The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 33

28, 1996 The Greenville News 5D RiocIerates REFORMER Guarded optimism greets completion of Edisto River plan tope to awodl 3 2 on an old inner tube on the river, which flows beneath moss-shrouded oaks. Several others played on a small sandy beach nearby. The project was organized by the Natural Resources Department, working with the state Commerce Department and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. The document will go to local governments and residents, and the database will be put on a CD ROM and be available through the Internet, said project manager Barry Beasley. "This thing can't be implemented from Columbia," he said.

The study found about 22 percent of basin residents lived below the poverty level in 1989. It also said people there are more likely to be employed in agriculture, forestry and fisheries and that land use is changing from numerous small farms to fewer larger farms. The document made several findings in areas ranging from economic development to forestry. Among them: Planners should be diligent in preserving land for industrial development because only a small portion of the basin has infrastructure lending itself to such development. Planners should protect prime farmland and discourage the subdivision of larger tracts.

Wetlands in the basin are largely intact and should be preserved. Officials should establish a one-step permitting process to make it easier for industry to locate in the area. By Bruce Smith The Associated Press DENMARK The dozens of people who gathered by the quiet black water of the Edisto River were told Thursday they may never really know whether their eight-year planning study of the 2 million-acre river watershed is a success. "The final test will be years from now whether our children and their children can enjoy a quality of life better than today," Arine Hale Miglarese told about 50 city officials, state workers and just plain folks who helped with the plan. The plan, the first of its kind in the state and hailed as one of the first in the nation, brought together nearly 200 people to study the cultural, commercial and environmental resources of the basin that reaches from the rolling hills of Edgefield County to the Atlantic Ocean.

It was Mrs. Miglarese, then a state employee, who had the idea to use computer data to map all the land uses in the basin. Then, using the consent and advice of hundreds of residents, other maps were generated, highlighting areas best suited for everything from industrial development to tourism to wildlife habitat. "We are here to celebrate the end of one stage of the project and the beginning of another," said i Mrs. Miglarese, who now works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

As she spoke in an open-air pavilion, several schoolchildren splashed about the company's policy of extending benefits to companions of gay employees and the release of R-rated movies. The Convention also voted to encourage efforts to convert Jews to Christianity. "Fundamentalists have taken over the Baptist Convention we've tried to change it back and got tired of trying. This is a new association of Baptist christians and churches. We're still learning, changing, growing," said Daniel Vestal, the first head of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Vestal, pastor of Tallowood Bap- tist Church in Houston, called the first Fellowship General Assembly in May 1991. In a bid to define itself, the Fellowship meeting is planning to pres-' ent a report on the question of forming a separate convention. The report makes no recommendation as to the final status of the Fellowship, said spokesman David Wilkin-. son. Fellowship members said the is- i sue of formally separating from the Convention will only be discussed this year, not voted on.

"You can imagine people in the Southern Baptist Convention are curious if we will become a sepa-. rate body," said Jim Stratton, pas-' tor of the River Road Baptist Church in Richmond. The discussion about division -brought wistful memories of a more peaceful time for Baptists. "The beauty of our denomination was the range of thought. We gave each other that freedom," said Edna Frances Dawkins, of the Ginter Park Baptist Church in Richmond.

Dawkins spent four years on the Baptist Fellowship National Council and 35 years on the Baptist Mis- sionary Board. "We have freedom (in the Baptist Fellowship)," she said. "That's the Baptist way and we don't have that in the SBC anymore." Fellowship members 'don't want to split' with Convention By Kathleen Callan Associated Press Writer RICHMOND, Va. The country's largest protestant denomination is staying together for now. Members of the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship opened a three-day meeting here Thursday, saying they would do their best not to split from the conservative Southern Baptist Convention.

"Members don't want to split; that seems to be the predominant view. The day may come, but it has not come yet and probably won't come for a number of years," said Elmer West, Baptist Fellowship state field representative for Virginia. Many members said they were afraid a split would divide individual churches, which may house both Convention and Fellowship members. The 16-million member Convention says it has links with 40,000 churches, while the Fellowship says it has 1,430 churches that have made donations. The divide between the two groups is theological and ideological.

Most Southern Baptists say the Bible is literally true inerrant in its science and history as well as its theology. Many Baptist Fellowship members believe that Scripture is divinely inspired truth but that passages may be read non-literally. Moderates also say they are unhappy with the conservative tilt of the Convention. The Baptist Convention met recently in New Orleans, where it voted to urge its members to boycott Walt Disney theme parks, films and toys, complaining JOHN BAZEMORE The Associated Press Georgia State School Board Superintendent Linda Schren-ko announces her plans to reorganize the state's school system during a meeting Thursday in Atlanta. Schrenko said an opinion this week from Attorney General Mike Bowers gives her the power to run the department as she sees fit.

