Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 1

Laxclt out of prcclcbntid race Nation, 3A State man hopes to pass go at Monopoly tournament Southern Style, 1E Molitor fails to tie Cobb Sports, 1C 35r THURSDAY Copyright 1987 FINAL I Volume 151 No. 137 I 6 sections 56 pages 150 Years of Service: 1837-1987 JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI August 27, 1987 JJU If Mi Lamar supervisor convicted in 'Pretense9 case the verdict. Rayborn showed little emotion as the verdict was announced at 7 p.m., but members of his family sobbed openly. U.S. District Judge William H.

Barbour set an Oct. 23 sentencing date and released Rayborn on bond until he is sentenced. Rayborn faces a maximum sentence of 20 years for extortion, 10 years for bribery and five years for mail fraud, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Tucker said. Rayborn also could be fined a maximum $250,000 on each conviction and Barbour must, under law, consider restitution.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Starrett said that "obviously the government is pleased with the verdict." He said government officials hope the verdict sends the same message as the first two trials in connection with the investigation, that "people are getting tired of supervisors who take kickbacks." Rex Jones, Rayborn's attorney, said he did not yet know whether Rayborn will appeal the convictions. "We're just going to have to meet with him and evaluate the situation and see what is the best course of action," Jones said. He said a tape recording of Rayborn accepting $400 from an equipment salesman who was working with government of ficials made the case difficult. "We took our best shot at it," Jones said.

Six salesmen and one county road foreman also have been charged. Twenty-six supervisors have entered guilty pleas, eight are awaiting trial, one supervisor died after being arrested More supervisors to plead guilty, 11 A Lamar residents subdued, 14 A By BEVERLY CANERDY Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer HATTIESBURG A federal jury here convicted Lamar County Supervisor Kermit Rayborn of extortion, bribery and mail fraud Wednesday in the federal investigation of corrupt county buying practices. The jury acquitted Rayborn, 53, on a second count of mail fraud. He is the fourth supervisor to be convicted in the FBI's "Operation Pretense." The District 5 supervisor, who was defeated Tuesday in a re-election bid in the Democratic runoff, is one of 40 supervisors in 2 1 counties charged in the investigation. The jury deliberated almost six hours before announcing 7 I 1 tWt I I Ilfv VV" AW fff fTr-- and another was indicted on Wednesday.

Four salesmen and the road foreman also pleaded guilty. Charges against one salesman have been dropped. Rayborn was charged with accepting two kickbacks totaling 1,200 from Holiman Equipment Co. salesman Will "Pete" Dacus between December 1985 and January 1987. Dacus, who has not been charged with wrongdoing, has been cooperating with authorities.

Rayborn's mail fraud acquittal came on a charge that he accepted eight $100 bills in the bathroom of the Lamar County Courthouse March 20 $200 for influencing other supervisors and $600 for buying a heavy duty mower. See Lamar, back page this section Officials: Vote for youth cites yen for change By DAN DAVIS Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Mississippi voters who selected the youngest candidates in four statewide elections Tuesday launched a political youth movement that represents a push for change, officials said Wednesday. "By being young you're automatically new and offer direct change," state Treasurer Bill Cole said. "The bottom line is that this election represents a very dramatic shift in Mississippi politics." Capturing Democratic nominations in Tuesday's runoffs were gubernatorial hopeful Ray Mabus, 38; attoraey-gerferal candidate Mike Moore, 35; auditor candidate Pete Johnson, 39; and treasurer candidate Marshall Bennett, 43. Each defeated older challengers.

"It just says that the political ethos has changed and we're breaking with the past," said Les McLemore, political scientist and dean of graduate studies at Jackson State University. "I think it's an indication of how much Mississippi wants to change," said Mabus, who walloped 59-year-old Glendora businessman Mike Sturdivant with 65 percent of the vote. "I don't know how much my race carried over into other races, but I think Mississippi wants change from top to bottom." Mabus captured the nomination despite efforts by the Sturdivant campaign to turn the state auditor's age and lack of business experience against him. Mabus now faces 63-year-old Jack Reed, the Republican nominee, in the Nov. 3 general election.

Reed joked about the age issue Wednesday when he read a Mabus' comment that "I think it's time to have a governor who's in his prime." Reed responded, "Frankly I'm not sure Ray has lived long enough to know what his prime is." Then he turned to his wife seated nearby and asked, "Mine started about five years ago, if I recall correctly, didn't it, Francis?" Moore, the Gulf Coast district attorney, had his age used against him by Jackson Mayor Dale Danks, 47, who sponsored a television commercial showing a 1975 photograph of a long-haired Moore. Moore said the youth kick represents a new direction for state politics. "We're looking at a lot of youth and I think that means people are looking for newness and freshness. They're looking for new approaches," he said. "I think Mississippi will probably be recognized for electing young leaders," Moore added.

"I think it will be a positive image for the nation." Moore faces Canton lawyer Jim Herring, a 48-year-old Republican, in November. Danks, who turns 48 today, said Wednesday, "I hate to think I'm over the hill at 47." "Mississippi voters were looking for fresh new faces, and for people who could bring a dynamic, new leadership to Mis- MICHAEL BARRETTThe Clarion-Ledger Mabus easily defeated Mike Sturdivant for his party's nomination in a runoff Tuesday. Reed won the Republican nomination Aug. 4, defeating Richland businessman Doug Lemon. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ray Mabus, left, and Republican candidate Jack Reed discuss the general election campaign during news conferences Wednesday morning.

