The Times from Munster, Indiana • 24

B-2 FRIDAY. APRIL 22. 1994 LOCAL The Times if Chicago Indiana Illinois Police tests to find ff father impregnated daughters EAST ST. LOUIS Police are using DNA testing to determine whether a man charged with sexually assaulting three of his daughters may also be the father of three children borne by two of the girls. A police officer said Wednesday the father had escaped prosecution earlier because his wife was afraid of him and his daughters did not know that what he was doing was wrong.

The St Clair County state's attorney's office on Monday charged the 36-year-old man with three counts of criminal sexual assault and one count of aggravated sexual assault. Decatur mom charged with scalding daughter DECATUR A 7-year-old Decatur girl told police her mother squirted hot sauce into her mouth and taped it shut, taped her arms behind her back, taped her legs together and threw her into a tub of scalding water. Maria Bearley told police that her mother became upset Tuesday night when she discovered the girl had eaten a salad she wanted for herself. Maria was in fair condition late Wednesday in the burn unit at Springfield Memorial Medical Center. Angelia M.

Bearley, 28, was charged Wednesday with heinous battery and aggravated battery to a child. Heinous battery is a Class felony providing for a prison term of six to 30 years upon conviction. Prosecutors recommended bond be set at $150,000. Peoria police to begin enforcing curfew PEORIA City police say they will begin enforcing curfew laws vigorously Friday in an effort to stem an upsurge in juvenile crime. Fifteen to 18 officers will work overtime to concentrate primarily on curfew violations, Acting Police Chief Paul Bazzano said "This is just one initiative to take back our streets, and make parents more accountable for their children," Bazzano said at a news conference.

1X4 From Times wire services Parents of 18 children found guilty of child neglect CHICAGO A judge Thursday convicted on charges of child endangerment and neglect the parents of 18 children found living in a squalid West Side apartment, saying the children lived in conditions "barely fit for an animal." Cook County Judge James Linn said he was swayed by the emotional testimony during the four-day trial of seasoned Chicago police officers who were shocked by the conditions they found in the two-bedroom apartment when they went looking for suspected drug dealers on Feb. 1. Instead of drugs, police found children huddled beneath dirty blankets on the floor and mattresses, and one in a grimy, roach-infested kitchen competing with a dog for a bone. In all, 28 people lived in the home. Senate defeats Edgar, Daley gambling bill SPRINGFIELD In what was criticized as a political stunt, the Illinois Senate on Thursday defeated a riverboat gambling deal reached by Mayor Richard Daley and Gov.

Jim Edgar. Senate President James "Pate" Philip offered an amendment to mirror the Edgar-Daley plan pending in the House. He suggested the Senate vote on the bill, defeat it and begin negotiations to hammer out a compromise. "This is exactly what the mayor has filed in the Illinois House, exactly word by word now put up or shut up," said Philip, R-WoodDale. "If we can come to some reasonable compromise, I think there are some votes on this side of the aisle for riverboats," he said.

The amendment failed 0-26. Thirty-two senators voted present, which means they were on the floor but did not take a position on the bill. Calling an early vote on controversial measures is a common legislative tactic. It lets critics declare the original proposal dead and forces negotiation. "I would assume the mayor has gotten the message," Philip said.

Asked if Edgar has gotten the message, he replied: "Well, you would think that he would be able to figure that out." Rachel Sheeley Associated Press Hornets at home in hospital Ron Mason, a maintenance worker at Reid Hospital, shows a giant hornet nest he found Thursday in a 4-foot crawl space under the roof of a little-used portion of the hospital in Richmond. Nest causes stir, but there's no cause for alarm RICHMOND A maintenance worker inspecting a leaky roof at Reid Hospital last week found a gray, papery hornets nest that stretched 4 feet high. A handful of employees climbed a ladder to peer at the insects' 24ubic-foot handiwork inside a false ceiling of Jenkins Hall, Mike Walker, director of engineering for the hospital, said Thursday. But most people tried to stay as far away as they could. "A lot of people were concerned about having that many hornets around the hospital," Walker said.

"If you've ever been stung by a hornet, seeing something like this makes the hair on your arms stand on end." Action Commissioner Democrat Velia Taneff, 64, of 2369 W. 44th Gary. Bom and raised in Gary, she is a graduate of Lew Wallace High School. She is on the county Drainage Advisory Board, Emergency Management Board and Emergency Response Board. Democrat Rudolph Clay, 57, of 4201 W.

10th Gary. The 1st District commissioner since January 1987, he served as county recorder in 1985 and 1986, county councilman from 1979 to 1984 and state senator from 1973-1976. He is a graduate of Gary Roosevelt High School. Democrat Gerald B. Hayes, 54, of 531 Rutledge Gary.

A native of East Chicago, he is in his 19th year as a Gary city councilman. He has been an ironworker at LTV Steel for 33 years. He graduated from East Chicago Washington High School and Chicago Trade School. than in the first production," he said. "The only thing I do nptice is that kids don't push as, hard, maybe they're satisfied with less." The school's production of Carousel also coincides with the play's 50th anniversary and a revival this year on Broadway.

