Statesman Journal from Salem, Oregon • Page 1

Today's chuckle Penny candy never really disappeared they just put "wlS-cent wrappers. The weather. Cloudy today with chance of light rain. High in the mid 50s; low tonight, 45. (Complott report on pogt 2.) Mat FOUNDED 1651 Sections 40 Pages 20 Cents Singh) Copy City Edition Salem, Oregon, Thursday, November 10, 1977 Vol.

127 No. 160 Vote leaves future of Salem bus service in air News Digest Mate telephone call from a former Salem resident who recently moved to Anchorage, Alaska. The caller, Bruce Phelps, wanted to know the results of the street bond measure. Phelps, as senior transportation planner with the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments, had watched over two years of local and federal paperwork to make sure the multi-million dollar federal highway grant was approved. Mayor Aldrich said Wednesday that Phelps deserved most of the credit for making sure the money came to Salem.

(Related story, Page 2A.) ask voters for money to pay for the present 14 route, 12 hour-a-day service or try for expanded service. Mayor Kent Aldrich said he expects efforts to maintain the present level of bus service will have a broad range of support. Local voters made it clear Tuesday, the mayor said, they do not want a mass transit district. He said two rejections of the same concept in as many years makes that poiryt. Council President Ellen Lowe said one option for providing the services of a mass transit district without the district By LANCE DICKIE Oregon Statesman Reporter Defeat of a proposed mass transit district by Salem area voters has city officials looking to next spring and what efforts will be needed to protect existing bus service.

Next July a two-year local property tax measure that provides the Cheeriot bus system with $416,000 a year expires and if it goes, service could be cut by two-thirds, according to Alderman Peter Courtney. The North Salem alderman said the next decision to be made is whether to is financing transportation programs with an income tax. She said an income tax could be levied on Salem residents and suburban residents who work in the city. Voters rejected an income tax to support buses two years ago. Jerry Williams, who helped direct an anti-transit district campaign, said Tuesday night an income tax would be the most equitable means of paying for new programs and expanded service.

Williams and others feared an employer payroll tax would be used to finance the transit district. Williams said he could support an income tax for public transportation if he felt expanded service was needed. He said he does not. Courtney, who said he was still bleeding Wednesday over the defeat of the district, agreed with the mayor that voters have eliminated a transit district in Salem's future for years ahead. Salem voters handily approved a $5 million street improvement bond measure that will be parlayed into $32.5 million with the help of a $27 million federal highway grant.

Early Wednesday morning The Oregon Statesman received a long-distance Hard to gauge Political strategists are finding it hard to gauge the mood of American voters from the results of Tuesday's elections; Page 5A. Carter poll A big majority of voters in three Democratically controlled cities feel Carter is doing a poor job for urban America Page 6D. Oregon results PORTLAND Final results of Oregon's election Tuesday confirm that voters approved bond sales for irrigation projects and rejected a proposed bond issue for develop Super-department New Marion County department created sonnel, management analysis and safety- They have been headed up respectively by Benton Smith, Jerry Conner, Bob Kosta, Eric Carlson, Lou McNicoll and Randy Franke, each of whom reported directly to the board. Each of the affected officials and each of the commissioners pronounced himself satisfied with the new arrangement, under which the board will set policy and leave day to day administration to Brauner. Board Chairman Harry Carson, who some credit with being a co-initiator of the idea, said, "I've fought hard for this.

I'm extremely heartened." McNicoll, who has used his management analyst position to push county government modernization for years, said, "It will be a joy and a pleasure to work with Hal in the long and tedious battle against management by crisis." Five-term Commissioner Pat spreads toxic gas By STEVE BAGWELL Oregon Statesman Reporter Six key Marion County departments were consolidated into a centralized Management Services Department Wednesday by a unanimous board of commissioners. County Executive Officer Hal Brauner, the man who recommended the reorganization, was placed in command. Brauner won a mandate to come up with a management overhaul plan and the promise of more "line authority" than his predecessor had when he was hired Oct. 3. He termed the creation of the new department "only the first step, not the final answer" in a drive to make county government more efficient.

Downgraded to the status of divisions were the departments of purchasing and property management, emergency services and veterans affairs, auditing, per Derailment PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP)' Poisonous ammonia gas killed one man, critically injured his wife and two children, and sent at least 1,000 people scurrying from their homes Wednesday night. The gas came from two of the 25 Louisville Nashville railway cars that derailed just outside Pensacola's city limits. Eight of the cars carried ammonia and two ruptured, spewing the toxic chemical into the air. Nearby was the home of the man who died, John Thorshov, 38, a doctor.

