Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 71

STAR TRIBUNE Star Tribune ThursdayNovember 231989 Metro State news .33 Around tho Twin Citioj Teachers' wage talks focus on debt Court upholds award to union official had four masked men beat him calls deficit discussion PR campaign' Union official By Suzanne P. Kelly Staff Writer The St. Paul school district could be $5.4 million in debt and face many layoffs if the school board grants the wage demands of the teachers' union, a school administrator said this week. Curman Gaines, associate superintendent for finance, told board members Tuesday that the district's general fund would be $5.4 million in the red by the 1991 fiscal year if the board grants a 12 percent raise over two years. He said the board's offer of 10 percent would leave the general fund with a $2.4 million deficit.

Jerry Scribner, negotiator for the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, said the discussion of the general fund at Tuesday's board meeting was "part of the district's PR campaign." He The Minnesota Court of Annoaic w. I ippVUIll Jias upheld a Ramsey County jury's verdict awarding $315,000 to a sprinkler system contractor who accused a pipefitters union official of arranging his beating by four Unasked men during a 1985 labor "dispute. Jthe Appeals Court ruled there was -sufficient evidence to support the jury's damage award to Eugene HPeil. whose skull was fractured during the attack at a construction site.

i 5eil testified that although he did not see his attackers' faces, he was able to identify one of them as Jerald Laumeyer, an official of Sprinkler Fitter and Apprentices local 417. laumeyer denied participating in the attack and was tried and acquitted of criminal charges. lyze them," Scribner said. We want to avoid a strike that no one needs and no one wants. We will look at this and attempt to compromise somewhere." Board Chairman Daniel Bostrom asked the seven-member board Tuesday to cancel all public board meetings until Dec.

18 so it can meet in private to settle the contract The board "will have to devote its full attention to the resolution of the differences remaining between the parties in the collective bargaining negotiations between the district and the St. Paul Federation of Teachers," he said. Gaines said only five of 28 contracts have been settled between the district and unions representing most of its more than 5,000 employees. culty maintaining programs during the 1990-1991 school year. According to his projections, the general fund would be reduced to 56.7 million by the end of this year and have a deficit of $2.4 million in 1991 if the union accepts the board's offer.

If the teachers' demand were granted, the fund would drop to $5.5 million this year and have a $5.4 million deficit the following year. The teachers' union voted Sunday to strike between Dec. 5 and 15 if a settlement is not reached. Among other things, it is asking for 6 percent wage increases in each of the two years of the contract. The board has offered 5 percent increases for each of the two years.

"I have been given to look at the numbers presented and try and ana Fire at leather cleaners causes $200,000 damage St. PaulMan pleads guilty to killing girlfriend A St. Paul man has pleaded guilty uled to be sentenced Dec. 21 by to second-degree murder for the Ramsey County District Judge Oct. 5 stabbing death of his girl- James Campbell, friend.

HI contractor who says At the time, the union was involved in a longstanding dispute with Land-O-Lakes Fire Protection the family-owned firm that employed Peil. The firm was resisting efforts to unionize its workers. An attorney for Laumeyer and the union argued that Ramsey County District Judge Otis Godfrey should have granted their motion to overturn the jury verdict. The Appeals Court said in its Nov. 15 decision, however, that Godfrey did not err in refusing to overturn the verdict or in denying a request to give the jury cautionary instructions regarding Laumeyer's criminal trial.

According to a criminal complaint, Cage repeatedly stabbed Adams with a kitchen knife after they argued over her renewed relationship with her estranged husband. at auto parts store lock up. "The phone lines are busy because the phones are melted the wall, he said. The fire started while Crosson was removing a gasoline tank from a car on a hoist in the auto parts shop, according to the spokesman. The tank fell to the floor, pulled down a small work light and spilled gasoline.

When the lightbulb broke, the gasoline ignited and burst into flames. About 18 firefighters battled the fire a little more than an hour, department officials said. No one else was injured. Hennenin Countv attornev's office wants Darville sentenced to prison for 4'2 years. Fitzgerald has ordered a presentence investigation.

A jury convicted Darville Nov. 15 of three felony counts of theft by swindle. Darville, who headed the university's office of minority affairs, claimed that he gave the missing money to university athletes and other needy students. Responsibility that he had filed his 1987 and 1988 income tax returns on time. He was placed on two years probation.

Chrysler also paid disciplinary costs of $1,290 and met requirements for continuing legal education, according to the court's reinstatement order. reports. Carl Cage, 34, 1342 W. Maynard entered the guilty plea Tuesday in connection with the death of Priscilla Adams, 32. He is sched- St.

