The Journal Times from Racine, Wisconsin • 3

the Journal Times. Monday, April 8, 1985 Racine, Wis. 3A Smgle pmwiri kMs face' fc ftjes LA CROSSE (AP) Michael Morris' pajamas are a secret he conceals from his classmates by hiding the garment beneath the books, pencils and homework in his school bag. "Whatever else is in there I stuff on top of them," he said when discussing his approach to life as the child of a single parent. Michael, 7, boards a bus at 7:45 a.m.

for Roosevelt Elementary School and does not get home until 11 p.m., spending the evening at a neighbor's house while his mother is working. "It is a hard shift because I don't get to see him and he doesn't see me," Mary Morris said. "I put him on the bus in the morning, and that's all I see of him until the weekends." Morris, her son and other students in Dirk Hunter's first-grade class were interviewed by the La Crosse Tribune for a study of single-parent families. Joan Moen, a school district social worker, said the number of families with one parent is growing. When a single parent has to work to support the family, there is less time available for children who "need contact with their responsible parent," she said.

"It is hard to find quality time when you are a single parent," she said. "It may be a little more exhausting, but it certainly does work for a lot of people." It can be an especially difficult adjustment for a child who might feel some responsibility for an unpleasant divorce, she said. "Kids carry a lot of garbage in their heads," she said. Michael said he wishes he could spend more time at home "because when I get lonely and my friends don't want to play, I can just come home and talk to my mom." He said he sometimes notices he lacks a father, "like when I want to go fishing and I can't go, or up on the bluff for a walk." On the other hand, a single mother has its advantages, he quipped. "When my mom spanks me, my father wouldn't spank me harder," he said.

hugged him," Hunter said. But he Is "a happy little boy. He is a good student." "He never gets on the bus without a kiss from me," Morris said. Morris, 32, an assembly worker for 5 'A years at an air conditioner factory, said she is trying to get a daytime shift. Meanwhile, her son seems happy staying in the evenings with neighbors who have two children.

Michael is probably missing some things by not having a father, she said. But she and her roommate, Charlene Timm, take the boy fishing and camping. "He has lived on the ballfield since he was about four months old," Morris, a Softball coach, remarked. "He has all the basics: Good food, he is well-dressed, we live in a regular full-size house," and he has uncles and a grandfather, she said. "He is just as stable as any of the kids he has over here.

He knows right and wrong. You can never guarantee how you kid is going to turn out," Morris said. He is one of five single-parent students in Hunter's 23-student class. Hunter said about half his students last year had single parents. Teachers "have to be sensitive to the fact that some kids don't have dads, some kids don't have moms, and some kids have never known their dads," Hunter said.

Parents have to be honest with their children about the reasons for being single, he said. "The more open they are, the less damage to the child," Hunter said. "It can really tear a child apart." "A lot of my job is setting those kids to believe in me and other teachers, that we are there to help them," he said. "They need an outlet to talk about it." For the teacher, "it can be a burden, but it is one that is well worth it," he said. Hunter said he notices that Michael shakes hands with him at the end of the day rather than give him a hug as other students do.

"Maybe he has never had a man around that has City cracks down on messy yards i Alderwoman Dorothy Constan-tine, who has pushed for extra clean-up efforts, agreed. "Actually, I do think it's better. Gradually, there's been a clean up. People are doing a better job of keeping up." She said there's still a lot of trash that blows all over the neighborhood and of course some people don't want to clean it up because it's not theirs." Beaton said the cleanup has been aided by a large container at 8th and Marquette streets for bulky materials. It was put there April 1 and will remain through June 1.

Beaton said he noticed three containers there this weekend, "overflowing" with materials. In addition, the department of public works will put 12 additional containers at various locations from April 22 through May 6, the two weeks prior to annual spring cleanup week. The 20-yard containers are for disposal of bulky material such as old furniture, rugs, mattresses, appliances, shrubbery, brush and yard Here are the locations: 18th and Mead streets; 8th and Marquette streets; Randolph and Liberty streets; Indiana Street and Victory Avenue; Walton Avenue and N. Wisconsin Street; Buchanan and Hamilton streets; Kewaunee and Marquette streets; Summit Avenue south of High Street; 11th Street and Delamere Avenue; 19th Street and Grove Avenue; 20th Street west of Memorial Drive; Donna Avenue north of William Street. By Lori Bargstrom Journal Times RACINE You'd never guess by the weather, but this is the time of year to start thinking about spring clean-up.

