The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 1

Laumalters split on deficit issue pcfjo 4 A Author plays Julia Tutvjilar pcjo12A Iraq accused of gas warfare page 11 Alabama open dm prmg training page 10 Cloudy, cold Details, page 20A 156th No. 307 Montgomery, Alabama Tuesday, March 6, 1984 1t4 Tha A4vwMu C. 25 Cents Mine injured bs ttoiTuiadlo folds Ozark 1 By BOOTH GUNTER Advertiser Staff Writer OZARK A tornado that roared through this south Alabama town Monday with little warning injured at least nine people as it ripped through the business district, sending glass, automobiles and Jil ir iv -J- "111 r-' i-Jti vC-r jv -s -'Wv-'---t5ti No. i i -Mwt -f -J. r'.

.01 -Photoi by Htl VMger and Mark Alnoad 1 wwn '(' Tornado Gemayel scraps accord Israel condemns annulment of pact BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) President Amin Gemayel's government scrapped Lebanon's troop withdrawal pact with Israel on Monday as part of a deal with Syria designed to end the Lebanese civil war. Gemayel, 42, convened an emergency session of his Council of Ministers at the presidential palace in suburban Baabda to announce abrogation of the U.S. -mediated pact signed May 17. "The council has decided to cancel this accord, consider it null and void and alter everything that may have resulted from it," said a statement from the council, Leba; non's Cabinet. In response, Syria was expected to guarantee that its Druse and Moslem militia allies in Lebanon will support a cease-fire while Lebanese reconciliation talks resume in Switzerland.

Israel quickly condemned the action as a capitulation by Gemayel to Syrian "dictates." And a spokesman for President Reagan said the U.S. administration's reaction was "regret." Israeli jets bombed suspected guerrilla bases at Aley, three miles east of Baabda, before and during the Lebanese Cabinet session. In Beirut, rocket fire killed a French soldier and a gunman wounded Ct i' gy JJf iJ Lowndes tall tower approved WSLA-TV to reach Montgomery homes By ALVIN BENN Advertiser Staff Writer SELMA A federal appeals court has approved a ruling allowing WSLA-TV to build a tall tower in Lowndes County that will reach Montgomery viewers, General Manager George Singleton said Monday. A Montgomery television executive said the decision could signal an end to one of the capital city's three "We've said all along allowing Channel 8 to build the tall tower will probably cause one of the two UHF stations to go off the air in Montgomery," said Karl Richards, general manager for WCOV-TV. He said the new TV tower would -greatly increase competition for ad-' vertksing revenue in the Montgomery area.

WKAB-TV is the other UHF station in Montgomery. General Manager jonn tvogers was oui oi town dim unavailable for a comment Monday. Richards said he had not yet been notified of the the U.S. Court of Appeals' decision in Washington. Near Selma The tower will be built 23 miles southeast of Selma in Lowndes County.

The station's power will increase from 53,000 watts to 316,000 watts and the viewing audience from 100,000 to 600,000, Singleton said. He said WSLA's VHF signal will equal that of WSFA (Channel 12) in Montgomery with a 100-mile viewing radius instead of the current 50-mile radius. WSLA now has a 360-foot tower 3 miles west of Selma. The station, owned by a Huntsville businessman, applied for permission to build the tower in 1975. The Federal Communications Commission approved construction of the tall tower this past May and Singleton said WSLA could have built it at that time "but we decided to wait on the appeals process." "This means we'll be able to begin work on the tower immediately," said Singleton.

Singleton said WSLA will spend more than $4 million on the expansion project. He said the size of the station's staff will be increased, although be didn't say how many would be added. He also said the station will begin 10 p.m. and weekend newscasts. Richards said VHF stations such as WSFA and WSLA have advantages over UHF stations because they have more powerful signals.

"Their frequencies get out farther with less power needed," said Richards. "It's just more expensive for UHF stations to operate." I KThsiiin mi itfiVilY ft i iiiirt i i iH HWi III sM I 1 1 i 11 fl'ii i 1 1 Court OKs Nativity scene in official holiday displays roofs flying through the streets. No deaths from the storm had been reported by Monday night. Authorities said a tornado also skipped through Enterprise, about 20 miles southwest of Ozark, destroying two mobile homes and a barn but causing no injuries. One victim of the Ozark tornado, Betty Parmer, 36, was admitted to Dale County Hospital, where she underwent surgery for a compound fracture to her left leg.

