The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 12

The Tampa Tribune, Wednesday, July 19, 1989 Industry says banner planes safe despite high crash rate "V.V WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA Pennington said scientists have determined In laboratory tests that copper is harmful to rats, but he said it's difficult to say whether the same holds true for manatees. A study conducted several years ago by a University of Florida graduate student says copper concentrations in the livers of dead manatees were significantly higher in areas where large amounts of copper were used for aquatic weed control. Plans to clean toxic site approved ST. PETERSBURG The state has approved city plans to clean up a toxic chemical site at the Opposition to bill appears to grow TAMPA Two more Hillsborough commission-''ers appear to be leaning against protection for In the county's antl-discriminatlon law. "I'm clearly against discrim ipjui ii ill ination of any type, but I haven't decided how far the or-' should go," said Commissioner Phyllis Busansky.

Busansky said she wonders if protection should be restricted only, to the public sector and 'Commissioner Haven Poe said she wanted to see evidence of discrimination before amending the law that currently prohibits Bender, rolnr. rare nr relielnn DUanSKy Commissioners Jim Selvey and Rodney Colson stated their opposition to the measure when the issue first surfaced in April. The four negative votes would mean a majority on the seven-member board. Youth indicted in murder case ST. PETERSBURG An 18-year-old East Lake youth accused of stabbing an elderly female neigh- to death was indicted by a grand jury Tuesday Florida Suncoast Dome, a Department of Environmental Regulation (DER) spokesman said Tuesday.

The approval clears the way for the city to remedy what has been an embarrassment to stadium officials, dangerous to the environment and costly to taxpayers. Last year, the city commissioned a feasibility study for the disposal and treatment of toxic and cancer-causing chemicals discovered June 1987 on 3 acres of the 66-acre stadium site. Cleanup estimates range from $1.8 million to $8 million. In July 1988, $4.2 million In bonds were issued to cover cleanup costs, said John Habgood, assistant deputy city manager for fiscal management. Of that, $3.7 million is available for the actual work.

The rest would go toward administrative and interest costs. "We are sitting here with the dollars in hand, just as soon as the contract is let out," Habgood said. More teachers heading to Florida TAMPA After a steady decline in the number of mathematics and science teachers, Florida education officials are welcoming an influx of applicants this year for these difficult-to-fill positions. About 300 out of 1,541 teaching applicants sought jobs in mathematics and science during a recent recruiting session in Orlando, said Sherry Thomas of the state's office of teacher recruitment and retention. Thomas attributes part of the increase to nationwide advertising in magazines and newspapers.

More teachers are leaving states with declining student enrollments in search of areas where their fields of expertise are in demand. And while counties are making attempts to reel in job candidates with teaching contracts, state education officials are trying to lure college students into the education field with incentives such as scholarships and loans. In the past, mathematics and science teachers have been lured to work at companies where pay is higher, said David Binnie, Hillsborough County schools' director of instructional personnel. Drug task force effort fails I CLEARWATER An attempt to create a county-wide drug task force has fallen through, the victim of a lack of cooperation and funding the very problems it was intended to solve, according to Pi A Tribune Staff, Wire Report TAMPA They buzz Tampa Stadium during football games. They fly up and down the Pinellas County beaches, towing huge banners that advertise everything from sun-tan oil to local nightclubs.

Sometimes they crash, accidentally drop their banners in populated areas or endanger other traffic at small airports where they are based. Federal figures show that in Florida, planes towing advertising banners have crashed nine times as often as other planes. Earlier this year, two planes went down about 200 yards off Day-tona Beach Shores during a three-month period. Several years ago, a pilot was killed and his banner plane and a hangar destroyed at an airport in a heavily populated area in Orlando. Three years ago, a rash of accidents mostly minor prompted the St.

Petersburg City Council to ban banner planes temporarily from Albert Whitted Airport. Industry members say banner towing is safe, pointing to the tiny fraction of all air accidents attributed to banner pilots. Last year, the National Transportation Safety Board investigated 2,514 air accidents. Seven of those involved banner pilots. Tom Merrifield, owner of Advertising Air Force in St.

