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Tallahassee Democrat from Tallahassee, Florida • Page 22

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Tallahassee, Florida
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22
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4BTallahassee DemocratFit, Sept. 22, 1989 Police hunt convenience-store murderers 1 Associated Press Messer was the bne clerk on duty during the robbery of the Suwannee Swifty. The chain based in Quitman, is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension of the robbers. tectives discovered her body about noon Wednesday five miles from the store. Sheriffs Sgt.

Bill Davis said the body was nude from the waist up and lying next to garbage in the woods just south of an Interstate 75 ramp. There were signs of trauma, but investigators did not release details about the cause of death. Mangold was divorced and lived with her son Henry Todd Neu-burger about a mile from the store where she worked. She also worked for a service that provides temporary help to businesses. parent abduction occurred about 1 a.m.

Monday. The store had been ransacked, and there were signs that the victim had struggled. Whitehead said he could not be certain whether Messer was murdered at the bridge or somewhere else, but it appeared that her body had been tossed from the bridge after she was shot Messer was the lone clerk on duty during the robbery of the Suwannee Swifty. The chain based in Quitman, is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension of the robbers. About 14 hours after the abduction of Mangold, Hillsborough de TAMPA Police in two Florida counties hunted Thursday for the killers of a pair of convenience-store clerks found dead hours apart.

The body of Darlene Messer, 36, of Lake City was found Wednesday evening in about 6 inches of water under a bridge near Lake Butler, authorities and witnesses said. She had a bullet wound in the back of the head. 1- Columbia County Sheriffs Sgt. Jjm Wells said he spoke with Hillsborough County officials about the murder of Riverview convenience 6-foot, 200-pound blond, curly-haired man who demanded money from Mangold, then kidnapped her. Witnesses reported hearing the woman screaming, "Help! It's a robbery." Columbia County authorities do not have a description of the person who robbed the store where Messer worked.

The robbery and Messer's ap- BURGLARS WOUND THREE Burglars shot two Miami Beach police officers responding to a home-burglary alarm on Thursday, and beat a housekeeper, prompting a manhunt that temporarily closed the island's main routes to the mainland, police said. Police quickly found one suspect hiding in a nearby backyard. KILLER DENIED PAROLE Pleas from the victim's family and friends have convinced the State Parole Commission in Kissimmee to keep the killer of a 28-year-old Disney World employee in prison until 2051. Carol Kerr died at the hands of her brother-in-law Keith Kerr in March 1982. A parole examiner had recommended, that Kerr become eligible for parole in August 1995.

DRIFTER CHARGED A 33-year-old drifter is charged with killing former Clearwater mayor Alex Finch, 77, in an apparent robbery. Arthur Hagensee was arrested Wednesday. HIGH-TECH POT FARM Pasco County Sheriffs officials seized one suspect on Wednesday when they discovered a sophisticated marijuana farm in Masaryk-town, about 40 miles north of Tampa. 503 plants were being raised in a barn by hydroponics, in which plants are grown without soil. SENTENCING IN IRAN RADAR CASE Three men, complaining they were victimized by federal agents, were sentenced in Jacksonville to prison and work-release terms for conspiring to export a radar landing system to Iran.

Bradford Rissler, 35, of Kissimmee, Cary Hamilton, 25, of Lithonia, and Raul Cantor, 51, of Kissimmee, had pleaded guilty June 30. Novel plan for addicted mothers is drawing fire in coastal community Frequent use of cocaine impairs nervous system, may have link with AIDS Associated Press CLEARWATER Prosecutors are giving mothers of drug-addicted babies a choice be treated or be prosecuted in an experimental program that has triggered controversy in Clearwater. Officials postponed charges against 40 women because they may be eligible for the 18-month residential-treatment program. "They go into the program. They successfully complete the program.

