Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 17

ii i i 10 th 111 ii 111 iij-rrr in ii ri i fr i -i p' i ''-J Democrats thank Clements Hospital help citvstaie Many Texas Democratic leaders say Gov. Bill Clements' heavy campaigning in the Rio Grande Valley senatorial election backfired, giving a Democrat the win. Page B2. Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital officials in Johnson City hope their planned merger with Brackenridge Hospital will ease their financial problems.

Page B5. Thursday, February 26, 1 981 B1 Blind Jt woman jhn kels A'V. savea By cops from repair scam By JIM BERRY American-Statesman Staff 7 ivy. fn I it' i I Rita should have such a wild life There's no doubt about it. Every time Rita Jenrette lifts her pinafore over her neck, bang, there's a story about it in somebody's newspaper, or magazine, or whatever.

Rita tells about the time she made love on the Capitol steps with former U.S. Rep. John Jenrette, the guy she's divorcing, and zappo, there it is in Rita relates some tale about naked Washingtonians stooging around in hot tubs and, zowie, there it is again, in the paper. Her latest stunt is shown, quite graphically, on pages 116 through 125 in the April issue of Playboy magazine. Hot tamales.

Where are you when we need you, Bess Truman? Here's Rita, on Page 119, sitting at a desk, apparently writing a letter, with her great glittering wa-hongas hanging out. And on page 121, same thing, except she's put down the stationery. WELL, ALL THIS GOT me to thinking: Is life also so exciting for the wife of a state representative from Travis County? Are there, in politics around here, big bags of money being left behind in closets, lobbyists in the altogether, and all that sort of groovy, nasty stuff? Forget it, says Donna Hill, wife of State Rep. Gerald Hill, who represents the northwest part of Travis County. "It's (the Washington scene) so farfetched to me," Mrs.

Hill said yesterday at the Ninth Grade Center in Round Rock, where she teaches kids how to bake cookies (home economics). "By comparison, this is Dullsville teaching school and running car pools. While she's running to deserted islands, I'm running car pools and practicing softball with the kids." Mrs. Hill says she saw a hot tub once. Other than that, there doesn't seem to be much in common between the life of a political wife here and that of Rita Jenrette.

RITA WRITES IN Playboy about the time she discovered all sorts of tainted ABSCAM money around the house. "It took only a few minutes to find the soft red-cloth shoe bag snuggled inside a brown-suede shoe on the floor of John's closet," She recounts. "I opened it to find two packets of $100 bills and a third packet containing $100, $50 and $9.0 bills, each secured with a rubber band. I removed the rubber bands and counted out $25,000." What does Gerald Hill leave around the house for his wifetofind? "Skoal cans," Mrs. Hill admitted.

"Empty Skoal cans. Skoal cans, everywhere, anywhere on the night paint her roof with an aluminum sealer, job that took about an hour. The woman, said she was not aware of a warning about the roof-repair scam, but had called because she became suspicious of "their, smooth talking" after contracting and paying for the roof seal. "We looked at the roof and it was not a good job, just spray painted," Anderson said. The officers alerted banks to be on the lookout for anyone matching the description of the two men attempting to cash a check payable to "Tropical Seal." Anderson said the man and his older companion weren't charged because they moved on, "we think North," before a civil complaint could be formally filed.

"They hired a lawyer and shucked town," he said. Anderson said investigation into the scam has developed into a key red flag for homeowners to watch for. "If they say they want to spray paint your roof, look out," said Anderson. The pigment that goes into the sealer solution used by legitemate roofers should be thick, he said, and needs to be painted or -brushed on not sprayed. Brochures from reputable manufacturers of the sealer establishing the quality of: the product usually are part of the itinerant roofers' "sell," said Anderson, but the product, if it is used, cannot be effectively applied by spraying.

