The Press Democrat from Santa Rosa, California • 4

Alo TNI PRESS DEMOCRAT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 4, 1 MS Anderson Hurricane for Petroleum Helicopters Inc. in Lafayette, said his company's 18 helipads were working at full capacity to evacunte about 10,000 oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The Cuban news agency Prensa Latina said 40,000 people, many of them foreign vacationers and students, were evacuated Tuesday from the Isle of Youth off the southwestern coast as the hurricane passed 200 miles to the south. In New York City, a ham radio operator who was monitoring amateur radio communications In Jamaica said Tuesday, "Kingston is devastated, Montego Bay is hit hard and Ocho Rios is flooded. The operator, Norm Chwat, an officer with the American Red Cross Radio Club, said there was an unconfirmed report that a tourist hotel on Jamaica's popular north coast had been wrecked by the hurricane.

Herb Schoenbaum, a radio ham operator in the Virgin Islands, said he spoke Tuesday with Dave Porter, an American staying in the Wyndham Hotel on Jamaica's Montego Bay. "Porter reported that the hotel 'peeled apart like a banana' when the force of Hurricane Gilbert hit last night," Schoenbaum said. "This morning he says there is just nothing left." should have completed all possible preparations for this extremely dangerous hurricane," it said. The center said Hurricane Gilbert was the most Intense storm on record in terms of barometric pressure. It said by 8 p.m.

EDT It was measured at 26.13 inches, breaking the 26.35 Inches recorded for the 1935 hurricane that devastated the Florida Keys. "That's the lowest pressure ever measured In the Western Hemisphere," said forecaster Mark Zim-mer. "There is very serious flooding" in the Cayman Islands, Erina Nichols, a tourism official in Miami, said Tuesday after speaking with residents of the Islands. "The Run Point (community) is taking a real beating." The storm later knocked out all telephone service to the Cayman Islands, a British dependency of 23,000 people that was expecting 12-foot tides. Warren Chase, an amateur radio operator in Fort Myers, said he received a report of a sailboat with seven people aboard missing near the Cayman Islands.

Oil companies evacuated thousands of workers from rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, according to reports from New Orleans. Gene Graves, marketing director gnn their deliberations late Tuesday afternoon. Deputy District Attorney David Eyster told the court that Anderson "has been expressing profound disgust with the board of education. He has taken it upon himself to be the prosecutor, the defense attorney and the judge." Eyster said Anderson "believes only his viewpoint is the correct viewpoint. I informed the Jury if they believed there were problems with the department of education, those problems are best addressed through the ballot box." Anderson's attorney, Karl Leip-nik of Healdsburg, dismissed the charges against his client as "a minor shoving match between a couple of temporarily angry men." He said Spence had just been grilled by some board members over his decision to rehire a consultant, and then turned on Anderson, who had been sitting "meekly and quietly" observing the meeting.

Leipnik said Spence "launched" himself in Anderson's direction, and the publisher reacted in self-defense. But on the witness stand, Spence said he had been thirsty and was headed off to get a drink of water. Both sides agreed that Spence, a frequent target of Anderson's editorials, called Anderson "a third-rate McCarthyite" shortly before their encounter. Lechowick had Colfax handcuffed and arrested for contempt of court. Colfax, who with his wife has gained national attention for educating their sons at home and sending them to Harvard University, spent 45 minutes confined to the back of a police car before he was arraigned.

He was fined lot) and set free. Lechowlck's term's for Anderson's two-year probation included a fine of $160, 11)0 hours of community service, 15 days In jail on a work release program and a year-long ban on attending school board meetings. The judge told Anderson that freedom in the U.S. is based on limiting physical confrontations between people and allowing freedom of speech. He said he found It "disgraceful" that a man of Anderson's position and intellect could precipitate the Incident involving Spence.

Anderson said the judge also wanted him to publish an apology to Spence in the newspaper. "I'll spend 60 years in jail before I agree to a written apology for a crime I was found not guilty of doing," Anderson said later. After two days of conflicting testimony from several witnesses about what happened last April, the jury heard almost two hours of closing arguments before they be- Continued from Page A I rather serve the juil time than accept the Judge's terms of probation, which included a 12-month bun on Anderson's attendance at meetings of the Mendocino County Hoard of Education. It was at a school board meeting last April that Anderson punched school Superintendent Jim Spence. The jury found him guilty on the disturbing the peace charge, but acquitted him of assault and battery.

Lechowick offered probation, but the flamboyant Anderson declined. "The only honest people in Mendocino County are found at Low Gap Road," the address of the county jail in Ukiah, Anderson said. "I'll check in after the game-on Sunday, he told the judge. At one point as the judge was reviewing the sentencing, county school board member David Coi-fux, an Anderson supporter, railed against Lechowick. Colfax, who Anderson said was incensed at the judge's "attempt to bar a reporter from public meetings," slammed his hand on the buck of the chair and shouted that the judge's plan was unconstitutional.

