Iowa City Press-Citizen from Iowa City, Iowa • Page 1

IOWA CITY S-UTIZEN Friday, January 15, 1982 A Gannett Newspaper 25 cents or faopd filial gh(o(o 1 Snow drifts probably will be deeper this weekend, because snow piled along the side of the roads this week will blow back onto the road, Gode said. Road crews were working as long as they could today to widen paths and knock down drifts, he said. The Weather Service has termed situation this weekend "dangerous," and said "persons should seriously consider whether travel or outside activity is necessary." In a special weather statement issued at 9:30 this morning, the Weather Service said "non-essential businesses" may want to consider closing early today to allow employees extra time to get home. The Weather Service also said driving conditions might beconie impossible in some areas. Schools in the Iowa City, Solon, Clear Creek, West Branch, Williamsburg, Prairie, Lone Tree and Highland districts closed early today.

All area sporting events were canceled for tonight and Saturday, except Saturday's schedule game between Regiha High's boys basketball team and Benton Community High School in Van Home. A decision whether to play that game will be made Saturday, school officials said. Press-CitizenJohn Riley Henry Rios, who drives a snowplow for Iowa who's worked for the city for nearly 34 years, City, was one of many folks getting ready today said last Saturday's storm was the worst he's for this weekend's storm. His truck was being seen in 30 years. And, he says, he had the loaded with sand and salt.

The 65-year-old Rios, frostbitten ears to prove it. Wholesale Dintf orfle slows By LYLE MULLER Preia-Cltlien Reporter The warning from Johnson County Defense Director Patrick McCarney was simple as another winter storm bore down on Iowa City today: put, and don't fight the elements." The National Weather Service predicted another weekend like the last one high winds and near-record low temperatures for the weekend. Many schools planned to close early and many weekend events were canceled. McCarney and other officials warned persons to stock up on food and fuel, and to stay home during the storm. The National Weather Service today issued a winter storm warning for this afternoon and tonight.

The storm, approaching from the northwest, was expected to arrive in the, Iowa' City-Cedar Rapids area be-' tween 3 and 4 p.m. 'Northwest winds from 20 to 40 mph Were predicted to cause near-blizzard conditions, the Weather Service said. Lows tonight were predicted, to be between 20 and 25 degrees below zero. Coupled with the strong winds, Saturday delivery Subscribers should receive Saturday's Press-Citizen by 8 a.m. If you don't, please call our circulation department at 337-.

3181. Their phones are open 10 a.m. Other Press-Citizen offices are closed until 8 a.m. Monday. 'J Weather Winter storm warning tonight.

Rapidly falling tem-; peratures and strong northwest winds causing consid By MARLENE J. PERRIN Preu-CiUzen Reporter WASHINGTON, Iowa A religious cult near Kalona drove Joseph Knott temporarily insane, the defense attorney argued Thursday during Knott's Washington County trial for burglary. The religious group, known variously as Shiloh, Church of the Ljying Word and The Walk, "made him (Knott) something he wasn't before," Richard Bordwell said during his opening statement for the defense. "This was a slow, slow process, a clever process of mind con-troL Statistically, there is a higher percentage of brainwashing in cults than in prisoner of war camps." A member of Shiloh, John Bender of Kalona, testified that Knott thought Shiloh was "the ideal environment for something like Jonestown to happen or something of a similar drastic nature." More than 900 followers of the Rev. Jim Jones justed 0.3 percent, down from 0.5 percent in November and 0.6 percent in October.

But it was ahead of the 0.1 percent of September and 0.2 percent of August, the government said. If December's rate held for 12 straight months, the increase would be a seasonally 'adjusted 3.1 percent, department officials said. Food prices in December picked up slightly, advancing 0.1 percent after falling in the three previous months, the report said. Prices for fresh and dried vegetables shot up nearly 22 percent, reversing sharp declines registered in the three previous months, it said. Beef and veal prices were unchanged, but prices declined for pork, eggs, processed poultry and milled riqe.

Increases were recorded for refined sugar and soft drinks. the Weather Service said, wind chill factors will plunge to 60 to 80 below tonight. Partly cloudy skies and bitter cold were forecast for Saturday, with highs from 10 to 15 below. Johnson County Red Cross officials said they are preparing to aid stranded motorists or persons without heat or food in Iowa City and Coralville. Emergency calls can be made to the Iowa City Police Department at 356-5275 or the Red Cross at 337-2119, officials said.

