The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana • Page 11

71 Alrxaubria Bails tottm Calk Tuesday, May 15, 1990 B-5 mm im mm if. 1 1 liFTn mMtn Avoyelles farm flooding threat worse Rapides may not be hit as hard as neighbor to southeast GOLDEN FURY II John C. "Mac" McCarthy, state director of FmHA, said farmers must meet eligibility requirements and show an ability to repay the loans. He said it is too early to make a disaster assistance determination. 'Middle of happening' "This incident is in the middle of happening.

The flooding is not complete, but we, the USDA agencies, are talking with field staff up and down the river systems to determine what type of current they are experiencing," he said. The State Emergency Board, which consists of USDA agency representatives, is scheduled to hold its regular quarterly meeting today in Alexandria. Crop insurance is also an option, but it is not always feasible. Joan McCartney, assistant director of the Jackson (Miss.) Field Service Office of the Federal Crop Insurance said Congress mandated that crop insurance be available to all farmers, regardless of the risk associated with the land they are farming. "Insurance is available.

You may not can afford the price, but it is available," she said. "There are some areas that A lot of the lowest land will be used for soybeans, little of which have been planted. If soybean fields are inundated, farmers have to hope the water will recede and the land will dry out before mid-June, which is the latest beans can be planted. For cotton and corn farmers, it is worse. With much of the crops emerged, standing water for any length of time would kill them.

By the time the water drained and the fields dried, it could be too late to replant. Real late' "Right now, on cotton and corn, it would put us real late on either one of those," said John Harris, Rapides county agent. "You can plant soybeans as late as mid-June, with a decent season." U.S. Sen. J.

Bennett Johnston, toured the state Sunday and talked about asking the governor to declare the river parishes a disaster area, but that likely will be of little help to farmers. Federal disaster assistance programs, administered by the Farmers Home Administration, consist of low-interest loans. To a farmer who has lost his source of income, a loan is of dubious assistance. By Richard L. Ryman Staff reporter While farmers in Avoyelles Parish are working desperately to keep impending floodwaters back, their Rapides Parish counterparts are watching weather maps, hoping they won't be faced with high water of their own.

Farmers in the Vick area, north of Marksville in Avoyelles Parish, have for several days been building levees along the Red River to keep out the rising water. The low-lying land, which covers the northern part of the parish from the Red River to the Mississippi River, is a natural collection point for excess water. Much of it is in wildlife and nature preserves, but much of it is also farm land. Until recently, farmers there were having a great year. The wheat crop is ready to harvest, and corn, grain sorghum and cotton planting was far ahead of normal for this time of year.

"We've got some people down there that have some good-looking corn and some wheat ready to cut. We don't need any more water on it at all," said Carlos Smith, Avoyelles county agent. "The cotton is pretty. Everything looks great." have a higher classification because the risk is greater." Harris said that barring a lot of rain, flooding may not be a problem in Rapides Parish. "If we don't get too much rain in our immediate watershed, we might just slip by," he said.

"If we get a lot of rain and we've got the river up, where is it going to go?" The situation is worse in Avoyelles Parish. Michael Jordan, district conservationist for the Soil Conservation Service, said the endangered areas include lower Vick, Larto, Lake Ophelia, lower Brouillette, Lake St. Agnes and Spring Bayou. "In the next two or three days, it's just going to get worse," Jordan said. Jordan said the makeshift levees may not hold.

"It depends on how much water we get. A lot of the time, makeshift levees haven't had time to settle and pack," he said. "And it depends on how long the water stays. Sometimes it will soak through the levees and find soft spots and blow them out." The Red River is predicted to crest on May 22. "The crest isn't the end of it," Jordan said.

"It has to go back down." As Low EIIDURA-ALL SEASON Waste 'awards' Throwaway packaging comes under fire S0 1 37 As I As Low SPORT METRIC (gp- mmm m. 5 to 12 ommitr Officials at Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta and Kodak in Rochester, N.Y. did not return phone calls Monday. The groups' "awards" also cited Worthirtgton Industries Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, for the Celebrate Birthday Balloon Kit with a disposable helium tank; Oscar Mayer Foods Corp.

of Madison, for Lunchables single-use portions of lunch meat, cheese and crackers, and SOS Juniors steel wool soap pads, sold by Miles Inc. of Chicago. Tank recyclable Joe Stegmayer, vice president of Worthington, said the firm's helium tank is recyclable. "It's made all of steel. If people do throw it away, there are systems in most communities that pull metal out.

There's no way this should go into any landfill anywhere." Dionn Tron, a spokeswoman for Miles at its Elkhart, headquarters, said the half-size soap pad was designed "for consumers who only use a soap pad once in a while," and don't want to throw out a full-size pad that rusts between "uses. 1 "If they use a junior, they only throw away half as much," Ms. Tron said. WASHINGTON (AP) Environmental activists took aim Monday at producers of single-use, throwaway packages for such products as juice and laundry detergent and cameras. Several private groups and Rep.

Frank Pallone said they had designated "Wastemak-er Awards" for Coca-Cola Corp. for packaging Minute Maid juice in nonrecyclable boxes wrapped in plastic, Eastman Kodak for its single-use Fling camera and Colgate-Palmolive for Fab One Shot laundry detergent. Pallone, Clean Water Action, Environmental Action Foundation and the U.S. Public Interest Group said the products were wasteful and cost more. They asked corporations to take the products off the market.

