The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 11

1 SATURDAY DECEMBER 16, 1995 THE SAUNA JOURNAL Great Plains VIEWPOINTS B2 B3 CONSUMER B5 BRIEFLY DEATH $5,609 needed Goal: Actual: $977,000 $971,391 $900,000 $800,000 $700,000 $600,000 $500,000 $400,000 $300,000 $200,000 $100,000 Reiter left mark on Oberlin and Beloit 1995 Apparent heart attack takes life of 48-year-old 'perfect police chief By SHARON MONTAGUE Tlie Salina Journal OBERLIN Police Chief Gary Reiter, 48, had been a law enforcement officer so long, he had developed a sixth sense about criminal suspects. "He knew by the way they looked at him and the way they talked whether they were shooting straight with him," said Steve Hirsch, Decatur County attorney. Hirsch and others remembered Reiter as a man who knew his job and didn't cut any slack for anyone. 'Reiter died Thursday at his home. An autopsy was being conducted Friday, but preliminary examinations indicated that Reiter died of a heart attack, Decatur County Sheriff Ken Badsky said.

Hirsch was reared in Simpson, in Mitchell County, and he vividly recalls the day in 1971 that Reiter was sworn in for the first time as Mitchell County sheriff. At'24, Hirsch said, Reiter was one of the youngest men ever to serve as sheriff in the state. Reiter was appointed to an unex- pired term as sheriff. When he lost re-election, he moved to the Beloit Police Department. He was elected sheriff again in 1977 and served until 1985, when he lost a re-election bid.

He moved to Oberlin as a police officer and within a year was named police chief. "As far as I was concerned, he was a perfect police chief," said Jerry Fear, Oberlin city administrator. "I was very dependent on him, and I will miss him terribly, both as a police chief and as a friend." Fear said Reiter was a "straight "If somebody's grin could have stretched farther than ear to ear, his would have the day his daughter was born." Steve Hirsch Decatur County attorney arrow" who didn't harass or try to entrap suspected lawbreakers. But if he discovered someone had committed a crime, he made the arrest, no matter who the person was. "Nobody got any slack for anything," Fear said.

Badsky said he and Reiter had their differences, but were always able to work through them. "He was a pretty good law en- forcement officer," Badsky said. "He knew a lot about law enforcement." As a young sheriff and police officer in Mitchell County, Hirsch said Reiter worked most of his waking hours. "He was a very hard worker," Hirsch said. Mitchell County law enforcement officials who knew Reiter were stunned when they learned of his death, dispatcher Norma Blass said.

Reiter is the third man who had been associated with Mitchell County law enforcement to die this year. Beloit Police Officer Daniel Trail drowned June 25 while trying to help rescue a teen-ager trapped in the current of the Solomon River. City Administrator David A. Sutter, a former Beloit police chief, died Oct. 16.

"We've definitely had a bad year," Blass said. "Maybe next year will be better." JOURNAL GRAPHIC United Way closes in on fund-raising goal Campaign officials at the Salina Area United Way are holding their breath. With only two weeks remaining, the Salina Area United Way is $5,609 shy of reaching its goal of $977,000 this year. "I'm cautiously optimistic," said Tom Martin, campaign chairman. "I'm very encouraged to be this close.

On the other hand, we need about $6,000 and we're running out of time." To push for that final amount, officials will continue to contact people who have given in the past but haven't contributed this year. Last year the United Way fell $43,000 shy of its goal of $1 million, but the $957,000 it raised was a record. The campaign provides funds for 18 local agencies and a venture grant program. Peltier transferred from Leavenworth LEAVENWORTH Indian activist Leonard Peltier, serving life sentences in the deaths of two FBI agents, has been transferred from the U.S. Penitentiary at Lea-Venworth.

Peltier was transferred to the Federal Transportation Center in Oklahoma City on Tuesday and remained there Friday, officials said, awaiting transfer to an unidentified prison. Robert Bennett, spokesman for the penitentiary in Leavenworth, said it is not uncommon for inmates to move. United Telephone sells Ness City exchange TOPEKA The Kansas Corporation Commission has approved the sale of the Ness City telephone exchange. The KCC announced Friday it has allowed Golden Belt Telephone Association to buy the Ness City exchange from United Telephone, completing five transactions involving 11 exchanges that provide service to about 8,850 customers in western and central Kansas. United Telephone has agreed to refund $1.6 million from the sale of the exchanges to its customers.