Petersburg, said that if banner pilots crash more often than other pilots, it's probably because they spend more time in the air. Merrifield's company has four planes and makes 2,000 banner-towing flights a year, including, those seen over Buccaneer games, he said. "We fly many thousands of hours, and we don't have any problems," Merrifield said. The state's 109 banner pilots make up just 0.24 percent of all Florida pilots. But according to NTSB figures, they accounted for 2.2 percent of Florida's 1,161 accidents from 1983 to 1988.

Since 1983, 56 banner planes have crashed nationwide, killing 14 people and injuring 23. Twenty-eight of those accidents, seven of the deaths and 12 of those injuries happened in Florida. The most serious accident in the Tampa Bay area occurred in April 1986. A pilot was seriously injured when he crash landed on the run- Tribune file photograph Tom Merrifield, owner of Advertising Air Force, takes off from Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg.

Jon a charge of first-degree murder. -J Adam David Browning, whose parents live at 20 Woods Landing Trail in the East Lake Woodlands development, was jailed Thursday in connection with the July 10 slaying of Louise M. Haynes, 69. The Pinellas-Pasco grand jury indicted him on 'charges of first-degree murder and armed burglary. If convicted, Browning could face the death penalty.

Browning being held without bail at the Pi-, nellas County Jail. Resentencing motion granted WAUCHULA Five years after his second con-i viction for attempting to kill his wife by crushing her skull with a hammer in a Winter Haven church, Thomas Eugene Drake of Winter Haven has been i granted his motion for resentencing. Circuit Judge Oliver Green Tuesday set aside Drake's May 1984 sentence of life in prison plus 30 years because of a Florida Supreme Court ruling in January that found the state's sentencing guidelines were unconstitutional between Oct. 1, 1983, and July i 1984. The Supreme Court, which had approved use of the guidelines in October 1983, ruled in retrospect that the guidelines should not have been implement-" ed until the state Legislature's adoption of the guidelines became effective July 1, 1984.

Green was prepared to resentence Drake Tues-" day. But attorney Roger Alcott, appointed to represent Drake in the sentencing appeal, said a state attorney's office from another circuit should be ap-' pointed to represent the state at the hearing. Report critical of Anclote care TARPON SPRINGS Psychiatric patients at AMI Anclote Manor Hospital continue to be re-strained and put in seclusion in a way that robs 1hem of dignity and privacy, although they generally are satisfied with their treatment, according to a Tiew state report on the facility released Tuesday. A team from the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) said it found evidence 'that in some instances patients were unduly re-strained and forced to stay in seclusion for six jnonths at a time. Anclote attorney Joseph Jackson, who has yet to way at Albert Whitted after picking up a banner.

In 1985 and 1986, there were seven accidents, most minor, Involving banner planes that took off from Albert Whitted, according to a report prepared for the City Council. "The banner towing itself is not inherently unsafe," Airport Director Tim Travis said. But because the planes fly so slowly about 25 mph while towing and picking up banners, the pilots have little room for error. "They're right on the edge of a stall." To pick up a banner, the pilot flies between two poles while pulling a rope with a hook attached. The hook catches a rope that is attached to the banner and stretched between the poles.

Some are worried about the safety of those on the ground, as well as the hazard to pilots. In 1981, banner plane traffic got so heavy over Tampa Stadium that the Federal Aviation Administration imposed restrictions. The FAA said no more than four planes at a time could fly over the stadium, and the planes could circle for only 20 minutes. On some parts of Florida's east coast, banner planes cruise the beaches constantly. "Sure we're worried about it," said Chief John Klrvan of the Volusia County Beach Rangers.

"We don't want these things crashing into the beach." Kirvan thinks some pilots fly too low and too close to the beach. He said he's seen some planes flying just above the tallest hotels and condominiums along the beach about 200 feet Federal regulations require them to fly at 500 feet or higher. nellas County Commissioner Charles Rainey. Rainey, who spearheaded the task force effort, said he gave up after Clearwater and St. Petersburg balked at picking up half the costs of providing police officers to the unit.

