Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York • Page 3

County to Help City April 9. 1969 PRESS. Binghamton, Y. 3-A Ross Park Takes Security Sleps Plan 5 Year Capital Cubbie Dozes After Escape Attempt "Cubbie," Ross Park's freedom-loving bear, was dozing in solitary confinement today while zoo officials were taking steps to prevent any more escapes from the bear cages. The 300-pound male black Projects Program zoning and urban renewal, By JERRY HAXDTE Broome County will help Binghamton plan a five-year capital projects program, in-eluding the planning this spring for a Neighborhood Development Program, County Executive Edwin L.

Crawford said today. Mr. Crawford said Joseph M. Missavage, county planning commissioner, will work on city planning with his chief planner, Richard G. Orman, and Bernard Bebel, a junior 1 1 1 1 'H i Face 6 Counts After Altercation bear, apparently afflicted with spring fever, made its way over the bars of its cage at the city's South Side zoo yesterday afternoon.

The bear was free for almost an hour. Most of that time, however, was spent about 30 feet up in a tree about 600 feet from the bear cages. THEN CUBBIE was shot down literally, but painlessly. A dart from a tranquilizer gun first immobilized the bear and then put it to sleep, enabling park attendants to bundle it back to captivity. Today Cubbie was sleeping off the effects of the tranquilizer drug and park workmen were busy making certain neither he nor his 5-year-old female companion, Porky, goes over the top again.

Elwood T. Hesse, Bingham-ton's commissioner of parks and recreation, said wire fencing will be installed over the tops of both bear cages within a few days. MEASUREMENTS were being taken and materials ordered today, he said. Meanwhile, Cubbie continued to doze in solitary confinement, separated from Porky until the tranquilizer drug wears off. "It takes from two to three days," Mr.

Hesse said. "And they're not supposed to be disturbed during that time." After his capture yesterday afternoon, Cubbie was not put back in the cage it had shared with Porky. Cubbie was taken into an unused adjoining cage, placed inside its concrete cave and has not emerged. JOSEPH CARRARO, senior attendant, was the first to see the bear making its bid for freedom. The animal was walking atop the bars of its cage when first spotted, Mr.

Carraro said. The bars on the cage are pointed at the ends, but are bent downward toward the interior of the cage. Mr. Carraro started running to the cage, but Cubbie, one leap away from freedom, apparently decided it was now or never. The bear jumped some 15 feet from the bars and then scrambled over a wire fence and started running.

THERE WERE a few people in the park at the time, most of whom were city employes cleaning up the grounds, according to Mr. Hesse. Some children on seeing the bear loose, took off on the run, Mr. Hesse said. He said there were about 20 children in the park at the time.

No one was hurt, he said. Mr. Hesse said he was en-route from his Recreation Park office to Columbus Park about 1:50 p. m. yesterday when a radio mesage alerted him to the situation at Ross Park.

He drove immediately to the park, he said. "LEE STOCKTON (the zoo superintendent) is in Chicago," Mr. Hesse said. "He has a tranquilizer gun at the park, but I don't know where he keeps the cartridges, although I'm going to know from now on." Mr Hesse said he called Bertis Gilbert, Broome County's dog warden, who hurried to the park with his tranquilizer gun. In the meantime, Mr.

Hesse stationed zoo attendants at the base of the tree in which the bear was perched. "We knew he wouldn't come down as long as somebody was down there," he said. When Mr. Gilbert arrived, Mr. Hesse had a truck with a hydraulic bucket lift, sometimes called a cherry-picker, brought in.

MR. GILBERT was raised up in the bucket to within Three Binghamton men were arraigned in Johnson City Police Court today on a total of six charges stemming from an altercation in the Emma Street area of Binghamton. PRESS PHOTOS BY PAUL KONECNY. ROUTE TO FREEDOM-Binghamton Parks Commissioner Elwood T. Hesse points to bear cage at Ross Park from which "Cubbie" escaped.

The bear climbed atop its concrete cave (1), pulled itself up to top of bars and moved along curved bars to front of cage where it climbed down to ground and scrambled over an outer steel fence. about 20 feet of the bear and took aim on Cubbie's backside, Mr. Hesse said. The one shot fired hit the bear "right in the rump," Mr. Hesse said.

"That's the best place because the hind legs are affected first," he said. The bucket, minus Mr. Gilbert, then was lifted above the bear and slowly lowered along the tree, forcing Cubbie to slide down. Mr. Hesse said that the method was used because if they had waited for the tranquilizer in the dart to take effect, the bear "would've hung there until he dropped" and could have been hurt.

