Fairbanks Daily News-Miner from Fairbanks, Alaska • Page 1

SPLIT IN TWO The fuselage of this four-passenger Piper Cub was split in two when the plane, piloted by Walter (Doc) LeFevre, crashed on takeoff at the Wrights Brothers Field Saturday. The plane ploughed into an earth-movirig vehicle during-takeoff. Dr. LeFevre received multiple fractures of the legs in the accident and is in serious condition in St. Joseph's Hospital.

His passenger, Charles (Chuck) Wolkens, died following the crash. The two men were headed for Circle Citv when the crash occurred. (News-Miner Staff REMOVED FROM WRECKAGE Concern and shock are written on the faces of rescuers as they remove Charles C. (Chuck) Wolkens from the broken wreckage of the Piper Cub that crashed on the Wright Brothers Airfield near Peger Road Saturday. Lawrence Wright holds Wolkens' head as his brother, Gareth, at right, helps a city policeman support his back.

Rescuers had to use a pickup truck to reach Wolkens who was still strapped in the plane. The injured man died in Bassett Army Hospital while in surgery a few hours after the crash. (Staff) GENTLY Rep. Walter (Doc) LeFevre is carried from the wreckage of a Piper Cub he was piloting when it crashed on takeoff Saturday. The Fairbanks optometrist and Democratic candidate for the State Senate, was thrown from his seat onto the wing of the plane when it broke in two.

Dr. LeFevre's passenger and good friend Charles (Chuck) Wolkens died hours later of injuries received in the crash. Dr. LeFevre, who received multiple fractures of both legs, is reported in serious condition this morning in St. Joseph's Hospital.

The two men were partners in the Yukon Guide Service. (News-Miner Staff Photo) CITY NEWS BRIEF Daiiv "America's Farthest North Daily Newspaper" Member of The Associated Press VOL. XLIV 1 5c Per Copy FAIRBANKS, ALASKA, MONDAY, JUNE 27, 1 966 Twelve Pages No. 150 New Stock Clerks Some 11 young Fairbanksans "graduated" from a six-week warehouse stock clerk course here Friday. The course, sponsored by the North Star School District under the Manpower Development Training Act, ran six hours a day, five days a week.

Receiving a certificate from Paul Weaver, acting director of education for Norih Star Borough School District were: William Boyle, Robert Brush, Earcel Henson, Haywood Mills, Richard Knight, Donald Mohoney, David Roberts, Robert Wiedmen, David Williamson, Theodore With'row and David Wright. City Council The Fairbanks City Council will meet at 8 p.m. today in the chamber log cabin. The council will hold special hearings on 22 buildings. The hearings are concerned with abatement, condemnation, altering, repairing, demolishing or removal of dangerous condition of these buildings.

Under unfinished business and also under new businessthe council is faced with a group of ordinances pertaining to buildings which may be or have been condemned. A work session to discuss the city manager's salary is scheduled after the regular meeting. Land Withdrawal Burton Silcdch, state director of the Bureau of Land Management announced today that the BLM has filed a withdrawal request for 1,760 acres of land along the Steese Highway for construction of five campgrounds. Couch Recovering Jim Couch, 552 Third Graehl, is a patient in St Joseph's Hospital recovering from surgery performed Friday morning. Couch is reported in good condition this morning.

Fire Under Control A 265-acre fire located 25 miles southeast of Circle Hot Springs, is reported under control by the Bureau of Land Management The firestartedFridaybuthigh winds prevented the BLM from dropping smokejumpers into (he area immediately. There are now 49 men on the fire. It is expected to be out by Thursday. CLOUDY BRITISH DEFENSE CHIEF BACKS UP Massive Search and Destroy Sweep On; Bombers Destroy Fnel Dump SAIGON, South Viet Nam (AP) Thousands of U. S.

air cavalrymen joined the pursuit today for three North Vietnamese battalions swarming the coastal hills of South Viet Nam's central plateau. In North Viet Nam, UJS. Navy bombers left a large fuel dump in raging flames which sent up billows of smoke visible from as far off as their carrier 150 miles away, an American spokesman reported. The reinforcements of sky- troopers turned Operation Nathan Hale into a giant search- and-destroy sweep involving at least 6,000 UJS. combat troops.

The prime target were the battered survivors of a stubborn North Vietnamese battalion hit repeatedly in eight days of fighting. June 27. Partly cloudy tonight and Tuesday. Low tonight 50; high Tuesday 70; yesterday's high 57; last night's low 47. Temperature at 11 a.m.

today 61. Sunrise Tuesday at 1:05 am. Sunset at 10:43 p.m. for a total of 21 hours and 38 minutes of daylight and a loss of two minutes. I Elsewhere Anchorage, cloudy, 56 and 49; Barrow, rain, 35 and 30; Juneau, cloudy, 62 and 46; Nome, cloudy, 50 and 36; Seattle, rain, 70 and 55; Phoenix, clear, 106 and 80.

