Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 12

129 136 135 133 130 103 68 If the Utt number of your street address is 4 or 5. you can water your lawn today. 150 Water use this spring has far exceeded previous spring consumption and has exceeded peak use in consumption figures daily. Today's figures show consumption from May 11 through Thursday, the latest figures available. Mandatory water conservation begins after three consecutive days at 150 million gallons.

Conserving Austin's water summer of 1983. To encourage awareness of water use, the American-Statesman will publish water MM- in II 0 City State Fri Sat Sun Moo Tue Wed Thu Saturday, May 19, 1984 Autin American Stateman Section 1 1 i Bastrop County mine gets 3 key clearances John Kelso i Dining out I But the board did not rule on a request by Lowerre to require a permit to control air emissions from the mine itself. Lowerre said opponents are considering going back to the Air Control Board or going to court to require a permit for the mine. The Lower Colorado River Authority got approval Monday from the Railroad Commission of revisions to the mining permit The approval allows the use of a dragline, a machine that uses a huge bucket to remove dirt and rock to get to the lignite, a low-quality coal. The approval also lets the river authority name the Bastrop Mining Co.

as operator of the mine. The firm is a subsidiary of Morrison-Knudsen Co. IN ADDITION, Water Commission examiner James Rourke recommended Friday the approval of a wastewater discharge permit Rourke said the discharges would have no detrimental effects on the ground or surface water. The Water Commission is to consider the permit July 11. Lowerre said he filed an appeal Wednesday with the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency for a formal hearing after two EPA decisions favorable to the Lower Colorado River Authority on the proposed mine. In late April the EPA approved a wastewater discharge permit for the mine and rejected requests that the agency prepare an environmental impact study of the mining operation. Opponents are basing their appeal partly on their belief that the proposed mine is just a first step toward a much larger mine the river authority is planning in Bastrop, Lowerre said. In addition, opponents are challenging approval of the water discharge permit because mining plans have changed since the river authority first made application, Lowerre said. By BILL MCCANN American-Statesman Staff The Lower Colorado River Authority has won important decisions from three state agencies for plans to strip-mine lignite in Bastrop County.

The river authority received approval this week for an air emissions permit from the state Air Control Board and a revised mining permit from the state Railroad Commission. In addition, a hearing examiner for the state Water Commission recommended approval of a permit to discharge wastewater from the proposed mine. The river authority wants to mine 200,000 tons of lignite yearly at a site four miles north of Bastrop. Don Spraggins, LCRA director of environmental resources, said the authority is pleased with the state actions. "WE ARE still optimistic about getting coal out of the mine by the end of the year," Spraggins said.

"Overall, we are disappointed in the outcomes this week, but there is still considerable opportunity for us to continue to fight" said Richard Lowerre, attorney for the City of Bastrop and the Central Texas Lignite Watch, which oppose the mine. Opponents plan to appeal the Railroad Commission permit and challenge the hearing examiner's decision, he said. Challenges by opponents have helped force tighter requirements for both air and water permits, Lowerre argued. The air permit is the most stringent of its type in the state, Lowerre said. THE RIVER AUTHORITY received approval Friday from the Air Control Board for a permit covering lignite handling facilities.

Staff Photo by David Kennedy Peg Nosek says barriers opened her eyes to the struggle of disabled people and shaped her choice of doctoral studies. Wheelchair will roll to Ph.D. rite tonight Electric rate dispute suspended by judge I to a compromise. Before the ceremony begins, four policemen will lift Nosek in her wheelchair to the stage. She will sit with honored guests just east of the rostrum, and will wheel out to receive her degree when her name is called.

But it that seems a small concession, it is an important vicjory to Nosek, who feels the biggest handicap faced by disabled people is the attitude of those who are not disabled. "Attitudes go so deep. These are attitudes that have existed for a millennium. People have been treated as children or incompetent since the beginning of time." IN TRYING to change those attitudes, Nosek found herself organizing the Austin Resource Center for Independent Living. The center is a consumer-run, non-profit organization that provides independent living services like assistance in locating housing and jobs to disabled people.

That project may have shaped Nosek's professional direction for the rest of her life. "I had to make a decision whether to continue in an ivory-tower sort of theoretical field," she said of her music theory interest "Or I had to decide to work in real life." Since then, Nossek has been active in civil rights projects for disabled people, including work with Austin activist Justin Dart Dart and other disabled Austinites helped put together a national policy for persons with disabilities, a document that has been presented to Congress and the White House. IN HER dissertation, Nosek examined independent living and the severely physically disabled adult In researching the project she discovered through science what many people will determine upon visiting with Nosek herself: The severity of the disability does not determine the potential for successful independent living. "If a person is going to be independent, it's not determined by his functional abilities. It doesn't matter if they can dress themselves or transfer in and out of their wheelchairs or drive.