"When I saw administrators and managers were more interested in subsidizing their general funds than in getting rid of Rainey drugs I just called the whole thing off about three weeks ago. Gay rights plan fails in St Pete Beach 'Receive the HRS report, said Anclote's policies on 'restraint and seclusion meet the highest medical and psychiatric standards in treating patients. in Marcn, tne Pineiias-pasco btate Attorney oi- fice launched a criminal investigation into reports that patients at Anclote were being abused and illegally held. State to study possible toll road TAMPA The state will begin a $635,000 study "of a toll road through Lutz and will consider all By WILL RODGERS Tribune Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG BEACH After more than an hour of sometimes heated discussion, City Commissioners sat quietly Tuesday night and let die a proposed resolution declaring that homosexuals would be treated fairly.

The resolution, proposed by the owners of a restaurant popular among gay people, The Lighted Tree, drew a vocal standing-room-only crowd to the usually sedate St. Petersburg Beach City Commission chamber. Commissioners said passing the resolution would have meant they agreed that St. Petersburg Beach discriminates against homosexuals who live in St Petersburg Beach or patronize The Lighted Tree or Pass-A-Grille beach. "I want it to be perfectly clear that when I took my oath of office policy making would not be done in a discriminatory manner," said Commissioner Kevan Finch, adding that "there hasn't been a discrimination problem on the beach." But the lack of action by the three commissioners the mayor and vice mayor were absent convinced supporters that the resolution was needed.

"There is incredible discrimination in this town," said Rosemary J. Dempsey, one of the lesbian owners of the restaurant. "People who are lesbian or gay are the last ones who don't have any legal rights." Commissioners Bruno Falkenstein, Dennis Duda and Finch said little about the resolution or gay rights during more than an hour of public comments when several people stepped to the microphone and were either applauded or jeered. When Falkenstein asked for a motion, none of the commissioners spoke, killing the proposal. Dempsey and her partner, Kim Costanza, asked the city to adopt the resolution, declaring it "shall not discriminate against any class of its citizens or visitors because of their affectional or sexual orientation." They sought the resolution after one of their bartenders was cited by city police and charged with selling alcohol without a license July 8.

Dempsey said she overheard derogatory remarks about homosexuals and the restaurant when she visited City Hall early last week to discuss the citation with Police Chief Terry Hensley. Falkenstein said over the weekend that the women brought up the resolution to gain attention from the press, hoping to drum up business during slow summer months. The women say that is not the case and that their business is doing well. Costanza said the defeat of the resolution was expected. "I'm not worried about it" she said.

"We're going to make it." reasonable alternatives to the controversial east- Just forgot about it," Rainey said. City officials in Clearwater and St. Petersburg said they liked the idea of a countywide narcotics unit, but that money indeed led to its unraveling. A report commissioned by the county had suggested that ideally, as many as 150 people involved in law enforcement should be included in the task force. The report didn't address specific costs.

State won't prosecute deputy NEW PORT RICHEY The State Attorney's Office has decided against prosecuting a former Pasco Sheriff's Office sergeant arrested by city police on charges of armed burglary and battery. William Stoner, 42, who resigned several weeks after his May 1 arrest and suspension from the Sheriff's Office, said Tuesday he remains bitter about the incident and is seeking another law enforcement job elsewhere in the state. Stoner was arrested along with Ronald E. Hall-man, 42, after the two were accused of breaking down a door at a house at 716 E. Missouri Ave.

and taking 18-year-old Lisa Hallman, Stoner's daughter and the wife of Hallman's son, out of the home. Lisa Hallman's husband was not at the home, which was occupied by three men and a second woman at the time. Police Chief Aage Madsen said the pair told officers they were "rescuing" Lisa Hall-man and her baby. The PascoPinellas State Attorney's Office filed "no information" documents, in effect dropping the charges against Stoner and Ronald Hallman on June 23. Versions of these articles appear in regional sections of The Tampa Tribune.