They will not have criminal charges arising out of this," said Mary McKeown, the Pinellas assistant state attorney coordinating the program. "I really think the traditional means of prosecution are not going to accomplish what needs to be accomplished," she said. But the program also is raising an' ethical and legal controversy. "Effectively, it's involuntarily committing someone," said Robyn Blumner, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. "What you're, basically saying is, 'Look, you have a choice, addicted mother.

You can either go to treatment or go to trial, and either way, you're a Opponents "question whether courts will uphold the convictions of women charged with getting their infants addicted to drugs. Some critics say it will force wom store clerk Eileen Mangold, 51, a single mother who worked at the store near Tampa as a second job to buy school clothes for her 12-year-old son. "We talked about the two cases, and at this point they don't appear to be related," Wells said. "They just happened around the same time." Authorities were looking for a healthy donors to both single and repeated doses of cocaine. His conclusions, published in the journal Pharmacotherapy, indicate that regular exposure to cocaine may severely limit the usefulness of those blood cells in fighting diseases.

"Lymphocytes and neutrophils are the two major workhorses of the immune system," he said. "Together they comprise about 90 percent of the body's white blood cells." Different types of lymphocytes make antibodies and kill viruses and fungi, while neutrophils destroy bacteria that invade the body. The research showed that single doses of cocaine had little lasting effect on immune cell function, but daily doses of the drug limited the lymphocytes' ability to divide and stimulate the immune system. Another research project, the results of which were published in a medical journal earlier this year, supports the findings, Delafuente said. The study found that intravenous heroin users who also used cocaine were more likely to contract the AIDS virus than heroin users who did not also take cocaine.

Delafuente stressed that his research has not progressed beyond exposing human blood cells over shrimp ists are very worried about sea turtles. A sea turtle, or marine (muh-REEN) turtle is a reptile. means having to do with the sea.) A marine turtle needs to swim to the top of the water to breathe air. Environmentalists think that too many sea turtles drown because they get caught in trawl nets and can't swim to the top to breathe. Environmentalists want shrimpers to use TEDs on their nets.

What is a TED? TED stands for turtle-excluding device. (Exclude means to put out or leave out. A device is a piece of equipment.) A TED is a kind of cage on a trawl net. If a turtle gets caught in a net, the TED has a trap door that will exclude the turtle, or let it out of the net How do shrimpers feel? Shrimpers say there is not enough proof that a large number of turtles die in trawl nets. Shrimpers say they let turtles out to breathe when they bring up their nets.

And when they use bit the dust en into treatment even though they haven't been convicted of crimes. However, prosecutors and' supporters say it's an innovative, even unprecedented, way to deal with a complex social problem. Administrators at the drug-treatment program, Operation PAR in Largo, are converting seven homes donated by the county into living quarters for 20 women, a process expected to take as long as four months. Each woman could have two of her children live with her. Women who choose the program undergo free residential treatment for 18 months, said Shirley Coletti, president of the drug-treatment program.

She said federal grants and government funds will finance the program and called it the first of its kind in the country. While getting treatment, the women take vocational training or high school equivalency courses. If they complete the program, no charges will be filed. Doctors now report the mothers of drug-addicted babies to the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. HRS workers then turn the cases over to police, who refer them to prosecutors.

That process also has been criticized by doctors who say women will fear going to hospitals. Turtle escapes net through trap door in excluder device Shrimp trawler Inflow of water i- i The research could establish another link between drug abuse and AIDS. Intravenous drug users who share needles have long been in high-risk categories for AIDS. Frequent cocaine users could someday be in that category as well. The UF study suggests that regular exposure to cocaine may severely hamper important blood cells in fighting diseases.

to cocaine in test tubes and that the results are not definitive. His studies have not involved direct testing with the AIDS virus. Reaching a definitive conclusion may be difficult, he said, because finding and using human subjects cocaine addicts to test the theory is unlikely because of ethical considerations. "What we observe in a test tube may be quite different from what actually happens in the body." he said. "But there is significant evidence that something is going on here, and cocaine users should certainly be concerned." He noted that drug abusers are getting AIDS at a higher rate than other groups, and that the incidence is increasing, raising other questions.