The five companies buying the exchanges have agreed to maintain current rates and to comply with modernization requirements previously placed on United Telephone. Those include providing one-party service by 1997. Nebraska man found dead near pickup WASHINGTON A Nebraska man was found dead near his ve- hide Friday on Township Road, 11 miles west of Washington. The body of Harold R. Porter, 70, Chester, was discovered about 1:30 p.m.

after sheriffs officers were sent to investigate a report of a pickup stuck in a ditch. Preliminary autopsy reports indicate that Porter died from exposure or natural causes. It was not known how long Porter had been dead. From Staff and Wire Reports Dog-day afternoon DAVIS Salina Journal Anny runs for a ball Friday in the late afternoon light of Indian Rock Park with her master, AIRoy Martens. Highs in Salina reached 57 degrees in the afternoon.

The temperature today is expected to be around 45 degrees. BANK LAWSUIT Couple win $368,000 in bank suit Chapman bank attorneys may fight jury award over case that cost couple their cattle business By SHARON MONTAGUE The Snlina Journal ABILENE A Chapman couple were awarded a $368,000 judgment against Community Bank of Chapman at the conclusion of a two- week civil trial Friday. Terry Criss, who with Dusty Moshier represented Bill and Peggy McLaughlin, said the judgment was one of the largest in the state against a bank. Criss and Moshier are with the Salina firm, Hampton Royce Engleman and Nelson. Attorneys for the bank have asked District GREAT PLAINS Judge George Scott of Junction City to put aside the jury award and enter his own award, Criss said.

The bank also can appeal the decision. Criss said the McLaughlins had a large cattle operation in Chapman and invested in the commodities market, using brokerage company "margin" accounts. Margin accounts are used by investors to buy securities with borrowed money. If the value of the securities falls, however, the investor might face a "margin call," meaning he or she would have to pay the brokerage money to support the investment. The McLaughlins had 52 margin calls over a period of time, and Community Bank, then called Chapman State Bank, loaned the couple the money for each of the margin calls.

In August 1991, Criss said, the bank represen- tative the McLaughlins usually dealt with was on vacation, and another representative of the bank refused to loan them money to meet a margin call. As a result, the McLaughlins were forced to close their commodities accounts and liquidate their cattle business. Criss said the couple lost money on the cattle. Two commodities brokers also were awarded judgments against the couple for deficits. The McLaughlins argued that the bank breached agreements to cover the margin calls, failed to honor a promise, breached its duty of good faith and acted negligently.

The jury award covers the amount of money the couple lost on the cattle, plus the amount of the judgments awarded to two commodities brokers. Blass said Reiter usually stopped at the sheriffs office when he was in town, to see his former co-workers and to show off his daughter. Reiter was single when he left Beloit. He met and married his wife, Beverly, after moving to Oberlin. Hirsch said Beverly, who was told she would never have children, gave birth to the couple's only daughter nearly three years ago.

"He still worked very hard after that, but his daughter changed his emphasis," Hirsch said. "He had worked nights for as long as I'd known him, and he started working days when Brianna was born. "He doted on her. If somebody's grin could stretch farther than ear to ear, Iris would have the day his daughter was born." Hirsch said Reiter would be missed by those who knew him. "God needed a cop is all I can think of," Hirsch said.

BOEING STRIKE Effects of strike linger Those who crossed picket line get same benefits as strikers By The Associated Press WICHITA The 69-day strike at Boeing's Wichita plant is over, but the animosity between those who went without a paycheck for more than two months and those who crossed picket lines may not be. "There will be hard feelings," said Art Prophet, one of those who went out, and stayed out, on strike until a new contract was ratified Wednesday. About 2,800 people, by Boeing estimates, crossed the picket lines. That represents about 40 percent of the 7,100 union and nonunion employees in Wichita who are covered by the new contract. In Kansas, the union claims 5,200 members.

