The Journal Times from Racine, Wisconsin • 1

1 I 1 mift 1 1 11 1 If niiiiiiUJ 9 fit 1 A A IP Wmmp IB iM0 W- -IUPUHIIWUI -s, 'x 5 7- Wfc 44 Journal Times photo by Paul Roberts The Chicago Street hill Wednesday afternoon Bird causes deaths ST. LOUIS (AP) An elderly couple apparently died of carbon monoxide poisoning in their home after a bird became caught in the flue of their furnace, authorities said. Police said Wednesday the body of Solomon George, 75, was found on his bed at his South Side residence, and the body of his wife, Louise, was found on the floor nearby. George, a retired police department employee, was ill with terminal cancer but apparently was killed by the gas, authorities said. Police said Mrs.

George was lying on a telephone and apparently had been trying to call for help Neighbors, worried when the elderly couple did not answer their telephone, had called police. Merchants chip in DUNNELL0N, Fla. (AP) City employees almost didn't get Christmas bonuses this year but the Chamber of Commerce has stepped in just in the nick of time. The city council had aecided to skip the custGrri because funds were running low. "I was angry the city wouldn't give bonuses as it had in the past." said Linda Dugan, who along with her husband, Neil, developed the idea of coming to the employees rescue.

"I think we're lucky we have employees doing a good job and they should have Seventeen businesses have donated enough to give 21 full-time city employees checks of S25 each while two part-time employees will get $15 checks. Reagan on ballots? WASHINGTON (AP) President Reagan's name will be on Republican Party primary ballots in New Hampshire and Illinois, a Reagan reelection spokesman says, although the necessary papers, signed by the president, have not yet been filed with state officials. John Buckley, an assistant press secretary for "Reagan-Bush '84, the president's campaign organization, said Wednesday that the papers would be filed on the same d3y. as yet undecided, in both states The deadline for filing the papers in Illinois, where the primary is March 20, is Dec. 30.

The deadline for the Feb. 28 New Hampshire primary is Jan. 3. Zoo wants pandas SAN DIEGO (AP) The San Diego Zoo is about to make a panda plea asking presidential counselor Edwin Meese to pass along its request for one of the crowd-pleasing animals to Chirfo through President Reagan. Sheldon Campbell, president of the San Diego Zoo's board of directors, is writing a letter to Meese.

a former La Mesa, resident, asking his help in getting Reagan ta hint that pandas would be a welcome gift from his Chinese hosts when he visits Peking next spring President Nixon got such a gift in 1972. Gophers hire Holtz MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Lou Holtz, former football coach at the University of Arkansas, is the new coach at the University of Minnesota, The Associated Press learned today Holtz assumes the reins of one of the nation's least successful college football programs in 1983. The Golden Gophers had a 1-10 record Holtz, 46, was at Arkansas for seven years, compiling a 60-21-2 record before quitting Sunday. Before that, he coached the New York Jets Of the National Football League. By David Pfankuchan Journal Times RACINE Distressed Mattel Inc.

said it has agreed in principle to sell its profitable Western Publishing Co. subsidiary here to New. York real estate investor Richard A. Bernstein and members of Western's management. Sale price is $75 million cash and "assumption of certain liabilities," Mattel said in an announcement late Wednesday from its headquarters at Hawthorne, Calif.

Bernstein, reached this morning at his offices at 440 Madison said he intends to "make Western grow." How? "By letting Joe Marino and the other Western executives run the company as they have for the last 18 months." Mattel installed Marino as Western's president and chief executive in May of 1982. Bernstein, who is 37, said he intends to invest in expansion at Western, which will be his first industrial holding. He said the company's headquarters will remain in Racine. Western has about 1,500 employees here. Bernstein confirmed that Marino is among the Western executives participating in the purchase.

But neither he nor Mattel would identify the others, saying that to do so now would be "premature." Bemstein has invested heavily in Manhattan commercial buildings. Running as a Republican, he sought the post of New York City comptroller in 1981, but lost to his Democratic rival. Mattel bought Western in June of 1979 for about $120.8 million. Of that, $61 million was cash and the rest was Mattel preferred stock. Early in 1980, Mattel sold Western's Kable Printing Co.

unit at Mount Morris, 111., for $7 million cash. This year. Western closed a 648,000 square-foot printing plant at Poughkeepsie, N.Y., citing excess capacity. Some of the Poughkeepsie production was moved to Racine, some to Cambridge, Md. In fiscal 1983, Western had sales of $246 million but posted an operating loss of $2.4 million after a $7.5 million charge related to the Poughkeepsie plant closing.

