Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 9

MISSISSIPPI DEATHS 2 ASK JACK SUNN 3 KONEY THE CLARION-LEDGER JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1991 BEGINS ON PAGE 4B o) ferns protests ifiu '89 sUsiyiini! -4 DANNY Mckenzie V' Columnist v- The Clarion-Ledger I UPDATE Tidmore's family decided "it would be better to wait to a later date and to continue investigating this capital murder case than to cut it off and present everything at that point to a grand jury" in October 1989. "We just did not feel that there was sufficient evidence with which to proceed with the capital murder charge until Detective Patsy Knowles came up with additional evidence in the fall of 1990," DeLaughter said. He would not say what the new evidence was. Robinson's case had been set for trial to- day but was postponed until Coleman rules on the dismissal request and other gal matters. Tidmore was a sworn officer of the Jack- son Police Department for 26 years.

He retired in 1987 from the department's license and permits division. He issued licenses to establishments selling beer. He remained active as a reservist. Hinds Circuit Court, said Robinson "can be neither prosecuted on other charges arising out of the same incident, nor can the state seek to impose a death sentence in this case. Conduct which was used to convict Mr.

Robinson on a previous indictment is essential to the current prosecution of Carlos Robinson." The capital murder indictment charges Robinson with killing Tidmore while robbing him of a camera, a ring, Christmas ornaments "or any property." Mississippi law allows a capital murder charge punishable by the death penalty or life in prison in cases in which a person is killed during the commission of another crime such as murder, robbery, burglary or rape. Assistant District Attorney Bobby De-Laughter said prosecutors sought the stolen goods indictment but did not ask for a capital murder indictment in Octoler 1989. DeLaughter said prosecutors, police and The suspect is serving sentences on other charges stemming from the slaying. By Beverly Pettigrew Kraft Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Lawyers representing a Panamanian charged in the 1989 stabbing of a reserve Jackson police officer claim the charge should be dismissed because prosecutors waited too long to seek his indictment. Carlos Alberto Robinson, 35, who lived at 3175 Robinson was charged with capital murder a day after Dan W.

Tid-more, 65, was found slain March 18, 1989, at his Shepwood Drive home. Robinson wasn't indicted for capital murder until Feb. 12, 1991. Defense lawyers Jim Fraiser and Larry Yarbrough of Jackson, in a hearing Friday in Hinds County Circuit Court, argued the capital murder charge should be dropped because Robinson has been sentenced on two other charges from the same incident. Judge William F.

Coleman did not issue a ruling. Robinson was indicted in Hinds County Oct 12, 1989, on receiving stolen property charges for taking Tidmore's 1986 Chevrolet pickup the night Tidmore was killed. After a guilty plea, Robinson was sentenced Dec. 1 1, 1989, to four years in prison. Robinson was indicted March 21, 1990, in Madison County for arson in the burning of the pickup.

The truck was found on Old Agency Road in Madison County a few hours before Tidmore's body was discovered. Robinson pleaded guilty to that charge Sept. 24, 1990, and was sentenced Oct. 19. Yarbrough, in a document filed Friday in Food bank gets $50,000 for warehouse i The donation was made by a Washington group composed of Southerners.

By Gary Pettus Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer Earlier this week, Lynda Levi had more than 1,000 frozen honeybuns staring her in the face, and they weren't blinking. mmmnniKii, 19 LJ fftC MOBILE k'lOh I v5! I 1 J-" S'ljT Jf: if They were melting. "That's a lot of honeybuns," said Levi, public relations director for the Mississippi Food Network. That's a lot of honevbuns -i The math proves it: Casting ballot can make a difference You'll have to pardon my public spirit, or whatever it is that has me all fired up this time of year "this time of year" being the election, not football season. Tuesday is the one time when we have a chance to do something about the way Mississippi is being run, and it really chaps my cheeks when people start crying and moaning about how their vote doesn't make any difference.

Bullfeathers. We need look no farther than four years ago, to the 1987 elections when only 721,965 of Mississippi's 1,612,906 registered voters made their choice for governor between Ray Mabus and Jack Reed. Allow me to cipher: There were 890,941 registered voters who, for unknown reasons, did not vote. Consider, then, the outcome of the gubernatorial election: Mabus won 385,689 to Reed's 336,276 a margin of 49,413. Remember, now, that almost 891,000 voters didn't vote.