Reed, 63, challenged Mabus, 38, to five debates. Mabus, Reed agree Election '87 Danks returns to life as mayor of Jackson to no mu( Ltslinging Legislative races, 11A Convicted ex-sheriff loses, 11A Black loses chancery clerk bid, 11A An editorial: Progress made, 12A By SHAWN McINTOSH Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Gubernatorial contenders Ray Mabus and Jack Reed on Wednesday agreed to a "positives only" campaign and said they were willing to face off in several debates before the November general election. In separate news conferences, the candidates said their campaigns would focus on issues and steer away from the negative tone that dominated Mabus' runoff contest with Delta businessman Mike Sturdivant. "I think Mississippi has had enough of the other," Reed said, referring to the often-muddy battle between Mabus and Sturdivant. "I'm not thinking about doing anything in this campaign that's going to ruin or besmirch the reputation I've spent 63 years building," Reed added.

Mabus, whose challenge to Sturdivant for a clean campaign was nixed, said he was pleased Reed was more receptive to the idea. See Governor, back page this section "When you've been mayor for 10 years and go through the things that we have gone through, and look at our accomplishments, and then ask people to vote for you and they say it hurts," Danks said. With all 2,059 of the state's voting precincts reporting, unofficial results show Moore taking the race by an unexpectedly easy 418,154 to 288,757 margin. Moore, virtually unknown outside the coast before mounting his campaign, now faces Republican Jim Herring of Canton in the Nov. 3 general election.

A Nov. 1 televised debate has been scheduled for Moore and Herring, officials of WLBT-Channel 3 in Jackson announced Wednesday night. They said By JEFF COPESKEY Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer At 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dale Danks, felled only hours earlier in his bid to become the Democratic nominee for state attorney general, was back at City Hall being mayor of Jackson full time. "I've been mayor all day today.

We've balanced the budget, answered phone calls and taken some complaints," said Danks, who turns 48 today. "I'm trying to catch up." Soundly defeated by Gulf Coast District Attorney Mike Moore in Tuesday's Democratic runoff, Danks, who has been Jackson's mayor since 1977, said he was particularly disappointed that his home county of Hinds also went to Moore. the debate would be made available for broadcast on other stations across the state. Moore, a 35-year-old Pascagoula native, parlayed the credibility and momentum garnered from his surprise victory in the Aug. 4 primary over Danks into a sweeping win.

Moore, carrying 62 counties, left only the southern half of the Delta and southwest Missis See Attorney general, HA See Age, 11A INDEX Mississippi's proposed site for Superconducting Super Collider Legislature opens debate today on project to lure super collider An editorial Act quickly, 12 A Super Collider Special Legislative Session Ann Landers 2E Bridge 4E Business 8B Classified ID Comics 6E Commodities 7B Crosswords Deaths 2B Entertainment Food IF Horoscope 5E Jumble 3D Miss Manners 3E Names Faces 2A Nation 3A Opinion Portfolio 8B Scorecard 2C Southern Style IE Sports 1C State "Metro IB Stocks T-Bonds 7B TV-Radio Log 7E World 7A WEATHER Thirty percent chance of thunderstorms. High 93. Tonight's low, 73. Details, 14A. Miles West Point Clay Oktibbeha -A County f5 I Starkville O' 111 AlArtesia jLVw Lowndes A Hmmtv 77 I Research It Campus II i I M'SS By JOHN MAINES Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer The Mississippi Legislature begins debate today on a $500 million package designed to lure the Superconducting Super Collider to the state, and among those with a keen interest are a handful of Southerners whose lives revolve around the mysterious subatomic world the machine is designed to explore.

"People are excited. It would be beneficial to us, and to the entire Southeast," said Louis Clavelli, who is among only five high-energy particle physicists at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Gov. Bill Allain is expected to promote the state's bid for the collider to the Legislature in special session beginning at 12:30 p.m. today.

Allain's speech will begin the Legislature's effort to finish a super collider proposal and to divide some $26.5 million in surplus funds for education and economic development enhancement The $4.4 billion collider, yet to be approved by Congress but aggressively sought by some 30 states, would be the largest single scientific project in U.S. history, generating thousands of jobs through its construction and $300 million in annual operating costs. The deadline for states to bid on the project is next Wednesday, and the Legislature's session finishing the project is scheduled to last two to three days. Proposed legislation calls for the creation of the Mississip- pi Super Collider Authority, an agency within the governor's office that would work with the federal government in the state's efforts to be chosen as home for the machine. The agency would have an authorized limit of $500 million in general obligation bonds, but officials say the spending would not result in any tax increase because of the huge sums of money generated from having the super collider.

The machine, consisting of a 53-mile underground loop in which subatomic particles are accelerated to near the speed of light and forced into collisions, would bring about the hiring of some 4,000 people during its seven-year construction period between 1989 and 1996. Another 2,500 people would be See Collider, back page this section Noxubee County.