The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana • Page 4

Altxmtbria Sails Ztm Mk Wednesday, August 14, 1985 A-4 State Could Be Facing $147 Million Budget Deficit Rep. Billy Tauzin, sak the state should receive its shar of the 8(g) money in October, bu Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, D-La has said it may be late 1986 befor Louisiana gets its money. account a recent statement by Edwards that funding for education would not be subject to a 3 percent across-the-board cut that was needed to bring the budget into balance before it was approved by the Legislature.

State expenditures increase by another $28 million by not including the education funding in the 3 percent budget cut. come in for whatever reason, we would have another $58 million to deal with. That's because all the expenditures woTlld continue but we would not have all the same revenue," Drennen. said, "There was some $58 million worth of state general fund appropriations that were to be replaced by 8(g)." The projections also took into The governor's chief budget of committee a memo containing two budget projections. One projection was based on receipt of the offshore revenue settlement, referred to as "8(g)." The other assumed the state would not obtain the estimated $400 million to $700 million settlement in time.

The Legislature already has appropriated $100 million of the anticipated money. The remainder, whatever it will be, has been dedicated to an education trust fund. "If the 8(g) money did not "One of the big reasons is that we never balanced the '84-85 budget," he said, commenting on a memo sent to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. "We ended the year an estimated $50 million in the red, and that carries into the '85-86 fiscal year." "And using our revenue estimates and expenditure projections, including the cost of judgments, we felt there was another $40 million difference." Drennen, chief financial adviser to the Legislature, sent the BATON ROUGE (UPI) Louisiana is faced with a budget deficit of up to $147 million, Legislative Fiscal Officer Mark Drennen said Tuesday. Gov.

Edwin Edwards said the budget was in balance when he signed it at the end of the Legislative session in July. Even if the state receives its anticipated federal offshore revenue windfall before the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 1986, the budget still will be $88.7 million in the red, Drennen said. ficer, Ralph Perlman, was out town and unavailable for com ment. Drifter Suspected in 5 Killings (fj) (A a a lot me to check out," said sheriff's office spokeswoman Judi Guillory. She said Wille and Ms.

Walters have provided some detailed descriptions of murder scenes. In addition, Coffman said police found bloodstains on clothing, a mattress and curtains in Wille's Santa Rosa apartment over the weekend. "There was a lot of hair, too, and a carpenter's hammer," he said. Wille has told police that he killed Ida Boudreaux, 77, and set her house in LaPlace on fire in April 1983. He also has said that he stabbed a man he identified only as Mark last year in the Bonnet Carre Spillway.

St. John authorities say they have no reports of incidents that match the murder. And he said he drowned and dismembered a man in a bayou near LaPlace earlier this year. Authorities believe he may be referring to Billy Aden Phillips, 25, whose butchered body was found June 6 under an elevated section of Interstate 55. He also has said that he ran an 18-wheeled truck over a man in Lafayette and beat a man to death in Texas, but authorities have not confirmed those deaths.

that ties Wille to the murder, said Edmund Pistey, head of the bureau's New Orleans office. The child's body was found on a desolate roadside in St. John the Baptist Parish on June 6, four days after she was kidnapped in front of her Jefferson Parish home. Ms. MicKenheim's body was found in a spillway canal April 6.

Her neck, face and the top of her head were bruised and marked, according to the St. Charles Parish sheriff's office. He probably will be brought to St. Charles to see if he can lead police to the place where Ms. MicKenheim was killed, said Capt.

John Rook of that sheriffs office. He said St. Charles detectives also may see if Wille could be linked to another killing in the parish, but wouldn't give any details. Wille has told police he killed three people in St. John Parish, a fourth near Lafayette and one in Texas last year.

St. John deputies said at first that they doubted those confessions, but sent detectives to interview Wille last week. "We still don't have anything real solid. But we certainly have LAPLACE (AP) The FBI is looking for evidence that could link a 21-year-old drifter who has confessed to three Louisiana murders to two more, including the rape and strangulation of 8-year-old Nichole Lopatta, authorities say. John Francis Wille has denied involvement in the girl's murder and has said nothing about the death of a drifter named Kathy MicKenheim, but is being checked out in both because of things said by his girlfriend, said Santa Rosa County, Sheriff Mau-riece Coffman.

"She's doing most of the talking," Coffman said. "His first confessions were made prior to us talking to her. But he doesn't want to talk any more." He said Wille and Judith Walters, 32, of Norco, are being held in the Santa Rosa County Jail near Penscola on charges of arson and burglary. They allegedly tried to burn down a Florida couple's home while the owners were inside, he said. Two FBI agents and a Jefferson Parish detective questioned Ms.

Walters about the Lopatta case during the weekend and will be looking this week for evidence 9.S3 Delta Impex Stop Watch Quartz chronograph Aiarm dav'date and lap lime Ho 1052P II II I li II ill r-; lis: Save 1 .88 rrj mm i if ii mm yaca UJS III 11 Double Heart Baton Rouge to Lay Off 250 Ankle Bracelet Slylo NO B3S9. Reg 5 84 3.S5 Free Engraving with Purchase! BATON ROUGE (AP) City-parish government, facing a $6 million deficit, will lay off at least 250 employees in the next three weeks to balance the books, officials said. Eighteen of the top 20 sales tax collectors showed declines for June, officials announced Monday. "We're not in position to simply raise taxes to cover the deficit," Screen said. "Our only option is to reduce expenses.