In the nine months ended Oct. 29, Western had an operating profit of $7.4 million on sales of $177.9 million. Mattel said it expects to complete the sale of Western in the first quarter of its next fiscal year, which begins Feb. 1. Mattel said it will take a $45 million write-down of its in- -'I iv Journal Times photo by Mark Hertzberg By Mik Hill Journal Times RACINE COUNTY Plan on a white Christmas, good driving conditions and very cold temperatures this holiday weekend.

That's the word from the National Weather Service office at Milwaukee's Mitchell Field. No more big snow storms are in the forecast through Monday, but the whole Midwest can expect, "a long spell of cold weather" beginning today, said weather service meteorologist Richard Koeneman. Temperatures already were falling downtown today; a thermometer at the Journal Times went from 3 below at 8 a.m. to 6 below by 10 a.m. "It looks like we're practically guaranteed a white Christmas," Koeneman said.

The end of the snow with the exception of possible light flurries Saturday had city and county road crews expecting a marked improvement today in road conditions. Roads throughout Am county are generally in good shape, although there were some snowy spots and minor drifting this morning, said Russ Hetzel, county highway superintendent. Hetzel said county highway trucks went out about 3 a.m. today and were expected to have most roads down to bare pavement when they knocked off at 3:30 p.m. "The only thing that could give us a problem is if the wind blows" and causes drifting, he said.

Racine street crews went out at 11 p.m. Wednesday and were expected to finish plowing all local streets by about noon today, said Tom White, assistant public works commissioner. "We think with the sun working with the salt, our main streets will be in good shape today," he said. On Friday, White said, city crews will be sanding intersections. Racine police and the sheriff's department said they were surprised that few weather-related accidents occurred Wednesday.

Town of Burlington police reported several cars in ditches along the roadside and one snow-related accident Wednesday. Deborah Hegeman, 24, of 406 Front Rochester, was reported in satisfactory condition at Burlington Memorial Hospital today with injuries suffered when her car skidded into the wrong lane and collided with a car driven by Nancy Koceja, 28, 664 W. State Burlington. The accident happened about 4:30 p.m. on Highway 36 just north of Burlington.

Koceja was released after treatment. The storm that passed through our region Wednesday heralding the first day of winter, never strengthened," Koeneman said, so we didn't get as much snow as forecast. Racine's lakefront wastewater treatment plant recorded 4.5 inches of snow from 8 a.m. Wednesday to 8 a.m. today, while Burlington reported 2 inches.

Racine's high temperature during the period was 26 and the low was 3 below. Burlington had a high of 23 and low of below. The forecast calls for overnight lows of 12 below near Lake Michigan and 20 below inland. Racine's record low for Dec. 22 is 9 below and the Dec.

23 record is 10 below. Friday should bring highs of zero to 5 above. For Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the weather service is predicting clear weather with highs between 5 and 10 and lows between zero and 8 below. Weekend travelers should find good driving conditions throughout the central section of the U.S., which will be under the influence of a slow-moving arctic air mass, Koeneman said. The only areas of the Midwest that might see any significant snowfall are Michigan and northern Indiana where lake-effect snow is possible, he said.

It fell to 13 below in Madison overnight, breaking the old record of 12 below. Overnight readings ranged from 30 at Two Rivers to 2 below at Chippewa Falls. debt. In the first nine months of the year, the company posted a net loss of $227.2 million, compared with a profit of $58.1 million or $2 83 a share a year earlier. Because of setbacks in its video game and home computer businesses, Mattel has been dragged down by deep losses in its electronics division.