UJS. intelligence sources reported that two other battalions of North Viet Nam's 18B army regiment were in the same area 240 miles northeast of Saigon. Together the three battalions total about 1,500 men, the sources said. So far 395 Communists have been reported killed as the aU lied force, in small units, painstakingly went after the camouflaged North Vietnamese, making sporadic contact with them. Nineteen Reds were reported captured and 141 weapons were seized.

Tne new spearhead brought bulk of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Airmobile Division into action with elements of the 101st Airborne Division, U. S. Marines and several South Vietnamese Battalions in the expanding Op- eration Nathan Hale and put the air cavalry's commander, Maj. Gen.

John Norton, in overall charge. Eight Army helicopter crewmen were killed today when two choppers collided near Tuy Hoa. To the North, UJS. Marines and Vietnamese troops went after the remnants of another battalion of North Vietnamese regulars and hardcore guerillas in tunnels and bunkers northwest of Hue, 400 miles northeast of Saigon. The Leathernecks counted 66 enemy bodies, took four North Vietnamese regulars prisoner and captured 37 weapons, a spokesman reported in Saigon.

Marine officers at the battle estimated that relentless UJS. air and artillery fire may have cost the lives of 300 Communists, or about half the enemy force. 7th Fleet ships offshore joined in the barrage. The air raid against the North Vietnamese oil installation left an inferno that glowed late into the night. Twelve hours after the strike by twin-jet A6 Intruders from the carrier Constellation the strategic oil stores were still engulfed in flames, Navy reconnaissance pilots said the target was a fuel storage area 35 miles northeast of Vinh and 160 miles south of Hanoi.

U.S. military men said the raid--one of 68 missions against the Communist North Sunday- was a particularly successful blow at North Viet Nam's vital fuel reserves. These stores have (See VIET "Keeping Good Kids OX the Northernairs Color Guard Has Big Season Planned With Trip to East By JO ANNE WOLD News-Miner Staff Writer Here's a youth program that keeps kids ON the street --during parade time, that is. It's the Northernairs Color Guard, a group of hard working boys and girls between the ages of 13-18 who were recently appointed as official representatives of the Alaska Department of the American Legion. The recognition came during the legion convention held in Homer.

With the honor goes a liberal sum of money that will help finance the Northernairs' trip to Washington, D. C. in August to compete against 150 color guards in the United States during the National Drum Corps and Color Guard Competition. The local group will travel south in their newly purchased bus with drivers Ron Rizzi, Northernairs' business manager, and Francis McGrath, director. Jay Eldon James of Virginia, national department commander of the American Legion, attended the Homer convention and was so impressed with the Fairbanks color guard performance that he issued a personal invitation to the group to visit Williamsburg, Va.

as his guests. And the trip doesn't stop there either. Rizzi said that the color guard has been invited to attend the Florida State Dairy Bowl in Miami where they will participate in the drum and bugle corps festival. All housing and gas and oil to Florida from Washington, D. C.

and back will be paid for by the Florida Bowl. On their return trip the North- ernairs will drive across the. COLOR GUARD REHEARSAL Director Francis (Frank) McGrath works with members of the Northernairs Color Guard Terry Schoenberger, center, and Nita Goodman, right, during one of the regular rehearsals. The Northernairs were recently appointed as official representatives of the Alaska Department of the American Legion. They will compete in the National Color Guard Festival in Washington, D.C.

in August. (News-Miner Staff Photo) western states to Victoria, B. C. where they will take the ferry that ties in with the Alaska Ma. rine Highway at Prince Rupert The trip will take about five weeks.

"We are still recruiting young people for the color guard," said Director McGrath. "Those who have adequate skills, learn fast enough and work hard, could be (SeeCOLOR Wolkens Dead After Air rash; LeFwre Serious Rep. Walter H. "Do LeFevre is listed in serious condition but "holding his own" at St. Joseph's Hospital today, after crashing a light plane into an earthmoving vehicle near the end of the runway at Wright Brothers Field off Peger Road about 5 p.m.

Saturday. Dead as a result of the crash is Charles C. Wolkens, 40, of 1625 College Road. Wolkens was part owner of the and Radiator Shop on College Road and had lived in Alaska since 1944. He was also a mechanic for Pacific Construction Co.

here. An eye-witness to the accident Jules Wright, said LeFevre "started at the far end to use the full extent of the runway." But, according to Wright, the plane seemed to be "caught in a gust" and became airborne prematurely. "They were just barely airborne --about 30-40 feet up. The plane was in a stalling attitude and they flew the full length of the runway in this position --with the noso high," Wright said. LeFevre never got the four-place Piper Cub over 40 miles-per-hour, Wright said.

When the engine stopped the craft headed toward the field. He said a "power stall" apparently caused the crash. According to Wright, the tail of the plane struck one piece of machinery in the field, causing it to nose into another, splitting in two. Both LeFevre and Wolkens were rushed to BassettArmy Hospital. Wolkens, who suffered multiple fractures and internal abdominal injuries, died in surgery at yesterday.

