The Clarksdale Press Register from Clarksdale, Mississippi • 1

State of Lept. of Archives Library P.O. Bex 571- Z1 114th Year-Number 105 Clarksdale, Mississippi, Thursday Afternoon, May 3, 1979 28 Pages In Three Sections 15 Cents Legislature approves relief bills i7f -i-i -a 'is -J By JAMES SAGGUS Associated Press Writer JACKSON (AP) The Mississippi Legislature gave final approval today to a bill granting $6 million in income tax relief to flood victims and ended a three-day special session. The House gave 114-0 approval to the compromise measure and the Senate added unanimous approval a few minutes later, clearing the way for lawmakers to end the session called by Gov. Cliff Finch for flood relief work.

Finch made brief appearances in both chambers to praise lawmakers for their work and said he wanted to "tell you how much I appreciate your diligency, your honesty and your dedication to the people of Mississippi" He said they help had been provided without jeopardizing state finances and "I appreciate the work you have done, not only at this special session but all of them." Finch said a regular session convening next January and could do more to help flood victims, but "at this time this is the maximum amount that could be done and maintain the mm-r j'm lifi til fiscal integrity of our government." The House wound up its work at 9 40 a.m. and the Senate seven minutes later. The session had stalemated over the income tax bill Wednesday but a House-Senate negotiating team broke the deadlock Wednesday night after Finch appealed to lawmakers to keep costs within funds. The Senate had passed a $10.5 million income tax bill and the House a $6 million plan. Senators first refused to scale back their proposal even after Finch's appeal.

The technical end of the session was 3 p.m., with the extra time to allow Finch to sign formal copies of the measures approved at the session. Finch said he would sign them as soon he received them and looked them over. The negotiating panels, headed by Senate Finance chairman Ellis Bodron of Vicksburg and House Ways and Means chairman A.C. Lambert of Tupelo, reported agreement after hours of talks. The compromise would allow as personal income tax deductions nonbusiness flood damage in disaster-area counties.

It also allows a taxpayer to choose whether to show the loss on his 1979 return or by amendment on his 1978 return. Where losses run too high to be ab sorbed in one year, they can be carried backward for three years by amending prior returns, then forward for seven more years. Sen. Con Maloney of Jackson, a conferee, said homeowners probably would get 90 percent of their benefits Immediately under the compromise. The House plan, without a three-year carryback, would have deferred $3.5 million of the benef its to future years.

The Senate version would have allowed the deduction of business losses and Maloney added, "We recognize that businesses can carry their losses forward already and ultimately will get theirs, but it will not be immediately." Rep. John Hampton Stennis of Jackson, one of the House conferees, called it "the very best compromise that could be arrived at with the individual taxpayers." The compromise came after House members began talking about final adjournment and adopted a resolution Storm damage Merlin Larson of Lahoma, packs up what he can after a tornado destroyed his mobile home. Larson said the he and his daughter hadn't closed the door to their storm shelter when the tornado hit and he watched his mobile home explode from the force of the storm. Several storms across northwest Oklahoma left three people dead Wednesday. -AP Laserphoto Open house held at Lula industry Resolutions approved by House, Senate setting final adjournment for 10 a.m.

today, the third day of a session planned for one day. In the event of a permanent stalemate, Finch could have exercised his constitutional authority to end a session where the two chambers disagree on adjournment. The Senate completed legislative action earlier Wednesday on a bill granting a moratorium on mortgage foreclosures for flood victims, leaving the income tax relief the last unresolved issue of the session called to help flood victims. Bodron gave first warning that the session would go into a third day, advising senators "if you ain't got a place to stay (Wednesday night), I suggest you start looking." The Senate flood relief package carried a $23 million price tag and the state had only $15 million available, Lambert said, and "it appears we are overspending our cash balance. We are ready to give every dime we've got.

