Pensacola News Journal from Pensacola, Florida • 27

I 77 77 County administrator interviews start NARF workers sue over payday change he Pensacola Journal 7f7 nursoay! February EB05L.J 'V I t' S5 Police seek professionalism ft istered with the state commission for 10 years. "When the Florida Legislature created the collective bargaining law in 1974 it created the mini-PERCs. Since that time the mini-PERCs have been used to stall the process until the workers get frustrated and give up," he said. The case, and another union petition drive at the Port of Pensacola, already has cost the city $10,000 in expenses for the commission alone. Legal costs are considered much higher, but city figures were not available Wednesday.

See POLICE, Page 6C 30 percent of the patrol force, said Betz. The department has 88 sworn officers. Asked why a vote has not come about after more than a year of legal briefs, City Attorney Don Caton said, "they have been going through the procedures for registration and they have not been doing it properly." Florida Police Benevolent Association President Charles Maddox called the delay "a felony." The association represents 99 law enforcement agencies in Florida, including the highway patrol and the marine patrol, and has been reg of the Pensacola association chapter. "The same state (code) I enforce every night in the streets I am being denied through the city action, through the mini-PERC." PERC stands for Public Employees Relations Commission. Most public employees in Florida may file grievances with the state PERC, but Pensacola is one of a handful of Florida cities that has its own commission.

The Pensacola PBA chapter has 53 dues-paying members and has submitted cards calling for collective bargaining recognition from more than the required By ROB ALEXANDER Journal Staff Writer Pensacola police officers say they want a union to "professionalize" a department plagued with low morale, no training, little pay and poor communication. And they have accused City Hall of dragging out a 13-month-old certification process that must occur before the Florida Police Benevolent Association can call a vote on collective bargaining. "All we're asking as police officers is the right to vote under state law," said Bill Betz, a city patrolman and president i in tin fli AJiV ij WBSR fan LaDonna Adams directs a protest sign at passing motorists. WBSR was station we grew up with By MARK O'BRIEN Journal Columnist The dial on the car radio said "1450 AM," but there was no music. There was only raspy static and empty air.

That's because the plug had been pulled on WBSR, the golden oldie radio station that so many Pensacolians grew up with, as its slogan proclaimed. Low ratings and high expenses had spelled the end to Pensacola's steadiest Terse note does all the talking in bank heist I If i I 'I i 1Z I to supply of rock'n roll. For people who came of age in Pensacola in the 1950s, '60s and early '70s, WBSR was the only game in town. There were few AM stations, and onlv one FM. i Hi j-ti VLr WBSR was the premier rock station, and it was the station where many people first O'Brien heard the Beatles, the Beach Boys and the Doors.

The robber, believed to be in his mid-203, was carrying a zipper-type plastic bag when he walked up to the teller's cage. "He gave her the note," the agent said. "And then he opened his bag and showed her the handle of a gun. It was probably a revolver, but he never pulled it out of the bag. He took the note with him." The teller complied, police said, and the bandit put the money in his bag.

The amount taken wasn't disclosed. During the holdup, the bank's surveillance camera videotaped the entire incident. It also zeroed in on the exact time of the robbery: 1 1:09 a.m. See BANK, Page 2C By BILL DINGWALL Journal Staff Writer "Gimme! Gimme!" Those were the only words spoken by a man who robbed a branch bank in Pensacola Wednesday. Instead of threats, the FBI said, the robber handed a teller an intimidating note at the First National Bank of Escambia County, 7139 N.

Ninth in the Eastgate Shopping Plaza. "He had a note that he'd previously written in long hand," an FBI agent said. "Essentially, the note said This is a robbery. I have a gun. Give me your When she (the teller) took her time, he said, 'Gimme! They were the only words he said to her." 4 fWN Jv v.

lifts Lawyer vs. lawyer in slander suit A 7 Staff photo by Charlie Steed Glen "Frosty" Little (left), boss clown for Ringling Brothers and Bar-num Bailey Circus, shows Mike Kerry (right) how to throw a punch during auditions for clown class. In the world of circus laughs, Little is big "I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment," Venn said Wednesday. The complaint says Hosner demanded a retraction of the alleged slanderous statement in a letter dated Dec. 19.

