The Paris News from Paris, Texas • Page 1

WorldWatch Mitterrand, Chernenko meet the Kremlifa today with Soviet Forefgn Minister Andrei A. Granyko, and officiate said the session was businesslike despite a sharp exchange of comments Thursday night. French presidential spokesman Michel Vauzelle said Mitterrand and Gromyko talked for two hours, twice as long as scheduled, and concentrated on European security and disarmament. He described the session as "serious" and said, "There was a desire on both sides to express positions openly." Mitterrand and Soviet President Konstantin U. Chernenko exchanged unusually blunt comments during toasts at a dinner Thursday night.

Mitterrand said the case of dissident physicist Andrei Sakharov "put into doubt" the East-West Helsinki accords on human rights. It was believed to be.uie first mention of Sakharov by name in one of the formal toasts at dinners hosted by the ruling Politburo for visiting dignitaries. ident also said France considers the Soviet Union's 20 missile arsenal in Eastern Europe a threat to its The French medium-range security. Chernenko interference Id Mitterrand that the Soviet Union will not tolerate its internal affairs. Lectures on human rights "only provoke an-ifonic smile," he said.

Blast destroys Soviet arms depot WASHINGTON (AP) A major Soviet ammunition depot was apparently destroyed last month by an explosion so intense that it was mistaken by U.S. authorities for a nuclear blast, according to U.S. intelligence sources. The massive explosion, which analysts believe killed many people, was detected by U.S. reconnaissance satellites and other means of intelligence, the sources, who spoke on condition they not be identified, said Thursday.

The mid-May explosion on the Kola Peninsula, apparently was in an arms depot used by the Soviet navy's northern fleet. Intelligence analysts say they are convinced that the blast in Severomorsk involved conventional ammunition. Only sketchy information has been obtained about the catastrophe, but one source said "something happened there and it was a big one." The Washington Post reported in Friday editions that the blast destroyed between a quarter to a third of the northern fleet's stockpile of surface-to-air missiles and a number of cruise missiles. One of the largest concentrations of Soviet naval power is hi the Kola Peninsula and surrounding seas. Severomorsk is near Murman- sk, a major naval base on the Kola River and the destination of many U.S.

supply cofivoys during World War II. It also is within 100 miles of the Soviet border with Norway, the northernmost NATO country. Floods to have little price impact Spring rains that flooded more than 6 million acres of farmland in six Midwestern states caused damage to farmers expected to exceed billion, but should have little immediate impact on food prices, state and federal agriculture officials say. Crops washed away by up to 16 inches of rain in the last two weeks represent only a small portion of the corn, soybeans and sorghum planted nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The flooded acreage represents only about 4 percent of the estimated 82 million acres of corn, 65 million acres of soybeans and 15 million acres of grain sorghum expected to be planted this year, according to the state-federal Crop and Livestock Reporting Service. Guild prepares for strike HOLLYWOOD (AP) The Directors Guild of America is gearing up for a possible strike that could halt production at major and independent film studios and disrupt programming at the major television With the directors contract set to expire June 30, insiders say the DGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are far apart on a cue card full of economic and work- related issues. The Directors Guild has formed a strike preparation committee headed by actor Jackie Cooper. Tracking down and disciplining members who cross picket lines would be Clint Eastwood, director- star of "The Enforcer," and Sam Peckinpah, who directed "The Wild Bunch." Unlike the actors and writers guilds, the Directors Guild has never struck the alliance, which represents the major film studios and more than 200 independents, and the major TV networks, ABC, CBS and NBC. The networks could be forced to resort largely to reruns in the event of a strike.

A prolonged walkout could delay the start of the fall season. In the event of a strike, the television networks possibly could continue broadcasting live programs, such as news shows, with managerial personnel. But most of the programming would be reruns, since guild members work on virtually all TV series. Ryan Nicole Burton laid to rest BRECKENRIDGE, Texas (AP) In a dimly lit funeral home chapel, about 100 people gathered for a memorial service for a 3-year-old girl who had been the subject of a nationwide search for nearly three years before her skeletal remains were found last week. The parents of Ryan Nicole Burton Bud and Helen Burton wept as a Presbyterian minister tried to help them accept the death of their child.

"You've gone through so much for so long to have the search for Ryan end like God, how we wish it hadn't happened," the Rev. Andrew Channer said during Thursday's service in this West Texas town. Ryan disappeared from her crib in the early morning hours of Sept. 6,1981, She had been left with a babysitter. Her parents, after soliciting the help of Child Find, launched a nationwide search for the child.

That search ended last Thursday when Ryan's skeleton was found in a fenced pasture a few miles from the Burton home. The discovery of the child's body has left the town bitter and concerned that a killer may be on the streets. Police Chief Ronnie Pendleton said Thursday that an autopsy report on the skelton has not been returned. He said police don't know how long Ryan had been dead or what caused her death. Youth accused in mother's death BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) A South Texas teenager could spend the rest of his life behind bars if he is convicted of the baseball bat bludgeoning death of his mother.

