The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 1

IS Iras GANNETT NEWSPAPER Uyat Mit Quoted 147th Year Serving Vermont 28 Pages, 20c No. 55 Wednesday, March 5, 1975 mmm Bii( 5' 1 Voter Turnout Is Light For Town Meeting Day (III Board of Aldermen by a seven-seat margin. In Ward 4, however, Frank Dion, a former Republican alderman, defeated James McEnrue by six votes. Dion had 1,109 to McEnrue's 1,103 votes. In Winooski, Donald Brunelle, former council president, handily won a three-say contest for mayor, defeating his closest opponent, Elmer Harmon, 807-496.

Former Councilman Nicodemus McCollum could win only 194 votes, running a poor third in his comeback attempt. In the race for the city's two council seats, Felix Bissonnette had 695 votes while Edward Matte had 694. Michael Blow was the loser with 692 votes. Blow may ask for a recount. About 43 per cent of the city's voters turned out for the election and piled up large margins against an appropriation for the Winooski Valley Park District and a school hot lunch program.

The vote against the park district money was 807-434. The hot lunch proposal was soundly defeated, Colchester voters, meeting Monday night and into Tuesday morning, shot down the selectmen's proposed budget and sent town officials back to the drawing board to set up another budget. Late in the session, John Carleton's motion to set the town tax rate at the current $1.55 was ruled illegal by Moderator Howard Smith. Town Clerk Russell Smith told the taxpayers they could not set the tax rate at the meeting. With power rates a significant issue in state politics, four communities voted for a state takeover of public utilities in a Liberty Union opinion poll while another turned down the idea and a sixth passed an amended version which called for lower rates and asked state officials to work toward that end.

Voters in Bennington gave the proposal a thumping approval. In Middlebury, the vote was 865-348 in favor while Hinesburg voters sanctioned the plan 271-199 and in Winooski it was approved 914409. West Haven voters turned it down while those in Benson called on Gov. Salmon, the legislature and the public service Board to take any administrative steps possible to lower rates. (Continued on Page 2) eW (rs K'i H.

It I Ford Compromises On Energy Program Typical of the action around Vermont on Town Meeting Day Tuesday, William VanSteamburg, carrying Ingrid, 1, presents his ballot to Milton Constable Herbert A. Hollenbeck. (Free Press photo by Stuart Perry) Peter Lorenz By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS President Ford deferred the final $2 of his $3 oil tariff Tuesday and agreed to compromise with Democrats on an energy plan. But any compromise is still likely to mean higher gasoline prices. Ford, while offering conciliation, also vetoed a bill that would have suspended his right to impose the tariffs for 90 days.

The House scheduled an override vote on the veto Thursday, but Senate Democrats indefinitely delayed a similar vote and agreed to send any House-passed measure to committee rather than the Senate floor. y- The compromise Ford suggested is expected to be between his energy plan, which with the $3 in tariffs would have raised gas prices by 10 to 15 cents a gallon, and a plan by House Ways and Means Committee Democrats, which would raise federal taxes on gas 40 cents by 1979, though half that would be rebated in various ways. The Senate Finance Committee, at the same time, agreed to a compromise aimed at completing Senate action on a tax cut by March 21, with the dropping of the amendment to kill the oil depletion allowance. In Detroit, meanwhile, General Motors reported monthly sales above the previous year's levels for the first time in 17 months, though sales last February were already depressed by the fuel shortage. Chrysler Corp.

By LEO O'CONNOR Light turnouts were reported throughout the state Tuesday as voters went through the ritual of Town Meeting Day, electing officers, setting their budgets and deciding a number of controversial issues. Results of spending proposals were mixed, with some cities and towns approving generous bond issues while others turned them down. Selectmen in Colchester, for instance, were sent back to the drawing board with their $1.1 million budget when voters balked Monday night at the fiscal proposal. Efforts are being made in the town to hold the tax rate to the current $1.55 level. Despite pleasant weather with but a wintry nip in the air, only 25 per cent of the voters in Burlington, the state's largest city, turned out to ballot on a number of items.

They approved a school bond issue for upgrading Lyman C. Hunt Junior High School, health and safety improvements in other schools and a storage-maintenance center for the district. The vote was for the bond issue. But city officials were openly disappointed by their failure to win the necessary two-thirds majority for a $8.5 million bond issue to enable the Burlington Electric Department to purchase stock in four out-of-state power plants, including two nuclear facilities. The vote for the project represented about a 62 per cent majority.

Voters also turned down a $l-million city bond proposal by a vote of 2,893 to 2,865. Democratic Mayor Gordon Paquette easily won reelection to a third term, outdistancing his Liberty Union opponent, Darcy Troville, by nearly a four-to-one margin. Paquette, who ran without Republican opposition, had 5,193 votes while Troville got 1,453. Democrats retained control of the city's At a Glance Highlights of Tuesday's town meetings and city elections MAYORS Gordon Paquette reelected in Burlington, Donald Brunelle elected in Winooski. SCHOOLS Bond issues approved in Burlington, rejected in Montpelier and Champlain Valley Union District.

OTHER BONDS electric and municipal bonds rejected in Burlington, municipal bonds rejected in Montpelier. DOG RACING Georgia voters OK pari-mutuel track, and promoters say they'll proceed with plans. TAX STABILIZATION New plan OK'd by Middlebury. UTILITIES Straw vote on public acquisition of electric companies gets mixed reception in six communities. Results, town-by-town and city-by-city, on Pages 10 15.

