Des Moines Tribune from Des Moines, Iowa • 1

Strasberg, 1 In them 1 Collectors Monk die I to eat food PAGE 11 I THE BACK PAGE get burned muiiiuav uouay wim a cnance 01 rain lonigni ana inursaay. 11 A Tlll.tn rf-wi i a nu a I uw near 30 tonight; high near 40 Thursday. (DETAILS: Page 12.) THE BUSINESS PAGE (26) Des Moines, Iowa, Wednesday, February 17, 1982 Four Sections CtwiHM, Dm Mrinn RMtohr and Trtwnt Cmwmv Win M-M) Price 25 Cents oiiceinnisKi speak out 1 WJD cMef 111 and "they want to advance faster than is permitted." In a separate interview Tuesday, Mayor George Mills said that Cooney has the support of the city council and added, "I don't believe that he's lost (the) allegiance (of the majority of his men)." The officers' charges include these specifics: Cooney has several times interfered with police business involving his sons. One incident occurred in December 1979 when Cooney's older son, Alan Duane Cooney, 27, of 4144 Easton was identified in a police report as a suspect in the theft of 111,000 worth of construction equipment. West Des Moines Police Sgt Bernie Taylor, who worked the case, alleged that Chief Cooney compromised the investigation by discussing it with Alan.

Reached by phone Tuesday night, Alan Cooney said he learned he was a suspect from someone other than his father. He declined to say who told him. Chief Cooney denied his sons receive favored treatment and said Alan was not involved in the burglary, but helped recover the stolen items. Of ken say they are pressured to write tickets and make arrests to make Cooney "look stronger." Yet the chief sees to it that tickets written against some of his friends and relatives are "pulled" before they go to court, said officers Paul Barrows, Larry Richards and several others. Sometimes that is done with the knowledge of the arresting officer, sometimes without, they said.

The chief denied ever "fixing" tickets. He said that while he does not have ticket quotas for his men, he does expect each officer to write at least one summons a day. Cooney's explosive temper which can be aggravated by alcohol, is an embarrassment to the depart- ment, they said. The officers tell about an incident the night of July 22, 1977, when they say he tried to start a fight in the parking lot of the Faded Onion Cooney Please turn to Page 13 Orval Cooney, West Des Moines police chief. Property tax rise in new Polk budget Court: No tax exemption for Iowa couple's church called ob high' By Frank Santiago and Dick Brown A Hamilton couple who organized their own church aren't entitled to a property tax-exempt status as a religious organization, the Iowa Supreme Court said today.

The high court upheld a Marion County -District Court decision that said that Robert and Joyce Parshall's "Christian Order" was an attempt to dodge taxes. The ruling -follows the disclosure Tuesday by the Internal Revenue Service that such "religious orders" have been added to the growing number of federal income tax protesters in Iowa. John Edwards, IRS district director, said the protesters make up about one-third of the 76 cases the IRS is investigating actively in Iowa. Edwards blamed the upswing about 50 percent more than last year on "greed" rather than on the economy. affaura By John Lancaster and David Elbert 'Cwvrt9ht, ntj, Del MoiMi RlBUIir nd Tribuo Comeinv Some West Des Moines policemen say they are so suspicious of their chief, Orval Cooney, that they now carry concealed tape recorders when they meet with him.

That practice is just one measure of friction in the West Des Moines Police Department where officers say Cooney's unpredictable, authoritarian methods have eroded both their morale and their effectiveness. In lengthy interviews with the Des Moines Tribune, 18 police employees, including 14 of 20 patrol officers, described the problems they have had since Cooney became chief six years ago. Ten of them agreed to the use of their names even though they say they fear for their jobs. They say they took their complaints to Mayor George Mills and the city council, but got nowhere. Their allegations go far beyond the normal gripes of underlings against superiors and in many cases were supported by outside sources.

They allege that Cooney has beaten the property which God has permitted them to use during their lives on earth." To comply, the court noted, the Parshalls took a "vow of poverty" and gave all their money and property to their church, It said that the Parshalls declared their home to be a "rectory," and they taught their children at home by "using special Christian textbooks." Added the court, "Although the association with the Miletus Church apparently costs nothing, yearly donations are made by each order including (the which "contributed 1400 in 1979." Parshall went to the tax assessor in Marion County in 1979 asking for property tax-exempt status. It was turned down, and the assessor was upheld by Marion County District Court Judge Robert O. Frederick. In its opinion written by Justice Court Please turn to Page Six drunken drivers and 359 people in the process of committing crimes. "It can be stated on the basis of reports of police patrols that the state of obedience to existing regulations of martial law is not the best," the agency said.