PaulMan hurt in fire a at. raui man was burned on his face and hands after a broken work light ignited spilled gasoline at his business around noon Wednesday, according to the St. Paul Fire Department. The fire, at A A Auto Parts, 353 Larch caused an estimated $70,000 damage, a fire spokesman said. James Crosson 1611 Lafond was injured while trying to put but the flames.

He was treated for first- and second-degree burns at St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center and released. trosson's father, James said his son returned to his business today to to up for 1 1 MinneapolisNo Darville appeal planned 1 tN Luther Darville. who was found guilty last week of swindling $186,000 from the University of Minnesota, has no plans to appeal his conviction, his attorney said Wednesday. "I don't know what you could appeal on," said James Lawton, a St.

Paul attorney. Darville is expected to be sentenced Dec. 6 by Hennepin County District Judge Patrick Fitzgerald. The added that while he would not call the numbers inaccurate, they represent a "worst-case scenario." Scribner said that since both proposals will, according to district administrators, leave the system with a deficit, "We ought to compromise on something in the middle and then work to correct any problems that result" Gaines said 91 percent of teachers' salaries are paid out of the general fund, which has a balance of $9.8 million. "With the current board proposal, we could experience layoffs this spring," he told board members.

"If we accept the teachers' contract offer, the number of layoffs would be doubled." Gaines said that if the general fund is depleted, the district will have diffi ,3 5 years According to Mike Insco, a county prosecutor in Missouri who finally sent Hatcher to prison in 1984, that pattern of criminal suspect-turned-mental-patient-turned-escapee was repeated in several states when authorities tried to prosecute Hatcher. Insco got Hatcher on a first-degree murder charge for the death of an 11 -year-old girl. The place? St. Joseph in Missouri, not Minnesota. That coincidence of hometowns was chilling to Terry Ganey, whose just-published book detailing Hatcher's life and crimes is titled "St.

Joseph's Children." When he heard that Wetterling hailed from a town of the same name, Ganey said just sent shivers up my spine." He said he's certain that Wetterling's abductor is much like Hatcher, who grew up in rural poverty near St. Joseph, Mo. "It's a guy like him. It's got to be a guy like him," Ganey said, describing Hatcher as an unskilled itinerant. Hatcher's criminal life began with property offenses.

His first known attempt to snatch a child occurred when he was arrested for trying to abduct a newsboy at knifepoint in 1959 and was sent to the penitentiary, according to Ganey, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. While in prison, Hatcher was a prime suspect in the 1961 stabbing death of another inmate, but prison officials lacked conclusive evidence, Ganey said. Most of Hatcher's adult life was punctuated by child molestation charges. He often tricked children by posing as an officer or guard at such places as shopping malls.

Sometimes caught, he was adept at outwitting doctors who tried to determine his sanity, prosecutor Insco said. In the St Joseph case, Insco added, a clever doctor spied on Hatcher and found him behaving normally when he thought he was not being observed. That led to a 50-year prison term for the girl's dead. Hatcher then con Staff Photo by Charles Bjorgen Minneapolis arson investigators were trying to determine what caused a blaze that gutted Don's Leather Cleaning, 4308 E. Lake early Wednesday.

Nearly 50 firefighters got the fire under control shortly St. PaulLawyer regains right to practice One suspect in Wetterling M. raul lawyer Richard J. Chrysler, suspended from practice nine months ago for failing to file income tax returns on time, has been reinstated by the Minnesota Supreme Court. -Jle was reinstated after proving to the Office of Lawyers Professional Compiled from staff and news services 111 1 it.

reported, but damage was estimated leather-cleaning company will set up of Blaine, one of the owners. Perpich issues message for Thanksgiving Cor. Rudy Perpich issued this Thanksgiving Day message to the people of Minnesota: Minnesotans have much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving' holiday. Most of us are blessed with caring families, good health, decent jobs and enough food on our tables. But some of us aren't so fortunate this Thanksgiving Day.

Some Minnesota families may not be together, and others may be experiencing sickness, hunger or unemployment. So when you're celebrating with your loved ones today, be sure to take time to count your blessings and show your Minnesota spirit by helping those less fortunate in our state during this holiday season. Governor opens campaign off ice i Gov. Rudy Perpich has opened! a reelection campaign office and hired two prominent political consultants from Washington, D.C. Garin-Hart Strategic Research Group of Washington will conduct polls for the DFL governor's 1990 reelectibn campaign.