Lower gas prices to greet holiday travelers The Associated Press COLUMBIA Good news for Fourth of July travelers: Gasoline prices have dropped an average of 4.7 cents a gallon in South Carolina since the Memorial Day weekend. The biggest decrease was in Charleston, where the cost for a gallon of self-service regular unleaded went from $1,173 to $1.10, the Charlotte-based AAA Carolinas said Thursday. Gas prices dropped statewide. In Greenville, prices dropped 2.1 cents a gallon. Spartanburg saw a 5.3-cent decline; Columbia's gas is down 4.9 cents and Myrtle Beach's 2.7 cents.

Nationally, gas prices are down about 2 cents a gallon from a month ago, AAA Carolinas said. "As we expected, gasoline prices dropped in time for the July Fourth holiday as last spring's inventory shortage was corrected," the group's president David Parsons said. "Supply should meet this summer's predicted heavy travel demand, with prices probably dropping some more between now and Labor Day." Parsons said a travel survey shows about 420,000 South Carolinians are expected to drive more than 100 miles from home on Independence Day. Former South Carolina man charged in 10 slayings faces September trial The Associated Press CHARLOTTE Taped accounts of rapes, stab-bings and strangulations made by the former South Carolina man who is charged in North Carolina's deadliest crime spree will be among the evidence heard at his trial this fall. Henry Louis Wallace, accused in the serial killings of 10 Charlotte women, is scheduled for trial Sept.

16 on nine capital murder charges. Mecklenburg Superior Court Judge Robert Johnston reversing a decision he made in November will allow lawyers to combine nine of the murder cases and 18 other charges in one trial. Lawyers for both sides agreed that the slaying of Sharon Nance, the first of the women Wallace is accused of killing in Charlotte, did not fit the pattern of the others and could be tried separately. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for each of the nine murder charges to be tried in September. Wallace, 30, a former fast-food worker, has pleaded innocent to charges stemming from a 22-month series of rapes and killings before his arrest in March 1994.

The trial will come 2Vt years after his arrest and IVi years after Johnston heard tapes of Wallace's detailed confessions to police. Attorneys had asked Johnston to combine charges in the deaths of Caroline Love, Shawna Hawk, Audrey Spain, Valencia Jumper, Michelle Stinson, Vanessa Mack, Brandi Henderson, Betty Baucum and Debra Slaughter. In November, the judge called the plan impractical and asked attorneys to simplify it. In May, he agreed to a plan that dropped seven of the original 34 charges. Defense attorney Jim Cooney and public defender Isabel Day have said they will try to convince jurors that Wallace was mentally ill and incapable of forming the specific intent to kill.

Proof of that intent is required for a conviction of first-degree murder. The lawyers said the distinction that could save Wallace's life because only a finding of first-degree murder would call for the death penalty. Wallace, who has been held at Central Prison in Raleigh, was placed in safekeeping this month to "protect him from abuses from other inmates and from any brance. Israel C. Spoon, Greenville Israel Christian Spoon, 18, of 30 11th Judson community, died June 27, 1996, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident.

He was a graduate of Wren High School and a member of Truth Missionary Baptist Church. Surviving are his parents, Phillip Darrell Spoon of Piedmont and Sharon Keith Burton of Pickens; three half brothers, Phillip Dylan Spoon and Robert Shane Moore, both of Piedmont, and Weston Eugene Spoon of Pickens; and his grandmother, Peggy Spoon of the home. Services: 11 a.m. Saturday at Truth Missionary Baptist Church with burial in Graceland East Memorial Park. Visitation: 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Friday at Thomas McAfee Funeral Home, Northwest Chapel. The family is at the home of Peggy Spoon, 30 11th Judson community. Michael Webb, Mountain Rest Michael William Webb, 30, of 425 Old Yellow Branch Road, died June 25, 1996, in Clayton, Ga. He was an automobile mechanic and a Baptist. Surviving are his wife, Susie Harrison of Mountain Rest; a stepdaughter, Christie Harrison of Athens, his mother and stepfather, Rosa Victoria Ramey Webb Roach and Wyman Roach of Wal-halla; his father and stepmother, Lawrence Don Webb and Anna Lee Jamison Webb of Mountain Rest; two brothers, Ernest Don Webb of Walhalla and Christopher Ray Webb of Mountain Rest; two sisters, Soma Rose Beck and Regi-na Diane Webb, both of Seneca; two stepbrothers, Douglas Bryson He also was charged with murder in Barnwell, S.C.

harm to himself, according to a court order. rtAiiAMHAM Virginia C. Mobley, Clinton Virginia Cork Mobley, 97, formerly of Rock Hill, died June 26, 1996, at the Presbyterian Home in Clinton. She attended Winthrop College and was retired as an assistant hostess at Winthrop College. Surviving are a son, Robert Hope Mobley Jr.

of Fort Myers, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Memorials may be made to the iThornwell Home and School for Children, South Broad Street, Clinton, S.C. 29325. Services: 11 a.m. Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church of Rock Hill with burial in Laurel-wood Cemetery.

Visitation: 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday at the church. Bass Funeral Home, Rock Hill. Elizabeth W.