And, any reasonable person recognizes that when you cut to the bone, you affect services. There's just no way to effect savings without reduction in personnel." The mayor said that of 3,400 employees in the general fund budget, 1,400 are employed in fire, police and emergency medical services. That leaves 2,000 in nonpublic safety jobs from which to trim payroll. Once the 1985 problems are solved, top mayoral aide Walter Monsour said he expects to see a thinner 1986 budget with "fewer people engaged in a more cost-efficient manner." Monsour said that he believes the public has greater expectations from the local government to operate within its revenues than has been the case so far this year. Save 3.15 Signet Rina i mmmmm.

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84002 Reg 49 93 19.94 Light Time LED Alarm Clock By Spartus Extendable arm High-intensrty bulb Snooze alarm rlo 1401-64 SHREVEPORT (AP) An inmate who was supposedly kidnapped from the Bossier Parish Jail last April was free to shoot pool and go fishing, says a lawyer for one of the five men accused in the kidnapping. In a motion for reduction of bond filed in Caddo district court, Shreveport attorney B. Woodrow Nesbitt also says his client, Billy Hale, was asked by the FBI to help investigate allegations against Bossier-Webster District Attorney Henry Brown. Nesbitt also is seeking access to the state's entire investigative file. Hale is charged with the aggravated kidnapping of inmate Gary Shell, who claims he was abducted from the Bossier jail April 16.

Charged along with Hale are co-defendants William Brewer, Cliff Guevara, former Red River Parish District Judge John Stephens and Kenneth Dunn. All but Dunn have been arrested. Shell claims he was taken to Hale's residence in Greenwood where he was questioned about the whereabouts of several al leged tape recordings which reportedly would implicate Brown with malfeasance in connection with investigations of various drug cases. Shell says he was threatened at gunpoint and told that if he could produce the tapes, he would be provided with "a fresh start with a new life somewhere else." When a search for the tapes proved futile, Shell was returned to the Bossier Parish Jail. According to the document filed Friday, Hale met with Shell in the Bossier jail to discuss the purported existence of the tapes.

Shell confirmed their existence but said he would have to be released from the jail to get them, the motion said, but Shell also expressed fear for his life if he were released. The motion also said that after further meetings Bossier District Judge Cecil Campbell, believing he was participating in an ongoing FBI investigation, authorized Shell's bond to be reduced from $26,000 to $5,000. Shell was then taken to Hale's residence in Greenwood, the motion said. According to the motion, Hale had arranged for "bodyguards" to protect Shell. Guevara and Dunn escorted Shell from the Bossier jail to Hale's residence and stayed in Shell's presence throughout the time he was bonded out of jail, the motion said.

At no time while Shell was released on bond did anyone threaten or harm him, the motion continued. Shell was not restrained and was able to move about the house freely as did the others, it said. During his two days on bond, the motion said, Shell went fishing near Hale's residence, played pool and was able to watch television. He was never "bound, gagged, tied or handcuffed in any way other than being 'lightly' handcuffed during the initial trip" from the jail and for "show" when returning to the jail. Deputies receiving Shell at the jail have confirmed Shell made no complaint's upon his return, had no bruises and appeared calm, the motion said.

A Caddo Parish grand jury is expected to hear testimony in the case this week. yr mm 4SL41 HI Arbitration Ordered to Settle Ixtoc Payments 146.00 llluttralKWtt Enlarged 2Q 3J Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price Every Day Wal-Mart discounts its entire selection ot Tirnex watches lor men women, and children Save 26 OO Ladies Diamond Fashion Rings Genuine diamonds set 1UK yeiiovw go0 on'y Nos 7930 Heq 1 72 00 7TH" iTT NEW ORLEANS (UPI) The owner of a drilling rig that caused the world's worst oil spill in 1979 must go to arbitration with a Mexican drilling company to decide which will pay off $4.1 million in lawsuits, a federal appeals court ruled. Sedco Inc. of Dallas, which owned the rig being used in the Gulf of Mexico, settled suits for $4.1 million with the federal government and a host of commercial fishermen, boat owners, property owners, hotels, motels and tourist developers in Texas. But Sedco says it should not have to pay the money.

The rig had been chartered by the drilling company Permargo, qr Perfor-aciones Marinas del Golfo, S.A., and the contract relieved Sedco of any liability, Sedco said. Permargo had contracted with Pemex, a state-owned Mexican drilling company, to do the work in the Bay of Campeche. Pemex, however, will not be involved in the arbitration ordered Monday by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Sedco lawyers in Dallas said Tuesday they had not yet heard about the ruling and did not know when or where the arbitration will take place.

At issue are all the lawsuits filed after the well spewed 3.1 mil lion barrels of oil into the Gulf for more than nine months in 1979 and 1980. It blackened Texas beaches, smothered fertile fishing grounds and caused other environmental damage. The contract between Permargo and Sedco said they would submit "any dispute or difference between the parties" to arbitration under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, to which the United States and Mexico are signatories. The Convention says that under certain conditions, federal courts must order arbitration. The Convention has been adopted by Congress as the law.

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