Robert Lowery, head of the St. Louis Area Major Case Squad, said investigators got a letter Monday from an informer who named a suspect and also the location of an abandoned car that the suspect had owned, The car matches the general description of a vehicle that police have been looking for since shortly after Angie.

9, vanished last November, Lowery said. Angie disappeared Nov. 1 8 after getting off her school bus about a block from her home in St. Ann. Nine days later, a deer hunter found her body tied to a tree in the August A.

Busch Memorial Wildlife Center in St. Charles County. Neighbors who saw suspicious vehicles around the time of Angie's abduction have provided police with descriptions and partial license plate numbers. Lowery said the car being tested is similar to one described as a suspicious vehicle a mid-1980s Ford. Lowery said the car is in another state and is being checked for samples, which are being sent to the FBI laboratories.

The suspect does not live in the St. Louis' area now but did in the past, Lowery said. press secretary. "He wants to run the office as he sees fit." But shouldn't the mayor be glad to have a department head who comes in on weekends to scrub toilets and saves the city thousands on electrical work? "Dennis Hill did not even save us $300, not even the $700 for the time he was suspended without pay," Washington said. "Now we have an estimate that it may cost $12,000 to $24,000 to correct his escapade." Hill insists he was only doing what was right and will stand up for what is right even if it costs him his job.

He compared his independent streak and strong moral sense to those of his friend, Bosley Sr. "He's a character, but you strip away the fluff and underneath he is as solid as a granite cube," Hill said of Bosley Sr. "That's why we get along. If you have ingrained in you some morals, the value you place on them is how soon you compromise them." The mayor bristles at Hill's comparing himself to his father. "He is nowhere near my father," Bosley Jr.

said. "And if he was my father's son and acted that way when he was growing up. he would be caned." tax archives through a jungle of junk. Hill and his wife spent the Fourth of July weekend shoving filing cabinets full of tax waivers for easier access by, and to employees. Three weeks ago, Hill and his staff moved desks, cleaned walls and scrubbed floors in the real estate section.

They put up fabric privacy partitions between desks. City painters put a coat of white paint on the walls and ceiling. All that remained was some electrical work. The Board of Public Service drew up plans for the electrical work and sent Hill an estimate: $12,000. The board also told Hill the job was too big for city electricians and suggested he contract it out after he got official approval, and money, for the project.

Bureaucracy. What's an impatient man to do? Hill hired a union electrician, who bid the job at $300. and paid for it himself. Hill did not ask for reimbursement. The work got done, but the mayor's office got mad.

For "serious violations of policy and procedures," Hill was suspended for three days without pay. Taxpayers swamped Hill with supportive calls at home. Bosley's staff wants to nip any perception of Hill as a hard-charging, hierarchy-be-damned hero of the average taxpayer. "Hill wants to be an assessment czar," fumed Patricia Washington, the mayor's THE DECOR of city Assessor Dennis Hill's offices, like most in City Hall, was Bureaucratic Grunge long before the grunge look was in and long after it was out. Under harsh fluorescent lights, city workers sat in open rows of dumpy, mix-and-match furniture amid drab filing cabinets.

Worn linoleum floors, dingy paint and once-white marble walls yellowed by decades of nicotine film suited the mood of a place where old tax forms come to die. The carpet in Hill's office looks like the i pelt of a teddy bear dragged behind a 2- year-old. "I like the carpet," Hill says, smiling. "I like the carpet." i The carpeting, the assessor says, is proof that he is a serious public servant who is not I feathering his nest at taxpayers' expense. Ditto the controversial office remodeling he began three weeks ago.

Hill's do-it-yourself renovations already have cost him a three-day suspension without pay. And unless Hill learns to go through the proper channels he is part of a bureaucracy, after all his attitude may very well cost him his job, according to his boss, Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. "There is no time for free agents." ley said. "I appoint these people, and they terface with. Hill's ties to Bosley began at a Postal Service auction two years ago, where he met Bosley's father.

Alderman Freeman Bosley Sr. Senior offered Hill coffee and doughnuts. Hill offered Senior advice on bidding. A friendship blossomed, and Hill worked on Junior's mayoral campaign. Bosley made Hill assessor in June 1993, and he quickly took charge.

He inventoried downtown buildings to make sure every company was on the tax rolls. He searched state and city records to find companies that failed to report assets. He standardized the way companies write off taxable items. But the clutter and grime in the office made it difficult to get things done. Hill said.

In March, Hill came in on his own time to scrub the grim employees lounge in the basement. He cleaned toilets, buffed the hardwood floors and hacked a path to the.