The Jackson Sun from Jackson, Tennessee • 1

SUM -M Interracial pair praises vote Alcohol's grip reaches teens Page 1C Memphis St. gains victory Page 1D I 41 Page 1E Welfare abusers take advantage, of system wmmm Number of fraud cases on rise, official claims By Julia Cagle Bledsoe Sun reporter Welfare fraud in West Tennessee is on the rise and getting worse as months go by, a special investigator for the state Department of Human Services said. In November alone, Human Services opened 47 food-stamp violation cases and 19 violations in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program in an 11-county area including Southwest Tennessee, said Wayne Watkins, who specializes in investigating welfare fraud. The state Department of Human Services Is leveling a crackdown on welfare fraud that could save millions of dollars. Page 2A.

The cases involve an estimated $40,000 in welfare fraud $27,653 in food stamps and $12,276 in AFDC, Watkins said. Most of these fraud cases involve people receiving welfare who have failed to report jobs or income they have, Watkins said. These are people who rightfully "get on the system," but fail to notify Human Services within 10 days, he said. Any suspicious claim is pinned on the state's Claims On-line Tracking System, which enables the department to keep a record of welfare and food-stamp Please see FRAUD, next page. Christmasville interchange to open, easing traffic snarls By Jay Meisel Sun reporter Christmasville Road Interchange connects Interstate 40 with North Parkway near Jackson State Community College and Intersects with Whitehall Street.

1 After more than 10 years in the making, the Christmasville Road interchange with Interstate 40 will finally open Monday morning at 10 o'clock. Opening of the interchange will reduce traffic jams elsewhere and open up the area for development, Moore predicts. "It's a pretty job," said Bill MooreTregional director for the state Department of Transporation. "It's something that the state, Madison County and Jackson can be proud of." Hubbs Construction Co. of Camden started the $6.5 million job in August 1986 and will have completed it six months ahead of schedule.

"They were very efficient in what they did," Moore said. Sun graphics by Gregg Bender and Q.J. Yadamec Please see ROAD, next page. AP Laserphoto The Cypriot tanker Pivot blazes after an Irani- steams across her bow during evacuation an attack Saturday as the USS Chandler operations by U.S. helicopters.

U.S. ship, chopper save 40 from blazing gulf oil tanker Allies urged to spend on arms Shultz's remarks were particularly pertinent in Denmark, where government and opposition parties are engaged in a lively debate over whether to boost military spending. According to Foreign Ministry figures, Denmark spends 2.2 percent of its gross national product on defense, compared to 6.8 percent in the United States and an average of 4 percent among NATO nations. There has been a controversy in Western Europe over whether conventional armaments need to be increased to offset the loss of intermediate-range nuclear President Reagan says per sistent Soviet efforts to restrict "Star Wars" testing still threaten prospects for cuts In Intercontinental nuclear missiles. Page 2A.

peat the view when he travels to Norway today and West Germany and Britain later in the week. Shultz' trip to Western Europe follows the signing by President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev in Washington last Tuesday of a treaty banning intermediate-range nuclear COPENHAGEN, Denmark AP) Secretary of State George P. Shultz urged the allies Saturday to increase spending on conventional forces now that intermediate-range nuclear missiles are to be scrapped. "It's up to all of us to increase our contributions to NATO," Shultz told reporters after meeting Denmark's foreign minister, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen.

The 16-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization has kept the peace in Europe for 40 years, Shultz said, "and it is undoubtedly due to the deterrent The secretary is expected to re- ter. We had to unload (some of) them." No one was hurt in the attack or in the fire, which was brought under control after five hours. The Chandler is part of the 11-unit Middle East Force that protects U.S.-flagged commercial navigation in the gulf. It was the first time a U.S. warship on patrol in the gulf undertook a major rescue mission.

U.S. Navy officials said the warship "rendered humanitarian assistance" in line with Pentagon-defined rules of engagement governing the presence of the force in the gulf. It was also the first time journalists were in- Please see RESCUE, next page. MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) A U.S. Navy warship and a TV helicopter rescued 40 terrified people Saturday from a blazing supertanker hit by an Iranian frigate in the southern Persian Gulf.

A pregnant woman was among those saved. The chartered helicopter with a team from the CBS television network and smaller helicopters from the destroyer USS Chandler lifted the crew from the Cypriot oil tanker Pivot. "They were very, very frightened," said CBS correspondent Allen Pizzey, describing how the crew huddled in the bow of the tanker as the TV helicopter made repeated trips, landing seven times on the deck. "When we first landed, they rushed the helicop Paper shuffle puts hold on new seniors building new center, said director Charles McDear kiv A At ft? By Jay Meisel Sun reporter Efforts to build a new West Madison County Senior Citizens Center are mired in the federal loan bureaucracy awaiting $80,840 to be released for the $105,840 nroipct. the director mon.

Meanwhile, the center has raised in local money for the building. The loan application is awaiting a final OK from the Farmers Home office in Atlanta, said Jerry Wood, assistant district director. Since the loan has been approved, it's mainly a question of when the money will be released, Norwood said. The process, which normally takes six months, has lasted for a longer period partly because of questions over the site off Please see CENTER, next page. X- Al Gore cuts Christmas tree for homeless CONCORD, N.H.

(AP) Democratic presidential hopeful Albert Gore Jr. donned his flannel shirt and jeans Saturday to cut a Christmas tree for a Nashua shelter and draw attention to the homeless. "Christmas is a Joyous time, but for poor children in a homeless shelter it can be a particularly difficult time when they see the plenty around them and have so little of their own," the Tennessee senator said in a telephone interview. Gore traveled to Riley Brothers Lumber in Milford, to saw down the Christmas tree. Then he went to the Nashua City Homeless Shelter to present it to residents.

Gore said affordable housing programs have been cut more deeply than anything else under the Reagan administration's budget. "The conseqences are showing up on the sidewalks of every city In America," he said, adding that children are be-Please see GORE, next page. said. Charles It's been about two McDearmon years since the center applied for a Farmers Home Administration loan to build the 71 mmm Rain Inside 50s. Rain likely tonight.

Low near 40. Rain Monday. High In the upper 40s. Details on Page2A. AP Laserphoto Books 4C Living Section Business 5E-7E Movies Magazine Classified 4B-14B Opinion 2E.3E Crossword 4C Record 2B.4B DearAbby 3C Scoreboard 2D Deaths 2B Sports Section Insight 1E.4E Teens 6C Albert Gore Jr.

prepares to cut down a Christmas tree In Milford, N.H., Saturday morning under the guidance of tree farm owner Pete Riley. HZ.