The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 19

PMA The Orlando Sentinel Oxygen machine gives 2-year-old Polk County boy a chance to live, B-2 FRIDAY, February 9, 1990 Sheriffs' friendly try for deal fails By Mark Vosburgh OF THE SENTINEL STAFF Bob Morris COLUMN WORLD But Assistant Attorney General Jim Peters said Wednesday the sheriffs were interpreting the constitution too narrowly and that he expected to win in court. Thursday morning, he made it clear he had not changed his mind overnight. "We think the sheriffs are wrong, with all due respect," he said. "We don't think so," Herron countered. Both sides said they expect the suit to be heard within the next 45 days.

Whether they win or lose, the sheriffs can take some consolation that at least two bills call for a 1-cent sales tax with some revenues earmarked for prison construction. Please see SUIT, B-7 continue to seek an amicable agreement," Mark Herron said after a meeting with an assistant attorney general and key legislative staff members. The meeting was unusual in that no one had expected it to accomplish anything. Both sides in the suit already had discounted the chances of reaching an agreement. And true to their word, they didn't.

"It was a meeting no one wanted to call and no one wanted to attend," said Ray Wilson, staff director of the Senate Corrections, Probation and Parole Committee. The sheriffs, who called the meeting, had hinted they would reconsider the suit if lawmakers promised legislation to stop the indiscriminate release of thousands of inmates. Since February 1987, the prison system has been cutting time from the sentences of about 90 percent of all inmates to comply with a federal court order that forbids prison crowding. But the attorney general's office also had said in advance that it intended to defend the policy rather than abandon it. The suit challenges the Department of Corrections' authority to shorten sentences either by early release credits or by the century-old practice of awarding time off for good behavior.

The sheriffs argue the Florida Constitution empowers only the governor, with the approval of three Cabinet members, to commute punishment. TALLAHASSEE A group of 55 sheriffs still wants a quick and friendly end to its lawsuit against the state for freeing prison inmates early. But what the sheriffs may have to settle for is a legislative effort to address the underlying problem a shortage of prison beds with a penny increase in the sales tax. The sheriffs' first try at an out-of-court settlement of the suit failed Thursday, and their lawyer said he has not considered his next move. "I've been instructed by my clients to "ITWW f'-J'HIJ' 1 L4 A) Ov dWlN, Airport balks at land swap Audubon: Get more out of runway deal By Mary Beth Regan OF THE SENTINEL STAFF JL fell tJi 4 JOE BURBANKSENTINEL There's a reason behind this These guys may look goofy, but they're agers are members of Edgewater High on Lake Fairview in Orlando.

The 70 not just goofing around. They're doing an School's crew team, and they've just fin- members of the crew team are getting exercise called buddy squats. The teen- ished an afternoon of rowing Wednesday ready for their 1st meet on March 10. League names Tucker 'Quality Floridian' KISSIMMEE A leading conservation group wants the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority to buy thousands of acres in Osceola County to offset environmental damage anticipated if the airport builds its fourth runway. In the latest behind-the-scenes deal to get the runway approved by state and federal agencies, the Florida Audubon Society is pushing a plan in which the airport would buy or swap land to protect 8,500 acres of environmentally sensitive land in Osceola and Polk counties.

The airport wants to stick with its original plan to protect a $12 million, property in southern Orange County in exchange for permission to destroy roughly 280 acres of wetlands with runway construction. "We are aware that the Audubon Society has been pushing this," said Richard Bonner, the airport authority's director of engineering. "And we would consider it if we thought it satisfied all agencies involved. "But we don't know that," he said. The debate about whether to allow a fourth runway emerged last February after the airport submitted plans for expansion to the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council in Orlando.

