The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 11

3 urlittgt0n Deaths 2B Classified 4B I2) Saturday, March 16, 1985 Ristau Warns Against City's Tax Initiatives in this bill and the (city's) rate request which is now before the Public Service Board." By STEVE ROSENFELD Free Press Correspondent 'rz. MONTPELIER Administration Secre--tary Arthur Ristau told a House committee IFnday in no uncertain terms that the Kunin administration was opposed to Burlington's proposed city charter revisions. "Don't give up the prerogative that the General Assembly has to yield taxation," Ristau told the House Municipal Corporations and Election Committee, "If the state were to lose control over a legitimate state matter taxation we rcopld not establish fair rates thereafter," he Ristau said Burlington's overwhelming support for the proposed charter changes was expected and predictable. "Burlington voters would have been as enthusiastic about a referendum on the sun shining every day," he said. "I'm not saying it is irrelevant for Burlington voters to say what they have said but I would have been surprised if it had been otherwise." Turning to the specific revenue-raising initiatives, Ristau said Burlington would be the only municipality in the state to benefit from a locally imposed rooms-and-meals tax.

said. "There would always be the Burlington factor." Last week, Burlington residents overwhelmingly approved a city rooms-and-meals tax of 1.5 percent to raise money for education and a 0.5 percent property transfer tax for general city purposes. In addition to the two tax-raising measures, voters also approved provisions prohibiting higher winter electric rates without City Council approval. Residents also voted in favor of giving city officials a range of options for cushioning the effects of a recent citywide property reappraisal. "It doesn't work anywhere else not Barre, Waterbury, St Albans," he said.

"We are talking about extending a privilege that would not work in other communities." In contrast to other Vermont cities and towns, property tax and electric utility rates in the state's largest city are moderate, said Ristau, a former Barre City manager and public relations director at Green Mountain Power Corp. "I don't think Burlington's property tax rates are onerous nor are their electric rates," he said. "You ought to consider the relationship of the seasonal rate issue that is Last fall, the Burlington Electric Department asked the Public Service Board to adopt a two-tiered rate structure where rates for large general service users would jump an average of 52 percent while residential rates would rise by only 4 percent. The matter is pending before the board. "I think that what they are doing in Burlington is creative, but unreasonable for! the state," he said.

Turn to RISTAU, 2B Senate Actions Lauded seiwi i gKKtKttKm By LESLIE BROWN Free Press Capital Bureau MONTPELIER When the Legislature convened more than two months ago, the Senate was hailed as a younger, more lively and more progressive chamber, with an eye for action and issues rather Free Press Photo by TERRY JOHN than party strife and stalemates. An Air Force C-5A transport jet, the largest airplane in the world, is shown on the ground at Burlington International Airport Friday. World's Largest Plane 'Floats' In for Visit Now, with the I I I approach of the Vermont March 20 dead- line, by Legislature time bills must be passed from one chamber to the other, Senate Democratic leaders say they are proud of the chamber's accomplishments. Democrats control the Senate for the first time in state history. At a news conference Friday, President Pro Tempore Peter Welch, D-Windsor, distributed a list of legislation about to be voted out of committee, legislation approved by the Senate and legislation approved by committees.

"As far as I'm concerned, the Senate has done extremely well producing legislation and acting in a bipartisan way," Welch said. Senate Minority Leader Allen Turn to LEADERS, 2B By PEGGY GRODINSKY Free Press Staff Writer Tall as a six-story building, long as a football field, the C-5A Galaxy, the world's largest airplane, "floated" into Burlington International Airport Friday morning. The plane is large enough to carry six Vermont Transit buses. Or 48 Cadillacs or 106 Datsuns. It's so big that the Wright brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk could have taken off and landed inside its cargo section.

The military aircraft was on a 24-hour stopover to pick up 68 Vermont Air National Guardsmen and equipment on their way to Nevada for training exercises. It is the first time the plane has landed here, said Walter Houghton, Burlington International Airport manager. The plane will leave about 11:15 a.m. today, its crew said. 19 feet wide and 13 feet high only four crew members are required to fly it.

Both front and back ends of the airplane open so that tanks or other equipment can be driven into the plane when loading, and then driven off at unloading time. The Air Force owns 77 of the C-5As, valued at $100 million per plane, said Lt. Col. Jerry Sawicki, who piloted the plane on its flight to Burlington. He characterized it as the Rolls Royce of airplanes.

"It's a very easy, forgiving plane to fly," he said. Baccio pointed out that the plane has plenty of amenities despite its carrier function. Its flush toilet is a special feature, he said, explaining most military aircraft have a more primitive bucket and plastic bag system. But the galley is dearest to his heart. Cooking is Baccio's hobby, and he has baked cakes aboard the world's largest airplane.

"Of course, you have to compensate for the altitude," he warned. Onlookers were less interested in its special features than in its size. "People still can't figure out how we get it off the ground," Baccio said. Shirley Chevalier, a public relations person with the Burlington airport, watched the landing and pronounced it "amazing." "But I'm a pilot myself, and it doesn't matter how big or tiny, they all go up and down exactly the same way," she said. At least one onlooker disagreed.

