The Springfield News-Leader from Springfield, Missouri • Page 1

Angels from 1st vMt loss to Royals Sports, 1C Hagnlc survives garment shafteout Marketplace, 6B A Gannett Newspaper SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI, TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 1989 35 Photographer relishes '50s Accent, ID The Newsreader 'Ether' burglary suspect arrested again Found with stun gun, break-in tools, Gary Curtis faces arraignment today SMS considering building $20 million parking garages By J. Lee Howard The News-Leader Southwest Missouri State University is considering a $20 million parking garage project, but it may be a month or more before a proposal is presented to the Board of Regents. The parking decks one tentatively planned for the north side of campus and one for the south side would be four to five levels high and would hold 5,000 vehicles. That would almost double the school's parking capacity. However, plans for the parking garages are "awful preliminary," said Bernie Snodgrass, environmental health and safety officer at SMS.

"We're a long way from going to the board on this," Snodgrass said. Not only is the plan "an egg that hasn't hatched," he said, "it's still in the chicken." SMS President Marshall Gordon said a proposal could be pulled together in the next few weeks and submitted to the SMS Please see SMSPage 6A $250,000 bond for Monday's charge. Bond will be set today; Curtis remains jailed. Mountjoy also wants a judge to revoke Curtis' $25,000 bond on last year's attempted burglary charge. A hearing on that motion is set for Friday before Circuit Judge Thomas McGuire.

It was almost a year ago when Curtis was shot and seriously wounded while allegedly attempting to burgle a home in southeast Springfield, nine blocks from his house. At 4 a.m. on Aug. 26, a woman in the 3200 block of East Whiteside Street heard a noise from her rear By Ron Davis The News-Leader A southeast Springfield man shot last year during the height of the "Ether Eddie" burglary scare faces arraignment today, after police say they arrested him with burglar's tools. But Gary Ray Curtis' mother says her son is "frankly, a damned nice kid" who had nothing to do with the either burglaries, despite police contentions that Curtis is a suspect in the 15 break-ins.

Curtis, 35, of 2723 E. Crestview St. was arrested at 4:10 a.m. Monday outside his home. Police say Curtis was dressed in black and carrying a stun gun, a screwdriver, professional lock picks, gloves and a bandana.

The arrest came following a six-week undercover police operation, said Lt. Darrell Crick, head of criminal investigations. "There had been some additional burglaries in the Southern Hills area," Crick said. So five officers staked out Curtis' home. "They observed (Curtis) in a Peeping Tom situation," Crick said.

"That's a municipal ordinance violation. He ran from the officers, and they apprehended him. They then found burglary tools." Greene County Prosecutor Tom Mountjoy wants Curtis held on sliding glass doors. She told police she pulled back the curtains and saw a man trying to pry open the doors. The woman shouted a warning, then fired a blast from her shotgun.

Curtis was hit in the chest and stomach. Police say he fled the house and went home, only to be taken to St. John's Regional Health Center by his mother. The shooting halted a string of ether burglaries in the comfortable neighborhoods of southeast Springfield. In all, 15 homes were burgled; Please see ETHERPage 6A Bush wants funds, not guns, in war on drugs The Associated Press KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine President Bush will propose that the United States spend $7.5 billion to $8 billion to fight drugs but is not prepared to send U.S.

troops to aid Colombia's battle against drug lords, his chief of staff said Monday. John Sununu, for the first $15,000 in drugs found in bag at Springfield business 7 fa. State law deadline5A Drug estates occupied5A time putting a price tag on the president's anti-drug blueprint, said it would include more financial aid for other nations in the international war on drugs. Bush will unveil his proposal in a speech to the nation Sept. 5, the day after he returns to i 1 mis fe-s.

mm 'si, 3 An increase in Springfield crack seizures shows the drug once solely the scourge of bigger cities is becoming firmly ingrained in at least one segment of Springfield, Smith 6aid. "It appears at this point to be the drug of choice for black drug users here," Smith said. "However, given the area we made the seizure in, it may be spreading to the white community, also." Methamphetamine is the drug of choice among most of Springfield's white drug users and will remain the focus of most undercover police work, Smith said. But crack, he said, appears to be changing the face of the city's drug culture. Examples: A suspected crack house was raided Dec.

14 in the 1300 block of East Central Street. Four people were arrested Feb. 24 in a north-side hotel room with what police said was $15,000 worth of crack and $4,600 in cash. In major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and Chicago, crack is trafficked by organized gangs, including the Crips and Bloods. Police don't know if Monday's bust is linked to organized gangs.

Earlier this year, the head of the criminal investigations unit said two factions appear to be fighting for the city's cocaine trade black gang members from Detroit and St. Louis, and white coke dealers from California, Texas and Florida. By Ron Davis The News-Leader Nearly 500 packages of crack cocaine were seized by police Monday from a south Springfield business. Acting on a tip from an employee of the business, Special Investigations Unit officers say they discovered 495 individually packaged crack "rocks" chunks of the highly addictive drug in sealed glassine bags inside an unassigned locker. Total weight: Between a quarter-and a third-pound.