But the play's age doesn't affect the cost of rights to the musical or the rental of orchestra pieces and costumes. "It will cost us at least $10,000 to perform Carousel," Holmberg said. "These plays are a terrific expense; we're lucky when we break even." There are 58 students on stage during this production, with another 50 working behincTthe scenes, building the sets and the carousel, which will be prominently featured. Another 35 students will be part of the play's orchestra. Continued from Page B-l play performed in the town's new high school.

Today, Holmberg still calls the shots in his role as musical director, and it was his decision to perform the musical which started his career at the school. "I consider Carousel to be Rodgers and Hammersteins most operatic endeavor," he said. "It's not particularly familiar, and has been kind of forgotten. But the drama is heavy, the orchestra's part almost symphonic. I knew we had the talent for it this year." While people complain about today's generation, Holmberg doesn't find much difference in the 27 years since he first directed the play.

"The kids today are intelligent and talented, some of the lead singers will be even better Talking Tree Continued from Page B-l by all municipalities in the county for 20 years. The J-Pit is just west of the Gary Landfill's western border, Colfax Street. Before the county assumes ownership of the J-Pit, Waste Management must obtain a permit to open a landfill from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, or judicial recognition that the company already holds a valid permit. The Indiana Supreme Court last year upheld an Indiana Court of Appeals ruling that the landfill must comply with a state law that prevents new landfills from operating within half a mile of residential areas. Clay voted against the original agreement in 1992, but signed a one-year extension of the agree' in March 1993.

Commis- sioners recently put off action on another extension until after the I primary. Waste Management recently submitted a proposal to the Lake County Solid Waste Management District to operate the J-Pit as a transfer station and an eventual 'landfill if the company can obtain a permit. The company has agreed to cut the county in on the royalties from waste processed at the transfer station, if it lands the contract with the district. "I think that's a travesty to the people of Black Oak, in that they're being treated with no regard for their grief," Tanef said. "They don't want it (a landfill) in south county, where they could do it right." Taneff said she would "absolutely fight" use of the J-Pit as a landfill.

She said elected officials all over the country choose to put landfills in areas where indigent people live because those people cannot afford to hire lawyers to fight it. Hayes said the commissioners need to keep their hands off an agreement on the J-Pit. He said the county should not have the responsibility of setting up a 'landfill for Gary, Merrillville or any other city or town. Hayes said he doesn't believe a landfill should be placed where it's going to be an environmental developed by the utility, Kay Dell Knarr said teachers will continue to receive new tapes to help teach the curriculum. like the tree, Knarr, coordinator of the partnership programs between Hammond schools and local commercial and civic groups, said the idea began as a seed in the Park Department several years ago.

If the Talking Tree programjs a sample of the kind of ideas grow-ing in Hammond, Sue Swifzer, president of the Indiana Parent Teacher Association, she hopes the city will share its secrets with other schools throughout, the state. Continued from Page B-l to help students be more appreciative of trees, increase their environmental awareness, and develop their problem-solving skills for the responsible use of natural resources. The program was funded through a Department of Natural Resources grant Additional resources were provided by Northern Indiana Public Service Lever Brothers, American Maize, Rhone Poulenc, AMOCO, Aquatic Resource Center, the city and the Indiana Master Gardeners. Using an original cassette tape hindrance to the citizens. "I'm not so deep into this that I don't realize we need some place to put our garbage," he said.

"I certainly don't want to see them dumping any more garbage over near those homes," Clay said. If there's a way for Waste Management to buy the homes in Black Oak that are near the J-Pit, then Clay said he" would favor using the site as a landfill. While Waste Management bought some of the homes near the J-Pit, it didn't buy all of them. Clay said many of the people he talked to favor Waste Management buying their homes. "If they (the people) don't want it, naturally, I don't want it," he said.

Another issue in the race is patronage. Taneff is critical of Clay for the handling last year of the USX summer jobs program. The steel company agreed to pay the salaries of 18 youths to work in various county departments for 12 weeks. Although all three commissioners signed the jobs program agreement, only Clay had any input into the youths' hiring. "They were the daughters, the sons of people who worked in this building (Lake County Government Center).

These were favors," Taneff said. "All the jobs he gives are given to his friends. His function has been to become a patronage tycoon." Taneff backs moving county offices now located in the Lake Superior Courthouses in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago to the government center in Crown Point. "We're throwing away a thing," he said. The jail needs room for more inmates, but it doesn't need an $18 million addition that's been proposed, he said.

He said he'll continue his fight to prevent gun shows at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point. He was outvoted this year and last, but he thinks there might be a change next year. Discussion has started again on floating a countywide bond issue to pay for repairs to the 20-year-old government center and other projects. Wish lists are being collected. Clay said he would support a bond issue to fix the roof and make other repairs.