We cannot give more." Lambert also said the Senate bill went further than permitted under the governor's session call, and when the negotiators broke up their talks he told newsmen that was one factor in the decision to delete business deductions from the bill. "Under present state law, business losses can be deducted in current and future years," he said. Bodron criticized the House bill on grounds it did not go "as far as we need to go and can go." And Sen. W.C. Rhodes of Vancleave added, "If we do no more than what the House bill does, we have not done a great deal." The package of flood relief bills which Finch authorized lawmakers to consider also included a $5 million appropriation to go with $15 million in federal money for grants of up to $5,000 to mostly low income families for repairs or temporary housing.

Affecting Clarksdale It also included a $5 million loan-grant program to cover repairs to the public property and a $3 million authorization to cover the extra expenses Incurred by state agencies because of the floods. The bill making money available to local governments for repairs was revised Wednesday so Clarksdale and cities hit by a January ice storm could qualify for funds under the bill to help local governments. Rep. Kenneth Williams Clarksdale estimated his city's electric system would qualify for perhaps $300,000 in aid. In a message to lawmakers Wednesday, Finch criticized passing bills beyond the state's ability to pay as "strong evidence of fiscal irresponsibility." The governor said the state must be compassionate and do what it could but "we must not ignore the limitations we face.

The specified items (he authorized for consideration) were those determined to be in range of the available revenues." He said even the flood victims would not want to wreck state finances and "government does not have anything other than what comes from the people in the first place." He noted that the 1973 regular session spent all but $15 million of the funds expected to be available for the next 15 months, and this was not even adequate to tide the treasury over months when outgo exceeds income. He warned that if more than $10 million were appropriated "it will demonstrate a complete disregard for the fiscal integrity of the state." And he said some items could be left for the 1980 session next January. ByRAYMOSBY News Editor Lula Cotton Processing Co. the exclusive manufacturer of a new fire-resistant cotton insulation product which is gaining some national attention, held an open house Wednesday for utility and business interests and members of the press.The local operation, housed in a converted "mote plant," is the sole producer and distributor of the revolutionary "Fibe-R" flame-treated cotton insulation. According to plant manager M.A.

"Mac" McLain, the company employs a "secret process," developed by Tom Kelly, president of a Virginia corporation, Kelsul Inc. Lula Cotton Processing Co. is a state-chartered corporation, which is, according to Mclain, owned outright by Norman W. Paschall, an Atlanta, agri-businessman. Paschall, owner of several agri-business interests in Georgia, was also the owner of the former mote plant, located just north of Lula, on U.S.

61, which was converted into the current factory operation. The plant currently employs about 25 persons, but anticipates the employment of some 75 persons, "by the end of the year." Secrecy appears to be at least one by-word of the company (all visitors were required to sign confidentiality forms concerning the "secret and McLain refrained from specifics as to his operation's projected payroll, saying that it would amount to, "several hundred thousand dollars." McLain said that the Lula plant has been in its infant stages for about two years, that production began gradually in Nov. 1978, and that the operation has not yet jeached full although McLain expects it to do so, sometime this year. The plant manager believes that "Fibe-R" is of, "a higher quality than fiberglass and rock wool (insulations)." He said that 5.2 inches of the Continued on Page 2A full and illustrious career built monuments which frustrate death." It said Sullivan "refused to dilute honor with expediency or to swap principle for popularity." Congress and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were asked to build additional flood control projects on the Pearl River to prevent flooding similar to the April disaster.

Floodwater forced thousands to flee their homes and caused damage estimated by Gov. Cliff Finch at up to 1 billion." The resolution said the Corps already had found that the proposed Edinburg and Okafama reservoirs were feasible and necessary. "It is tragically apparent that existing levees and flood control mechanisms within the Pearl River basin are not sufficient to protect persons and property from those incalculable ravages of nature which have been suffered," the resolution said. It said construction of the Edinburg and Okafama reservoirs had been continually denied despite urging by the state. Another resolution called on President Carter to ensure that Mississip-pians receive all federal disaster assistance available And to new aid programs.