That's not what makes them independent" Herbicide use okayed for creek weed control takes off This here's a restaurant review. I dined Friday at Sugar's, a high-tony topless club at 404 Highland Mall to review the lunch food they serve out there. As far as I know, there isn't a place in South Austin where you can eat steak and shrimp and watch women dance around on stage wearing just about zip all at the same time. I figure the reason for this is that if there were a place like this in South Austin, management would have to keep peeling the sour cream off the walls, and they'd get sick of that action in a New York minute. You know how those good old boys are down there.

To review Sugar's properly, I took along Pete Szilagyi, a reporter here at the newspaper, and Chris Yandle, 24, a wine salesman who acted as if he'd never seen anything quite like this before. But what can you expect? He's from Pittsburgh. "SHE WAS HANGING from her legs, bobbing up and down, woooo," Chris said, sounding amazed as he watched one of the dancers hanging upside down from a pole on stage. To tell you the truth. Sugar's lunches do have some problems.

For one thing, all sorts of things in there are red. The lights on the ceiling are red. The candles on the tables are red. Because of this, everything else looks red, too Including the tableclothes and the rug, which may or not be red. I couldn't tell if they were red because of the lighting.

i Worst of all, though, is the fact that until you get used to the lighting, which takes a while, even the eats look red. "You no- tice how all your food looks j-ed?" Pete asked as he hovered over his salad. Red is okay for cherry tomatoes, but it's not fun eating what appears to be a piece of crimson iceberg lettuce. Another trouble with Sugar's lunches is that, to me, watching a bunch of women who are dressed to freeze in a good air-conditioning system is disconcerting to fine dining. Or as Chris put it after he'd finished his salad, "It was kind of funky having somebody do a split in front of you when you're trying to eat." I don't remember who it was who did the split Chris was talk-.

Ing about It might have been Dusty, Bambi, Stormy, or Lord knows who. NOW, FOR SUGAR'S strong points. The service, provided by a tall blonde named Kathy, was attentive. When Pete ordered Italian dressing for his salad, she patiently explained that it wasn't of the creamy variety, but was just regular old Italian dressing. She also asked us now and again if we needed more beer, an intel- ligent move on her part since the 12-ounce draughts cost $3.30 a pop.

She apologized when the food was slow in arriving at the table. .1 And she stayed out of the way Of the stage, so that we could see -it 1 The food, for the most part, was just wonderful, and very reasonably priced. Chris had the steamed shrimp eight of biggest shrimp I've ever seen in an Austin restaurant You had to break them up into pieces to eat them. Pete gave the international "okay" sign when I asked him how the teriyaki chicken ($5.95) tasted, but added that it was served cold. My Beef Reef for $6.95, four heavyweight- class fried shrimp and a 5-ounce 'steak was the bee's knees.

AND BESIDES that they had two kinds of steak sauce on the table and brought around both Zesta and Club crackers in plastic baggies. On a scale of four, Td give Sugar's lunches three stars one for the grub, one for Dusty my favorite dancer and the other one for the disc jockey who kept saying sturf like, "Let's get those hands flying together. What do you say?" By BILL MCCANN American-Statesman Staff A state district judge Friday temporarily barred the state Public Utility Commission from proceeding with a case in which Austin electric rates are being challenged by customers outside the city. Judge Peter Lowry granted the temporary order after a suit was filed by the city. The suit charges City Manager Jorge Carrasco says Rodeo will be used at six to eight creek sites.

"We're pleased to see that the city has found the chemical safe." Environmental group representatives said they were disappointed. "We feel frustrated that the city hasn't allowed sufficient time for groups to study Rodeo and make recommendations that might benefit the city," said Shelley Silbert of the Texas Pesticide Project SEVERAL CITY departments had asked for $116,000 to test the effect of Rodeo on the Austin environment The City Council turned down the request because of the cost and instead asked for a review of literature about the safety of Rodeo. Dr. Bassett Maguire, a University of Texas scientist who would have conducted tests of the effects on basic organisms of the food chain in Austin creeks, has recommended against using Rodeo for vegetation control without the tests. He said he would not object to the pilot study.

By CHERYL COCGINS American-Statesman Staff When Peg Nosek enrolled at the University of Texas in 1977, she wasn't exactly a fiery radical on the subjects of civil rights and independent living for the disabled. Having grown up in the loving protection of her parents' home in Ohio, Nosek never had to deal much with the challenges and hazards of Independent living. In fact for the first few weeks at UT, Nosek's mother moved into the dorm with her 25-year-old, wheelchair-bound daughter to help her cope with the rigors of life at the university. "It was my first experience at living independently. It was very difficult" said Nosek, a victim of spinal muscular atrophy, a congenital disorder.

"My parents had done everything I needed. Now all of a sudden I had to hire people to do it And I had no transportation system. It was quite a struggle. That experience really opened my eyes." THE EXPERIENCE opened her eyes so much that she eventually dropped her doctoral studies in music theory, took up the fight for civil rights for disabled people, switched her academic field to special education, and ended up earning a doctorate. Along with 166 other doctoral candidates, Nosek will receive a doctoral hood tonight in the uni-versitywlde graduation.