"This outlandish pork barreling, I can't support that," he said. The bond issue was put on the back burner two years ago when the list of projects officeholders wanted grew to $19.3 million. Hayes said if he's elected, he would like to open up communication with other communities. He said he'd like to meet with city and town officials and let them give their impressions of what needs to be done in their municipalities. Another one of his goals if elected will be to visit each county department, to see who's working there without disrupting the department heads, Hayes said.

He would be forced to quit his ironworker's job if he's elected commissioner, Hayes said, because he intends to make the elected position a full-time job. Hayes said he has never had a fund-raiser. "I don't want to owe nothing to nobody," he said, adding that every year, he spends part of his City Council salary on his district. lot of money," she said. "There's no accountability." Hayes said the idea of closing the outlying courthouses is "totally irresponsible." He said government ought to be in the community, and he doesn't see any problem with the services now in the outreach areas.

Taneff also vowed to plow up all the grass in the centers of the four circular parking lots at the government center and turn it into extra parking. "If they'd (elected and appointed officials) give up all those cars that go home every night, they can pay for the parking lots," she said. She said commissioners shouldn't have rented cars and cellular phones paid for by the taxpayers, and she vowed to put an end to the expensive trips "that do not have any purpose for our county." If she's elected, Taneff said there will be "no more fourth commissioner that we pay to keep the incumbent company every time he goes on his trips." She is referring to Thomas Yan-cy, the commissioners' special assistant, who accompanies Clay on his business trips. "When you buy Clay, you get (Yancy)," she said. Clay said he supports the idea of turning the shuttered West-wind Manor into a home for disturbed children.

The county is spending about $8 million this year to send those children out of state for treatment. Clay said commissioners also need to take a good, hard look at the last study done on the overcrowding at the county jail. "We're not going to be able to build our way out of this crime Reform views. "I have heard some people in the township say they want to go back to (or keep) the old system," Gomeztagle said. "Believe me, if they get elected, Til be standing at their door." He said one candidate has said he would support a fair market value system, but he also has talked of the need to study the impact this assessment system would have on Indiana.

Continued from Page B-l A tax system based on fair market values of homes and other property would cause the overall tax rates in a community to drop, Gomeztagle has said, because the overall assessment would be brought up and everyone would pay some type of tax. He urged die audience to quiz politicians seeking election as assessor on their assessment 'Betting more than 30 races a day. The company predicts a handle, or amount of wagers placed, of $125,000 a day. Dennis Onken, a consultant for Sagamore Park, tried to soothe any concerns by residents. "We are not here to develop compulsive gamblers," he said.

"We are here to entertain people." Anderson Park plans to spend $2.35 million investing in its Merrillville site, said Jeffrey Smith, the president of Churchill Downs Management a subsidiary of Churchill Downs. The company expects a handle of $100,000 a day. There were similarities and differences between the two companies' proposals Thursday night. Both advocate full-service entertainment complexes, complete with dining and a sports-bar atmosphere. Both want parking and traffic.

Indiana law does not require off-track betting parlors to pay host communities a percentage of their handle. Illinois law does. Both companies said they are willing to work with Merrillville and contribute to the community. But Smith questioned the wisdom of contributing a percentage of the handle to Merrillville because of the newness of racing in Indiana. Dick Stein, the lawyer for Sagamore Park, said the company supports such a move.

"There's a lot of different ways to skin a cat," he said. "The trick is to find a way without killing the cat. Us being the cat, we'd like to work with you." Councilmen and residents said they worried about possible traffic prbblems to attract racing fans and create new ones. Both expect about 500 customers a day and say they are very concerned about security. And both believe Merrillville is an ideal site and hope to contribute to the community, including hiring residents.

But the two companies' presentations, although comparable in length, varied in style. Two representatives from Sagamore Park, which is operated primarily by Indiana investors, talked about the company's aims. Churchill Downs showed up in force, with five representatives and a lawyer, a slide show for the audience, and information books and videotapes for Town Council members. Most of the questions from the council and residents focused on possible monetary paybacks to the community, from the parlors. "You understand on Fridayit's almost like a parking lot on (U.S7H0," said Councilman Roger Chiabai, "Do you have a study that's beenliken on Friday nights on 30?" Churchill Downs says the company's traffic study is sound, and the company would be willing to work with the council on perceived traffic problems.

But Sagamore Park says the company hasn't yet done a parking or traffic study. The hearing Thursday night was tiie first in what promises to be a series of hearings on off-track betting inlown, culminating in public hearings held, by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission in June. The commission will probably make a decision on the betting sites by the end of June. 1 Continued from Page B-l pie the companies would hire would be from Merrillville. "If you establish yourself here, what is the town of Merrillville going to get?" Smith asked.

Anderson Park, owned by Churchill Downs, and Sagamore Park, based in Carmel, both want to put off-track bet- ting parlors on Broadway. Both companies have said Merrillville can support only one betting site. Anderson Park plans to hire about 70 people for its betting parlor in the I Neon Rodeo building, 7610 Broadway. Sagamore Park hopes to make 120 full-time hires for a betting site in the former Aaron's Office Furniture building, 6071 Broadway. Sagamore Park plans to have nearly -600 television monitors and.