Also adopted was a resolution asking Congress to permit cotton farmers who qualify for disaster payments to produce another crop, such as soybeans, without disqualification from receiving disaster aid. JACKSON (AP) The Mississippi Legislature approved a resolution today calling on Congress to cut the Interest rate on federal disaster loans from 7 percent to 2 percent. The approval, which came shortly before the three-day special session adjourned, was made possible after negotiators from the House and Senate agreed Wednesday on the compromise. The Senate had earlier approved a proposal calling for the disaster loan rates to be lowered to 1 percent, the House had approved an amended" version calling for the interest rate to be sliced to 3 percent, or no more than what is charged to foreign goverments. The chambers also approved other resolutions, with the House accepting Senate changes in a proposal calling on the Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board to study the feasibli-ty of negotiating a contract for the leoMiss USA pageant for the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The 1979 pageant was concluded Monday night at the Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi. Federal officials were asked in another resolution to construct new flood control projects in the Pearl River basin. Another resolution praised former Lt. Gov. Charles Sullivan, who was killed last month when his plane crashed north of Clarksdale, for his career as a businessman, lawyer, -soldier and public official.

The resolution said Sullivan "in his O'Neill won't block decontrol opposition v-' Both sides appeared surprised by how close the proposal came to being approved. Mof fett called the outcome a moral victory for foes of decontrol, who he predicted would prevail the next time a vote Is taken. "I would have voted with Moffett," O'Neill said when asked by reporters for his views on the close committee action. It was the most direct attack the speaker has made on the president's initiative to raise U.S. oil prices to world levels.

In the past, O'Neill generally has supported Carter's plan, saying he could live with decontrol if a strong "windfall profits" tax were in place. WASHINGTON (AP) House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill says he won't stand in the way of those seeking to block President Carter from decontrolling U.S. oil prices even though their efforts may be in vain. O'Neill's stance on the politically sensitive deregulation issue gave new Impetus to an attempt by House liberals to keep price lids on oil.

He commented Wednesday after the House Commerce Committee failed by only one vote to attach a stop-decontrol amendment to a bill authorizing money for the Department of Energy. The amendment by Rep. Toby Mof-fett failed on a 21-21 tie vote. h. 1 The new "Flbe-R" cotton insulation produced at Lula Cotton Processing Co.

undergoes some impressive quality control tests to insure Its fire resistance. Here, a pan of the insulation was exposed to a one-inch blow-torch flame for 30 seconds. Not only did the treated material form its own "self-sealing" area, but all smouldering ceased within 21 seconds. -Photo by Mosby Nationwide shutdown of gas pumps proposed City to redvertise for hew fire truck Calendar THURSDAY, MAY 3 p.m.-The local council. Knights of Columbus, will meet at the KC Hall.

FRIDAY, MAY 4 12 noon--The Clarksdale Lions Club will meet at the Regency Restaurant. 12 noon-The Shelby Rotary Club will meet at the Shelby Woman's Club building. Weather Warm and windy today and tonight with showers and thunderstorms likely. Locally heavy rainfall amounts possible before thunderstorms end Friday. Turning cooler Friday.

High today low 80s. Low tonight low 60s. High Friday low 70s. Winds south 10 to 20 mph today and tonight shifting to northeast 10 to 20 mph Friday. Chance of rain 40 percent today, 80 percent tonight and 70 percent Friday.

Saturday through Monday: Thunderstorms ending Saturday becoming fair Sunday and partly cloudy Monday. Low temperatures in the 50s and 60s. High temperatures in the 70s to tow 80s. In Clarksdale, the water and light department recorded high temperature Wednesday of 76 degrees with a morning low of 61 degrees. There was 0.78 In.

rain recorded Wednesday. That mark-up, known as "dealer margin," cannot now exceed the amount it was in May 1973, plus 3 cents. Dealers also have been allowed to add small amounts to cover some other costs. The dealers want the current system replaced with a straight 25 percent mark-up over the wholesale price of gasoline. The dealers acknowledge that the gasless weekend would inconvenience the public.

