Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 19

THE CLARION-LEDGER WEDNESDAY October 5, 1983 3B 'A- Talks show county, plant could coexist Settling Black-owned station in readies for airwaves 1 By ROBERT OURUAN CUrioa-Udger Stall Writer Last week, Claiborne County Tax Assessor and Collector Evan Doss said the Grand Gulf nuclear station near Port Gibson was a thorn in the county's side. But Tuesday, Doss left a meeting with top brass at Mississippi Power Light Co. and said a "useful dialogue" was evidence the county could still fare well with the fledgling nuclear plant nearby. "We have opened up a dialogue with the president (of that I think is going to be helpful to us and to Claiborne County," Doss said. He met with President Donald C.

Lutken Tuesday morning after a news conference last week in which he criticized the company. Last week, Doss threatened to submit petitions which would force a referendum on a proposed $100 million county bond issue to finance Grand Gulf pollution systems. He said the referendum would spell certain doom for the bond issue proposition, which said it needed to hold down costs on the $2.8 million unit 1 of Grand Gulf. After Tuesday's meeting, Doss said he didn't think it would be necessary to turn in the petitions and trigger an election, adding he was "generally pleased" with the company's reaction to concerns of county residents. In particular, Doss wanted the company to hire back laid-off county residents and to spend $1 million a year with local businesses.

Although the company did not concede to Doss' demands on Tuesday the tax assessor said "good faith" between the company and the Port Gibson area would help. "If, in fact, we have good-faith com munication such as they proposed, I don't see where there's any need for submitting the petitions," he said. "We basically have the same genuine concerns," he said. "I don't see that they have any opposition against what we're saying." Doss said the final decision on the petitions rested with "the community," and added a hearing next Wednesday in Port Gibson was still scheduled on the proposed bond issue. Claiborne County supervisors last month authorized the proposed bond issue, which was called for in a 1974 memorandum of understanding between the company and the county.

The bonds would be paid back by and are part of the long-term financing pack age for the plant. spokesman Jim Moore said the meeting between Doss and Lutken was "friendly," and said Lutken simply presented information showing "the tremendous economic benefit" gained by Claiborne County because of Grand Gulf. In 1975, he said, property taxes in the county amounted to $700,000. By 1982, taxes from Grand Gulf alone amounted to $10.2 million, Moore said. He also said sales tax reports from Claiborne County showed that sales volume in the county grew 35.8 percent from 1971 to 1982 at a time when sales in Mississippi grew only by about 11 percent.

In 1971, sales in Claiborne County amounted to about $11 million a year, he said. By 1982, the county had sales of $320 million. Doss said he is not completely persuaded by the tax argument because those are "an obligation the company has under Mississippi state law." By ALVYLYN JONES CUrloa-Ledger Stall Writer A tour of Mississippi's first black-owned public radio station, WMPR-FM, is like visiting someone's home. The brick building, on an acre of land on County Line Road owned by Touga-loo College, has a kitchen, patio, an area for picnicking, and plenty of shade. General Manager Omega Wilson said the building was designed to fit into the community.

"I've had people say that the station looks like house. That's not an accident. The station is community-related and we want to look like the community," Wilson said. The radio station, which should begin broadcasting in a few weeks, will reach listeners in an 80-mile radius, including parts of both Mississippi and Louisiana, according to Wilson. The station's programming will include news, public affairs, and music programming from National Public Radio, as well as local programming.

That local fare will include Mississippi jazz, blues, folk and gospel music, as well as news and community affairs programs. The station is owned by J.C. Maxwell Broadcasting Group, a non-profit organization formed in 1979 to build a radio station that appealed to the area's minority population. "We are not a part of Tougaloo College; we're just leasing the land from Tougaloo," Wilson said. Wilson said even the site of the station has a purpose and meaning.

He said the station will serve people who have been deprived or untended just as it will use the land where the building is built. "This land has not been used for more than 100 years. It is ironic that this station was built on a site of a former plantation. We understand nothing has been l. A.

wVA- if it -A. Staff photo by Karen Newsom Vernon Randies, chief engineer for WMPR-FM, grounds a turntable preamplifier at the new station on County Line Road. The station is to begin broadcasting in mid-November. PSC hearings delayed on Grand Gulf Unit 2 done with this land since slavery," he said. "When Maxwell Broadcasting was chartered, their primary purpose was to provide educational programming and information to the large market of the minority population that has been missed by public radio.

"We are community licensed and not funded by the state. We depend upon community support. The element of the community is what we are interested in servicing," Wilson said. Wilson said Maxwell Broadcasting wanted to provide a radio station which could been seen as well as heard by the community. He said all work done on the building has been by people and businesses in the community.

"All of the contractors we used were from this area. The carpenters, brick mason, air conditioners and heating contractors are all from this area. Even the tower company who is building our tower is from Mississippi. We had local contractors build our studio equipment cabinets, instead of ordering it. This is -our way of sharing our resources with organizations and businesses in the area and getting the community involved," Wilson said.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in January and the WMPR-FM'S staff moved in the building in August. Installation of equipment is underway and the station's 500-foot tower is under construction now in Rankin County. Wilson said the station is in the midst of beginning another phase of its fund-raising "Sign-On" campaign, which will pay for the remaining installation costs. He said he is seeking community support in raising $35,000. "We invite individuals and businesses of the community to get involved with the station," Wilson added.