Sierra Continued from Page A I return to their homes. Residents of Rough and Ready were not as lucky. "We've had a flare-up (near Rough and Ready) and they're still evacuated there," said Carolyn Phillips, spokeswoman for the state Department of Forestry. Firefighters had been hoping to use Highway 49 northwest of Nevada City as a firebreak, but a five-mile stretch of the highway was closed Tuesday afternoon. It Geysers Continued from Page A 1 fire destroyed three homes at the old mining camp in Mercuryville, burned down some wooden sheds near an inactive power plant and wiped out the transmitter of a Santa Rosa radio station atop Geyser Peak.

Damage was estimated at $300,000. By Monday, 750 men had been mobilized for an all-out attack, but weather conditions changed for the better in the afternoon, enabling firefighters to get a hod on the blaze. The wind died down and fog reached into the upper elevations Monday night and by midday Tuesday forestry officials began to cut back. "The fire's in check," Forestry spokesman Frank Curry said Tuesday at the base camp set up at the Salvation Army facility on Lytton Springs Road. "It's not spreading." "The weather's on our side," he said.

"We really got a good hand on it." Fire officials predict full containment by 6 p.m. today and full control by 8 a.m. Friday. On the fire lines, firefighters were more relaxed on Tuesday and appeared the fire could jump to the other side and spread toward hundreds of homes, said Ann Westling of the Forest Service. "This is the classic forest-urban interface.

This is the fire of the 1990s," Ed Waggoner of the state Department of Forestry, the operations director of the firefighting force, told a briefing of more than 50 field supervisors Tuesday. Among the structures destroyed were 15 homes, some valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, surrounding Lake Wildwood, and two guest houses and a training building in the Grass Valley Group industrial complex. except for having to eat a lot of smoke seemed to be enjoying their work. They were mopping up, using flares to touch off grass and brush downhill from Geysers Road. "We light the fires from the top and let them burn downhill," a firefighter said.

"If we don't do it, a gust of wind can drive a wall of fire up the embankment and across the road to the green areas above us." "The hard part was over by late Monday," another firefighter said. Bach said fire broke out in four different places on Sunday, including areas that were set by flying embers from the first blaze. "We believe the first one is arson," Bach said. "It's not confirmed, but we could not find any other reason for its start." A downed power line started one of two new fires on Monday, he said. Devona Porter, assistant manager of Radio Station KLVR, which offers Christian music 24 hours a day, said a wooden building containing the station's transmitter burned to the ground about 9:30 p.m.

Monday, knocking the station off the air. It and other area radio stations, which have transmitters on Geyser Peak, were on emergency power since early Monday because power lines were down, Porter said. She said the station hopes to be New i Continued from Page A I over on the Yucatan Peninsula Cancun, Cozumel, that whole area," Sheets said. Mexico's news media reported beachfront hotels were evacuated in the Yucatan resorts of Cancun and Cozumel Island. They gave no figures on the number of evacuees, but said people In Cancun were being sent from the hotel zone Into the city center, about 6 miles away.

Cozumel is south of Cancun and the reports said hotel guests also were being moved to more secure areas away from the shoreline. Mexican officials expected the storm to hit in the early morning hours today. At midnight the U.S. National Weather Service said Gilbert was about 150 miles east-southeast of Cozumel. It said Gilbert was moving west-northwest at about 15 mph with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph.

The center said tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 250 miles to the north and 200 miles to the south of the center. "People in the warned areas Polls Continued from Page A 1 seized Dukakis's mantle of competence and deflated Dukakis's public image. The Times-CBS survey found Bush with a clear lead of 47 percent to 39 percent over Dukakis. However, a A Los Angeles Times poll differed sharply with the Gallup and Times-CBS surveys. The Los Angeles polling produced results showing Bush and Dukakis running neck and neck.

When asked by the Los Angeles Times who they would vote for today, the likely voters split down the middle 47 percent for Bush, 47 percent for Dukakis, 3 percent for "other" candidates and 3 percent undecided. This represented a significant gain for Bush since early July, just prior to the Democratic convention, when The Los Angeles Times Poll found Dukakis leading by an 1 1-point margin. Additionally, Dukakis' running mate, Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, is more highly regarded than the GOP vice presidential nominee, Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle, the Los Angeles survey showed.

In fact, most voters with any opinion about Quayle think he would not be "qualified to take over the job of president." However, about the most positive thing voters can say about either Bush or Dukakis is that "he's nice," the Los Angeles survey found. Radon Continued from Page A 1 radon in homes than the states involved in the alarming national survey released Monday by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA Monday advised all homeowners and renters to test their homes for radon gas after releasing results of a survey where 29 percent of homes in nine states showed dangerous levels of radon. State and county officials and scientists were dubious about the need for testing. Scientists questioned the accuracy of data gathered by testing homes for only a 48-hour period and indicated there's little evidence of a radon problem here.