LeFevre was transferred to St Joseph's Hospital Saturday evening. He suffered multiple lacerations and leg fractures, but no internal injuries according to his personal physician, Dr. Waldo Hanns. The two were reportedly heading for Circle. They were partners in the Ft.

Yukon Air Service and during the last 10 years had taken hunters upriver from Circle to Glenn Creek and Nation River. Wolkens did not have his pilot's license but was half- owner of the plane. Lawrence Wright was the other owner. LeFevre, 48, a Democrat, is a member of the State House of Representatives and is currently a candidate for the State Senate. The optometrist lives at 415 Fifth Avenue.

Wolkens had worked throughout Interior Alaska for Usibelli Coal, the Fairbanks Exploration Northern Commercial Cat and had been employed with Pacific Construction as chief mechanic for the last eight years. He was well-known locally as a curler and a sportsman. Surviving the crash victim are three sisters, Miss Mary Kay Wolkens and Mrs. Irene Carlton of Euclid, Ohio, and Mrs. Rita Ann Swetel of Gates Mills, Ohio and four brothers, Clifford Wolkens of Willoughby Hills, Ohio, and William G.

Wolkens, Albert Wolkens and John P. Wolkens of Euclid. Visitation hours for Mr. Wolkens will be held at the Alaska Funeral Chapel from 2to4p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m.

Wednesday. Rosary will be at 8 p.m. A funeral mass will be said for Mr. Wolkens at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Catholic Church.

Pallbearers will be: Merrill J. Hakala, Albert H. Rein, William Lefferson, Roy Olson, Edward W. Leith, and Earl Moratzka. Slaps at DeGaulle But Timing Is Off LONDON (AP) Defense Secretary Denis Healy backed away today from an attack on French President Charles de Gaulle arid said he was sorry he ever made it.

Healy told a weekend Socialist political meeting that no one in Europe trusts the French president to speak for them. The remark Transport Commission Appointed JUNEAU (AP)--Gov. William A. Egan today announced appointment, effective July 1, of two Anchorage men to the Alaska Transportation Commission, which was created by the 1966 legislature. George M.

Sullivan, Anchorage city councilman and former state legislator, was named as chairman, and Quentin DeBoer, director of air commerce under the State Public Service commission, was named as the other member. Third member of the ATC is Commerce Commissioner E. N. Courtney. The law provides one member "shall be qualified by experience or training in the field of air commerce and the other member shall be qualified.

surface transportation." Sullivan is general manager of Consolidated Freightways, Alaska Division, a trucking (See TRANSPORT Page 7) Sen. Dodd Says His Office mployes Robbed HimBlind WASHINGTON (AP) Sen. Thomas J. Dodd made a sworn denial of misconduct charges today and accused trusted em- ployes in his office, who fed documents from his files to newspaper columnists, of "robbing me blind." Dodd took the stand in his own defense at a climatic session of the Senate Ethics Committee hearings into the misconduct charges. Before Dodd testified, his at- torney had asked that the committee's ranking Republican member, Sen.

Wallace Bennett of Utah be disqualified for having made "a prejudgment before hearing the most vital evidence the testimony of Sen. Dodd himself." The request was tabled. The committee also heard Mrs. Dodd swear that it was she, not Chicago public relations man Julius Klein, who (See DODD Page 7) brought immediate demands for an explanation, especially by Conservatives. Healy replied in a personal statement to the House of Commons.

Healey replied in a personal statement to the House of Commons. He explained he had been speaking of the need for loyalty within international alliances as a condition for a government's being able to speak on behalf of its allies. "I had occasion to illustrate my remarks by a reference to French policy in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the EEC (European Economic Community). I much regret that in doing so I used words which on reflection I think I should not have used," Healey said. He added that he had meant no personal discourtesy to De Gaulle.

Conservatives demanded a debate on the question, but personal statements are not subject to House debate, and the speaker of the House refused to allow one. Healey's timing with Dt Gaulle now visiting the Soviet Union and French Premier (See DeGA ULLE Page 7) Gravel Proposes State River Hydrofoil System KOTZEBUE (Special) An Alaska State Ferry system with a newly developed water craft -the hydrofoil has been suggested here for meeting transportation needs in areas where roads are in short supply. House speaker Mike Gravel, D-Anchorage, before delegates of the Northwest District Democratic Convention held in Kotzebue yesterday, said high transportation costs were trie major roadblocks to development in Alaska rural areas. Gravel called for a study of commercial and passenger transportation needs the Yukon and Kuskokwim river systems, and in parts of far-western Alaska now accessible only by air and water. Low cost, fast transportation by water would stimulate growth of a healthy, stable economy for bush sreas now depending solely on expensive air transportation.

The hydrofoil, a new development in watercraft, was proposed as a possible answer. The high craft operate as boats at slow speeds in the water, and as the speed increases rises to skim along the surface on foils. (SeeGRAVEL Paiee7) "I expect them Time Magazine will be runnin' a story soon entitled 'Is Dodd.