A hospital spokesman said Thorshov's wife Lloyda, 38, and their 4-year-old daughter. if That's a PORTLAND Former President Gerald Ford pats the head of Sam, a golden retriever and father of one of the family dogs, Misty. The dog's owner, Jay Walker, is at left. Ford was in Portland Wednesday night for a press conference and fund-raiser dinner. Ford says Carter yet to get 'act together' ment of non-nuclear energy-generation; Page 6A.

Diets tied to deaths WASHINGTON Government officials blame currently popular liquid protein diets for the heart attack deaths of at least 10 women; Page2B. Not so super Things don't seem so super to leaders of the supermarket industry these days. Increasing numbers of Americans are dining out, and big changes for food stores may be on the way; Page SB. Welfare reform Oregon gives its views on President Carter's proposed welfare reform measure in a Congressional hearing held at the Capitol in Salem; Page 1C. Vikings to state Bend High School captures first place in the District 8 gymnastics meet, but North Salem, by virtue of a second-place finish earns a berth in the state tournament, while defending district champion South Salem finishes third; Page ID.

Grain purchase NEW YORK The Soviet Union plans to purchase substantial amounts of U.S. grain according to an American businessman just returned from a trip to the U.S.S.R.; Page 7D. Midwest blizzard With winds gusting up to 80 miles an hour and more than nine inches of snow falling, an early blizzard whistles through Iowa, Minnesota, the Dakotas and Nebraska, stranding hundreds of motorists and immobilizing even some snow plows; Page 3A. School costs Salem School Board will discuss the higher cost per student of Sprague High School as compared to the other three high schools; Page 9A. Inside Ann IB Births 2A Classified 5-1 1C Comics 6B Editorial 6D Market, Business 5D 8B Panorama I-4B Public Notices 4.5C SOS IB Stars Today 3B 6B STOCKS: Dow Jones up 2.10 to 818.43; Page 5D.

WORLD IN BRIEF: Page7D. RECORDS: Marion County, Page 8A; Polk County, Page I2C; Yamhill County, Page 8B. Miss your paper? We hope not. But if you usually receive your Oregon Statesman from a newspaper carrier and it is not delivered by 1:30 a.m., please call us before 1:30 a.m. 399-6622 McCarthy, who said it shocks him to see how county government has grown during his years in office, said, "We've been a little slow in somewhat conservative.

That's our philosophy." "That makes it all the more important for us to respond now. That was our intent when we brought Hal on board." Auditor Bob Kosta said, "I look forward to it. It's long overdue." Brauner said he developed the reorganization plan after meeting individually with each of the county's department heads, elected as well as appointed, to discuss duties, department needs and recommendations for improvement. He said it was everyone's opinion that the county needed to establish a centralized management services system. Brauner said the next step will be the compilation of a list of management services that either are or should be provid- (See STAFF, Page 4A.) As the ammonia spread, police hustled from door to door to warn residents away from the neighborhood.

Radio stations carried word of the danger. Evacuees were taken to the Bayview Community Center, the Army Reserve Armory and the Ferry Pass United Methodist Church. Officials said they would probably have to spend the night. Sadat willing to visit Israel to talk peace CAIRO (AP) President Anwar Sadat said Wednesday he is ready to lay aside procedural issues and reconvene Middle East talks in Geneva even go to Israel if that is required to achieve peace. "Israel would be astonished when they hear me say this.

But I say it, I am ready to even go to their home, to their Knesset (parliament) and discuss peace with them if need be," Sadat said in an emotional 2-hour speech to the People's Assembly, Egypt's parliament. "The road to Geneva is open" he said. "There is no time to lose. I am ready to go to the end of the earth to prevent any one of my soldiers from being injured." There was sustained applause from assembly deputies when Sadat said he would even travel to Israel to end the 30-year Arab-Israeli conflict. Sadat accused Israel of trying to block peace talks by arguing over fine points of procedure.

"This is what Israel wants to avoid by attempts to play on procedural aspects by adding a word or half a word or statements every now and then and trying to provoke the Arabs as they did in the past so that we breakdown and become hysterical." Geneva peace talks are currently bogged down over the issue of how the Palestinians should be represented. the council was not interested. Moore and Courtney both share the same fear that a convention-community center may be lost in the downtown area without action by the city, so the North Salem alderman will be raising the issue before the council next week. Recent efforts by private developers to construct a convention center have een lead by Francis Smith. His efforts to find financial backing for a convention facility adjacent to a planned hotel in the Pringle Creek urban renewal area have failed over the past few years.

