Northwest Herald from Woodstock, Illinois • Page 9

Section Northwest Herald Friday, July 3, 1987 Oyrneht Dimes Urtempl rate cfed By Craig Webb United Press International rolls were teenagers, the Labor -Department said. Economists said those teens probably would have been counted and thus would have pushed the unemployment rate higher had the Labor Department surveyed the job scene later in the month. Because of those economists tended to concentrate on a separate survey in the report that said the number of non-farm jobs grew by 116.000 last month. Janet Norwood, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said in a statement that the nation's non-farm payroll had been growing by 250,000 people a month from January through April, then slowed to 100,000 in May and June. "Despite the low gains in em-1 ployment this is a relatively strong report," said Allen Sinai, chief economist for Shearon Lehman Brothers in New York.

"It's a healthy sign for the economy, and a neative sign in terms of future inflation." The gloomiest reading came from Henry Schechter, deputy director of economic research at the AFL-CIO. "We're still at a relatively high unemployment rate," he said. "We've never gotten down below 6 percent (in this decade), and next month it may go up again a bit. We can do better." "That tells us the economy slowed in the second quarter of the year but didn't go into the tank," said Donald Ratajczak, head of the Economic Forecasting Project at Georgia State University. WASHINGTON The unemployment rate dropped in June to 6.1 percent, its lowest point since 1979, but analysts said Thursday the dip is a statistical fluke and not a sign of a stronger economy.

The Labor Department said that in a civilian labor force of 119.52 million people, 7.26 million were out of a job last month and looking for one. The improvement to a 6.1 percent jobless rate after two straight months at 6.3 percent means unemployment now has fallen 1 percentage1 point since June 1986. More than 2.5 million people have entered the civilian labor force in that same period, and the current rate hasn't been beaten since the 6.0 percent rate of December 1979. White House spokesman Mar-lin Fitzwater said the report showed "very optimistic signs for continued prosperity," but economists dismissed the drop in the jobless rate as a fluke. They cited the fact that the Labor Department based much of its report on a survey of households conducted June 7-13, earlier than usual and before millions of teenagers had finished high school.

Because June surveys normally show millions of youths entering the labor market, when this year's survey was adjusted for seasonal factors it indicated the nation's labor force had shrunk by 476,000 and that the total of out-of-work people dropped by 286,000. Two-thirds of those people missing from the unemployment i UPI wire photo Haitian riots A Haitian rioter throws a rockon a downtown street in front of a burning bus in Port Au Prince during violent pro tests Thursday against the military-led government's takeover of the electoral system. Poll iimon, Dukakis debate winners By Julie Rutz United Press International WEST DES MOINES, Iowa An electronic survey of potential Democratic voters released Thursday shows Iowans are not interested in jokes or political posturing by candidates in the 1988 presidential Also receiving high marks were. Illinois Sen. Paul Simon and Massachusetts Gov.

Michael Dukakis. The poll shows candidates earned the best responses from the Iowans when they attacked the Reagan administration or spoke from their hearts. "People can really smell it when the candidates linger into politics or cow chips. People figure it out pretty quickly," Harrison Hickman of the Hickman-Maslin polling firm in Washington, D.C. said.

"People are very serious about electing a president of the United States and trying big-screen monitor, each had a small blue box with a computer-attached dial marked numbered from one to seven. When the candidates spoke, the viewers turned their dials toward seven if they liked what was being said and toward one if they didn't In general, the consultants said Simon received the most positive responses for what he said during the debate, while Dukakis was considered the best overall debater. to be too cute or too small or being overtly political is a very, very dangerous thing for a candidate," he added. Hickman and two other consulting firms said results of the survey, taken by a computer system, show Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware and Albert Gore of Tennessee got mixed reviews, as did the Rev.

Jesse Jackson. Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbit received the lowest rating. The survey was taken at a West Des Moines hotel among Democrats who said they are likely to attend Feb. 8 caucuses.

As they watched the debate braodcast on a 4 '4 hi r.I;a lii If Li 1 race. A survev of 85 Des Moines-area Demo crats who watched Wednesday's Democratic debate in Houston showed Missouri Cong. Richard Gephardt would win the Iowa Caucuses if they were held today. aliens suffocate in box cars Cop is shot by 'Rambo' United Press International Brieffs 1 Tyo Marines killed in bus accident BISHOP, paliUUPI). rrc A bus returning 38.

Marines and Navy Reserve officers from a mountain training mission crashed and flipped on a steep road, killing two Marines and injuring 16 others, officials said Thursday. The bus was coming down a steep decline along Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous 48 states, about 10 p.m. Wednesday when it flipped and landed on its side, Inyo County Sheriffs Deputy Al George said. Widow wants LaRouche money back TAMPA, Fla. (UPI) -An elderly widow who is a frequent contributor to Republican Party campaigns has filed suit seeking the return of $5,000 she mistakenly gave to a group collecting for political extremist Lyndon LaRouche.

Ruth Rice said she made the loan to Caucus Distributors thinking the solicitation was for the GOP. "I would have never given them a penny if I knew who they were," Rice "It was just the way they talked. I thought they were Republicans. floor of the airtight Missouri-Pa'-cific railroad car with a steel spike and breathing through the opening, officials said. The survivor, Miguel Tostado Rodriguez, 21, from the village of Pabellon de Arteaga in the southern Mexican state of Aguascalien-tes, was providing investigators with details of the smuggling ring that sneaked the aliens across the border.