Peter Hart of that firm will direct the polling research. Raymond D. Strother Ltd. of Texas will handle media advertising. Hart and Strother worked 1986 reelection campaign.

The office is at 841 Grand AvvSt Paul. before 4:45 a.m. No injuries were at $200,000. The family wholesale in a new location, said Dart Poach ago fessed to another killing in St. Joseph ior wnicn another man already had spent five years behind bars.

Hatcher earned another 50-year sentence for first-degree murder in that case. In a twist on his earlier trip to the penitentiary, Hatcher was the victim in his last visit behind bars. His hanging was ruled a suicide, but Ganey said others believe he was killed by another inmate. Indeed, when Ganey appeared on a radio call-in show in Jefferson City, where the penitentiary is located, an inmate called to assert that Hatcher had been murdered. Fransway recently tipped off the Wetterling task force to Hatcher as a possible suspect.

But because Hatcher gave police a false name in the bus depot abduction, the task force originally searched for a man named Lawrence Milevec. But that alias was discarded when a Hennepin County deputy assigned to the task force sent fingerprints of "Milevec" to California, where they matched Hatcher's. The task force learned of his death from Missouri authorities this week, and Stearns County Sheriff Charles Grafft announced yesterday that Hatcher had been ruled out. "That's amazing. The guy's been dead five years and he's still causing trouble," author Ganey said yesterday.

Meanwhile, Grafft said the task force is "just plugging away" in re-examining all of its potential leads. case died A murderer and child molester who had been among the suspects in the Jacob Wetterling kidnap case died five years ago, officials confirmed Wednesday. Charles Ray Hatcher, who escaped from a Minnesota mental hospital 1 1 years ago, was found hanged in a Missouri penitentiary in 1984. Authorities say Hatcher is just one of hundreds of potential abductors whose whereabouts on Oct. 22, the day Jacob was abducted, are being scrutinized.

But he jumped to prominence last week when KSTP-TV singled him out as a promising lead, a move the FBI criticized as overplaying the development Hatcher illustrates the unsavory types the kidnap task force is sorting through in search of Jacob's abductor. He was a logical suspect in the abduction of the 11 -year-old boy from St. Joseph, Minn. For 25 years, Hatcher left a trail of death and child abduction from Minnesota to California. He told authorities he'd committed 16 murders, and at least five of those were confirmed.

One attempted murder took place in 1977 in a field not far from the Minneapolis bus depot. Posing as a police officer looking for runaways, Hatcher ordered a 12-year-old traveling through Minneapolis by bus to accompany him, then sexually assaulted and strangled him, leaving him for dead. But the boy lived and gave police a description that resulted in Hatcher's arrest. Peter Fransway, an Assistant Hennepin County attorney, said Hatcher then exhibited signs of catatonic behavior behavior that Fransway says he believes were feigned and was committed to the Minnesota Security Hospital at St Peter. Shortly afterward he walked away from a group of patients who were attending a movie outside the institution.

"A psychopath," Fransway believes. Thanksgiving What's open Government Federal offices and post offices are closed today and open Friday. State offices, Minneapolis city offices and Ramsey County offices are closed today and Friday. Hennepin County and St. Paul city offices are closed today and open Friday.

Normal Thursday recycling pickups in St. Paul are delayed until Friday. Schools Public schools and the University of Minnesota are closed today and Friday. Mail delivery There is no mail delivery today. Bu service Metropolitan Transit Commission buses are running on holiday schedules today and on regular schedules Friday.

Shopping Most stores are closed today and open Friday. Groceries Most supermarkets are closed today and open Friday. Most convenience stores are open today. Banks Banks are closed today and open Friday. Parking meters In Minneapolis, meters are not being enforced today or Friday, except in areas with special rush-hour regulations and in parks and along parkways; check individual meters.

In St. Paul, meters are not being enforced today, except in areas affected by special rush-hour and posted-time-zone regulations; check individual meters. Stock exchanges Stock exchanges are closed today and open Friday. Parades Minneapolis, "Annual Holiday Light-Up Night Procession" at 6 p.m. today led by Olympic skater Dorothy Hamill on the Nicollet Mall.

From 8 to 1 0 p.m. motorists may drive on the mall, normally closed to regular traffic. St. Paul, annual Thanksgiving parade will begin at 1 1:30 a.m. Friday in Rice Park, east on 5th St.

to Wabasha along Wabasha to 7th St. and circle the World Trade Center to the Cedar St. entrance at Town Square..