McCarney said if there is an emergency in rural areas, where drifts could again strand residents, call the Sheriff's Department at 338-7841. Sheriff's officials will call members of the Moonlighters Snowmobile Club on call to respond to emergencies where no other vehicle can go weekend, he said. Johnson County Engineer O.J. Gode said today helicopters will also be used, if possible, to handle emergencies. "If it blows like it did last Sunday, we would expect every road in the county to be closed again," Gode said.

How long roads are closed depends on the direction of' the wind and how long it blows, belaid. Roads will not be plowed until the drifting stops, Gode said. erable blowing and drifting snow with near blizzard conditions and bitter cold tonight. Low 20 to 25 below. Partly cloudy and continued bitterly cold Saturday.

High 10 to 15 below. Page 3A. Bulletin 'Business 5A Comics, TV I.7B Dear Abby Deaths 6B( Sports 1B-4B died in a mass suicide in 1978 at Jonestown, Guyana, Knott, 34, of Oakdale, is charged with first-degree burglary in connection with a fire that burned the home, of his ex-wife, Wanda Kay, in Kalona on Aug. 29. A charge of first-degree arson was dismissed by Washington County District Court Judge Robert Bates because the state failed to file a timely indictment.

Knott has plead-, led innocent on grounds of temporary insanity. Bordwell said the "turning point" in Knott's life was "prayers" by church members for the death of the wife of John Robert Stevens, the church's leader, at Stevens' suggestion. "He saw this happen and began to question (the church)," Bordwell said, i Bender testified that members were told that Martha Stevens was "possessed with a spirit against the thing that God was doing in the church. We were just praying that the spirit be destroyed." However, he Board John Purvis, the manager of safety investigations, his assistant William Shumate, and veteran test pilot Tom Twiggs. If the company's plane crash detectives and federal investigators are successful, they may find the answers to some of these second-day questions surrounding the 78-fatality disaster and why the big jet plowed into Washington's busiest commuter bridge shortly after leaving the runway.

Why, according to eyewitness reports, was the drag-producing landing gear still down at a time when the pilot needed all the air speed he could get? ures show. In explaining the easing of the wholesale inflation rate last year, the department said the slowdown was across the board. "Energy prices advanced rapidly early in 1981 but then registered much smaller increases or moderate declines during the rest of the year," the department said. Energy prices soared 14.3 percent last year, under the 27.8 percent surge in 1980. "Consumer food prices rose only 1.5 percent in 1981, following a 7.5 percent advance during the previous year," the department said.

The index for consumer goods other than food and energy also slowed last year, rising 6.9 percent rather than the 10.4 percent in 1980, the department said. In December, the wholesale inflation rate went up a seasonally ad Finally, Bordwell said, the group advised Mrs. Knott to leave her husband. "They told her she could stay in the Walk, save herself and her children and dump Joe. -He was an evil influence oh them." The couple's divorce was final in July.

The burning of Mrs. Knott's house followed Knott's arrival at the home to pick up the children for a weekend at Adventureland, Bordwell said. "But they were gone." Mrs. Knott previously testified that she and the children spent the day and night at an Iowa City motel. Bender, an elder in the church, testified that the Knotts' marital problems were "common knowledge within the circle" of Shiloh.

"He was concerned about the relationship and the fact that she spent more and more time away from him to the neglect of her duties at home." Bender also said Knott suspected his wife might be intimately involved with some of the other men at 7 increase reported inK'81 WASHINGTON (AP) Inflation at the wholesale level increased 7 percent last year, marking' the slowest rise in that measure since 1977, the government reported today. Analysts attributed the slowdown to abundant supplies of food, the worldwide glut of oil and the recession. The 1981 rate as measured by the Labor Department's Producer Price Index for finished goods was well below the 11.8 percent in 1980 and 12.8 percent in 1979. The index rose 6.9 percent in 1977 and 3.7 percent, in 1976, department fig On page 2A: The Church of the Living Word, also known as The Walk or Shiloh, is considered a cult by pychologists, sociologists and religious researchers, an expert on cults testified today. added that he thought some members thought the prayers were for Martha's death.

Martha and John Robert Stevens, natives of Washington, were divorced several years ago in California. Stevens later married his secretary, i Bordwell said Knott "began to be irritating" to the religious group. "He was a thorn in their side in California, so they sent him to Iowa to get rid of him. "But he kept asking questions. He wasn't toeing the line that members were expected to toe.