It's time to start getting rid of the empty milk cartons, soda cans and paper that appeared when all of that snow melted. The city's health department is conducting an "all-out" campaign to clean up yards and alleys, ac-. cording to Wesley Beaton, acting public health administrator. "There's a lot of scattered garbage, scattered paper, that people should put in bags and set out on regular pickup days," he said. Last week, the health department issued between 50 and 70 notices each day to property owners who have some clean-up chores to complete, Beaton said.

If they don't comply, they'll be getting citations. This week, four workers will continue to scour yards and alleys in an attempt to get rid of winter's debris, he said. Unfortunately, the weather isn't cooperating, Beaton said. "This type of weather isn't conducive for people getting out and cleaning up," he said of the flurries this weekend and today. "Once the sun comes out, people will be out there." Although the city looks typically shabby after winter snows melt away, Beaton said he thinks "most areas look a lot better this year.

Maybe our getting tough last year had some effect." I'M i nf- i rft, I IS A -I 'V ii vl I Bus ridership up 4 i' -rf Paul Roberts, Journal Times Between Sunday's blizzards, Ryan Dobbie, 5, Murk Hertzbrg, Journal Tims dog preferred shelter tried By Andy Blankanburg Journal Times RACINE COUNTY By July, this morning's snow flurries might be a pleasant memory. But in April, they're a nuisance. Spring arrived nearly three weeks ago, but more flurries have been reported since then than In the entire month of March. The snow showers that fell intermittently Sunday were expected to continue today, according to meteorologist Michael Hussli of the National Weather Service office in Milwaukee. "We've got some real unstable air because of the low pressure system over Hudson Bay," he said.

"The northwest air flow is meeting moist air from the south, that's why we've got snow." Officially, no snow was recorded Sunday in Racine, but brief downpours of snow fell frequently. Half an inch of slushy snow fell Friday night in Racine. "We'll be in a little better shape tomorrow," Hussli said. Partly cloudv skies and highs in the upper 30s are expected, he said. snow? possibility no way," he said, adding the forecast, either.

around a high pressure system will boost temperatures into the 50s he Said. to be real nice," Hussli said, adding partly sunny skies and southwesterly 12 to 22 mph are expected. high in Racine was 47 degrees, with In Burlington, the high temperature 47 degrees, with a low of 28. REA threatens to sue board According to figures released by the DOT, 1984 urban transit ridership was 82.2 million, a one percent increase over the 1983 total. The bulk of the ridership gains were in the Milwaukee area, where ridership rose even though the Milwaukee public schools decided lo use school buses instead of public transportation in 1984.

In addition, 13 out of the 30 transit systems in Wisconsin reported ridership gains for the year, said John Hartz, director of the state bureau of transit. He said nine of the systems reporting gains were urban bus systems, and five were shared-ride taxi systems. Waukesha bus ridership increased 41 percent, Appleton increased 3 percent; Green Bay, 6 percent; Eau aire, 4 percent; Ashland, 9 percent; Superior, 13 percent; and Stevens Point, 4 percent. Glasheen said Racine had planned for morning and evening peak travel hours in 1981, and began added service in 1982, during the ridership decline. Now, he said, the service is working to meet increasing demands.

City buses transport about 10,000 riders each dav, Glasheen said. Wisconsin taxpayers will wind up paving the same or more taxes under this setup. AB 165 supposedly makes winners out of most of the losers because it: (1) Still allows all deductions for contributions and mortgage interest on principal residences. (2) Eliminates the inheritance tax and goes instead to pick-up estate taxes. (31 Eliminates gift taxes.

(4i Eliminates some capital gains problems recently mentioned by several people including Racine's Roger Hill as a prime reason for moving to another state. There is no way to solve all the problems or to eliminate 100 percent of the losers, nor is there any way to appease all the lobbyists for state employees, university professors, doctors and assorted other special interest groups. But the politicians do seem to be trying this year and we can hope that the eventual compromise will make more of us happy than disgruntled. I will believe a tax rut when I see one. And I am always willing to listen to tax thoughts from both Democrats and Republicans.

If only they would listen to each other. By Lori Bargstrom Journal Times RACINE More people rode Racine buses in 1984, and that's a good sign. Michael Glasheen, Racine's transit planner, figures the 8 cent increase in ridership is a reflection of "the economy coming back." More people had work to do, and places to go, he said, so more people were riding on Belle Urban System buses. "We're back over 2.4 million riders," said Glasheen. "We are back to 1981 levels." After ridership hit a high of 2.4 million riders in 1981, the city saw a steady decline in ridership, dropping to 2.2 million in 1983.