When a young man walked into a downtown Austin bank Monday to cash a $1,175 check for a just-completed roof repair job, Greater Austin Area Crime Control Unit officers were ready to intercept the transaction. The check had been drawn on the account of an 80-year-old blind woman who was charged that amount for replacing two small boards and spray painting the roof of her South Austin home "about an hour or an hour-and-a-half's work" said OCU Sgt. Ned Anderson. It was the same type of scam that state and police officials had warned of earlier this month. A band of itinerants known to police and consumer-protection authorities in at least four states were working their rip-off scheme in the Austin area.

Five arrests were made as a result of homeowner complaints about the roof and house repair "travelers," but no formal charges were filed. "This was not the same group of people, but just more of the same hitting town," Anderson said. Anderson and Sgt. Eugene Blomstrom were able to intercept payment on the $1,175 check because last week another elderly South Austin resident had called police to tell them she was suspicious about two men who had made similar roof repairs on her home. She had paid the roofers $725 to spray 1' Stall Photo by Bob Oaemmrich Cross sails away ith5 Grammy iaDie, oy ine Dea in tne DacK room, in the kitchen.

"He never leaves any money around. If he has $10 in his wallet, that's a lot of money for him." TTS11 tk.l Art appreciation University of Texas students Steve Fox and Julie Avenna use a piece of sculpture near the UT art building to get out of the drizzle. Clearer skies are forecast for Friday. More asbestos discovered in East Austin schools IS I so often she'll find some hu i I hansp. 50 cents or sn Ilk IV I Mrs.

Jenrette recalls in another article: "I knew the honeymoon was over when I rolled over one morning to find John's side of the bed unruffled. After a where we were staying, I Donna Hill ing search of the house found him: drunk, undressed and lying on the floor in the arms of a woman who I knew was old enough to be cancer and to asbestosis, a chronic lung disease. The danger has been documented for asbestos-industry workers, but there are no hard facts on how the exposure could affect school "There's no doubt we'll do some By CAROLYN I NEHART American-Statesman Staff Potentially hazardous asbestos has been found in the ceiling plaster of two East Austin elementary schools, prompting Austin Independent School District to look for the material in other schools. Samples from the ceilings of Sims Elementary, 1203 Springdale Road, and Oak Springs, 3601 Webberville Road, showed the presence of 5 to 30 percent chrysotile asbestos, according to Bill Harris, state health department engineer. Asbestos has a tendency to break into a dust of tiny fibers that can float in the air and be inhaled or swallowed.

The fibers imbed themselves in the lung lining, and have been linked to several kinds of his mother." NO SUCH LUCK for Gerald Hill, apparently. The only women old enough to be his mother who hug him, Mrs. Hill promises, are his mother Alta Mae, several aunts, and little old ladies at various functions. "Little old ladies really like Gerald," Mrs. Hill said.

"Whether it's at chili cookoffs, or conventions, little old ladies are attracted to him. "And he comes from a big family, so he's got lots of aunts who all say, 'I'm his favorite The only soiree of Gerald's Mrs. Hill can recall was the time Gerald took a grandmotherly type for a ride on the Goodyear Blimp. I guess political life around here just isn't in the fast lane. At least not in the northern part of Travis County.

1 A' thing" to correct the asbestos situation at Sims and Oak Springs, said Bill Moellendorf, school plant director. "The question is whether it will be now or during the summer." Sims Principal Vera Hemingway said today that she did not know of the analysis indicating asbestos in her school. "Nobody has talked with me," she said, adding that she hoped See Asbestos, B2 From Staff and Wire Reports Austinite Christopher Cross mother remembers the times her son wasn't so sure his musical career was going to amount to much. "He'd say, Til probably end up selling shoes, but I'm going to said Mrs. Ann Geppert.

"He was frustrated many times." Of course, Cross could buy the shoe store now: Wednesday night he scored the biggest sweep by a new artist in the 23-year history of the record industry's Grammy Awards. The awards best album, best single record best song best vocal arrangement and best new artist are all tied to Cross debut and only album, "Christopher Cross," which has now sold more than three million copies, according to Cross' mother. Cross, whose real name is Christopher Geppert, bounded repeatedly Wednesday night to the stage of Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall to accept his awards. He sang his hit single "Sailing." His mother is in Austin babysitting the performer's 4-year-old son while Cross and his wife, RoseAnn, are in New York for the awards. Mrs.