Citing "anxiety and almost panic" among some people, California's state health chief said Tuesday that he disagrees with federal officials urging testing of virtually every home in the country for the presence of radon gas, according to McClatchy News Service. Dr. Kenneth Kizer, director of the Department of Health Services, said it is premature for all Califor-nians to test their homes. He said hundreds of worried residents have been calling government health offices in the wake of an advisory Monday from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the surgeon general's office. "While we certainly would agree with EPA that radon is a significant Nude Continued from Page A 1 cess, Supervisor Ernie Carpenter proposed an amendment.

"Rather than go to the wall with a seemingly legitimate photographer, we decided to amend the ordinance," Carpenter said. Among those to encourage the amendment was Joseph Meehan, who coordinated a nude photo class at the Stillwater Cove Ranch in June. "Our art form, photographing the human figure, has been traditionally practiced within a natural setting," Meehan said in a letter to Carpenter. "The objective is to capture the complex relationship between the human form, the natural environment and light." Other polls released this week also showed a tightening of the presidential race. Surveys by CNN-USA Today and ABC found Bush with statistically insignificant edges of 2 and 3 points, respectively.

The Roper Organization showed Dukakis ahead by 6 points. But The Gallup Organization and New York Times-CBS News both had Bush in front by 8 points. Although Bush has retained the competitive edge he gained at the convention, the new Gallup Poll suggests some of that luster may be fading. First, voters who strongly back the Republican ticket (22 percent) now are slightly outnumbered by moderate supporters (27 percent). In the immediate post-convention survey, these figures were almost reversed, with 27 percent indicating strong and 21 percent moderate support for the ticket.

In addition, while the convention apparently did much to ease voters' personal antipathy toward Bush, the consistent recent uptrend in favorable opinions of him appears to have leveled off. In a mid-July Gallup Newsweek Poll, 48 percent had mostly favorable opinions of Bush and 45 percent mostly unfavorable opinions. His favorable to unfavorable ratio improved to 51 percent-42 percent in an early-August survey, to 60 percent-33 percent following the GOP convention, and currently stands at 58 percent-36 percent. Voter attitudes toward Dukakis have taken a steady turn for the potential health problem, we do not believe at this time that every home in California should be tested. Indeed, we think this would be a profound waste of money," Kizer told a hastily assembled Capitol press conference.

He said the state government is now conducting a survey of 440 homes with full-year tests that will be analyzed next June and, meanwhile, believes that 10 percent or less of California homes exceed the EPA action level. The only western state included in the EPA survey was Arizona, where the levels were the lowest among the state's surveyed. University of California scientist Brad Turk, an expert on radon, said the EPA's announcement has put the scientific community in the difficult position of responding to requests for information when the facts aren't in yet. "Public awareness has outstripped our ability to work on the problem," said Turk. The number of scientists working on radon three years ago was only about 10 or 15 in the United States, and now here are 50 to 100, he said.

EPA spokesman Al Zemski said there's virtually no information available about the levels of radon present in many areas, including California, that have yet to be studied. Turk said his scientific work has focused on areas in New Jersey and the state of Washington. Now, though, people in every state are clamoring for information about the potential for radon gas in Rudy said the classes would only use relatively inaccessible portions of the park. "Obviously, we're not going to be running down to Stillwater Cove beach because that's way too much exposure," she said. County supervisors on Tuesday passed the ordinance amendment on the board's "consent calendar," the portion of the agenda in which non-controversial items are adopted en masse.

The only comment made was Supervisor Nick Espos-ti's dissenting vote. Esposti said later he opposed the measure because he doesn't believe nudity is appropriate in county parks under any circumstances. "You're trying to exempt something that someone wants to call art," he said. "I don't think we need that kind of art in our parks and public places." worse possibly as a result of Bush's aggressive campaigning from 69 percent-22 percent positive after the Democratic convention, to 55 percent-32 percent following the GOP convention, to 52 percent-40 percent at present. Bush and Dukakis each draws considerable fire for failing "to tell voters why he would make a good President." About half the voters give Bush an excellent (9 percent) or good (39 percent) rating for substantive campaigning, while half criticize his efforts as only fair (33 percent) or poor (15 percent).