Glasheen said the increase began in the last quarter of 1983 and has continued through the first quarter of 1985. Ridership from January through March this year is up 2.7 percent over a year ago, he said. State transit ridership was up in 1984, reversing a statewide three-year decline, according to the state Department of Transportation. what he wants while, coincidentally, getting what they want. Such is politics in the good old USA, I figure this is darned nice of the Republicans.

And there are some things about their counterproposals that I like. And there are some things about Earl's budget that I like. The trick is to combine the best of all plans. If only we could do this with consistency. Realisticallyr Ladwig does not think AB 165 can pass without modification either.

"The thing is to get people talking about our ideas," he noted, "so that some of them can be included in the governor's bill." Now, it is possible that some narrow-minded politicians will call attention to the comparative costs of the tax cuts in Earl's budget and AB 165 ($132 million for the former, $212 million for the latter). "But the dollars to find this are there." insists Ladwig. What Ladwig likes best about Earl's plan is that it brings rates down, simplifies the tax forms and allows people to pay according to their incomes without being able to take advantage of special deductions. But financial experts have said that at least 20 percent of to launch his kite but this intimidated a teacher who was serving as timekeeper at a high school basketball game Jan. 8.

The board planned a closed meeting to investigate the allegations, but a judge ordered any investigation would hav to be done in open session. Kumm said today, "I firmly believe the board has the right to investigate in a closed meeting," adding he is considering recommending board members vote April 15 to appeal the ruling. He said Thomsen 's failure to be re-elected to the board will not affect a board investigation, if a judge rules the investigation can be done in a closed meeting. The train began Twin Cities-to-Duluth service in 1975; It has received more than $4 million in state subsidies, often in last-ditch attempts to save it. Munger, a Democrat who repeatedly has come up with state money to keep the train running, says he may continue to seek funding this week.

"This Is the second "last one I've seen," he said moments after the train arrived Sunday, referring to an 11-day stoppage in 1982. What about "No rain isn't in Circulation over Ohio Wednesday, "It's going at least winds from Sunday's a low of 29. Sunday was By David Tboma Journal Times RACINE The Racine Education Association plans to sue the Unified School board if board members don't address allegations board member Bernice Thomsen intimi- V. lit-1 wan.kwa4B fame, REA executive director James Ennis said today. He said the REA also will ask the district attorney's office to charge board members with violating Wisconsin's open meeting law in connection with a statement eight board members endorsed denying that they are afraid of Thomsen.

1 Just trying to help Let's just say that Jim Ladwig had Governor Earl's best interests at heart when he and about 17 other legislators introduced Assembly Bill 165 on the subject of taxation. Ladwig and certain other members of the loyal Republican opposition do see merit in the Democratic governor's budget proposals. "What we have basically done," explained Ladwig, "is to keep the governor's bill intact while going a little farther in taking away some of the disincentives to come to Wisconsin. I tried to deal with problems I saw in the governor's plan." Ladwig and a lot of other political types are convinced Earl's budget cannot pass in its presenrform, yet there are things about it they like. So they're trying to "help" him get Thomsen was the only member who did not endorse the statement.

Board members said they endorsed the statement, which was read at their April 1 meeting, in separate telephone conversations. Ennis said a group conclusion reached "one person at a time with one acting as a central facillitator" is illegal. But board President William Kumm said the open records law idoes not prevent elected officials from talking to each other. He said he would not include Ennis' request for action on the intimidation allegations on the agenda for the April 15 meeting. The REA has alleged Thomsen The train left Duluth on schedule at 6 m.

Sunday with 79 passengers, "a very good crowd considering" the train was to have shut down March 31, John Goodman, Amtrak station supervisor in St. Paul, said. The train made stops in Sandstone and Cambridge before arriving in St. Paul at 9 51 p.m. A $150,000 state subsidy for the passenger train ran out March 31 Amtrak agreed to operate it during the Easter weekend so people could complete holiday travel plans.

Amtrak's North Star takes last run ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Amtrak's North Star passenger train has made what could be its last run, but Rep. Willard Munger says he is not giving up the fight for stale subsidies to keep the wheels turning. "It rose from the dead before and I hope it will rise again," he said.

A $140,000 proposal to keep the daily train running between St. Paul and Duluth. at least until July, fail-ad Ust week to gain approval from the Minnesota Legislature although was endorsed by Gov. Rudy Per-.