It doesn't take a mental giant to see where a few of the criers and moaners could have indeed made a difference. We're not talking about those who were physically unable to vote, rather those who were physically able but didn't bother. And the point is not whether Reed would have been a better governor than Mabus. There are those who will argue vehemently that such would have been the case. There are those who will argue just as vehemently that the right man was chosen.

There is no sense in even having that argument because Mabus is governor, Reed isn't, and that's that. Not much difference But anybody with one eye, a knot on their nose and a $3 calculator can figure that if a mere 5.6-percent of those non-voters had voted for Reed, they could have changed the outcome of the 1987 election. A look at a few of the 1987 legislative elections shows similar results. A few more votes very easily could have changed the makeup of the state Legislature. In the state Senate, Barbara Blanton beat Mitch Childre in the District 30 (Rankin County) election by 573 votes, and Robert Monty won the District 23 (Delta) seat by 256 votes over Tom Cameron.

In the state House of Representatives, Edward Jackson beat Ellis Turnage for the District 29 (Bolivar County) seat by 321 votes, and in the District 65 (Hinds County) race Ken Stribling slipped by George Luter by a scant 137 votes. Again, this is not to say that the losers could have done a better job than the winners, only that if a few more people had quit moaning and crying and voted, they too could have made a difference. Of course, they'd have had to find something else to cry and moan about, but odds are they'd have managed. Negative voting And pardon my naivete, but I also find it troublesome that so many people vote against a candidate instead of for another candidate. All that does is prove yet again just how apathetic how downright lazy some people can be.

For them, it's a whole lot easier to gripe and vote negatively than it is to find out something about the candidates and vote positively. Again, it doesn't take a mental giant to see how voting out of spite can produce some rather ridiculous results. That might, in fact, be the problem with our current state Legislature. We all know some of those guys can't grab their rear ends with both hands, but it's kind of hard to get mad at them since they we're products of voter backlash. It will be interesting, when eastern Europe and former Soviet Union countries hold their first elections, to see what percentage of their eligible voters actually vote, and compare their percentage with ours.

Then again, it might turn out to be downright sickening. Danny McKenzie's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. .1 melting be- Alford cause the Jackson-based food bank doesn't have enough freezer space to store them all. "If they stay here all through the weekend, they will mold," Levi said. "If we can't get rid of them, we will have to sell them to the hog farmers." The Mississippi Food Network exists to feed the needy, not the hogs.

And it could distribute even more food if it had more room, said John Alford, the food bank's executive director. Its warehouse has 4,800 square feet, but the food bank is hoping to buy a building with almost 13 times that space. See FOOD, 2B i'. a.j Greg JensonThe Clarion-Ledger 5 injured in wreck in church parking lot Mobile Medic Ambulance Service personnel help Karen Roberts car driven by Rusalene H. Blakeney of Flowood collided with the (left) and her daughter, Shelly, on Sunday.

Karen and Shelly Rob- family's car at 11:16 a.m. on the parking lot of the Southside erts and three other members of their family were injured after a Baptist Church at 800 Raymond Road. Story, 2B. Political party split hasn't caused Johnson family feud The Johnson cousins are running for different offices on different tickets. Paul B.

Johnson Sr. Mississippi's governor from 1940-43. Father of Patrick H. and Paul B. Johnson and grandfather of both candidates.

By Susie Spear Clarion-Ledger Gulf Coast Bureau 1 Patrick H. Johnson Father of Pete Johnson and uncle of Chipper Johnson. Paul B. Johnson Jr. Mississippi's governor from 1964-1968.

Father of Chipper Johnson III and uncle of Pete Johnson. to stick with Pete." Former first lady, Dorothy Johnson of Hattiesburg, said it's a Johnson family tradition to vote for a person's platform rather than a party ticket. "We've brought our families up in a way that urges children to be their own person," said Dorothy Johnson, 76. "When Paul was governor, he voted for the man not the party, and I think that's been true of the entire family." Johnson said she expects each family to support its candidate in their respective party primaries. "If Pete wins the family will definitely be behind him 100 percent," she said.

Cooking a big pot of vegetable soup was the campaign work of Pete's mother this week. "It's always exciting at election time and always very stressful," said Be' Johnson of Jackson. "I'm kind Patrick H. "Pete" Johnson Jr. State auditor and Republican candidate for governor.

