Pensacola News Journal from Pensacola, Florida • 3

0051 Saturday, August 2, 1 975 High Court I "'t i Holmes Okays 1 Jf fit. Tax Co He ction I County had admitted that its 1974 tax roll is invalid. Holmes County has had no tax roll since 1973, because Property Appraiser Robert Slay has not prepared a tax roll that the State Department of Administration would approve. The state authorities said Slay's rolls did not meet standards of just v. i 1 0 ,4 8, 4 4 It 1 0 By E.

W. CARSWELL Journal Start Writer BONIFAY Florida's Supreme Court has ruled that Holmes County can begin collecting taxes for 1 974 on an interim basis, but with the Circuit Court here providing the ground rules. Circuit Court Judge W. Bailey has scheduled a hearing here Thursday at 1 1 5 p.m. on the matter, as a result of the Supreme Court's decision.

Holmes County commissioners, in session here Friday when the Supreme Court's decision was announced, indicated they'd need to borrow a minimum of $90,000 to meet current bills. Atty. Gen. Robert Shevin had given an opinion earlier that the commissioners could borrow money to operate the county until some taxes could be collected. That opinion made things easier for the board at least temporarily.

Supreme Court Justice Arthur England warned in the court's opinion that the decision should not be interpreted as allowing circumvention of the law, which gives the state supervision over full value assessments. He said the decision was aimed only at providing relief from the "practical and financial difficulties" that the state and county both acknowledged. Justice England wrote that Holmes ZfW frif LMAmY Journal Aerial Photos DAM BURSTS NEAR CRESTVIEW DURING HEAVY THREE-DAY RAIN road floods out when 100-yard chasm Is created on Silver Lake Dam eneva Evacuates Threatened Areas More Rain Falls in Panhandle, 2 or true value set by the state. Holmes county commissioners received news of the decision without comment, except to acknowledge that the tax-collecting process will still require several weeks after a decision is made by the court. In the meantime, the commissioners indicated that they'd have to be operating at least partly on borrowed money.

Circuit Court Clerk Jack Faircloth said Judge Bailey will have several options in deciding a course of action. He said the judge, for example, might want to consider a once-rejected tax roll of $38.8 million as a basis for collecting 1974 taxes. He said such approval could be on an interim basis, with adjustments to be made on a subsequent roll. "I've been told that there's no precedent in law for such a decision," said Faircloth, who is secretary to the board. The Supreme Court said in its 5-0 decision that the collections could be based on the 1974 tax roll "toprotect the rights of all taxpayers in Holmes County." Slay had appealed the decision of the State Department of Administration in circuit court, from where it was sent to the state's highest court The court noted that a massive property appraisal is under way in the county.

(That appraisal, being conducted by Hunnicutt Associates, has been in progress since January and soon will be completed. It is costing the county The county's 1975 tax roll, due this fall, is expected to be based on a roll compiled from the new appraisals. The county government has been able to continue this year with some funds left from last year and state funds such as revenue sharing, Faircloth said. Holmes County has a population of about 12,000. Property tax collections total about $340,000 for a year for general operations of the government, plus about $300,000 a year for school purposes.

Board Okays Insurance By MIKE GODWIN Journol Staff Writer CRESTVIEW The Okaloosa County school board voted Friday to accept a scholastic accident insurance policy underwritten by a Chicago, 111. firm. The board selected the one-year policy which includes a football rider offered by the Guaranty Trust and Life Insurance Co. for the parents of children to purchase. Supt Max Bruner, Jr.

told the board it was imperative that the system have a beefed up policy since the schools no longer have soverign immunity from injury suits by parents. System insurance officer Cline Williamson briefed the board on the policies which were available to the system. He said that under the school-time coverage plan for grades K-9, it will cost a premium of $5, while for grades 10-12 along with vocational technical and Silver Sands students, the premium is $8. For senior high (grades 10-12) football players, the cost is pegged at $89 for a three-part coverage which includes a spring training of four weeks, pref irst game practice in the fall and regular season fall games and playoffs, Williamson said. sions from a low area on the south side of the Pea River, which merges with the Choctawhatchee here.

The unit, under the direction of Capt Ken Jones, was still working at 11 p.m. Friday getting people out of the endan-geredarea. It was estimated that probably 25 families would have to be given shelter. The Choctawhatchee, normally run-. ning at four to five feet at this time of the year, had risen to 25.15 by 7 p.m.

Friday, 2. 15 above flood stage. It was continuing to rise at a rate of 8 inches an hour, but this figure is expected to increase Saturday when rain that fell in the watershed north of Geneva, flows to this area. One of those to be first evacuated was Floyd Miller, who said he had just received federally subsidized flood insurance. He was philosophical when told by Mayor Herring that the area was to be evacuated.

He showed more concern for his neighbors than he did for his own welfare. National guardsmen said several times they were refused when they told residents they had come to take their belongings to higher ground, but all were persuaded to cooperate. At mid-afternoon, the sun was shining brightly at Geneva and there was optimism that flooding such as occurred in April would not happen agaia But heavy thunderstorms again moved over the area, particularly in those sections north of Geneva where both the Pea and Choctawhatchee have large watershed gathering basins. Since 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, county Agency Reynolds has officially measured 11.06 inches of precipitation, but farmers in the area said there had been some local heavier rainfall.

Reynolds pointed out that Geneva, at less than 100 feet above sea level charac Iff J. "if' -'l, By BILL PRIME Fort Walton Beach Bureau Chief GENEVA, Ala. Alabama National Guardsmen pressed into duty by Gov. George C. Wallace utilized 8-wheeled military trucks Friday night to evacuate residents of the low-lying areas along the Pea River here, even as city officials kept a dose watch on the nearby Choctawhatchee River already over flood stage.