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8 election a case that could result in a death sentence for the second unit of the Grand Gulf nuclear station. PSC Chairman Lynn Havens said the delay would give both sides time to prepare for the case and would allow federal hearings in Washington affecting Grand Gulf to wind down. Once set by the PSC, the new state hearings would have two objectives: To force Mississippi Power Light Co. to accept no more electricity from Grand Gulf than the PSC allows. To withdraw the certification for Grand Gulf issued almost 10 years ago and delete the state's approval to build Unit 2 of the dual-reactor plant.

Commissioners voted in favor of calling the hearings last month, and were supposed to set dates for the case rn Tuesday. But the commission delayed setting a date for the case until Nov. 1. The PSC held evidence-gathering i iv. ljvx uviu v.

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of New Orleans. Winter urges editors to help imnrove education in South companies' parent Recovery Center-Jackson 5354 1-55 South Frontaqe Road Jackson, MS 39212 PRICES GOOD AT ALL 5 LOCATIONS THROUGH SATURDAY OCT. 8th IllilWliliftl aimed at proving that had intended to take only 19 percent of electricity generated by Grand Gulf when plans for the plant were made in the early 1970s. Current plans, however, call for 28 percent of Grand Gulf power to be allocated to Mississippi from Unit 1 a figure the PSC believes is too high. Havens said he also believes that soaring construction costs at Grand Gulf and dwindling demand for electricity by consumers eliminate the economic advantages of Unit 2 of Grand Gulf.

He asked attorneys Tuesday to decide on mutually agreeable dates for the hearing, to take place after the federal hearings now under way in Washington. Those hearings, before a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission judge, deal with the operating agreement between Arkansas Power Light Louisiana Power Light New Orleans Public Service Inc. and the firm, Middle South human resources." rt 11: ji i r. Recalling his childhood on a Delta cotton farm, Winter said he had been more fortunate than many of his contemporaries by completing high school and going on to college. He said many of those with whom he had attended classes at the elementary school level wound up with lives that were "stunted, dwarfed and made unrewarding simply because they were deprived of the opportunity to get the education I was lucky enough to get." The governor noted that the South continues to lag behind the nation in many economic measures, a condition he attributed to the lack of educational opportunities inthe past.

"We are still reaping the whirlwind of those years that the locust have eaten when bright minds were denied the chance to develop." on apparently was used in the shooting. A woman in the house at the time of the incident told police she was not a witness, but she heard several shots about 4:30 a.m. and contacted police, said Brad Carter, police spokesman. Police said Smith has been a paraplegic since being shot in the back during a gambling dispute in the mid-1970s. Smith was described by police as having a criminal record that includes arrests on narcotics- and stolen property-related charges.

Capt Joe Alford of the police vice and narcotics division said officers executed a search warrant on Smith's house Sept. 11 and confiscated a small amount a substance belived to be cocaine. "He was home, but not arrested due to his physical condition," Alford said, referring to the raid. Police said evidence gathered in that raid may be presented to the Hinds Cour-y Grand Jury. ByTOMOPPEL lyTOMOPPEL inriM.liJnwCia((Wl( Clarion-Ledger Stall Writer ATLANTA Gov.

William Winter told representatives of 30 Southern newspapers owned by the New York Times Tuesday night that they were in a unique position to help "reshape the thinking in this region" toward education. Speaking to the New York Times executives at their conference in the Georgia capital, Winter credited Mississippi's newspapers, the business community and "just plain ordinary citizens" with bringing about the climate that led to the passage of Mississippi's Education Reform Act in 1982. He said the nation's economic future would hinge on its ability to compete with the world and, noting the nation's wealth of natural resources, said "the key lies in matching those up with our Polaroid Cameras and film to capture those holiday treasures! CD H3 Paraplegic shot while sleeping was earlier target of drug raid I I Sun 600 LMS I -I I Sun 660 I JBMR lk MM AutOfOCUS I 111 foHherm, .1 i-fcTTT1 Plolojripft.r ,1 if I l1 Hill irTll 't- uWOCM MUM UKUtfSm lnil1CiflWWftn, rT2888 i5988 Prices good October 5-8. Polaroid 600 High Speed film For all 600 Series cameras. New richer colors '17 99 3 Pack 600 wo rlchmr By RUSSELL CAROLLO Clarion-Ledger Stall Writer A paraplegic whose house was raided by narcotics detectives less than a month ago was critically injured by three to five shots fired through his bedroom window as he slept early Tuesday, police said.

Roger Smith, 28, of 3921 Parkway remained in critical but stable condition under guard at University of Mississippi Medical Center late Tuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said. She said Smith had undergone surgery Tuesday morning, and that his most serious injury was caused by one or more bullets that struck struck his abdomen, injuring his pancreas and intestines. Police said they have no suspects or motive in the shooting. "Just the fact that someone stuck their hand through his bedroom window and pulled the trigger is all we know," Sgt. Bob Campbell of the police intelligence division said.

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