Such losses amounted to $283.5 million through the first nine months. Mattel is continuing to renegotiate its bank credit agreements While its basic business, toys, remains strong, the company is considering a public offering of part of the stock of the toy division to raise more cash. vestment in Western in the fourth quarter of- the current year, which ends Jan. 31. Mattel said Bernstein has received a proposal from a "major U.S.

financial institution" to finance a substantial portion of the purchase price. Western is among the largest publishers of children's books, games and -puzzles and also is a major commercial printer. Its children's lines include the Golden Book series and it also sells coloring and activity books, games and puzzles under the Golden and Whitman brands. Mattel, as previously reported, would presumably use the proceeds from the sale to reduce its bank Islhop killod Sunny, around zero page 2 A VATICAN CITY (AP) -Pope John Paul II today asked for prayers for Roman Catholic Bishop Monsignor Salvator Schlaefer, after receiving unconfirmed reports that he had been killed by rebels in Nicaragua. "I want to raise up with you a prayer for that zealous prelate, a worthy missionary in a land already so tormented," the pope said in a yearend address to the College of Cardinals.

The pope was careful to avoid giving the impression that he had independent confirmation that Schlaefer is dead. rebels. The government said the rebels abducted him. three other churchmen and about 500 Miskito Indians "Several hours ago came the news that a bishop of Nicaragua, Monsignor Salvator Schlaefer, apostolic vicar of Bluefields, was killed in circumstances that are still not well known," the pope said "If confirmed, it would be very sad news which covers this pre-Christmas time with sadness," the pontiff added. He asked the prelates to help express our solidarity with the bishops and the church which suffers in Nicaragua and other Central American countries." In Nicaragua, church and U.S.

officials said they could not confirm the report of the bishop's death, given in a government bulletin broadcast Wednesday night by the state radio. The ruling Sandinista junta said in the bulletin that it had information Schlaefer was killed early Wednesday while resisting his rebel captors at the remote village of Wisconsin, 29 miles north of Francia Sirpi in the northwestern province of North Zelaya Schlaefer, bishop of the Caribbean port of Bluefields and a member of the order of Capuchins, is a native of Campbellsport, Wis. Inside Salvator Schlaefer reported killed The leftist government of Nicaragua said Wednesday Schlaefer, a 65-year-old American, "appears" to have died at the hands of U.S.-backed Sim QMS' sostoc city Ann Landers Bridge 4C Business Classified 50 Comics 4c Crossword 4 Daily record Goin' if Horoscope nc Movies 8C 9C Obituaries gQ Opinion 3 Racine County 3A 4A Sports 1 TVIis'ing IOC Weather 2A Wisconsin 3 A 6A compared with theirs." "I deplore action that has happened there with mi in 1 1 1 iJi I "I Bad lights here RACINE Christmas tree ornaments the Consumer Product Safety Commission says may be a fire hazard have been sold in Racine, a Racine Fire Department official said today. Assistant Fire Chief Frank Reise-nauer said he saw the ornaments, called "Lite Tree Top," on sale at Shopko at 4801 Washington Ave. Reise naiier said he also learned 144 of the ornaments were sold at Western Publishing Company's consumer products sate held this year at 420 Goold St.

A Western spokesman today said the company bought about 144 of the ornaments but he didn't know how many had been sold. He said the company decided it would refund the purchase price to consumers after it learned the ornaments may overheat, Gary Waschow, Shopko manager, said Shopko only sells UL approved ornaments. By Lori Bargatrom Journal Times RACINE Somewhere in the City of Bluefields, Nicaragua, there's a street called Av Racine. It represents a sister city relationship between Racine and Bluefields, the city in which Roman Catholic Bishop Salvator Schlaefer lived. It has been years now since the cities' partnership has been cultivated, but some people here haven't forgotten the connection.

Mayor Stephen Olsen, who met Pedro Joaquin Bustamante, then-mayor of Bluefields, when he visited Racine in 1976, says he wonders about the former mayor and others he met from Bluefields. Since the visit, Olsen said Racine has faced growing economic problems, but our problems are pale the bishop, Olsen said today. He said he thinks involvement by people like the bishop is inspired by trying to help unfortunate people. They know their lives are in danger, and they are willing to take the risk." Olsen said although connections recently have been severed, he still considers Bluefields a sister city, a connection formed in 1973. "The time will come again time has ways of resolving problems.

The relationship is very valuable it is a people to people arangement, getting to know one another." As in Bluefields, there is a street in Racine named in honor of the friendship. Olsen said Bluefields Drive is behind Park High School. Chuckle Hang-over: the wrath of grapes 1.