Relatives said the woman remained in surgery for more than two and a half hours. Mrs. Parmer, who lives near Eufaula, was shopping at Betty's Book Gift Shop when the twister sent the roof and walls crashing in. The store at 15 Court Square was surrounded by three other heavily damaged brick buildings, located across a street from the Dale County courthouse. The courthouse sustained minor damage to its exterior.

Shelter facility opened City officials opened Perry Recreation Center to provide food and shelter for those driven from their homes by the storm. No one, however, had used the facility by Monday night. "We will have staff on duty around the clock to assist anyone in need," said Mayor Billy Blackmon. Blackmon estimated the damage to businesses and homes at more than $1 million He said at least 25 stores were damaged by the tornado. Several lost roofs and parts of walls; many others lost windows.

Officials said the tornado first touched down at about 1 p.m. about two miles south of Ozark. At grove Trailer Park it swept one trailer about 30 feet from its foundation, tipped it over and mangled the walls, roof and interior. A piece of the trailer was left hanging from the top of 'a utility pole. At least two more trailers were heavily damaged and more than six sustained some damage.

In the same trailer park, two unoccupied houses were demolished. Shopping plaza damaged The twister also hit the Martindale Shopping Plaza, sending a large section of roof crashing down into Rose's department store, where about 15 employees and 20 customers were huddled on the floor. Ron Claymon, assistant store manager, said no injuries were reported Inside the store. Several other mall employees and shoppers, however, received cuts and bruises from flying glass and debris. "It's a thousand wonders nobody got killed," said one bystander, peering in at the wreckage as rain poured through the gaping hole in the roof.

Claymon said. "It hit and it was over in a matter of seconds." Barb Auten, owner of Plaza Florist next door to Roses, said she looked through the glass doors of the store and saw the roof buckling above a cashier's counter. "I saw the glass start breaking and the roof start ripping. It (the roof) was waving just like the windows." Ms. Auten said she reached inside the store and pulled a friend out seconds before the roof came down.

At Betty's Book Gift Shop, Mrs. See WORKERS, page ZA was only fined $100," he said, "and she never had to pay that because the next day the judge caught his own error and corrected it." Prosecuting attorney Ed Caroes of the state attorney general's office said it was clear Sheffield had used a public court as a personal forum and that he had only recanted his actions after he saw the depth of public reaction. Letter called lie "Sheffield called the letter one big lie," said Carnes. "He said that she had written it to hurt him, and that it had embarrassed him. ''Plainly, he should have recused himself from the case.

See SUSPENSION, page ZA the rubble of what was once a mnkila knina Mnnrlav'a iiiuuiiv uviuvi uivuuaj a tornado also destroyed another trailer and two houses at Snellgrove Rental Park about two miles south of Ozark, anad damaged several other trailers. The twister fhen swept into downtown Ozark, above, demolishing two stores and damaging 23 others. No one was killed, but at least nine people were Injured. Meese finances undergo further Senate inquiry WASHINGTON (AP) Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, said Monday he has obtained new information for the Senate Judiciary Committee on Attorney General-designate Edwin, Meese's financial ties to wealthy Cali-fornians who got federal jobs.

As the committee prepared for its third day of hearings on the Meese nomination, Metzenbaum said his staff took a deposition over the weekend in California from a key figure in the financial transactions. Metzenbaum has suggested in his questioning that generous financial terms afforded to the White House counselor on mortgages and loans may have been linked to the government jobs obtained by wealthy bank executives and other lenders. Meese denied several times last week that there was any connection and also said he was not instrumental in arranging the jobs. Dismissed as witness Meese was dismissed Friday as a witness but could be recalled as the panel delves further into the matter. Metzenbaum, the most vigorous Meese questioner on the committee, told reporters Monday that he planned to make public later a deposition which his aides took over the weekend from Irv Howard, a wealthy Calif orni-an who purchased Meese's La Mesa, home.

Howard could not appear at the hearing because his doctor said he has heart trouble. Howard sold the home for $32,500 less than he paid for it but Metzenbaum said Monday, "Howard didn't lose any money but somebody did. We know what's being said, but we're not sure who did lose the money' Metzenbaum added that he might need to call additional witnesses the find the answer. Metzenbaum also said he would ask John McKean, Meese's personal tax accountant, to tell the committee about 160,000 in loans he arranged for the presidential adviser. After the loans were made, McKean was named See MEESE, page ZA See GEMAYEL, page ZA Official says hose, blackjack found at Draper By JAY REEVES Advertiser Staff Writer A state prison investigator testified Monday that he found a blackjack and a piece of rubber garden hose in the offices of two former Draper Correctional Center officials who, along with two other former prison officials, are accused of beating inmates.