"It just floated in," said an elderly woman who took the bus to the airport just to see the C-5A. "I wasn't even aware it was flying." For Master Sgt. Micky Baccio, a C-5A flight engineer for 10 years, Friday's flight from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware was no ordinary assignment. Baccio graduated from Burlington High School in 1967, and this was his first official trip home. "This is what I do, and this is the first time I've been home to show it off," Baccio said.

And show it off he did. "There is nothing in the military inventory that is air-transportable that we can't transport," he said as he gave a tour of the plane. He said it was designed in 1969 to carry oversize cargo for the military. The C-5A can transport three tanks or 10 helicopters and still have space for more than 80 passengers. But despite its size the cargo section alone is 121 feet long, Financial Reports Show Burns Big Spender in Mayoral Bid mittee called Citizens Committee for Open Government.

That brought that group's total contribution to Burns' campaign to $4,350. Another political action committee, the City Center Committee, had earlier given Burns $5,000. Patrick Robins of Shelburne, who owns a Burlington store, confirmed Friday that he had been among that group's contributors and said he believed insurance executive Luther Hackett also had contributed. Robins declined to name donors beyond that, saying the committees planned to comply with the legal requirement to disclose their contributors in July. Hackett could not be reached for comment Friday evening, nor could several other prominent area businessmen who sometimes contribute to political campaigns.

The report also shows that, two days before the election, Burns re-Turn to BURNS, 2B By DON MELVIN Free Press Staff Writer Burlington's three top mayoral candidates spent nearly $62,000 between them on the recent election campaign, about $40,000 less than was spent on the mayoral election two years ago. Independent Mayor Bernard Sanders and Democratic challenger Brian Burns each spent in the neighborhood of $25,000, while independent Diane Gallagher spent about $10,000, according to campaign finance reports filed with the city clerk's office Friday. Two years ago, Republican James Gilson spent about $35,000, While Sanders and Democrat Judith Stephany spent about $34,000 each. Counting the amount his campaign still owes, Burns led all spenders this year although he lagged behind Sanders in fund raising. The report showed Burns raised $21,465, paid out $23,753 and incurred debts of $3,000.

His total spending, the combination of expenditures and debts, exceeds $26,000. Sanders raised $24,428, paid out $24,384 and owes $555. His total spending is about $25,000. Gallagher raised $10,060, paid out $9,030 and owes $1,271. Her total spending tops $10,000.

One of Burns' expenditures was $2,000 to Bannon Research of Marsh-field, a firm that conducted a poll during the campaign. In early February, Burns had said he was not responsible for the poll, which contained a string of comments critical of Sanders. Burns had added, however, "I'm not going to say I'm not going to buy a piece of it." Burns was vacationing and could not be reached for comment Friday. The report also showed that Burns, during the final 10 days of the campaign, received $2,873 from the city Democratic Committee and $1,200 from a political action com 1 1 1 1 Ik -U Pair Arrested for Attack On Highgate Couple in '79 SIBLEY RIVERS alderman Joseph Milizia. The assault and robbery charges stem from new information obtained in recent months, said Detective Cpl.

Leo P. Blais and Northrup. Torino said she asked police to withhold the new information. Blais said Rivers and Sibley were arrested in Burlington shortly after Sibley left a secret inquest at Vermont District Court. They were picked up without incident near the Federal Building with help from Burlington police, Blais said.

Blais said a subsequent search of the couple's apartment at a Shelburne Road motel uncovered guns, marijuana and ammunition. The search warrant was obtained after police received information that Rivers allegedly violated his parole recently by carrying guns, Blais said. Torino credited state police with never giving up on the case. "They didn't want to let it die." The statute of limitations, the last time charges Turn to PAIR, 2B l'- By MIKE DONOGHUE Free Press Staff Writer Larry A. Rivers, 32, and Paula Sibley, 26, were arrested on assault and robbery charges Friday for the fiovember 1979 shooting of a High-gate woman and the brutal hammer attack on her husband, state police said.

Doris Lebeau was shot in the face end her husband, Alvin, was struck at least 12 times with a hammer, half of the blows being inflicted with the claw end, Detective Cpl. William Northrup said. Mrs. Lebeau, now 65, said Friday they never fully recovered from their injuries. Her 64-year-old husband, who suffered a crushed skull and torn ear, is on total disability, she said.

She said she remains under a doctor's care and still has pellets in her. eye and face that cannot be removed. Rivers, who has an extensive criminal record, will be charged Monday with being a habitual offender, Franklin County State's Attorney Free Press Photo by IRENE FERTIK Give Us a Lift Helen V. Torino said. That charge carries a possible sentence of life in prison.

Rivers was an escapee from a New Hampshire drug treatment center when the Lebeaus were attacked Nov. 12, 1979, Northrup said. Rivers also remains under investigation in the September 1976 fatal shooting of David M. Milizia, 19, in Milton, Torino said. Rivers "has always been a prime suspect in Milizia," Torino said.

Chittenden County State's Attorney Kevin G. Bradley refused to talk about the murder investigation. Milizia was the son of former Burlington Mike Swift of Milford, and Craig Johnson of Westwood, N.J., University of Vermont sophomores, beg a ride as they start Spring Break, wearing socks on their hands in the unexpectedly chilly weather Friday. After celebrating St. Patrick's Day in New York City, they plan to return to Burlington for the rest of the vacation, which ends March 25..