But for Nosek, 32, the moment may be even sweeter than it is for others who walk up the steps to the rostrum to be hooded. That last journey represents a final hurdle in her fight for her rights as a disabled student "I wrote a letter to President (Peter) Flawn and requested that they ramp it" Nosek said of the area where degrees will be conferred. "I didn't want to receive my degree on the ground level because it was just symbolic to me, the need for disabled people to receive equal treatment in society." UT OFFICIALS told Nosek that It would cost $4,500 to construct a temporary ramp, so Nosek agreed Luling oil By RAY ALAN American-Statesman Correspondent LOCKHART A Luling oil drilling firm, which took in at least $5.6 million in investments for Caldwell County wells that returned only a fraction of the $5.6 million to investors, pleaded guilty Friday to misrepresenting the potential of those wells. Lincoln Drilling Inc. agreed to pay Caldwell County a $500,000 fine and give up any remaining Interest in the wells.

that the utility commission lacks jurisdiction in the rate case. Lowry has scheduled a hearing May 25. The order means the commission cannot hold any preliminary meetings, suspend Austin rates, or order the city to supply rate Information until further notice. The suit followed a petition filed Monday by a group of suburban customers against city rates. It was the second time in three months that the suburban group asked the commission to review Austin rates.

THE FIRST challenge came in February after the City Council approved a rate increase that resulted in an average 20 percent rise in bills over 1983. The commission voted 2-1 late last month to dismiss the challenge after the council changed the rates again April 12 and approved a 10 percent reduction in bills. At the time, Royal Masset an attorney representing the opponents, said they would come back to the commission for more relief. The city suit contends that the utility commission has no jurisdiction in the latest challenge, partly because the petition was filed too late. The petition, which contains 1,600 names, was filed Monday, 32 days after the city set new rates.

State law requires that appeal be filed within 30 days of a decision by a municipal government said Richard Balough of Heron, Bur-chette, Ruckert Rothwell, which represents the city in the case. CITY ATTORNEYS had also argued in the previous case that the petition should have been thrown out because that petition, too, was filed after the 30-day limit But the commission said the petition should be allowed. This time city attorneys asked the court to decide. The city suit also contends that the commission lacks jurisdiction over the rates because state law as applied to Austin is unconstitutional, Balough said. The law spells out standards to be used for setting rates, but exempts municipalities, Balough said.

This leaves the city in the position of having to comply with the law, but not having guidelines to use in setting rates, he said 1982 indicted six persons and two corporations Lincoln and J.R. Oil Well Inc, a lease operating company on charges of fraud by misrepresentation, fraud in failure to disclose material fact sale of securities by unlicensed dealers, sale of unregistered securities, and theft of more than $10,000. J.R. Oil Well Inc. of Luling and Lincoln Drilling owned the wells in common.

Investors can seek recovery of losses in civil court. Van Horn said. By MAX WOODFIN American-Statesman Staff The herbicide Rodeo will be used within a few weeks at six to eight sites in Austin creeks, City Manager Jorge Carrasco said Friday. The limited use will be designed to test the effectiveness of the herbicide against weeds, rather than to test the safety of the chemical, as had been recommended by the advisory Environmental Board. Sites of the test were not announced.

Carrasco called his decision a recommendation, but his staff said no council approval is neeeded, and use of Rodeo will proceed. HERBICIDE USE in Austin creeks has been banned for several years for health and safety reasons. Rodeo is the first herbicide licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency for use in water. Environmentalists maintain that the EPA licensing was based on falsified data. They say long-term health effects of the chemical have not been conclusively determined.

Monsanto Agricultural Products Co. will provide the chemicals and labor for the study. Monsanto biologist Jon Arvik, who represented the company during consideration of Rodeo use by Austin officials, said Friday, "We're anxious to pursue use of Rodeo in Austin." Though it was never determined how much the wells cost to drill. Van Horn estimated drilling costs at $80,000 for each well. Another factor that could have affected profits was cost of land leases.

Van Horn said. Investors told state Securities Board investigators that representatives of Lincoln Drilling claimed the wells would return the investments in three years or less. Company representatives knew that was impossible. Van Horn said. driller pleads guilty in well fraud case "Nothing is wrong with me selling vou a $100,000 well for $200,000 if I tell you all the facts," Van Horn said.

But the state contended that Lincoln misrepresented information and that investors could not make informed decisions on the basis of the data provided. The complexity of the case and the difficulty of explaining it to jurors were factors in the state agreement to a plea bargain. Van Horn said. A grand jury in the spring of Under the plea bargain accepted by state District Judge Robert Pfeuffer, criminal charges were dismissed against officers of the company. The corporation was found guilty of theft of more than $10,000.

Sentencing is scheduled May 29. Criminal District Attorney Jeff Van Horn said the company sold shares in about 140 wells in the Luling area from 1980 through 1982. Prices ranged from $140,000 to $165,000..