Geppert watched the Grammy Awards program with some of her son's neighbors who joined her at Cross' home in a quiet, West Austin neighborhood. "They came over and watched me jump up and down. It's not much fun to pat yourself on the head," said Mrs. Geppert, who added that her other children, Cross' two brothers and two sisters, threw Grammy parties to watch their brother's night of glory. Mrs.

Geppert was understandably thrilled as she watched her son snatch award after award in competition that included some of music's biggest names, including Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd and Barbara Streisand. "I just couldn't believe it, I was so happy. When he won the first one, I was satisfied," she said. Mrs. Geppert said she talked to her son Wednesday morning before the awards, and he indicated he didn't expect to win.

"He never had any idea," FCC awards 1-year license to KLRNU Christopher Cross celebrates after sweeping top Grammy awards. she said. "Someone in the know told him that lots of people get a lot of nominations, but that doesn't mean they win anything," she said. Cross' mother said her son has never "had a music lesson in his life." Cross, who made a name for himself in Austin in recent years playing fraternity parties, developed an interest in music in about eighth grade when he lived in San Antonio, his mother said. "At first we thought it was just a passing thing, but then we realized it was his only interest in life," Mrs.

Geppert said. Cross' father died in November, she said. Mrs. Geppert said success will not spoil Christopher Cross. "I don't think it will change him," she said.

"He's really very modest. He's not like any other rock 'n' roll singer. You'll never see him jumping around on stage." Friends, neighbors and Mayor Carole McClellan are trying to organize a welcome-home celebration fori Cross, who Is expected back in Austin Friday. The mayor said she called Cross in See Cross, B9 pending the outcome of the 13-month FCC investigation, which began when media activists and a former board member asked the' commission to rescind the stations' license because of the alleged irregularities. The FCC had the option of canceling the conditional license and forcing the stations offtheair.

The commission's ruling criticized' KLRNU for misleading viewers during a December 1978 fund-raising drive by saying all pledges would be matched by an anonymous donor when management knew no such donor existed. The deceptive fund-raising incident was "a very serious act of licensee misconduct that violates several laws," the commission stated in its ruling. An internal investigation by the station showed that $23,000 was raised from viewers who thought their contributions would be matched. But the only matching donation received was $5,000 from the H.E.B. Grocery Co.

3 "A mitigating factor," according to the commission, was the fact that "all money from matching-f und appeals was used for the announced purposes" and not diverted elsewhere, The purpose of the drive was to raise money for a new KLRU transmitter. Another point in the stations' favor was that the Southwest Texas Public Broadcasting Council, which operates the stations, launched its own investigation into the charges before they were brought to the attention of the FCC, the commission report said. Commissioners also noted that Harvey Herbst, KLRNU general manager at the time of the deceptive fund-raising campaign, was no longer employed by the stations or UT. The commission found no basis for the charges that employees were fired for dissenting with management. Since the FCC investigation was launched, KLRNU and UT have negotiated a new operating agreement By PETESZILAGYI American-Statesman Staff The Federal Communications Commission ruled Wednesday that public-television stations KLRN and KLRU engaged in deceptive practices during a 1978 fund-raising drive but granted the stations a temporary one-year license to continue broadcasting.

Commissioners vindicated KLRNU management of charges brought by former employees that management had released control of the stations to the University of Texas, which owns their Austin studios, and taken punitive action against employees critical of management practices. The temporary license Is effective for one year, commission spokesman Jan Gay said. During that time, the commission will monitor the station's fund-raising practices. If no irregularities are observed, they will be given a regular three-year license, he said. KLRN and KLRU have been operating on a conditional license since last September,.