0 1 I ii ii i-T I 1 ft pv a HUSH 1 BERLIN (API, Terrorist kidnapers freed political leader Peter Lorenz unharmed early Wednesday after five jailed anarchists were flown from West Germany to South Yemen where they were given sanctuary. A police spokesman said the 52-year-old Lorenz, who had been held for six days under death threat, telephoned his wife, Marianne, to tell her he had been released unharmed. He said Lorenz called from a booth in the midtown district of Wilmersdorf, not far from where his abandoned limousine was found after his abduction Thursday. The victim's brother-in-law, Hans-Joachim Boehm. who was contacted at Lorenz' Christian Democrat party headquarters where a round-the-clock vigil had been maintained, said: "Everything is okay.

He called from a 'Feuding's Fun' and American Motors reported February sales still lagging below last year's level. Stock prices were steeply up most of the day, in anticipation of Ford's move and the possibility of lower foreign oil prices. Near the close, profit-taking cut the gain, but the market's upward trend held and the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 757.74, up 4.61. At one point the Dow industrial average was up almost 16 points. Volume was a near record 34.14 million shares, and gainers outnumbered losers 7 to 508 on the New York Stock Exchange.

In suggesting a compromise, Ford said he was deferring tariff hikes for 60 days to give Congress reasonable time to work on energy and tax programs. He said he expected an energy compromise by May and a "simple but substantial tax cut to revive our economy and provide more jobs" by the end of March. The Senate's Finance Committee said its compromise would eliminate the controversial amendment on the depletion allowance from the House-passed $21.3 billion tax cut bill, with agreement that the Senate would consider repeal of the allowance by July. Also Tuesday, House Democrats announced they will try to push through Congress this month a $5.9 billion plan to create up to two million jobs by funding of previously authorized programs. A )J Victory's Unharmed driven awayrfrom the house minutes after midnight and one police source she had received the call from her husband at 12:01 a.m.

His release confirmed police belief that Lorenz was held at a hideout in this sprawling city of 2.2 million. They used Berlin television to advise the kidnapers that their ransom demands were met when the five anarchists arrived in Aden. South Yemen, and were given asylum there. Observers noted it was unlikely Lorens could have been spirited out of the divided city. It is surrounded by East Germany and all exits are guarded either by allied or East German patrols.

Lorenz is over 6 feet tall and weighs more than 200 pounds, and it would have been difficult to conceal him in an automobile. 1 Vf i kJ' 1 TV Speak Their Minds Ur'd Wi of the Peope Is Released telephone kiosk and Mrs. Lorenz is on her way to meet him." "A heavy stone has fallen from our hearts," said Heinrich Lummer, a political aide to Lorenz, who is the party's Berlin chairman. Lorenz won an assembly seat in elections Sunday while in captivity and would have become mayor if his party had won control of the assembly. First word of Lorenz' release was announced by Interior Minister Kurt Neubauer to waiting newsmen at City Hall.

Lorenz' personal physician, who was also at the hall, left immediately for police headquarters. Scores of persons had gathered at the Lorenz home in a quiet suburb near Grunewald Forest as Mrs. Lorenz and the couple's two sons anxiously awaited word. Mrs. Lorenz was Townfolk For thousands of Vermonters living in larger towns and cities, Town Meeting Day has taken on modern trappings: voting machines, campaigning on party lines, nighttime meetings for the convenience of workers in office and industrial jobs.

But in some small towns, the gathering of voters at mid-morning in a single small room continues little changed from decades past. Victory (population 42) is such a community. on the town roads. All in all, a most satisfying town meeting, most agreed. "We did the business, but feuding's half the fun," one voter remarked.

The days when logging and sawmills brought a thriving population to Victory, 14 winding miles northeast of St. Johnsbury. in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, are over. Now most of Victory is a wilderness of fir and birch. Lumber companies own most of the land and the majority of the population is either collecting Social Security or unemployed.

Most young people leave Victory as soon as they are old enough, town residents say. Twenty-six of the town's 38 registered voters came through the snow to South Victory's school on Town Meeting Day to transact the community's business. The flag in the school room has 48 stars: a faded portrait of George Washington stares down from the wall; and. on an old globe hanging from the ceiling, most of Africa still belongs to Britain and France. The voters sat on hard benches around the old school room not used (or education in years, because the town's school-age population is down to three.

As the debate went on for nearly two hours. Shirley Lund occasionally opened the door ol the old Sam Daniels wood stove in one comet of the room to throw in another log. The sweet (Continued on Page 53) fsm ByCANDACEPAGE VICTORY Before voters left the South Victory school Tuesday, the memory of feuds 50 years old hung in the air. and they had accused each other of public drunkenness, thievery, and incompetence in public office. Young, self-proclaimed "reformers" in the town were claiming victory while defeated forces warned darkly of incompetence on the new Board of Selectmen.

Along the way. Victory's voters had managed to choose a new selectman, set the town tax rate at $2.50. and vote to spend all their revenue-sharing money on sanding and clearing brush Good Morning! Today will be partly sunny, milder. (Details, map, Page 2) UVM Wins, 7-5 The Vermont hockey team rallied with five goals in the final period to edge Providence, 7-5, and gain the semifinals of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference hockey tournament. (Page 20) Today's Index.

Amusements Classified Comics Editorials Financial Landers Lifestyles Obituaries Sports News? Coll the Free Press 863-3441 18 23 23 16 19 17 13 20 'til 'THE FLAG in the school room has 48 stars; a faded portrait of George Washington stares down from the wall; and. on an old globe hanging from the ceiling, most of Africa still belongs to Britain and France. The voters sat on hard benches around the old school room not used for education in years, because the town's school-age population is down to (Free Press Photo by James Wilson) A.