The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 40

HieOrlando Sentinel Lawmaker wants to ban display of records, tapes 'harmful' to minors, B-4 THURSDAY, February 8, 1990 ceola ize $348,090 in car 30 By Allen Wilson OF THE SENTINEL STAFF $300,000 during a routine traffic stop on Interstate 95. In late January, Sanford police confiscated $1.5 million found in a car. Around 5:30 p.m., Deputy Sheriff Joe Moore spotted a silver Toyota with a temporary tag displayed in the rear window traveling 54 mph in a 65 mph zone. The car was traveling north on Florida's Turnpike, 19 miles south of Kissimmee, Lane said. check on the driver's well-being.

The driver, identified as Clarence Taylor, 31, and passenger Alvin McCreary, both of Baton Rouge, appeared extremely nervous and gave different accounts of where they were coming from and their destination, Lane said. "The deputy requested permission to search the car and was granted by the driver," Lane said. "The deputy found a automatic in the glove box and two bags full of money in the trunk. The money was wrapped in packaging consistent with drug traffickers." The money and the two men were taken to the sheriffs office where a drug-sniffing dog indicated the presence of narcotics on the money, Lane said. The men, who were later released without being charged, did not explain the money's presence when it was confiscated.

Lane added that the department will file for forfeiture of the cash, which could take up to 90 days. "We're hitting the dope dealers where it hurts most, in the pocketbook," Lane said. Under Florida guidelines, the money can be used only for new projects, Lane said. Although he did not indicate how the money would be used, one possibility is a new helicopter for drug surveillance, he said. KISSIMMEE The Osceola County Sheriffs Office confiscated more than $300,000 Wednesday, one of the largest such seizures in Central Florida.

In a late-night news conference, Sheriff Jon Lane announced that $348,090 was seized by a deputy during a routine traffic stop. Last week, deputies seized $11,500. Wednesday's seizure was the latest by police in Central Florida. Last month, Volusia County deputies seized Lane Moore stopped the car to verify the tag and to Cruise line goes after rail route Oslo company wants port-to-airport link By Michael Lafferty OF THE SENTINEL STAFF BOBBY COKERSENTINEL Scott laggi, Deborah's boyfriend, takes a break with Alvin Poe, her father. Poe said Deborah's night job worried him and his wife.

Volunteers searching for clerk draw a blank BOBBY COKERSENTINEL By Lauren Ritchie OF THE SENTINEL STAFF He, too, had his reasons for coming to the search organized by Poe's roommate, Lori Tillman. "You have to be careful. You're destroying things on the ground," Gay told searchers after watching them tramp through a grove. COCOA Hoping to put an east-west rail link on a fast track, a Norwegian company with plans to build the world's largest cruise ship is trying to carve out its own route between Port Canaveral and Orlando International Airport. World City Corp.

of Oslo, Norway, wants to speed the construction of a high- or medium-speed train that would transfer thousands of tourists from the airport to the proposed $1.5 billion floating resort, said John Rogers, president of World City Corp. Cocoa real estate agent B.B. Nelson, who is representing World City, has approached property owners in Cocoa, Merritt Island and west Brevard County in recent weeks asking for options to buy their property, even though a route for the 500-foot-wide transportation corridor has not been chosen. Officials with the airport and Port Canaveral, who jointly commissioned a $50,000 study, say decisions on whether to build a corridor and where to put it will not be made until well after the study is completed later this month. The study by a Tampa engineering firm is focusing on the economic feasibility of both a port-to-airpbrt rail link and pipelines for jet fuel, coal, water, wastewater and telephone and power lines.

Rogers acknowledged the land his company is seeking is based primarily on guesses about where a route would go, but he said he believes private sector help could speed the process. "We obviously are interested in moving things along as quickly as possible and acting as a catalyst for this thing," Rogers said Wednesday from his company's Please see CRUISE, B-5 feel like the answer is out here, somewhere out here. Alvin Poe, Deborah's father About 80 searchers came for about 80 different reasons. One had a dog he thought could help find missing convenience store clerk Deborah Poe. A retired space industry worker with heart trouble decided to take his daily stroll by joining other searchers near the east Orange County Circle from which the 26-year-old clerk vanished.