"If drug abuse and AIDS go together, could there be factors other than needles," he said. "Could, for instance, an immune system impaired by drug abuse make someone at higher risk for contracting AIDS?" and turtles TEDs, sometimes the trap door sticks open and shrimp are also let out of the net. Some shrimpers think that other things are harming turtles, like not having clean seas for feeding and not having safe, clear beaches for laying their eggs. If they can't catch enough shrimp to sell and make money, shrimpers feel their jobs are in danger. But environmentalists say the turtles are in danger of becoming extinct, or no longer living on earth.

TALKING POINTS: How do you feel about this controversy? What information do you need to help you decide? What laws have been passed that have to do with this controversy? The Tallahassee Democrat joins newspapers around the nation in providing columns for reading teachers and their students of all ages and languages. This feature appears in the bocal-State section every Friday. For more information about literacy programs in our area, call 487-4444 or 1-800-228-8813. after only two mm Associated Press GAINESVILLE Heavy cocaine use may break down the body's immune system and leave the user at a higher risk for contracting AIDS and other diseases, a University of Florida researcher says. A first-of-its-kind laboratory study conducted at UFs College of Pharmacy showed that the function of certain white blood cells was decreased when repeatedly exposed to doses of cocaine, said Jeffrey Delafuente, an associate professor in UFs Department of Pharmacy Practice.

"If cocaine can significantly inhibit the functioning of these cells as it has done in our test-tube studies the implications could be frightening," he said. "It could, theoretically, wipe out the (entire immune system." The research could establish another link between drug abuse and AIDS. Intravenous drug users who share needles have long been in high-risk categories for AIDS. Frequent cocaine users could someday be in that category as well. "Not only does AIDS break down the immune system, but the drug breaks down the immune system to allow the AIDS virus to come in and do its thing," he said.

Delafuente examined the response of blood cells from Some fight Democrat staff report Shrimper: a person who catches and sells shrimp to make a living (-eron the end of a word means "one who" does something, like a player, reader, learner. Can you think of other examples?) Environmentalist: a person who tries to keep the environment and natural resources safe (-ist on the end of a word also means "one who" does something, like a scientist, journalist, pianist. Can you think of more -ist words?) Shrimpers and environmentalists in Florida are having a dispute, or argument. Shrimpers work with trawl nets to catch shrimp. Trawl nets are like large, open socks.

Shrimpers drag trawl nets behind their boats to "scoop" up shrimp. Shrimp boats are called trawlers. Shrimpers fish from their trawlers at night, because that is when shrimp are most active. What is the controversy? A controversy (KAHN-truh-VER-see) is a dispute or argument. Environmentalists say that shrimpers catch more than shrimp in their trawl nets.

Environmental Pony Express Philadelphia Daily News The turtle excluder device is a metal BUTANE A KILLER A Fort Pierce high-school student died and another was hospitalized Thursday with a massive heart attack after sniffing butane, victims of what police call an alarming trend toward abuse of legal substances. In a third case, a Jensen Beach girl was allegedly choked and stabbed to death by a boy- friend after they both inhaled Freon gas and took the drug Quaa-lude, police said. SEWAGE CASE CONTINUES Amtrak claims in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Jacksonville that the state shouldn't be allowed to prosecute the rail service on criminal charges over the dumping of human waste from train toilets. DISNEY CITED IN DEATHS Federal and state officials in Orlando have filed 16 charges of illegal capture, care and cruelty that resulted in the deaths of 15 black vultures on Walt Disney World's Discovery Island. Prosecutors also charged Disney employees with illegally taking eggs and nests of egrets and ibises and trying to capture wild hawks, falcons and owls that lived on the nature island.