Federal prosecutors claim that former Draper Warden Joseph Oliver, Assistant Warden James Digmon, Dog Warden Winston Grant and Captain of the Guard Grady Davis conspired and used the weapons to beat at least 10 named inmates in Digmon's office during 1981. The men face federal charges of conspiring to violate inmates' constitutional rights by disciplining them without due process and beating prisoners. Conviction on the conspiracy charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence and fine of up to $10,000. The deprivation of rights charge carries a one-year prison sentence and fines upon conviction. Allegations denied Frank Wilson, an attorney representing the men, argued that the beatings could not have occurred in Digmon's office, because it was "the most public place" in the prison.

"If you were going to set out to conspire to do something, the assistant warden's office would be the worst place in the prison to do it," Wilson said. Department of Corrections Investigator T. G. Totty said he discovered the almost 20-inch-long rubber hose in Grant's desk, and found the blackjack a leather-covered lead bludgeon in Digmon's desk. Grant's desk was located in a building about 300 yards away from the main prison complex, he said.

Prosecutors maintain that some of the inmates were injured so badly they could not work for days after the alleged assaults. At least one of the inmates was kept in the prison's dog kennels for about three days following a beating session in Digmon's office, so other inmates would not see his -cuts and bruises, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Allred said during arguments. Draper is an agriculturally-oriented prison in rural Elmore County. Wilson said even if the inmates were beaten, a guard assigned to watch a gate that prisoners walked through to go to work would nave noticed their bruises or any absences.

The four prison officials were indicted by a federal grand jury In December 1982, about one year after See LAWYER, page 2A court and, to a certain extent, the Hiood of the country," said Trench, a Methodist pastor from Providence. Writing for the court's slim majority, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger said Nativity scenes serve to celebrate the origin of "a national holiday" "When viewed in the proper context of the Christmas Holiday season, it is apparent that there is insufficient evidence to establish that the inclusion of the creche is a purposeful or surreptitious effort to express some kind of governmental advocacy of a' particular religious message," he said. Burger said Nativity scenes at least when included along with depictions of Santa Claus, reindeer, snowmen and the like are no more unconstitutional than printing "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency.

Leading the dissenters, Justice William J. Brennan said, "Plainly, the city and its leaders understood that the inclusion of the creche in its display would serve the wholly religious purpose of keeping Christ in Christmas." WASHINGTON (AP) Communities nationwide may put Christ in Christmas by including Nativity scenes in officially sponsored holiday displays, the Supreme Court said Monday. The court ruled, 5-4, that Pawtucket, R.I., did not violate the constitutionally required separation of church and state when it included a scene depicting the Biblical version of Jesus Christ's birth among its annual Christmas decorations. Two lower courts had struck down the city's 40-year tradition of displaying the scene, sometimes called a creche. Pawtucket officials and other municipal leaders praised the decision.

"The court has reaffirmed the important principle that government is not required to repudiate the religious traditions of the American people," said Mary Frances McGinn, a lawyer for Pawtucket residents backing city sponsorship of the creche. But the Rev. William C. Trench, one of 10 Rhode Island ministers who opposed the city's sponsorship, called the ruling "unfortunate." "I think that's just the mood of the Dothan judge By RICK HARMON Advertiser Staff Writer DOTHAN A circuit judge who charged a Henry County woman with contempt of court for criticizing him in a letter to. a newspaper was suspended Monday for two months without pay.

The state Court of the Judiciary ruled that Circuit Judge Billy Joe Sheffield violated four state judicial canons when he fined Connie Cox $100 for her letter about a divorce case in his court. The judicial -court said that although Mrs. Cox's letter Was "unfounded and factually incorrect," Sheffield's response to it was "ill-advised and unjust." The judges ruled that Sheffield bad A suspended for 2 months publicly commented on a pending case and that his comments to a local newspaper had "reasonably subjected his Impartiality to question." The judges said Sheffield's response tended to undermine public confidence in the Integrity and impartiality of the courts and to bring the judicial process into disrepute. Although all five judges agreed on the findings, Judge Edward Tease filed a dissenting opinion, saying he favored suspending Sheffield for only a month. Violations said minor Sheffield's attorney, Winn Faulk, had argued that any violations the judge may have committed were minor.

"The victim of Sheffield's error Page Ann Landers 16A Business Finance 6-10B Classifieds 14-19B Comics ISA Movies 1H7A HB TV Log ISA Emergency Hospital: ST. MARGARET'S From 7 a.m. Tuesday To 7 a.m. Wednesday Circulation Service 269-0011 Toll-free Statewide 1-M0-38W7S4 I i i ii i i i ii r. l.

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