Even though they did not strike, they will receive the same wages and benefits as those who went without paychecks, including a bonus given as an incentive to settle the strike. Some workers said the tension between those who stayed out and those who continued working could linger for years. "There are people who are still not talking to each other from 1989," union member Rick Parks said, referring to the last strike. Yet the two groups now must work together. "It is an extraordinarily difficult situation for everyone," said John Belt, a business professor at Wichita State University.

Strikers can return to work anytime before Jan. 2. Thousands of machinists in Kansas, Oregon and Washington state struck the world's largest commercial aircraft maker Oct. 6. The new four-year contract won advances on every major issue job security, medical coverage and pay.

Christmas lights shine after change of venue line When you need to Tomorrow's Headlines 825-6OOO Category 6006 (Call after 7:30 p.m.) Tescott couple take over and expand on popular barnyard display with 30,000 lights TESCOTT Not even this night's heavy fog can diminish the Christmas display along K-18. In fact, the wispy white clouds give the scene an eerie, almost fantasyland appearance. That's just fine with Liz Lee, who along with her husband, Darryl, is responsible for this holiday extravaganza. The trees, the house, the old milk barn, a fence along one side of the property all are covered with small red, white, blue and green lights. There are more than 30,000 enough to attract about 400 visitors already to the farmstead two miles east of Tescott.

This is the second year the Lees have bathed their property in lights. They took the job after Elmo Clark of rural Barnard LINDA MOWERY- DENNING The Salina Journal quit in 1993. His barnyard display attracted thousands of visitors during a decade of Christmases. For many, it was a holiday tradition to drive over to Elmo's place to see the lights. But age Clark is 81 finally slowed him down and he put out the word his thousands of lights were available.

Liz Lee called Clark. "Elmo actually interviewed people to take over his display. He drove around to the different houses. We really feel honored he picked us," she said. Clark said couples from Delphos, Sylvan Grove and Minneapolis also wanted the lights, but they lived in town and he wanted a farmstead setting similar to his own.

He also was impressed with the Lees. "They're young and full of vinegar," Clark said. They started with 17,000 lights in 1994. But they kept buying more and more and more. "It becomes an addiction.

You just keep seeing more things you think need lights," Liz said. The size of the display isn't really obvious until a visitor pulls into the long Lee driveway. Then, spread across the land- scape, are the lights and small displays of Santa Glaus and other holiday symbols. The driveway, lined with log reindeer made by Clark, curves through the farmstead so visitors can view the lights from a distance and also close up. They are serenaded on their trip by the sounds of Jingle Bells and other holiday favorites.

Dominating the scene at least from a distance is a tall cross with red lights. Something new is added each year. This Christmas, it was machinery, including a grain truck and combine that are outlined with white lights. A snowman sits in the cab of the combine. There will be more machinery in 1996.

And, someday, Liz hopes to covert a part of the front lawn into a candy land. There also are plans to build a wreath over the end of the driveway. The display is open to the public during December. But work starts in October with the testing of bulbs. Liz took lights to her job at St.

Francis Academy and tested them during breaks. They were eventually hung with the help of Darryl's aunt and uncle, Delbert and Twila Werries of Salina, and other rel- atives and friends. The Lee children, Ashlie, 10, and Jordan, 7, also assist. The family's enthusiasm appears to have spread. Many Tescott residents, in- eluding those along K-18 on the north end of town, have decorated their homes for the holidays.

And Liz Lee is looking forward to Dec. 23, when the family expects to pass out popcorn. In 1994, visitors also received a cookie cutter. "We want to make it a tradition," she said. A year ago, when more than 800 visitors signed the farm's guest book, Liz estimated the electric bill increased by $100.

It will be even more this holiday because of the additional lights. But the work and expense have been worth the effort. "It's fun. It's just a lot of fun," Liz said. Elmo Clark and his wife, Francis, would agree.

They recently watched a video of the display on their farm and felt almost homesick. "We thoroughly miss our lights," Clark said. "But the Lees are doing a wonderful job. They have far more lights than I ever had." SUGGESTIONS? CALL BEN WEARING, DEPUTY EDITOR, AT 823-6363 OR 1-800-827-6363.