According to the Communist Party sources, Polish resistance ranges from an increasingly active and sophisticated underground press to street demonstrations and bombings. Some incidents have been reported by the country's media, but others have not. Hard-liners in the Polish leadership are expected to use the incidents to argue that more repressive steps must be taken to bring the crisis under control But others reportedly are arguing that the resistance to martial law only proves that force cannot be a long-term solution and that a reopening of the dialogue with different elements of Polish society is necessary. Alio today, Radio Warsaw said two Soli J.uity labor leaden at a steel mill will appear before a military court next Tuesday in Krakow on charges of organizing and leading strikes after martial law was declared. An indictment from the Krakow regional military prosecutor's office said the men Mieczyslaw Gil and Edward Nowak organized a' regional strike committee in the sprawling steel town of Nowa Huta, outside Krakow, and persuaded a few hundred students to stage strikes at the mining and metallurgy academy, the radio said.

On Dec. 14, a day after martial law was declared, workers in Nowa Huta and scattered other areas In Poland Poland ByJohnFryar A Polk County budget that would require a 30 percent increase in property tax collections is "too high," an official with the Polk-Des Moines Taxpayers Association said today. Richard Davis, the group's director, said that if the proposed 1982-83 county budget is adopted in its present form, it would mean: That the Des Moines homeowner who is paying $161 in 1981-82 county taxes on a 350,000 home will pay an estimated $218 in county taxes for 1982-83, a 35 percent increase. That a suburban homeowner paying $161 in 1981-82 county taxes on a $50,000 home will pay an estimated $206 in 1982-83 county taxes, a 28 percent increase. Davis said the county's supervisors didn't go far enough.

in trimming spending and property taxes in arriving at the proposed budget "There is an infinite number of a handcuffed prisoner, compromised a burglary investigation implicating one of his sons and threatened and harassed his own officers. They say they have smelled alcohol on his breath when he was on the street at night checking up on them and that they've seen beer cans in the vehicle he uses. Cooney's men describe the 49-year-old ex-Marine as a vengeful commander who ignores his own rules, encourages officers to spy on one another and scoffs at their union contract. Cooney denied the bulk of the officers' allegations when confronted with them Tuesday. He said that in some cases the officers were complaining about administrative procedures that he felt were justified.

Cooney described himself as a light drinker and denied all allegations of drinking on the job. Cooney and City Attorney Jack Rogers attributed the officers' discontent to union negotiations presently under way. Cooney also said he thought some officers are "bored" because they're young, there is not enough crime in West Des Moines to keep them busy I TRIBUNE PHOTO BY DOUG WELLS Going gone? A drop of water hangs, trying to decide whether to drop or become part of the Icicle as central Iowa weather has had a "spring thaw" the past two days. The mild weather Is expected to continue through Friday. Advice Paee 21 Editorial TRIBUNE PHOTO BY GEORGE J.

CEOLLA According to court records, Parshall, a flight engineer for United Airlines, paid ho federal or state income taxes on his 1979 salary of 148,000. The Parsballs and their two teen-age sons moved from California to Iowa in 1973 after buying 155 acres near Hamilton. In 1975 they founded the Parshall Christian Order, "a religious, order dedicated to the advancement of biblical teachings." Parshall was declared "chief steward," his wife "assistant steward," and their sons, "members." There were no other members. The Parshalls then affiliated with the Miletus Church, based in Cross Plaines, Texas, and founded by David Holmes, "acting bishop." Said the court records: "A fundamental belief of the Miletus Church is that all property belongs to God and that the human race is to act merely as stewards to utilize property to the best of their abilities and to protect Calm," apparently the biggest security operation since martial law was imposed on Poland Dec. 13, 25,000 police officers checked documents of 145,000 civilians, 51,000 shops, 60,000 vehicles and 3,500 hideouts for "criminal elements." It said that of those checked, 29,000 received "lectures," and 3,500 were detained or taken to police stations and fined varying amounts.