PORTLAND (AP) Former President Gerald Ford, sidestepping questions about his own political future, said Wednesday night the real puzzler for 1980 is who the Democratic nominee will be. "The Republicans have a lot of strong candidates," Ford told a news conference preceeding a GOP fundraiser at the Portland Hilton. "Really the more interesting aspect of 1980 is who the Democratic nominee is going to be." Ford, who stopped overnight in Portland on his way to his Palm Springs, home from a stay at his condominium in Vail, went on to criticize the domestic and foreign policies of the the man who defeated him for the presidency a year ago. "A lot of people say their (the Carter administration's) economic plan is in shambles, their energy plan is crumbling and their foreign policy is zigzagging all over the place," Ford said. "I think those are valid statements." "They've got to get their act together," he said.

"So far they've submitted a great deal of proposals but they've yet to show much substance." However, Ford said he agreed with President Carter on the need for the Panama Canal treaty and the U.S. Jus Daisy, and 16-month-old son, Gangee, were in critical condition. Three hospitals reported treating 16 persons, most for respiratory difficulties. The gas spread into Pensacola and across a two-mile stretch of Escambia Bay into Santa Rosa County. "We've got 500 people evacuated in Escambia County and we've got 500 evacuated in Santa Rosa County," said Bob Smith, area coordinator of the Florida Division of Disaster Preparedness.

Earlier, police had estimated that up to 5,000 people would be evacuated. 5v i Amciaitd Pre photo Moore said the city should seriously consider hiring a consultant to study Salem's convention potential. "I'm convinced there is a good market here," the city manager said. "If indeed there is a market and it is not being filled by the private sector or a danger of the private sector filling it outside the city, the city needs to step in it needs to be a catalyst," Moore said. Alderman Peter Courtney had asked the Salem City Council last summer to investigate what part the city could play in developing a convention center, but Suleiman photo by David Weintraub good dog tice Department's handling of the Richard Helms case.

Helms was fined $2,000 and placed on probation last week for refusing to tell a Senate committee hearing all he knew about covert U.S. efforts to influence an election in Chile. He could have been prosecuted on the more serious charge of perjury. "The handling of the Helms case was a very difficult decision for the President and the attorney general," Ford said. "I think if you consider all the factors involved, it was the proper course to follow." Ford spoke strongly in favor of the Panama Canal treaty.

"If the treaty is ratified," he said, "U.S. foreign policy will be greatly strengthened with 26 countries in the Western Hemisphere that have 14 million people. If it isn't ratified, you could write several scenarios, none of which are good for the United States." Later, the former president told about 800 persons who attended a $50 per person GOP fund-raiser that "I am not here to write the obituary of the Republican Party." But, he said, the party must try to attract laborers, minorities and young people into its ranks, now estimated at 20 per cent of the registered ek'ctorate. along Salem's riverfront. The city urban renewal department already owns property along the river from State to Marion streets.

Mayor Kent Aldrich said Wednesday he too would love to see the riverfront area developed, but he said that area presents some tough problems to deal with such as railroad tracks and the oroad expanse of Front Street NE, Aldrich said he has heard that sites near Oregon State Fairgrounds might be a good convention location because it could draw on the resources the fairgrounds offer. Chivalry lives in Levittown LEVITTOWN, N.Y. He might dentified man. Levittown wasn't the not have been Sir Walter Raleigh, but only place in the soggy East to be in-then a cloak wouldn't have done undated by water as snow and rain much good anyway on this flooded storms swept much of the Midwest street. And the stranded woman was and East.

(Details, Page 3A.) very glad to get the lift from an uni- City action suggested to spur convention facility The apparent inability of private developers to put a convention center in downtown Saiem may mean the city will have to take an active financial role to get the job done, City Manager Robert Moore said Wednesday. "My major concern is we would lose having a major convention-community facility in the core area," Moore said. "That's my concern." The city manager said that without city action developers may look outside the downtown area or outside the city for a place to site a convention center and major hotel. "It would appear the Francis Smith project is really not going anywhere," Moore said Wednesday. The city manager said the assistance available through the urban renewal process was either not enough or not enough with Smith as developer.

Most recently Smith approached the city with the idea of putting a convention facility in Pringle Creek Park. Moore said the scale of what Smith had in mind would not be appropirate for that area. Moore said he would like to see a convention-community center development 1 i 1 1.