That Please see AIRPORT, B-7 ASSOCIATED PRESS It's time again for some Official State Silliness First in a painful series: The opening of the 1990 Florida Legislature is just a couple of months away, and I am proud to report that, as usual, there's a bumper crop of proposed bills that are either weird, outlandish, pathetic or, in some cases, all three. So, Column World will be spotlighting the most notable of them in the days ahead. Today's monstrosity: House Bill 1247, which would designate the St. Johns River City Band as the Official State Band. This was the idea of state Rep.

Joe Arnall, R-Atlan-tic Beach, who describes the St. Johns River City Band from Jacksonville as "a big, well-disciplined band, mostly brass, that plays a lot of John Philip Sousa." But why do we need an Official State Band? "Because there isn't one," said Arnall. Yeah, well, we don't have, oh, an Official State Infectious Disease either, so why not create a bill for that? "Because this is a damn good band," said Arnall. Frankly, Column World has never even heard of the St. Johns River City Band, doesn't much care for Sousa and thinks the state would be much better served by a rock 'n' roll band, such as our own local and very loud Love Gods in Leisure Suits.

"I am willing to compromise," said Arnall, when he was confronted with this opposition. "I am willing to have the St. Johns River City Band designated the Official State Brass Band." Column World sees this as becoming probably the single most important issue of the upcoming legislative session. is Large-mammal news: Despite the fact that the state of Florida already has given its OK to Sea World's plan to separate the original Baby Shamu from her mother and ship her off to Sea World of Ohio, all is not over. Indeed, it appears as if all heck is about to break loose.

At least two Orlando-area radio stations are rallying their listeners to demonstrate at Sea World against the removal of the 5-year-old killer whale, the first of its species ever born in captivity. "Who knows? If it comes down to it, you might even see us forming a human chain around Sea World to prevent the departure of Baby Shamu," said Rich Stevens of WJHM-FM (101.9), who is organizing a protest for sometime next week. Stevens said he has received hundreds of phone calls and has been faxed information from residents opposing the scheduled Feb. 28 transfer. They have pledged their support.

"Research shows those killer whales form strong bonds with one another, and it's just inhumane to separate them," said Stevens. Meanwhile, WJYO-FM (107.7) is planning a Saturday demonstration outside the marine theme park, with support from members of the local chapter of Voices for Animals. Program director Steve Street said lots of area schoolchildren have been writing the station and may show up at the demonstration, just the sort of dandy PR that the Sea World buffoons who thought this up must love. Column World thinks the situation has a simple, plausible solution: Get State Rep. Joe Arnall to make up for his dumb Official State Band bill by introducing another bill designating Baby Shamu the official State Marine Mammal in Captivity.

That way, it would be flat-out against the law to cart her off to Ohio. Besides, forcing any native Floridian to move to Ohio should be a federal offense. Department of aptonyms: Another name that fits the occupation, or in this case, the avocation. She's on the wrestling team at Lyman High School in Longwood Tracy Rumblelow. Police log: Seems a 73-year-old Winter Park man was taking a bath last week when he heard someone breaking the front door lock and walking around in his house.

The man threw on some clothes, ran into the living room and collided with the intruder, no doubt scaring the dickens out of them both. Important fact: The 73-year-old man is blind. According to the Winter Park Police Department report, the would-be thief escaped, but the man was able to give a description. "The victim knows the suspect was a woman, as he felt her large bosoms," wrote Officer Skip Gatwood. "The could only saj she was very short and heavy." But Lauderdale said the league never considered ordering the magazine changed at the last minute.

She said once the publication went to the printers, it was difficult to pull back. The article recounts Tucker's achievements in state government and her support of several initiatives backed by the League of Cities, particularly a law requiring truth in millage rate advertisements. The same issue contains a six-page feature on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, whose investigation led to Tucker's resignation and arrest. pated what happened and that it happened in so short a time," Lauderdale said. Tucker resigned under pressure Tuesday and was arrested Wednesday on charges of falsifying documents, a third-degree felony.