An eight-man, four-woman jury Thursday began considering the case against Antonio FldreSrlB, of Port babel, CWttged with crashing the skull of his mother with an aluminum bat faHngust In closing remarks Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Rick Lara placed a blood-stained baseball bat and a series of gruesome photos before jurors and recapped the circumstances of the crime. The crime took place on a Sunday Floras Pena, 46, returned from church and watf wortdng kitchen while her son, then 15, watched television. In a statement made to authorities immediately after his arrest, Flores admitted killing his mother because she had "been on my zase" about staying out late, running with a bad crowd and smoking marijuana, Lara said. Index Weather 4A Church News' 8A Classified Comics 12A rvTv Hospitals 4A Markets 3A Opinion MA Women's News 7A High 98 Details on Pfl. 4A NOT OLYMPIC FORM Trevor Upchurch, the 12-year-old son of Mr.

and Mrs. Tim Upchurch of Paris, may not be ready for the Summer Olympics, but didn't let that bother him during a day of wet fun and relief from Thursday's 98-degree temperatures at Spencer's Recreation Center. (Staff photo by Marvin Gorley) Mattox exceeds limits on legal size of staff ie Legislature limited the proto three full-time positions AUSTIN (AP) Attorney General Jim Mattox has expanded his staff to assist local prosecutors to nine, three times the size allowed by state law, it was reported today. The Austin American-Statesman said the 1 gram and one part-time position, but payroll records and internal documents "show that Mattox has increased the program to nine people." Six of the nine people working in the prosecutor assistance division are carried in the budget of another division of Mattox's office criminal law enforcement, the newspaper said. The appropriations law, designed to make certain that state agencies spend their money as envisioned by the Legislature, prohibits the transfer of funds from criminal law enforcement to prosecutor assistance, the paper said.

The Legislature, through the use of riders, frequently prohibits fund transfers between divisions of state agencies. Tom Green, first assistant attorney general, said he didn't believe the funding was limited in that way. House passes bill on reform issues; Senate undecided Harte-Hanks Austin Bureau AUSTIN The Texas House basically fell in line with Speaker Gib Lewis' brand of public education reform Thursday, but the course of the Texas Senate remained unclear after votes on some key reform issues. Lewis, who forged a compromise close to H. Ross Perot's select committee recommendations only to see it hacked up by his own House Public Education Committee last weekend, watched in obvious enjoyment as a clear majority of the House supported his proposals time and again.

The final vote was 119-29 late Thursday night after almost 15 hours of continuous debate. Rep. Pete Patterson, D-Brookston, was among the 29 negative votes, while area-representative Alex Short D-Texarkana, voted yes. House Speaker Pro Tern Hugo Berlanga, D-Corpus Christi, said the support came from the most intensive lobbying effort by Lewis since he became speaker in January 1983. Berlanga said he and Lewis met with most of the other 148 members.

"He just gave the the options: either we have meaningful education reform or we go home," the speaker pro tern said. Help also came from teacher group lobbyists who threw their support to Lewis plan, with reservations, from fear that he would include merit pay provisions if they did not. Merit pay would be a general evaluation process tied to salaries. The approved bill includes competency testing for teachers, a teacher salary schedule recognizing longevity, a career ladder for exceptional teachers, a pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds with language or learning problems, a class size ceiling of 23 stuedents in grades 1-4 and a requirement that students pass all courses with at least a grade of 70 before participating in extracurricular activities, such as sports. The House's support even carried to the controversial plan to replace the state's elected 27-member State Board of Education with 15 members who initially would be appointed by the governor and later face election.

That was a compromise from the Perot committee's original call for an appointed board. Sitting as a Committee of the Whole on Wednesday, the Senate rejected that plan 18-14. But Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, a Perot committee supporter, reportedly is trying to change some minds before the final vote.

Gov. Mark White also is holding out the prospect of opening the special session to other items including some legislator's pet projects if meaningful education reform is adopted. All differences between the two house's bill will be worked out in a conference committee. Still operating as a Committee of the Whole, which allows Hobby to join the 31 senators in voting, the Senate Thursday adhered to some parts of the Perot committee's plan and deviated from others. "I think it's close either way," said Sen.

Ray Farabee, D-Wichita Falls, a proponent of the select committee's report. "There is some shifting." Sen. Carl Parker, D-Port Arthur, sized up the 32 voting members another "As I count the votes, they are 15-15 with the rest in doubt." Farabee lost an attempt to reinstate teacher testing requirements that had been rejected by a subcommittee headed by Parker. After that loss, Farabee said it is unreasonable for teachers "to come in and ask us to raise $2.5 billion (for salary increases and other improvements) and not be willing to take a basic test when they're giving tests to students every week." Sen. Ed Howard, D-Texarkana, who represents Lamar County, supported the Farabee amendment for teacher testing.

Perot has deemed an appointed State Board of Education the key to the reform package. Rep. Bill Blanton, R-Farmers Branch, lost 102-47 on Thursday in his bid to retain a purely elected, 27-member board in the House legislation. Patterson voted for retaining the pure-elected board, while Short supported the initially appointed board plan. Rep.