Mourn, Greer Elizabeth Ware Mourn, 85, of 401 Chandler Road, died June 27, 1996, at Allen Bennett Hospital. She was a retired legal secretary and a member of Greer First Presbyterian Church. Surviving are two grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Greer First Presbyterian Church, Family Life Center, 100 School Greer, S.C. 29651.

Graveside services: 2 p.m. Friday in Wood Memorial Park The Wood Mortuary, Greer. John P. O'Connor Greenville John Paul O'Connor 56, of 213 Roberta Drive, died June 27, 1996. He was a senior piping designer.

Surviving are his wife, Joan Gra-melspacher O'Connor of the home; two daughters, Linda Drake of Pittsburgh and Michelle Godfrey of Greenville; four sons, John Paul O'Connor Mark O'Connor and Brian O'Connor, all of Greenville, and Michael Patrick O'Connor of Madison Heights, a stepdaughter, Dianne Daulton of Lees-burg, Ohio; a stepson, Dan Almasy of Greenville; two sisters, Mary Jane Kennedy of Pittsburgh and Nancy Carroll of Saugus, a brother, Timothy O'Connor of Greenville; and five grandchildren. Memorials may be made to the Cancer Society of Greenville Coun- ty, 113 Mills Greenville, S.C. 29605. The family will receive friends at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 6, at the home.

The Mackey Mortuary, Century Drive. Danielle Palumbo, Greenwood Danielle Lee Palumbo, 15, of 212 Glendale died in June 1995. She was a sophomore at Greenwood High School and a member of Greenwood Seventh-day Ad-ventist Church. Surviving are her mother and stepfather, Barbara Lee Phillips Wellman and Keith Wellman of the home; two sisters, Christine Burse of Ware Shoals and Leighann Palumbo of the home; two stepsisters, Michelle Wellman and Amy Well-man, both of the home; and her maternal grandmother, Nell Phillips of the home. Memorials may be made to the Greenwood County Sheriffs Department, Office of Victims Services, 528 Edgefield Greenwood, S.C.

29646. Services: 3 p.m. Sunday at Har-ley Funeral home Chapel, Greenwood, with burial in Oakbrook Memorial Park. Irene M. Poore, Concord, N.C.

Irene Mosley Poore, 93, formerly of Anderson, died June 25, 1996, at Five Oaks Nursing Center. Graveside services: 3 p.m. Saturday in Old Silverbrook Cemetery. Wilkinson Funeral Home, Concord, N.C, and Sullivan-King Mortuary, Anderson, are in charge of arrangements. Blondell Prince, Greenville Blondell "Aunt Lou" Prince, of 118 Converse died June 26, 1996.

She was a member of John Wesley United Methodist Church and a member of the United Methodist Women. Surviving are her husband, Calvin D. Prince of the home. Services: 4 p.m. Saturday at John Wesley United Methodist Church with burial in Greenville Memorial Gardens.

Visitation: 8:30 to 9 p.m. Friday at S.C. Franks Chapel of Remem h.v. iicuiciiaiu guvcniui idiiuiucuc accuses Democrats of tapping phone Tur? A ppvi a Trrv Onrro ft i tlf' i "if I er The Associated Press Guilford County Sheriff BJ Hunt and Dennis Wicker, I do not put it past the Democratic machine in this state of trying to tap my phone line for whatever purposes they may have," Arnold said at a Barnes said the FBI is investigating Arnold's allegations. "His assistant was the one that clued me in on it," Barnes said -Thursday.

"All I did was arrange for an FBI agent to give her a call so they could do the investigation. I asked them to call her that day, and they followed up with a phone call." The agent in charge of the FBI's HIGH POINT Steve Arnold, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, calls it a wiretap. Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker, the incumbent Democrat, calls it a waste of time.

Arnold, a Guilford County commissioner, claims someone has illegally wiretapped his telephone and is pointing his finger at rival Democrats. "Since the Democratic machine that controls Raleigh is led by Jim news conference Wednesday. Wicker called the news conference a waste of time, especially for voters. "This is a bizarre incident made even more strange by Steve Arnold's outrageous and untrue allegations," Wicker said. "I say let the authorities investigating do their job." Greensboro office refused to comment on whether an investigation was under way.

1 All 2m ami CRU1SE vhiiiu jjsuicjf every garden, no limit, now through June 30th, 1996. For further information, and Johnathan Byrd, both of Mountain Rest; and his grandmothers, Virginia Ramey and Ethel Webb, both of Walhalla. Services: 2 p.m. Saturday at Open Arms Tabernacle Church with burial in Double Springs Methodist Church Cemetery. Visitation: 7 to 9 p.m.

Friday at Davenport Funeral Home, Walhalla. The family is at the home of Lawrence Don Webb, 640 Webb Village R-oad, Mountain Rest. call Edd Perry at (864) 244-2131. by appointment only. WE MIT Prt Net Only.

Woodlawn Memorial Park.