By United Press International SIERRA BLANCA, Texas -Border Patrol agents searching a rail yard Thursday found the bodies of 18 illegal aliens from Mexico who suffocated in a broiling-hot boxcar, and authorities searched for the smuggler who apparently locked the men inside. One alien survived the 14-hour ordeal by punching a hole in the Tostado was taken to a Van Horn doctor for a physical Thursday afternoon and would be held at the federal detention center in El Paso, said M.S. Dudley, border patrol agent-in-charge in Sierra Blanca. "He was dehydrated and quite warm, but other than that, he was in very excellent condition," said James Selbe, associate chief of the El Paso sector of the Border Patrol. The bodies and the survivor were discovered shortly after dawn when Border Patrol and railroad officials opened the car in a routine check for illegal aliens.

The bodies were taken to the El Paso County morgue Thursday afternoon, after investigators took fingerprints to aid in identification, said Dudley. Iran-Contra probe shifts to high gear ate committees are readying questions about all aspects of the scandal for the fired White House aide, who has been publicly silent since news of it broke last November. The most compelling areas of interrogation, however, will likely be to what extent President Reagan and other top administration officials knew about the diversion arms sale profits to the Con- ras and what, if any, efforts were made to cover up the affair. COVENTRY, R.I. An ex-Marine "Rambo" lookalike, apparently angered over a traffic stop, blasted a policeman with a shotgun in a pre-dawn, junkyard ambush Thursday, then killed himself, authorities said.

Richard -G. Park, 22, opened fire with a shotgun on Officer Stephen Hopkins, 32, after jumping out from behind a junked car at the Finn Auto Sales Salvage junkyard, police said. Hopkins, a six-year veteran of the force who suffered an estimated 100 pellet wounds, rolled on the ground, fired three shots at his assailant, then heard a lone gunshot moments later. All available area police came to Hopkins' aid and discovered Park lying dead in combat fatigues, a shotgun blast to his mouth, officials said. "He looked like Rambo," a policeman said.

"All I can say is that, between the booze and -the drugs, the kid just snapped," said Park's father, Howard, a West Warwick car salesman. "He broke. That's exactly what happened." "We feel it was an ambush in revenge for the motor vehicle stop, but well never know," Police Chief Bruce Germani said of the first shooting in Coventry involving an officer in the line of duty. Hopkins was listed in satisfactory condition' at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, suffering pellet wounds in the chest, stomach, hands, ear and below his right eye. He was not expected to need surgery, hospital officials said.

Park was honorably discharged from the Marines last year and was working at a pizza parlor, his father and friends said. He was a cook in the service and planned to study to be a chef, said Joan Robertson, his former high school guidance Counselor. s- 5 By Joseph Mianowany United Press International WASHINGTON The second phase of the congressional Iran-Contra investigation, which kicks into high gear this week, will bring before the country the scandal's key figures, some of the most recognizable faces in government and potentially the most explosive revelations. But some members of the House and Senate committees are hoping that in the midst of what promises to be sometimes riveting testimony, people do not lose sight of what they believe to be the main focus of the hearings serious foreign policy mistakes of the administration. The first part of the hearings, which focused almost entirely on the diversion of funds from the Iran arms sales to the Nicaraguan Contra rebels, was marked with mostly little-known witnesses who worked on the covert operation behind the scenes.

Their testimony was often revealing, but rarely startling. In contrast, what investigators refer to as "Phase 2" of the investigation is scheduled to deal mostly with the controversial policy decision to sell arms to Iran and is to be filled with the figures Americans have heard the most about led by testimony this week from Marine Lt Col. Oliver North, the apparent mastermind of the affair. Lawmakers on the House-Sen Son kills parents with sledgehammer DARIEN, Conn. (UPI) A young man accused of killing his wealthy parents with a sledgehammer and then torching their bodies was captured Thursday after a 10-mile chase by state police who spotted him in his mother's red sports car.

Patrick Campbell, 19, who police said had been having family problems, was arrested about 11 a.m.' in Kent, 17 hours after the bodies were found. He was charged with two counts of murder and single counts of arson, burglary and larceny. vt Police said the victims were bludgeoned in the basement and draped into the rear yard of their Tulp L'-ne residence in the poah of New Ycrk City. North has already talked to the committee about Reagan's involvement, appearing at a private session with a select group of lawmakers last week. Afterwards, committee members refused to discuss what North said, but indicated that he had a fascinating story to tell.

It is expected the hearings, which should last throughout July, also will delve into what degree the Iran 'arms sales were outright ransom for American hostages, rather than a way to open a channel of communication with moderate elements in Iran. However, many of the committee members hope that startling specifics, such as the degree of Reagan's involvement, will not dominate the hearings. They also fear that if Reagan is found not to have been involved in the diversion, the steam may be fHe from their probe. UPI win photo Johnny on the spot President Reagan meets with John Kevin Hill, 11 of Arlington, Texas at the White House The youngster, who claims to be the youngest person ever to fly coast to coast, presented the president with a rattlesnake cane as a gift. a.