Being redesigned Bob Murray, a spokesman for Colgate-Palmolive in New York City, said the company agreed the packaging for the Fab One Shot detergent was excessive and he said it was being redesigned. The new package will eliminate the plastic tray and plastic overwrap, incorporate recycled board and take up less shelf space, said Murray. 1 I oiiVfi THURSDAY 4 I "VI I I VI fr-W iwv; -x IK 1 snao As UU As Low 60-70 SERIES EPA's ad campaign tells 'How to Destroy the Earth' your car? No problem. Drive everywhere!" Associated Press Joseph and Lorrie Liani stand outside their Donut Ring shop in Salem, which now must compete against a newly built Dunkin' Donuts. Mom and pop shop SIK07 As Low As BOSTON (AP) Forget oil spills, factory pollution and toxic waste.

You, too, can destroy the Earth. And the federal government will even tell you how. The Environmental Protection Agency has launched a reverse-psychology campaign dubbed, "How to Destroy the Earth," through public service announcements provided to radio and television stations, magazines and newspapers. The advertisements explain how to waste electricity, overuse paper products and release toxic chemicals into the air and water. The EPA hopes the offbeat campaign will encourage consumers to adopt household and work habits that will aid environmental cleanup, said Julie Belaga, regional EPA administrator, at a news conference Monday.

The TV spots, for example, feature a smirking announcer. "Want to destroy the Earth with "Hey, want to kill a few trees?" he inquires, tossing up sheets of photocopy paper or pulling down a stream of paper towels. "Lights? Leave them on! Especially when you're not there!" The print ads are mini-lessons in destruction. Under bold letters declaiming, "How To Destroy the Earth," they suggest, "Use phosphate detergents" or "Pour used motor oil into the ground." The campaign is starting in New England, and EPA officials plan to take it nationwide. The campaign includes billboards, bumper stickers, buttons and a booklet, slightly larger than a matchbook, with 38 tips on destroying the Earth.

All the ads come with a disclaimer "The Earth. If you want to save it, find out what you're doing to destroy it" and a toll-free information number. The ads were designed to "answer questions the public asks us over and over and over again: 'What can I do to Belaga said. meets the 'big boys' Repack Front Wheel Bearings INSPECT BRAKES Much of the Donut Rina's New radio station plays adult contemporary Rear Drive Only ALIGNMENT broadcasting until KISY-FM switched frequencies. KISY-FM signed off of 98.3 on Saturday and is scheduled to return today as KLAA-FM at 103.5.

KICR will broadcast live 24 hours a day. Grant said there will be no syndicated programs. All music is on CD, he said, and the station has state-of-the-art equipment. Allen "Edmonds Buttolph is1 news director. Announcers are Russell Morris, program director, W.C.

McCoy, Terri Pratt and Steve Wisdom. Alexandria's newest radio station, KICR-FM, began broadcasting at 6 a.m. Monday. Magic 98, as it will be called, is a station offering an adult contemporary format with an emphasis on popular artists of the '60s, '70s and '80s, according to Tom Grant, general manager. Grant and Bob Holladay, who is president of the company, are co-owners.

The station is located at 3620 Bayou Rapides Road. Grant said the station had to wait to begin $2 -goo Most Cars Front Wheel Only Inspect Steering Suspension Steering Road Test Vehicle By Anne M. Peterson Associated Press SALEM, Mass. Burger King, Wal-Mart, Kinney Shoes, Dunkin' Donuts are hardly names that stir feelings of fear and loathing in the masses. But for Joseph and Lorrie Liani, the owners of a quaint doughnut shop down the road from Salem State College, the names are like a punch in the stomach.

It's the feeling that strikes any mom-and-pop business when a national franchise Liani calls them the "big boys" rides into town. Dunkin' Donuts is the newcomer in their case, and it has hitched itself up right across the street from the Lianis' little shop. "What you've really got here is two countries fighting a war and one's fighting with sticks and -the other country has guns," said Liani, 31. The Lianis have poured their adult lives into the Donut Ring, a shoe-box-size diner with 10 swivel stools, a formica counter and freshly brewed coffee. "There was always security knowing that we had our own business." said Lorrie Liani, 30.

"There wasn't a threat until now. Somebody's next door, taking our customers away and taking money out of our pockets and taking food out of our mouths." The Lianis said their business has dropped 10 percent to 15 percent over the first month. "So it's not as bad as I thought it might be," Liani said. business comes from the morning traffic of professors and students to Salem State, and from commuters on their way to Boston, about 20 miles to the south. The Lianis depend on the shop to pay for their home, then two cars and the hundreds of other debts that come from raising two children and running a business.

"Basically we're just working people like everybody else. It's not like we're making more money than we know what to do with," Liani said. "We have mortgages. We have car payments. Like everybody else, we rely on a weekly paycheck to pay for all that." Patrick Kaufmann, an assistant professor of business administration and marketing at Harvard University who specializes in franchises, said there's not much more to say than "That's business." He said about one-third of all retail dollars in the United States are spent at franchises each year.

"The numbers suggest a homogenization of our society and our tastes and our mobility," he said. "Standardization is something that is being sought. Franchising is a huge business." Kaufmann said that while the situation the Lianis face is sad, it should be remembered that most franchises also are owned by small-business men and women with their own families. AIR CONDITIONER SERVICE Inventories hold steady, sales up WASHINGTON (AP) Businesses held inventories steady while increasing sales in March, the government said Monday. Analysts said the report indicated little threat of production cutbacks or loss of jobs.

The Commerce Department reported that shelf and backlot inventories were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted $794 billion. Backlogs had fallen 0.4 percent in February and risen 0.3 percent in January. Sales rose 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted $539.1 billion following gains of 1.4 percent in February and 0.4 percent in January. "What it (the report) means is that producers are looking very realistically at domestic demand and the possibility of a slowing overseas demand for U.S.-made goods and are bringing production in line with those expectations," said economist Gilbert Benz. Investment Services We now offer a complete selection of products and services to meet all your investment needs.

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