They did not have his complete, undivided Energy prices climbed 0.7 percent last month, a little under the 0.9 percent gain of November, the re- port said. Gasoline prices were down but home heating oil prices rose as did natural gas costs. Prices for all other consumer goods were unchanged in December after an 0.8 percent pickup in the previous month, the department said. Capital equipment prices rose 0.6 percent, compared with a 0.8 percent advance in November. All the increases are adjusted for seasonal variations.

In all, the unadjusted producer price index stood at 275.3 in December, meaning that goods costing $10 at wholesale in 1967 would have cost $27.53 last month. During a visit by John Robert Stevens shortly after Knott arrived from California, Bender testified, Stevens asked him to be a "father" to Knott. Knott lived at Shiloh for lVfe to two years after his arrival from California four or five years ago, Bender said. Knott had "no specific problems" at Shiloh, Bender said, "aside from his inherited natural make-up. He was impulsive, a little too free to talk and express his opinions.

This created a problem for some people. "They would like everybody to have a sweet and agreeable temperament, but Joe didn't fit in with that. "As time went on, and more things began to happen, he had a tendency to take the negative view that drew him aside more and more away from the functioning of the church." Bender said Knott often expressed fear of what might happen at Shiloh. Please turn to page 2A falcame 0 no one knows yet how fast he was going. The reports of a shudder classic symptom of a midair stallout tend to lead investigators toward a first look at the possibility the plane, especially the wings, may have iced up.

Washington National, which has to close down to plow its sole prime runway, did so early in Wednesday afternoon's storm for 73 minutes. When it reopened, Flight 90 remained on the ground, going through at least two de-icing sprays before approaching the runway start. Contrary to early reports, Flight 90 was not the first plane off after Na- Please turn to page 3A Shiloh leaders, in marital controversies, tended to focus more on religious aspects of marriage than on relationships between the couple, Bender said. "In some cases, the opinion was that it was better to leave the spouse. "Joe didn't think it was right that spiritual leaders should interfere with the marriage relationship," Bender continued, adding that he also subscribed to that view.

He said he mentioned his views to other elders "but they ignored what I had to say." While religion was only part of the cause of the Knott's separation, Bender said, "there was not sufficient secular reasons for them to get divorced." Bender, whose father owned the 160-acre farm on which the group's religious community called Shiloh is located, lives on a corner of the farm. He said he has been a member of the Church of the Living Word for 20 years. ions, but their recollections seem to conflict with the scripts of Hollywood disaster movies. Apparently there was no word to passengers or control tower from Capt. Larry Wheattm, 35; as to what was happening in the cockpit, nor any panicked screaming or yelling.

Survivor Joseph Stiley, 42, a pilot himself, recalls Wheaton was trying to abort the takeoff because he lacked speed, then realized he was running out of runway and tried to gun it. Stiley recalled the huge shudder just before impact. Boeing officials say the pilot probably needed about 125 knots (about 144 mph.) of airspeed under the weather conditions to get off the ground, but he xmzh qjyesDinis Who's ft By JOHN HANCHETTE Gannett News Service WASHINGTON Slowly, haltingly, federal investigators here are starting to piece together the painful puzzles surrounding the central event of Wednesday's tragic Air Florida crash, the takeoff. At this point, however, the clues of what really happened to the ill-fated Boeing 737 do not tell much. They only lead to more questions.

Within four hours of Flight 90's deadly ditching In the Potomac River, three crack investigators from Boeing's Seattle headquarters were on their way here at the request of the National Transportation Safety On page 3A: The critical voice and instrument recorders on board the Air Florida jet that crashed into the Potomac River are intact, a police spokesman said today. Why did the National Transportation Safety Board impound the glycol de-icing solution that American Airlines provided Air Florida under contract? Why did a licensed pilot on board as a passenger tell his seatmate the plane was going to crash just seconds before it did? Why did he and other survivors feel a violent shudder through the fuselage just before the collision Who made the fateful takeoff deck sions? Did the low-slung engine design of the 737 invite slush and ice problems? Did Washington National Airport's short runway and stringent noise-abatement standards contribute? Did ground crew reports that the plane was so overweight the gate tractor stalled out mean anything? Not many accounts exist of what it's really like inside a jet airliner when it crashes. Some of the five survivors of Flight 90 have been extraordinarily voluble about their impress- I.