Doyle Willis, D-Fort Worth, who authored the original legislation creating the board years ago, said the present board is too big. "They don't have a board meeting, thev have a convention," Willis said. Attorney says TUC hearing politically motivated By DANA PALMER Harte-Hanks Austin Bureau AUSTIN Texas Utilities Electric Co. may have filed its $304.2 million rate case early to make Gov. Mark White and his appointees to the Public Utility Commission look bad, an attorney representing the state's rural electric cooperatives said Thursday.

Earnest Casstevens said during a break in the first week of an expected six weeks of rate hearings that he believes the company is "attempting to make this appear to be some sort of political case." Though the utility, the largest in the state is asking for a substantial rate increase, the utility commission staff is recommending a $65.2 million cut in rates. The state's Office of Public Counsel, which is charged with protecting the rights of consumers and small businesses, is recommending an $81.8 million decrease in annual revenues, saying the the company has been earning excess profits for years. The utility, Casstevens said, may be trying to make a point if their rates are cut that the commission and the new state statutes are dangerous to the financial integrity of the industry. Texas Utilities Electric Co. (TUEC) Vice President Tom Baker laughed at Casstevens charge, saying it's simply not true.

He repeated earlier statements that the increase is needed to help the company maintain good financial standing in the bond and stock markets so that money borrowed to complete the Comanche Peak No. 1 nuclear plant and other projects will not be too expensive. Should the company's financial standing slide too far because of commission decisions on rate requests, he said, the company might have great difficulty raising money with the sale of bonds. TUEC's bond rating already has slid from the best Aaa rating to Aa rating in recent months. Casstevens called the present rate request "weird" because "the (financial) parameters they said they needed for Aaa rating are the ones they say they need now to maintain an Aa rating." He added that what TUEC wants "is total protection" and financial security from the utility commission.

"And that's expensive," Casstevens said. But Baker said the current rate request is needed to maintain the Aa level. Aliens say measures won't discourage them EL PASO, Texas (AP) An immigration control measure designed to discourage foreigners from breaching U.S. borders won't do the job, say Mexicans who daily wade across the Rio Grande to El Paso in search of employment. "It may make it more of a hassle, but I will still come," said Juan Contreras of nearby Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

"And, I bet you I still get work." Contreras, 23, is one of the hundreds of Mexicans who each day illegally enter the United States via the Rio Grande. The muddy river flows only slightly between Juarez and El Paso, and each morning it is filled with Mexicans coming to this country for jobs that often pay as much as five times more man what is available in their homeland. "It (the immigration bill) won't bother me," said Francisco Vargas. "I wffl still come and look for work. And, I've heard that I won't be fired.

Americans, they need us." Ricardo Galarza, 28, agreed, saying, "We do what Americans won't. You won't see Anglos and blacks picking chili. They don't do that kind of work. So, we'll still get jobs despite the new rude." But supporters of the controversial bill, which was paused Wednesday by the U.S. House of Representatives, contend it would discourage foreigners from coming into the country illegally and taking jobs from Americans.

The measure- would make it a crime for U.S. employers to hire illegal immigrants. It also contains an amnesty provision that would enable undocumented aliens who arrived before 1982 to remain. After five years, the aliens could apply for citizenship. Vargas, 35, said Thursday that the amnesty provision of the bill is a "pretty good deal" for the people to whom it applies.

But for him, it comes too late. A welder, Vargas lived illegally in Kansas for nine yeara, He was said Thursday. Most of the Mexicans who crossed the border Thursday were familiar with the immigration measure. Talking dog becoming popular around Snook By REBECCA PFLUGFELDER Harte-Hanks News Service SNOOK From the time the pup came home from the animal hospital, Zee Nelson carried him around in her arms, talking to him. The puppy slept in a box next to her bed, and she rocked him to sleep at night.

Zee, the mother of four human children, bought the puppy several fluffy stuffed animals and dressed him in little shirts and kerchiefs. The puppy sucked a pacifier. When Teko, the Queensland Blue Heeler, was 2 months old. Zee Nelson heard the dog say "Ma-ma." "My family didn't believe me, and my daughter thought I was crazy. Then my husband heard him say it," Zee said.

That's when the excitement began. The Nelsons called a local television station, and after the news program was aired, the Nelsons began to get calls from around the state. "I heard from relatives all over Texas who said they saw us on television. Our phone hasn't stopped ringing," Zee said. It is true that Teko says "Ma-ma." But because dogs aren't supposed to talk, the Nelsons believe Teko will become famous.

"We're hoping to be on the "David Letterman Show" (a late-night talk show that has a special feature called 'Stupid Pet Tricks') and the Johnny Carson show," Zee said. "We hope Purina (a dog food company) -will tife in him." To prepare Teko for his national television appearances, the Nelsons have enrolled him in obedience classes. He went to his first class Monday night, and as a reward the Nelsons took him after class to McDonald's restaurant..