jvest parkway, a Department of Transportation offi cial said Tuesday. Calling the proposed road the most important project in northwest Hillsborough DOT District Secretary Jim Kennedy said his agency will begin its study in November and should complete it in another 18 months. I "We intend to start the project development on the North Tampa Parkway within four months," Kennedy said after a meeting of the Tampa Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. "Of course, we will look at all alternatives that are reasonable." Lutz residents have offered County Line Road and State Road 54 in Pasco County as alternatives to Carry east-west traffic. DID YOU BUY PANASONIC OR TECHNICS PRODUCTS IN 1988? YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO REFUNDS IF YOU BOUGHT ANY OF THESE PRODUCTS BETWEEN MARCH 1, 1988 AND AUGUST 31, 1988: Man incompetent for trial BRADENTON A man who has predicted that the Sunshine Skyway Bridge will be destroyed by lightning and told a psychologist that he turned into vampire and werewolf at night was declared in Amount of Amount of Panasonic VCR's Refund Panasonic Telephones Refund Model PV 2800 $19.00 Model KXT 3000 $17.00 Model PV 2812 $20.00 Model KXT 3880 $17.00 Model PV 4800 $22.00 Model KXT 2429 (answering $18.00 Model PV 4820 $21.00 machine telephone) Model PV 4860 $26.00 Model PV 4862' $19.00 Technics Audio Panasonic Camcorders 180 (Receiver) $18.00 Model PV 400 $45.00 Model SCA 830 (Rack System) $24.00 Model PV 420 $38.00 Model SCA 840 (Rack System) $20.00 Model PV 460 $20.00 Model SLP 600 (CD Player) $18.00 Florida Lottery Winning numbers in Tuesday's Cash 3: 5-3-4 Winning numbers in Tuesday's Fantasy 5 game: 1-15-19-31-39 Estimated jackpot for Saturday's Lotto drawing: $6 million The Tampa Tribune does not provide lottery information over the telephone.

For information, call: 1 (800) 752-9352 or (904) 487-7777. Water restrictions In Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Hardee and DeSoto counties and those parts of Polk, Charlotte and Highlands counties in the Southwest Florida Water Management District, residents with addresses ending in odd numbers may water today until 9 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to midnight. Residents with addresses ending in even numbers may water on Thursday from 12:01 to 9 a.m.

and 5 p.m. to midnight In Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, and Sumter counties, and those parts of Levy, Marion and Lake counties in the district lawn watering is allowed daily except from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call the district at 1 (800) 423-1476. Correction A protest against the Icelandic fish industry and its role in the killing of whales was organized by Florida Voices for Animals.

A caption accompanying a photograph Sunday identified a different group and incorrectly stated the reason for the competent to stand trial Tuesday in the slaying of his estranged wife. Robert Hart, 51, of Bradenton, will be committed indefinitely to a state mental hospital until experts determine he understands the charges against him and can assist with his own defense and the judicial process may resume. Hart is charged with first-degree murder and burglary with armed assault in the Nov. 1 shooting death of Mary Hart, 38, while her 15-year-old daughter watched. He has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity.

Hart has been hospitalized at least twice for psychiatric problems and has been determined to be mildly retarded, according to court files. He told mental health experts that he believed his wife and neighbors conspired to kill him and make it look like self-defense. Study of metals in water complete CRYSTAL RIVER A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sampling at 25 sites in Kings Bay to determine if there is a link between heavy metals in the water and the deaths of baby manatees was completed Tuesday. Bob Pennington, an environmental contaminants specialist, took samples that will be tested for a wide array of chemicals, although officials are particularly Interested in the levels of copper found.

Copper, an effective herbicide, was once used heavily in the bay to fight fast-growing hydrilla. It could take a year before results of the study are known. Florida Attorney General Robert A. "Bob" Butterworth and the Attorneys General of 48 other States and D.C. brought lawsuits for consumers in their states against Matsushita Electric Corporation of America (Panasonic) claiming in some instances consumers were overcharged for Panasonic and Technics products at retail stores.

Under proposed voluntary settlements in those cases, you may be entitled to a refund if you bought the products listed between March 1988 and August 31, 1988. You must complete and mail in a claim form by November 2, 1989, to be eligible for any refund. On request, a claim form will be mailed to you. To receive a claim form, please write to: Panasonic Antitrust Settlement Fund Administrator, P.O. Box 96678, Washington, D.C.

20077. Or call 1-800-553-1739. When requesting a claim form be sure to include your return address. The legal rights of Panasonic and Technics buyers will be affected by these settlements. If you bought Panasonic or Technics products during the time period listed above and you do not want to be bound by the settlement you must expressly exclude yourself and you will not get a To exclude yourself you should contact the address shown above.

To protect your legal rights, please act now. order of: Shirley Wohl Kram, United States District Judge, Southern District of New York..