ON REACHING the ground, a dazed Cubbie was loaded into a waiting truck by several of the workmen and taken back to captivity. It was the second escape by a bear since July of 1962, when a black bear named Annie bolted through an open cage gate and was free for 44 hours before being recaptured. Charged were: WILLIAM H. PRATT, 24, of 180 Hawley Street, falsely reporting an incident; RICHARD A. WILBUR, 21, of 106 Henry Street, driving an unregistered motor vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident, driving without insurance, and driving while license revoked; HAROLD L.

SMITH, 16, of 78 Pine Street, menacing. Technical pleas of innocent were entered for each and they were remanded to Broome County Jail in lieu of $350 cash or $1,000 property bail each. JAMES BARBER, a Binghamton attorney, will represent Mr. Wilbur. Mr.

Pratt and Mr. Smith will seek representation by the public defender. Johnson City detectives gave these details: The events began with an altercation which took place in the Emma Street, Binghamton area on Friday night between the occupants of two cars, one driven by Mr. Wilbur who had three passengers. The other car, containing four persons, three unidentified, was driven by John E.

Skinner of 17 Broad Avenue, Binghamton. Johnson City detectives said because of the altercation, the four occupants of the Wilbur car, one unidentified, went to the home of Mr. Pratt, where they picked up a shotgun. THE FOUR then went searching for the car driven by Mr. Skinner, and located the Skinner car in Main Street near Lester Avenue, Johnson City.

i mi' na-nni i. ik 'fc" STETA Seeks Talk With Major Creditors TRANQUILIZER GUN-Joseph Carraro, senior attendant at Ross Park, shows tranquilizer gun that was used by Broome County Dog Warden Bertis Gilbert to subdue the bear. planner, "as much as possible within the framework of other commitments." THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE said he believes the professional planning assistance to the city by the county would enable the city to qualify for some credits that would have a cash value for the city's share of urban renewal costs. Mayor Joseph W. Esworthy and John J.

Thompson, city commissioner of planning, Detectives said Mr. Smith in the Wilbur car pointed a shotgun at the occupants of the Skinner car. The occupants heard the shotgun click, detectives said, and then an occupant from a passing unidentified automobile threw a beer bottle striking the Wilbur car. After the bottle hit the top of the car, Mr. Wilbur in his car off and struck the Skinner car in the front left fender," detectives said.

The occupants of the Skinner car then chased the Wilbur car down Lester Avenue, going over a dry bridge near CFJ Park. The Wilbur car then ran into a chain fence at the corner of Lester Avenue and Pavilion Road, Johnson City. The occupants of the Wilbur car left the scene, taking the shotgun with them. Police detectives said the four then took a cab to Mr. Pratt's home.

DETECTIVES said Mr. Wilbur then called Binghamton police and reported his car as being stolen. Binghamton police told him he would have to report the stolen car in person, detectives said. Then Mr. Pratt called Johnson City police, reported the car as stolen, and he, too, was told to report the case in person.

Neither went to the police bureaus, detectives said. After a statement by Mr. Skinner the three were each arrested at their homes yesterday by detectives. Investigation was continuing today, they added. WILLIAM W.

WOOD, JR. group. Mr. Hunt once worked with Link in Binghamton as senior vice-president and technical director. Mr.

Wood's appointment is effective May 1. When Mr. Wood left Link in 1963, the firm was a part of General Precision Equipment Corp. General Precision merged last July into Singer Co. the woods and extinguished the blaze before it spread very far, he said.

Chief Oliver residents to stop burning rubbish in what he called the most dangerous grass fire season of the year. He said the Vestal department fought seven grass fires yesterday, all caused by carelessness. He said he was not sure if the SUAB fire was caused by carelessness or just dry brush spontaneously combusting. were not immediately available for comment on this point. Mr.

Missavage last month completed conferences with Mr. Thompson and Martin A. Heifer, superintendent of city schools, at which the scope of planning the county could undertake was defined. MR. CRAWFORD said Mr.

Missavage has told him county planners would work with the city's Urban Renewal Agency and other officials on planning for the downtown core area. This work, Mr. Missavage said, would be completed before the end of August, to permit Mayor Esworthy to include planned capital projects in his 1970 budget request to City Council. The county planning chief also said the county could assist in planning the neighborhood program in the 11th Ward this year. Mr.

Crawford said the County Planning Department also is engaged in providing master plan services to the towns Binghamton, Kirkwood, Vestal, Conklin and Chenango; housing and commercial development studies for the Town of Union, and population studies for the Johnson City and Chenango Forks school districts. COORDINATION of the county planning and the city's urban renewal and other development programs will be through a committee to include Mr. Thompson, some City Council members and City Comptroller James B. MacGibeny, Mr. Crawford said.