Both actions stemmed from a 1988 tax investigation Tucker ordered on businesses owned by Donald Resha, who opposed her husband in union politics. Gov. Bob Martinez and the Cabinet suspended Tucker for two weeks on Jan. 23, about a week after reports first appeared that she was under investigation for ordering the tax probe. TALLAHASSEE Katie Tucker was honored by the Florida League of Cities as its "Quality Floridian" for February, a month in which she resigned as state revenue chief and was charged with a felony.

Spokeswoman Mary Helena Lauderdale said the league's decision to honor Tucker in the magazine Quality Cities '90 was made about a month before Tucker's troubles surfaced. "I don't think anybody could have antici 3 hurt on Disney ride worker killed at MGM Boob tube comes out of the house, into the gas station By Sarah Tippit OF THE SENTINEL STAFF By Michael Blumfield OF THE SENTINEL STAFF nose, and two men were in stable condition at Sand Lake Hospital Thursday. Hans Adolfsen, 54, of Sweden, was treated for minor back injuries and abdominal pain. A 64-year-old man was also treated for back and knee injuries. Hospital officials did not identify the second man because his relatives had not been notified.

The malfunc- tion was the A worker was killed and three tourists were injured in two unrelated accidents Thursday at Walt Disney World. Disney employee Paul Morgan fell to his death from a scaffold at a Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park sound i m. I A 9i stage, officials said. Morgan, 19, of Apopka, was pronounced dead at Orlando Regional Medical Center at The malfunction at Space Mountain was the second at the Magic Kingdom in 3 days. second to occur in a Magic Kingdom attraction in three days.

On Tuesday, pieces of molding fell The television screen, once modestly hidden in living rooms behind cabinet doors, has come out of the home and headed straight to a gas station. Five Orlando-area Texaco self-service stations have sprouted the sets, where they hover above gas pumps and blare non-stop commercials at customers filling up their tanks. Call them friendly reminders, to be generous, of the virtues not only of Texaco's high-octane blends, but of such products as Rolaids antacid tablets, Bubble Yum gum, Chlorets breath fresheners and Diet Pepsi all conveniently for sale at the Texaco stations. Is anybody paying attention? Several customers interviewed at the station at University Boulevard and Goldenrod Road said they hadn't noticed the screens, which were partially obscured by bright sunlight, until a reporter pointed them out. One gas buyer was typical of the majority of customers.

"I'd say it's kind of silly," said Steve Ernst, 23, a political science student at the University of Central Florida. "It's not like you don't get enough TV. Why do you need to watch it while you're pumping gas?" That's not how Texaco sees it. The five Orlando stations, serving as testing grounds since August, have persuaded the oil company to do the same thing at 130 stations throughout Florida by ItWflHllM'flnHlimTH from the ceiling of the Haunted Mansion, sending five tourists to the hospital with minor injuries. The mansion, built in 1971 when the theme park first opened, reopened Wednesday.

Space Mountain remained closed Thursday. Ridgway said he expected the ride to reopen today if repairs and an inspection were completed. After the coaster stopped Thursday, lights came on in the space-themed cavern and 18 passengers were evacuated down steps alongside the tracks. The two injured men were carried to ambulances by stretcher, said Ridgway. Space Mountain, built in 1974, Please see DISNEY, B-7 hospital representative Cindy Baker.

Morgan was working on an air-conditioning duct when he accidentally stepped off a scaffold and fell 33 feet, officials said. Three tourists were injured at 4 p.m. when three sets of cars in the Space Mountain roller coaster abruptly stopped two-thirds of the way through, officials said. The ride in Disney's Magic Kingdom stopped automatically after a computer detected a faulty wheel, said spokesman Charles Ridgway. Officials said the cars did not derail, but they could provide no other information on what happened.

An unidentified woman treated at the scene for a bloody JOE BURBANKSENTINEL Despite the ad on TV, William Prescott only has eyes for the gas pump gauges. Please see ADS, B-8.