One employee beat and killed "several" vultures with a stick while they were in traps, according to a report. All of the birds are protected by state and federal laws. NAVY REVISES TRAINING An abandon-ship drill has been revised on the recommendation of investigators probing the death of an aviation officer candidate in a training pool, a Navy spokesman said Thursday in Pensacola. The changes were made although the Navy found no wrongdoing or safety shortcomings in the June 23 death of Michael Fedie, 22, at Pensacola Naval Air Station. FLAG ETIQUETTE PROGRAM Okaloosa County schools have launched a flag etiquette program, but an official in Fort Walton Beach says it is not in reaction to the Supreme Court's ruling that allows flag burning as an expression of dissent.

Okaloosa I County is home to two Air Force bases, Eglin and Hurlburt Field. The program includes lessons on displaying and folding the flag, and its history. 1 RULING UPSETS LAWYERS A Miami appeals court ruling that a judge shouldn't have heard two cases because of an attorney's $500 contribution to her husband's campaign will make it hard for judges to fund their races, the president of the Florida Bar said Thursday. "It's going to create havoc," said Stephen N. Zack, describing costly judicial races that get the majority of their contributions from lawyers.

"Now you have a situation: Who is going to contribute?" From Democrat news services cage, equipped with a spring-loaded trap door, that is attached to shrimp trawl nets. Turtles accidentally caught in the net are diverted to the cage and released through the trap door. Trawl body Source: The Virginia Pilot, NOAA, Virginia Institute of Marine Science years, but legend lives on Questions: 1. The Pony Express carried (a) mail (b) gold (c) horse-racing results. 2.

It started in (a) Pennsylvania (b) Wyoming (c) Missouri. 3. The Pony Express died because (a) there were no more horses (b) the telegraph carried messages quicker (c) it was too dangerous. Answers: 1. (a); 2.

(c); 3. (b). TALKING POINT: What do you think it was like riding for the Pony Express? new horse. It only took two minutes to change. The rider went about 75 miles in a day.

Then he handed the mail to a new rider. So the mail kept moving, day and night. The riders did a good job. Only one bag of mail was lost. It was rare for riders to be attacked by Indians.

Only one rider was killed. His pony ran to the next relay station with the mail. A year after the Pony Express began, telegraph lines were built across the West. The telegraph sends messages in an instant by electrical wire. When the telegraph line reached California in October 1861, the Pony Express went out of business.

The owner had lost a lot of money. But the stories of brave young riders carried on. Parts of the old Pony Express trail can still be seen in the West to California. Later it was lowered to $1. The riders were young men.

Many of them were teen-agers. They were small but strong, like jockeys. Most riders weighed less than 135 pounds. The riders started in St. Joseph, Missouri.

They rode to Sacramento, California. Those cities are 2,000 miles apart. The trail went through Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. Here is how it worked: The owner built 190 relay or supply stations along the route. The stations were 10 or 15 miles apart Each station had horses.

Some had places for the riders to sleep. A rider carried mail in a special saddle bag. He rode as fast as the horse could go. At each station, the rider got a fresh horse. He quickly moved the mail bag to the Telegraph (TELL-e-graf): A machine to send signals through an electric wire The Pony Express was an exciting part of the Old West.

It was a special way to get mail to California. Young men rode horses across the country as fast as they could. There is a new TV show about the Pony Express. The TV show is called "The Young Riders." It will be on every Thursday from 9 to 10 p.m. on ABC.

The Pony Express started in April 1860. It Jasted less than two years. Before the Pony Express started, it took three weeks for mail to get from the Midwest to California. The first Pony Express trip took 10 days. The riders couldn't carry big packages.

In fact, they only carried 20 pounds of mail. At first, it cost $5 to send a half-ounce letter (The Savvy Reader, done by the Philadelphia Daily News, gives more information about stories in the newspaper. It is designed for students and adults who want to improve their reading skills and for readers who want more information about news stories.) 1.

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