Agricultural interests were equally concerned about the heavy rainfall that has caused considerable damage to crops in this peanut, soybean and corn growing area, particularly, according to County Agent Robert Reynolds, because of infestation of insects in the fields. Reynolds said the biggest problem at the present time was how to control fungus disease in the peanut crop valued at $6 million. He said there is no way for farmers to get fungicides applied to the peanuts manually because fields are too wet to hold up heavy machinery and flying conditions for crop dusting have even been unfavorable. He said there was an exceptionally good crop of corn in the fields, but that it was not dry enough yet to harvest. The continued moisture was allowing worms to infest the shucks of the corn and moisture was rotting the inside of the kernels, he said.

Reynolds declined to estimate what the corn loss might be, saying "we have a lot yet to do to determine what damage has occurred." Other observers said the crops, aided by bountiful moisture that came in early April, were the best in many years in this area prior to the current storm. Shortly after 4 p.m. Friday, Mayor Hugh Herring Jr. received permission from the governor's office to call in the Geneva unit of the 117th Artillery, Alabama National Guard, to remove persons, their furniture and personal posses 4 DORCAS HIGHWAY NORTHEAST OF CRESTVIEW UNDER WATER two vehicles stalled where flood waters covered the road the April flooding was causing the Choctawhatchee above the merger point to slow even more. Officials here also were concerned that the outfall could be slowed considerably because of the record heights that Choctawhatchee Bay has maintained in recent days.

With a flood stage of 23 feet; Geneva still was not in immediate difficulty with a river stage Friday night of 25.15 feet. Levees built after two floods wiped out the city years ago, were constructed to hold water levels up to 34 feet The National Weather Service had predicted a 27 foot crest by late Friday night, but Mayor Herring, born and reared in Geneva, said it was his experience that with the rains that fell north of the city that it was possible the crest would not be reached until sometime Saturday afternoon withaheight possibly of 30 feet. This could cause some problems with the city's storm sewer system which pipes waste surface through the levee into the river. In April, water backed up through the drain pipes and Army engineers from Fort Rucker had to be called in with huge pumps to transfer the water back over the top of the levee. teristically has a slow fall southward into Choctawhatchee Bay.Themorerapidriseof the Pea River as opposed to conditions in Two Teams Of Detectives Probe Daylight Rape, Beating composites of her assailant.

Friday an agent from the local office of the FBIwascAeckingwithdetectivestodetermineif 1 there was any cpnnectjoribetrjDgnlhbeating 3 on the city's main street andlne rape-murder on Okaltwsa Islanof Lynn Elisabeth JrVeatt Si 1 MShAis, TeruvBoth incifts pccifjped duriife developing from the flooding and rain and an officer did not get to the scene until almost five minutes later. He said he heard two normal sounding voices coming from the burned out house. He went in and asked what was going on. He said he saw a man crouched on the floor In one of the rooms who stated that he and hispid lady had just tud an argument The officer told the man to come on out and By BILL TENNIS Journal Staff Writer FORT WALTON BEACH Two teams of detectives continued an around the clock investigation Friday into the daring daylight beating-rape of a female Air Force officer in the city's rain-swept business district Thursday morning. This is the second daylight sexual attack upon women in the area in the past five weeks.

Near the end of June a 19-year-old Memphis, Tenn. woman was beatened and sexually assaulted on Okaloosa Island and died as a result. That incident is under active investigation by the FBI, sheriffs office and the Florida Department of Criminal Law Enforcement "We are keeping all calls confidential and Checking every single lead that comes in," assured Detective Captain John Vesey. "We are rnaMqg progress and following up fresh leads as they come in." Vesey said that more than a dozen persons had been interviewed in connection with the incident so far. According to the detectives, an Air Force officer stationed at Eglin AFB was walking from her room at the Sheraton Miramar towards a downtown bookstore when she was seized.

"The man grabbed her with a headlock with his left arm and began smashing her in the face with his right fist as he dragged her between the buildings on main street said Vesey. Vesey said the man dragged her from the sidewalk on Miracle Strip Parkway, across Brooks Street and to a burned-out shell of a house just east of the Lucky Strike Bowling Lanes. The house is owned by Dr. Joe Wilson and had been condemned. Two weeks ago the city Ere department set a fire there as part of a drill to give their men experience in fighting house fires.

However, in the middle of the fire, an emergency developed in Mary Esther when a tanker truck overturned and the drill was terminated. Fire Chief Billy Lee said the house would have been completely burned down and the area policed up, except for the emergency. The rape victim told officers that her assailant did not say anything to her. She said that he just grabbed her around the head and started beating on her and dragging her towards the The incident was seen by two youths who thought two men were fighting, they said they did not recognize the victim as a woman because of the military type rain gear she was wearing. The call to the police came as the department was deeply involved with emergencies.

4M tell him about it The man.turned ancVwentjlnto the next room as a naked woman came out of the just west eftne El Matadanrbnrlnmiii. ium where she was vacationing with friends. Her nude body was found at the water's edge with her hands bound behind her according to the person who found her body. She too had beenbeatenedabouttheheadwitheitherabony Gstorahardobjectaccording to Dr.Edana,,! fielman, the medical examiner. bathroom saying she had been raped.

The officer turned and saw the man running towards Brooks Street and immediately put out a pickup order on him and alerted other units. The woman was taken to Eglin AFB Hospital and treated for multiple bruises in the head region and later in the day helped officers prepare.