But, the suit says, Venn "has failed and refused to comply with the demand." The complaint does not state whether Venn acknowledged receipt of or responded to the letter. A copy of the letter was filed with the complaint. In the letter, Hosner informed Venn that he has heard about the alleged statement and demanded an immediate retraction. "Obviously, this is slanderous, and if you are not prepared to verify and prove these totally unfounded remarks, I demand an immediate retraction and an acknowledgment by you that you have no personal knowledge of the truthfulness of the quoted remarks." Hosner warned in the letter that he would seek legal recourse if Venn did not disavow the comment. He requested a jury trial and unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

By KATHY BEASLEY Journal Staff Writer MILTON One Pensacola lawyer has taken a second Pensacola lawyer to court over a remark that the second lawyer is accused of making to a third lawyer in Tallahassee. Joe G. Hosner Tuesday sued John E. Venn Jr. in Santa Rosa County Circuit Court for slander, claiming Venn made a malicious and unfounded statement in December that has damaged Hosner's 'business relations and reputation.

The one-page complaint alleges that Venn said: "It is common knowledge that Hosner is a bag man and that he has been running back and forth to the Cayman Islands; that he has been seen with bags of cash in his (Joe's) possession." Venn is accused of saying this to Tallahassee attorney W. Kirk Brown during a conversation Dec. 19. Hosner and Venn practice law in Pensacola; Venn lives in Santa Rosa County. Hosner asserts that the alleged statement was "calculated to cause great injury" and made with "wilfull and wanton disregard for the consequences of the statement." By SHEILA THOMPSON Journal Staff Writer "So you want to be a clown." Glen "Frosty" Little, boss clown for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus, greeted the aspiring clowns at Wednesday's audition with those words.

Twelve people showed up for the auditions that will decide who can attend -the 10-week training course this fall in Venice, Fla. Little and a few members of the three-ring "Greatest Show on Earth" are in Pensacola laying groundwork for the weekend performances at the Pensacola Civic Center. The first show is at 8 p.m. Friday; Saturday's performances are at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday's shows are at 1 and 5:30 p.m.

Little was blunt with the 12 who were interested in the circus. Clowning is fun, but it also requires hard work, he said. See CLOWN, Page 2C In those days, kids cruised the Rendezvous Drive-In at Pace Boulevard and Fairfield Drive, or hung around the Old Firehouse Restaurant on Gregory Street, or went parking near Pensacola Regional Airport. And they listened to WBSR to hear Chuck Berry, Pat Boone, Roy Orbison, the Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Crosby, Stills and Nash. It was the music that serenaded them through high school, pimples, miniskirts, college, Vietnam, sock hops and summer at the beach.

But times have changed and now the music has died at WBSR, which went off the air at midnight Wednesday with only a few hours' notice to employees. The decline began in the 1970s as FM radio came along, bringing a stronger, clearer signal. Other stations tried rock or other formats that won listeners, advertisers and ratings from WBSR. And the station went through ownership changes and financial problems. So the station has closed, per order of its owner, Texas businessman Bill Ledford.

"It was too costly to operate," said Debbie Harne, the last employee left at the station. In 40 to 60 days it will be taken over by its new owner, F.T.C. (Fred) Brewer, who also owns WMEZ-FM, an "easy listening" station. WBSR's new format hasn't yet been revealed, but Brewer hopes to start operations as soon as the deal's paperwork is completed, said Gene Pfalzer, station manager for WMEZ. Pfalzer wouldn't disclose the new format yet because "we don't want to tip our hand," but predicted it will appeal to WBSR's listeners.

Small AM stations such as WBSR which had only 1,000 watts became an endangered species with the growth of FM. Along came WABB, WJLQ and, WTKX and "Pensacola turned into an FM town," said Steve Anthony Remel, who left his job at WBSR last year to go to work at WPIK in Flomaton, Ala. Remel is just one of a list of disc jockeys to pass through WBSR. Papa Don Schroeder, Gary McKee, Jay Thomas, Jim Young, Mike Iannone, Jerry Ray, Gordon Towne, Luke McCoy, Chris Hampton the list goes on. "It used to be the hottest thing in town," said Hampton; now disc jockey and operations manager at WOWW-FM.