Purpose of the planning work, according to Mr. Missavage, will be to assist MacGibeny in preparing a capital budget for submission to City Council that meets a "master list of (city) needs." Mr. Crawford said he will ask Mr. Missavage for a preliminary report on the status of the city planning work by the end of this month. Mayor Esworthy recently thanked Mr.

Crawford by letter for what he called "the county's 1,000 per cent cooperation, especially at this crucial time in the city's history in regards to finances." IN ADDITION to planning work already in progress for municipalities within the county, Mr. Crawford said, county planners also have been asked to assist in Johnson City urban renewal planning and in the setting up of town planning boards and zoning controls in the towns of Maine, Sanford and Lisle. Mr. Missavage has told Mr. Crawford that the county planning workload would preclude county assistance in the near future in planning in the Second, Third, Sixth and 11th wards, except for the neighborhood program in the 11th Ward.

County planners also would assist the city school district in planning replacement of old school buildings, Mr. Crawford said. COUNTY PLANNERS in recent years have played a part in a number of projects in the city, including preparation of its application last year for a federal Model Cities grant and in transportation, recreation, urban renewal and other programs and City Council in January asked the county to provide planning help for a five-year capital projects program, to begin next year, in cooperation with city agencies. Historical Group Cites Three Sites Binghamton's City Hall, the Broome County Courthouse and the Onaquaga Indian site near Windsor have been recognized by a state historical group for their architectural and historical value. The three were cited by the New York Historic Trust to be recorded in the National Register of Historic Sizes and Buildings.

The French Renaissance design of City Hall, now 70 years old, make it an "elegant example of Beaux Arts style," and the Courthouse, built in 1806, shows "classic eclectic style featuring Ionic columns," the historical trust noted. The Onaquaga site, off Route 79, was at one time a fort and the camping grounds for General James Clinton's forces in 1779. William W. Wood Former Link President To Return to Firm interest-ing jyi i if 1 1 ii IPtII 111 II II mi m. Southern Tier Education Television Association I hopes to meet with its two major creditors within the next few days to clear the the way for a later meeting with its other creditors who number more than two.

The major creditors are Stainless Corp. of Philadelphia, owner of the television tower on which the STETA leases space, and Radio Corporation of America. RCA owns some of the heavy broadcasting equipment that was installed in STETA's since-vacated Vestal Plaza studios. THE IMPENDING meeting was discussed during a 2Vi-hour meeting of STETA's board of directors today at Broome Technical Community College. At the meeting William A.

Anderson, who is acting adviser to STETA, told board members the State Education Department has agreed to match money raised for the station's support through public subscription up to $50,000. EARLIER, Mr. Anderson set a goal of $100,000 for the public fund drive. He said he needs at least that much to keep STETA's station, WSKG-TV on the air. So far, only $1,276 has come in, Mr.

Anderson said. He said he hopes a board fund raising committee made up of George A. Butz, a Union-Endicott Board of Education member; Theron L. Philley, supervising principal of the Windsor Central School District, and Harry S. Milligan, president of the Sun-Bulletin, will be able to increase the flow.

The meeting l)eing sought with Stainless and RCA, Mr. Anderson said, is aimed at persuading those two creditors to release some unspecified equipment so STETA can sell it. The money realized from the sale of the equipment, Mr. Anderson said, would be applied to the other debts. PLANNING ON REMODELING YOUR CELLAR? When you get to the gat meter, let RAC METER SERVICE put it outside for you I CALL 724-7636 (24-Hour Answering Service) MARTIN'S Has Brothers, They're Good, Too A former president of Link Division, Singer will return to the firm.

William W. Wood, a long-time Binghamtonian with Link for 12 years, will become vice-president, technical, of Singer's Education and Training Products Group which includes Link. He will be based in New York City. The announcement came from Lloyd L. Kelly, who succeeded Mr.

Wood as Link's president when the latter executive left the firm in 1963. Since then, Mr. Wood has been president of Applied Dynamics, a designer and maker of scientific computer equipment in Ann Arbor, Mich. Mr. Wood succeeds John M.

Hunt, who has transferred to Singer's office equipment Origin IJiilHkiiiiimMl Vestal Firemen Douse Brush Fire Near SUAE COMPOUNDED QUARTERLY Latest Dividend Paid THE BINGHAMTON Savings Bank 66 Exchange Street, Binghamton, NY. MEMBER FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION ta. A brush fire of undetermined origin, burning in the center of a large, dry wooded area at the rear of the State University of Binghamton, shortly before noon today, was quickly extinguished by the Vestal Fire Department. Chief William Oliver said the blaze could have been serious because brisk winds threatened to drive it out of control. Firemen, equipped with portable water tanks went into.