One searcher had the most compelling reason of all: "Maybe this is a theory. Maybe this is just a hunch. But I feel she's not far away," said Alvin Poe, Deborah's father. "I feel like the answer is out here, somewhere out here." But searchers didn't find a clue. The volunteers, including a busload of 40 sailors, met in the Gold-enrod Grove Shopping Center and covered three large, overgrown orange groves before stopping about noon.

Only a black snake turned up. Riggs Gay, the Orange County major crimes detective assigned to the case, tried to keep order among the disorganized searchers. "Look at this from my perspective: I'm working this case and I want to put the person responsible for this in jail." Gay's warning was the first indication from deputy sheriffs that they believe harm has come to Deborah Poe. Until Wednesday, they said she may have left by choice. "I think there's a 90 percent chance she was taken," Gay said.

He reached the conclusion after Please see CLERK, B-5 Volunteer searchers tramp through weeds near Circle where Deborah Poe worked. Ruling puts splinters in Wekiva shacks' future Sheriffs will plead for an end to early release of inmates By Mark Vosburgh OF THE SENTINEL STAFF ASSOCIATED PRESS The Leonards say their future home may be bigger than they planned. 2nd Volusia couple claim jackpot By Debbie Salamone OF THE SENTINEL STAFF SANFORD After a 15-year court battle, the old wooden cabins along the Wekiva River finally may have met their demise. The 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach ruled Wednesday that a Seminole circuit judge was correct two years ago when he decided that the state owns the land beneath the cabins. State officials said the decision gives them the go-ahead to destroy what environmentalists describe as eyesores that pollute the river.

"It is a huge victory for the people of this state." said Assistant Attorney General Jeff Peters, 'it is finally over." Peters said he does not expect cabin owners, known as Wekiva squatters, have much of a chance of getting the Florida Supreme Court to hear an appeal. He said the district court's ruling will help him head off other legal maneuvers by the squatters intended to prolong the fight. Some cabin owners, who re fused to be named, said Wednesday their attorney instructed them not to comment on the case. They said they will meet over the weekend to decide their next step. However, Bob Pennell, president of the cabin owners' association, said last fall that owners were prepared to "fight into the next century" because they consider themselves victims of an aggressive state government.

Wednesday's ruling means the state can destroy 17 cabins it agreed to leave alone until the appeal was finished. When Seminole Circuit Judge S. Joseph Davis Jr. ruled in 1988 that the state owned the river islands where the squatters settled, officials announced they would destroy another 19 cabins whose owners did not join the appeal. So far, it has destroyed only a few because the state Department of Natural Resources ran out of money for the job.

Last weekend, volunteers dismantled three. Peters said now that all the cabins can come down, it will be easier for the state to budget for the Please see SHACKS, B-4 ASSOCIATED PRESS A group of 55 sheriffs that has sued the state for freeing prison inmates early will plead its case today before legislative aides and the attorney general's office. Both parties denied Wednesday that the talks are aimed at a settlement, but one of the sheriffs who sued to stop the early releases said he and his colleagues might reconsider if they are promised legislation addressing the problem. "I think if there is a legislative remedy to the problem, I as one sheriff certainly would be receptive to that as opposed to hashing this thing out in court," said Manatee County Sheriff Charles Wells. The sheriffs, outraged that thousands of inmates serve less than a third of their court-imposed sentences because of a lack of prison space, sued the Department of Corrections last December.

Their suit challenges the department's authority to shorten sentences either by early release credits or by the century-old practice of awarding time off for good behavior. They argue that the Florida Constitution empowers only the governor, with the approval of three Cabinet members, to commute punishment. half of the jackpot. The Leonards, who have been planning to build a home, bought new tires for their car to make the trip to Tallahassee. And the new home? "We might make it just a little big bigger now," said Mrs.

Leonard, who works for a company that markets sunglasses and also is employed by the U.S. Census. Her husband, 41, is a project manager in the commercial construction business. The other winner in Saturday's drawing, Ralph and Helen Flippo, bought their ticket in Daytona Beach Shores. They claimed their portion of the jackpot Tuesday.

TALLAHASSEE For the second time in as many days, a couple from the Daytona Beach area left lottery headquarters $357,500 richer. Linda Pierce Leonard and her husband, John, of South Daytona claimed their half of a $14.3 million Lotto jackpot Wednesday. They can look forward to annual payments of $357,500 for the next 20 years. "We didn't go out and celebrate, but I turned on the air-conditioner," Mrs. Leonard, 46, said of their reaction to winning Please see PLEAD, B-4 ra.