Hampton, 35, was disc jockey and program director at WBSR from 1973 to 1977, and he s.till runs into people who say they grew up listening to him on that station. See WBSR, Page 4C Traffic Alert Laying asphalt If it doesn't rain, a work crew will be laying asphalt on Mobile Highway between Fairfield and Edison drives. Striping Workers will continue a "striping" or painting project on Longleaf Drive in front of Pine Forest High School. One-lane blocked If you're driving on Street, watch for a work crew putting in a drainage system at Leonard and St. Mary streets.

"We'll have one lane blocked off at both intersections," says Chuck Ramsey of the Escambia County Engineering Department. Today's Events 5 p.m. Destln Board of Adjustment organizational meeting, Destin Fishing Rodeo office. 7 p.m. Destin Recreational Committee meeting, Destin Fishing Rodeo office.

7 p.m. Destin Planning Zoning Committee meeting, Destin Fishing Rodeo office. 7 p.m. Fort Walton Beach Historic Sites Committee, council chambers. City Hall.

7 p.m. Laurel Hill City Council meeting, City Hall. 8 p.m. Escambia County Commissioners will be interviewed and answer call-in questions on "Open Forum," WSRE-TV, Channel 23. iflnnPTT win man fi I i predicts prosperity Gannett earnings jump, 8D By DAVE GOODWIN Journal staff Writer Buying the Des Moines Register shows that the Gannett Co.

is moving ahead in the communications business, its chief operating officer said Wednesday in Pensacola. And the consumer's growing reliance on electronic media and computers is no reason why the company that publication of Pensacola's evening paper, The News. During a dinner meeting Wednesday night, research and the paper's readers will determine its future. Curley, Keating and other Gannett executives are in Pensacola for the bi-annual review of operations of newspapers in the Gannett South and Southeast divisions. Even though Gannett is paying $200 million for the Register, the Jackson (Tenn.) Sun and two twice-weekly newspapers, the purchase was not a risky venture.

For a company like Gannett, with more than $2 billion in revenues annually, "that's not a lot of money," said Curley. Far riskier was the purchase of Federated Newspapers, which owned newspapers in several state capitals, in the early 1970s, when Gannett had revenues of only $350 million. The Federated purchase amounted to about 25 to 30 percent of the company's revenues, as opposed to only 10 percent in the Register deal. While Gannett newspapers have been supporting the company's most ambitious venture, USA Today, during its two-year infancy, the company still wanted to make the Register acquisition, Curley said. And now USA Today is starting to make it on its own.

"The Des Moines Register would have been a good deal even when USA Today was starting up," Curley said. See GANNETT, Page 6C kLmimB Staff photo by Jerry Kovoch owns The Pensacola John J. Curley News-Journal and more than 80 other newspapers will nqt continue to prosper, said John J. Curley. Allen H.

Neuharth is chairman and chief executive officer of Gannett, and Curley is president and chief operating officer. "We are in the television business, too," said Curley, 46, of Bethesda, Md. "We are in ah aspects of news and communications. And we are going to take a look at anything that makes sense to us in news and communications, and that includes electronics." In another development this one strictly-local William J. Keating, president of Gannett's newspaper division, said no decfsion has been made on whether to cease News to Use Pelican care Nancy Treiber feeds one of the 30 brown pelicans brought to The ZOO because of frostbite injuries caused by area's recent cold weather.

Twenty injured birds were found Wednesday. Of that number, 17 are missing wings because of frostbite. Another 17 pelicans have died from the cold weather. Anyone finding an injured bird is asked to call Wildlife Rescue; 478-4523, or The ZOO, 932-2229. FORT WALTON BEACH Telephone solicitors asking for money for city firefighters and police officers do not represent Fort Walton Beach, city officials announced Wednesday.

Such solicitation has not been authorized by the police chief or fire chief, officials said. 1.