"It wasn't our intention to hurt the public, but we don't know what else we can do," said Don Stalling, a spokesman for the California Service Station Association, which represents 2,000 of the state's 14,000 dealers. Robert Jacobs, executive secretary of the Illinois Gasoline Dealers Association and a longtime advocate of a gas dealer strike, said the planned shutdown "is doomed because of the timing." Jacobs said it would be more logical to hold the gasless weekend at the end of the month, when supplies are low anyway as monthly allocations run out But that weekend is Memorial Day weekend, and the gas dealers are apparently trying to keep from interfering with traditionally heavy holiday traffic by holding their protest the weekend before. By MARK POTTS AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) Buying gasoline the weekend of May 17-20 may be difficult in many parts of the nation if service station owners are successful in their plans for a "gasless weekend" to protest federal controls on their prices. The idea originated in California, where most dealers are expected by industry officials to participate, and since has spread to other states, including Connecticut, Illinois, Idaho, Iowa, Washington, Nevada, Louisiana and Arizona, according to officials of state dealer associations. It is unclear, however, just how many dealers nationwide might participate in the proposed closing.

"If something isn't forthcoming from the Department of Energy, many dealers may join the movement," said Charles Matties, who operates an Exxon station in West Hartford, Conn. "There's a definite feeling toward doing something," said Matties, a former president of the National Congress of Petroleum Retailers, an industry group that has refused to endorse the shutdown proposal. The aim of the gasless weekend is to force the government to loosen controls on the mark-up gas stations are allowed to take on sales of gasoline. of the less elaborate transmission. Fire Chief Charles Neal had asked that the transmission with the "low" gear be purchased because the truck now being bought will be used mainly for fighting rural fires and may sometimes be required to operate in mud.

Neal was instructed to prepare new specifications for the fire truck and to omit certain items of equipment to help reduce the cost of the vehicle. The equipment will be supplied mainly out of stocks now on hand at the fire department. The Coahoma County Board of Supervisors ultimately will pay for the fire truck now being sought The city will make the purchase, and the county will recompensate the city for most if not all the cost In its most recent action on the matter, the county board agreed to pay up to about $74,000 on the truck, with the stipulation that it be used principally for fighting fires outside the city limits. Fire Equipment substituted in its bid a transmission omitting the gear, saying that this kind of equipment is not available for fire trucks. After checking with the manufacturer and with the successful bidder-American LaFrance-the board discovered that the transmission which includes the "low" gear is, in fact, not recommended for fire trucks.

This is because of a problem that arises when the truck is immobile and the engine is being used for water pumping purposes only. If the transmission with the "low" gear is used on fire trucks, it was pointed out, an additional mechanism to facilitate pumping is recommended as part of the equipment A spokesman for the manufacturer expressed the opinion that the transmission without the "low" gear would be adequate for the truck to be bought for the local fire department Some testing was to be undertaken today and Mayor Richard Webster Jr. was to be advised of the performance By HARRY ABERNATHY Associate Editor The Clarksdale Board of Mayor and Commissioners met briefly Wednesday afternoon to reconsider its acceptance Monday of a bid on a fire truck. The acceptance of the bid had been challenged by L.E. Day and L.E.

Day operators of Day Fire Equipment one of the two bidders. The accepted bid was submitted by American LaFrance, Inc. After discussing the bids among themselves and consulting by phone with officials of American LaFrance, the city board members decided to rescind their action of Monday and to readvertise for bids on the fire truck. The board also consulted by phone with officials of the company which will provide the transmission for the fire truck. The kind of transmission to be placed in the truck was one of the key points being disputed The city's specifications called for an automatic transmission with a manually operated "low" gear.

Day River The Mississippi River at the Helena gauge was recorded this morning at 43.9 ft. which is a fall of 0.1 ft. during the past 24 hours..