Street value, according to police: Nearly $15,000. "They were inside a canvas gym bag with a scale," said Sgt. Hal Smith, head of the city's undercover drug unit. "Otherwise, the locker was empty." Smith wouldn't name the business, saying disclosure could hinder future cooperation between police and those worried about drugs. No one was arrested in the 11:30 a.m.

seizure. The crack rocks were tiny about half the size of a penny. Some were crushed, leaving a yellowish powder in the 1-inch-square bags. Smith said they're nicknamed "Ready Rocks" by users. Each rock sells for $30 on the street and is smoked through a glass pipe, yield-v ing one high.

Crack users report an intense, rocket-like high for about 10 minutes, followed by a quick crash and a craving for more of the drug. Washington from a nearly- three week vacation at the family compound here, then will send implementing legislation to Congress. On another subject, Sununu, taking note of renewed threats against two American hostages in Lebanon, said he would stick to a White House stance of not reacting "to each new threat." As for the drug-fighting program, Sununu said the primary thrust of the president's plan will be education. Also included will be money for law enforcement efforts, interdiction and rehabilitation. The chief of staff declined to say which federal programs the president would cut to help finance his antidrug effort.

Sununu said Bush made most of the final decisions on the package Monday, sending orders back to Budget Director Richard Darman telling him where to siphon funds to partially pay for the effort. Sununu appeared to temper Sunday's remark by Attorney General Dick Thornburgh that the United States should consider a request, if one were made, by Colombian President Virgilio Barco Vargas for U.S. troops to aid in the South American nation's battle against drug bosses. Attention on Colombia heightened after the assassination Friday of a leading presidential candidate, allegedly by drug lords. Virgilio Barco ordered a national sweep to search for the killers; police rounded up about 10,000 people.

On Sunday, Thornburgh said U.S. officials would "have to look at any request that we get for either law enforcement or military assistance seriously." But Sununu told reporters Monday, "We have in no way prepared for that kind of a request." -i IliM U.i. Ii iilli.M li John WallThe News-Leader Springfield police officer Scott Leven displays 495 bags of crack cocaine Monday evening. The bags, valued at nearly $15,000, were found Monday afternoon at a Springfield business. Threats, force won't work, Walesa warns Poland's Communists Communists behind times, Walesa says6A 'Fish begins to rot from its head.

We need reforms. If the party doesn't understand that, and starts provoking and only provoking then it will lose Lech Walesa is considering a campaign for full independence, and its ruling council will consider the issue Wednesday. CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Riot police in Prague arrested dozens of people from a crowd of about 3,000 who defied a ban on demonstrations on and marched through central Prague during the 21st anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion. ETHNIC UNREST: Workers at 25 businesses in Baku, the capital of the southern Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, went on strike to press for control over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. gives credibility to the political forces active in our country.

No one will achieve that through a policy of threats and blackmail." At a meeting with reporters, Walesa used earthier language: "Fish begins to rot from its head. We need reforms. If the party doesn't understand that, and starts provoking and only provoking and they are then it will lose everything." Solidarity's central problem will be how to introduce "or maintain economic reforms in the midst of already acute economic hardships. Widespread food shortages and rising prices have angered consumers From Our Wire Services WARSAW Solidarity leader Lech Walesa warned Poland's Communist Party on Monday to back off from "threats and blackmail" in an effort to increase its role in a Solidarity-led government. Walesa spoke out as Solidarity and the Communist Party fired the first exchange in what is likely to become several days of sharp debate over the extent of Communist participation in the new government.

Countering demands issued at the close of a weekend meeting of the party's Central Committee, Walesa warned that the Communists could Si jt and industrial workers, bringing a steady stream of strikes. Elsewhere in the Soviet bloc, turmoil churned from the Baltic states to Azerbaijan: BALTICS: Latvian activists who met in Riga, the capital of Latvia, said the question is no longer whether their tiny republic will declare independence from the Soviet Union, but when. The Lithuanian People's Front, called Sajudis, also be shut out if they try to hang on to declared in a statement issued by power by force. his office in Gdansk. "Only work on "Poland needs reform," Walesa a concrete shape of these reforms Inside today Hot, humid Partly sunny, hot and humid.

Thirty percent chance of afternoon ftn6san cUes It's Twitty Country music artist Conway Twitty will appear in 2 and 8 p.m. shows at Branson's Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre. Call 334-7535. Classified5C ComicsMB Crossword20 Cryptoquip3D Dear Abby20 Deaths2B Health40 Horoscope20 Jumble8C Scholarly advice A prestige college might not be a ticket to a high-income job. Where you go to college has little influence on earning potential, a study says.

What you do in college does make a big difference, including what you study and how hard you work, says Estelle James of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Movie clocj(3D Nation3A Opinion4A OzarksIB Small Talk20 SportsIC Time oft3C TV30 30 (7 Chance ol storms JJ OOO OUO Chance ol storms 0 4 Today weather, Page 2A. Vol. 99. No.

234, c1969, The News-Leader.