It said 814 were sent to courts. PAP said that among those caught, were. 252 suspected criminals, 126 Police detain 3,500 Poles 7 found massacred at a Michigan farm From the Tribune's News Services Polish police detained 3,500 persons during a two-day sweep, the country's official news agency, PAP, announced today. Meanwhile, Polish Communist Party sources say that spreading reV sistance to martial-law restrictions has authorities worried, and it promises to be a major point of argument when the party's Central Committee meets, possibly next week. PAP said that during "Operation things that people would like to do if they had the money to do it with," Davis said.

"But most people have to set priorities and budget limits and then live within those limits." Several supervisors argued Tuesday afternoon that the 11 percent increase in the total budget up from this year's $61.7 million will barely keep pace with inflation. But Davis said the rate of inflation has been less than 11 percent during the past year. (U.S. Department of Labor officials said today that based on the latest Consumer Price Index statistics, the annual rate of inflation now is about 8.9 percent.) Davis emphasized: "The point is what it's going to be doing to property taxpayers, and that increase is substantial." The supervisors, while adopting a hiring freeze that could reduce the Budget Please turn to Page 13 uncertain because the wounds were extensive. Herb Barney, a neighbor, said that Haggert returned from Florida recently and was involved in a divorce proceeding.

The case had been scheduled to be beard today in 4 Clare County Circuit Court said court clerk Kathleen Dent j- The farmhouse is located 3V4 miles west of the town of Farwell in central Michigan's Clare County. The area has been sealed off and a state police spokesman said authorities are looking for a 1980 Buick LeSabre stolen from the home at the time of the killings. "At the present time, we don't have a motive," said Aleck. "We do have a very weak suspect We haven't even confirmed that the person Is in the area." Post was a mailman, part-time fanner and handyman and served as treasurer of the Farwsll school board, neighbors wife worked part-time in the school cafeteria, a school spokesman said. Aleck described the scene as "gruesome." The bodies of Post and two women were face down inside the one-story home.

The bodies of the third woman and three children, plus the surviving infant were in the bullet-ridden pickup, deputies said. Aleck said the children were huddled under the body of the woman In the truck. The surviving infant suffered only1 an abrasion to her head, he said. FARWELL, MICH. (AP) A shotgun massacre left the bodies of seven members of a Michigan family, including three children, strewn about a rural farmhouse and in a pickup truck parked outside, authorities said today.

A year-old girl survived the Tuesday massacre at the home of a 54-year-old mailman and school board official described by a neighbor as "one of the best guys around." Clare County Undersheriff Dale Haskin identified two of the victims as George Post and his wife, Vaudrey, 43. Neighbors said the other victims were Garnetta Haggert and Helen Gaffney, daughters of the Posts and whose ages and hometowns were not Immediately available. The dead children ranged in age from 4 to 10. Police are seeking at least one suspect but said no motive was immediately determined. Sheriff Ghazey Aleck said all the victims had been shot Police said there might have been stab wounds on some victims, but they were Page II Movies 20 Cows digest the news BALTIMORE, MD.

(AP) Researchers have found a new way to use old newspapers and magazines: As feed for beef catUe who, like some readers, quickly devoured Playboy magazine but took a while to work through the Christian Science Monitor. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Dr. Peter Van Soest a researcher at Cornell University, agree that the cows can eat paper and digest some types faster than others. But they say cows won't be satisfying their munchles with used paper unless cattle feeders find a way to compete economically with recycling plants.

Dr. Paul Moe at the USDA's research center in Beltsville said Tuesday that studies proved newsprint was satisfactory for 13 percent of the dry rations fed to beef cattle. To be included in cattle diets, the newspapers "straight black and white, daily newspapers, none with color" are ground up as part of the beasts' feed, Moe said. The paper provide "essentially zero protein but Is mostly an energy source," Moe said. "It's filled with carbohydrates." Van Soest said that his research studied the digestibility of certain publications, including the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor and Playboy magazine.

"Playboy was more digestible than the Christian Science Monitor," Van Soest said. "The Washington Post was middling but not as bad as the Christian Science Monitor." He explained that the grade of paper used by Playboy is higher in newsprint, so it is purer and easier to digest However, he said, the Food and Drug Administration "won't allow" pages with color pictures to be fed to the cattle because of such heavy metals as lead cadmium contained in the colorful ij Business 21 Sports Page 17 Obitiaries 23 Comics 27 TV Page 15 The Record 12 Please turn to Page 14 3Z2S i.V!:aWytH.'.l.'.M.