Voters are equally critical of Dukakis' campaign, with 8 percent saying he is doing an excellent job; 35 percent, good; 36 percent, only fair; and 17 percent, poor. Prior to the New Orleans convention, Bush held a significant lead over his Democratic rival only among voters under 30, college graduates, the most affluent, white evangelicals. Southerners and his fellow Republicans. Today, Bush has extended his advantage in most of these Republican strongholds and now also leads Dukakis among men, whites, voters with some college training, those from middle-income background, members of non-union families, non-evangelicals, Independents and Westerners. Dukakis continues to claim the loyalty of blacks, lower-income voters of all races, members of labor union households and Democrats and has regained the advantage among Midwesterners.

their soils and looking for techniques to rid their homes of it. On the West Coast, only a few laboratories are selling home-kits for radon testing that can range in cost from $10 to $200. Fireman's Fund Laboratory in Petaluma is among the Sonoma County firms that Monday began getting calls from individuals anxious to do radon testing. But, along with other Sonoma County firms contacted by The Press Democrat, they do not currently do radon testing. Zemski said the EPA has a list of firms that do radon testing and have passed a federal proficiency test.

The listing is available by calling 4 1 5-974-8076, he said. He said that next month the EPA likely will come out with a list of contractors that will do work on homes to eradicate the seepage of radon gas. The University of California's Turk said the most successfully and commonly used technique for preventing seepage of radon into the house is placing a pipe below the home that sucks the gas from the soil. Another is to increase ventilation in the home. Other techniques included pressurizing homes so radon will not enter and sealing up any cracks or open spaces below homes where the gas enters.

Turk worried about those who might cash in on the public panic and urged consumers not to overreact to recent reports about radon until more data is in. "People should keep an even keel and keep it in perspective," he said. FOR THE RECORD Because of an editing error, a Press Democrat story made unclear the date of the big barbecue and Italian Heritage Festival at Santa Rosa's St. Rose School. The festival is this coming Sunday, Sept.

18. It starts at 11 a.m. at the school, 4300 Old Redwood Highway. Auxiliary members of Memory Post 1844, Veterans of Foreign Wars, will present a Prisoner of War-Missing in Action flag to the staff and students at Sheppard School at 9:30 a.m. Sept.

22. The organization's name was omitted in a Tuesday story. The Press Democrat uses this space to correct errors that appear in the news columns. Errors may be reported to the City Desk, 526-8585. Preliminary damage estimates were set at about $9 million, but authorities expected the figure to climb.

At one point, a wall of flames up to 50 feet high surrounded three sides of the Grass Valley Group company, which produces sophisticated television graphics for networks and major stations worldwide. Although fires were still burning Tuesday within a few hundred yards of the complex, officials said the danger there was lessened substantially. "We're not out of the woods, but we're relieved. We have a more normal weather situation today," said CDF spokesman Frank Bates. back on the air with temporary transmitting facilities in two or three days.

It will cost the station, which is supported solely by subscribers, several thousand dollars to replace the transmitter. Bach said fire destroyed several wooden storage sheds containing building materials at the site of a proposed power plant by Sacramento Municipal Utility District. The site became inactive when test wells failed to produce enough steam for a power plant. Facilities around some Pacific Gas Electric Co. power plants were threatened, but the fire skirted around them.

Power transmission lines escaped damage. No further structures were threatened nor were any injuries reported on Tuesday. Firefighters from state forestry, including 20 inmate crews, U.S. Forest Service and local fire agencies were supported by 19 bulldozers and four helicopters. Fire crews came from as far away as Riverside and San Diego, Bach said.

Aside from making its facilities available for a base camp, Bach said, the Salvation Army sent a canteen truck to the fire lines to supply firefighters with coffee, snacks and eye wash. "That was a real pick-me-up for for the firefighters," he said. CRfatteED FvHlSH Oft QUAUtV IOSJ RtttftOCKSCP RUs ZL 0 1 i I i rami mrnm uouuo UIKON U8003 fH MlttSt9TCKV 1b COMfUKtENt ytOR CRAWEVI6tON JUUTBA FtoOXINfr-eiCN LOW UOtf-WlfH vrc exCUXIWfc MAfTRJ MgTERJIHtt SYSTEM it tMPtecceeNteo ieooo sccondsm utter cneose mM sexcTioN of mttwaatic PfSOatiArtS TO POU.V OPERATION FOR-CfcEATNE BlBtU-CYf rNIWbN atEKCOUPMiBtUXV: ft INCLUDES NION USA IMC. UWQSb WARRAKtV (NiMOrt NgooB SHONN witH optional sofvrt fi tens) NIKDNN8008 BOCtfAf tK -me vmc about cT5 PJSSS TO GfeT V. Xf I) equipment: wteKiMS mi Mcrrvxki-r octree OF WtaOfc.

RIM ST TCJO sers of rants -A-CHOtCe CP6LDSS I8 IOIO PH3GRAM YOU iO DlSCOAtfcN EACH ROLL- PlDS MX)fc I CM i I g' S) 2) Jr.