Twice ran for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District as a Democrat while living in Clarksdale. Faces Bobby Clanton and Kirk Fordtce in Tuesday's Republican primary. Paul B. "Chipper" Johnson III Running for state attorney general as a Democrat. Worked under former state Attorney General Ed Pittman in the Medicaid and Fraud Division during the mid-1960s.

Faces incumbent Mike Moore and David B. Clark in Tuesday's Democratic primary. Party lines cannot divide the Johnson family, a Mississippi clan that has built a political legacy on love and loyalty, members said. First cousins Pete Johnson and Paul B. "Chipper" Johnson III are keeping the family busy during the final days of their campaigns for different statewide offices on different tickets.

Pete, 43, of Jackson won the state auditor's seat as a Democrat in 1987 and then switched parties in 1989 before making his bid for governor. Chipper, 42, a longtime Hattiesburg lawyer and the son of former Mississippi Democratic Gov. Paul B. Johnson is running for state attorney general as a Democrat. Pete's father, Patrick H.

Johnson, was the former governor's brother. "It does make it very interesting that they're running on different tickets," said Betty Johnson of Hattiesburg, Chipper's wife. "We're very supportive of Pete, and I think he's very supportive of Chipper's campaign. They're like brothers more than cousins. I feel like we're a real close family," she said.

"I think the family is looking at it from the standpoint that if Pete wins the Republican primary, we'll vote for him in the general election or a runoff." When Chipper and Betty campaign they make a point to try and persuade Republicans to vote for Pete Johnson, Betty said. "Even old Johnson supporters we urge them Chipper's brother, Shelby Johnson of Jackson, said he doesn't have a strong allegiance to either party. "I've never been a big party man myself," said Johnson, a private investigator. "I grew up in politics I was around it my whole life." "There's no problem in the family about the campaigns (Chipper and Pete are) each doing their own thing. It's a shame the state doesn't have an open primary because it kind of holds you down you can only vote for one party or the other.

"I wish I could vote for both of them." of leaving the campaigning up to the younger members of the family my chore has come down to feeding them." Party lines haven't caused any dissension in the family, she said. "It hasn't affected us except for the fact that we have to decide whether to vote Republican or Democrat in the primary," Be' Johnson said. "I think each one of us has got to decide that," said Tish Ross, 48, of Pearlington, Chipper's sister. "Heavenly days, we've always been close we're more like brothers and sisters than cousins. Voting in either primary would be a great choice," she said.

THIS CORNER MISSISSIPPI VOICES YESTERDAY'S HEADLINES fa Holly Springs) The Clarion-Ledger, after wiring Washington for the date for Thanksgiving for 1941, found President S-WsciM nooseven announces 10 De inov. zu. Miss Hawaii was crowned Miss America in the annual pageant Saturday night. Miss Mississippi Missy Hurdle of Holly Springs was fourth runner-up. Did you watch the pageant? If so, do you think the right person won? HOLLY SPRINGS "Yes, I did (watch).

I don't think the right person won. I was for Missy, I guess." Reid Carpenter, 17, student. VICKSBURG "No. We just don't follow the pageants." Jerry Coleman, 43, engineer. NATCHEZ "Yes.

I thought it stunk because they don't go by anything. I think they've got whoever they're going to pick out from the first. I wanted Miss Mississippi to win it. She did real good, she had good talent and she was pretty. But like everything else, it's all politics." Sammy Eldt, 53, farmer.

A Genus for getting job done LULA L.T. Genus is a proud man. He's proud of his family, his church and his town. And after more than 30 years of working at Lula Grocery, he's proud to be retiring with an unblemished employment record. "I've never missed one day from work, not ever been late," Genus said.

Genus, 81, moved to Lula from Hinds County and began working as a stock clerk, and later as general manager, at the small grocery store more than 30 years ago. Genus and his wife of 59 years. Flora, plan to spend their days traveling to see their nine children eight daughters and a son. A 10-year-old girl from the Farmington community, seized by a masked man carrying a knife at a school bus stop, was found by her sisters and father uninjured, walking down a road. I Natchez 14- i J-f I XjJ While Jackson officials acknowledge paying a local accounting firm about $96,000 to do the city's 1979-80 audit, city records show more than 1 14,000 was paid for audit work done for that fiscal year.

Compiled by start librarian Susan Garcia.