Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 18

13 Section 1 Chicago Tribune, Wednesday, February 13, 1980 From page one Thompson to ask tax relief bill 2 testify Gacy wept as he told of killing at least 30 i Michael Rossi: "(John Gacy) said he had done a lot of bad things." crawl space, Rossi said. "AFTER A RAIN there would be a musty odor," he said, adding that after the lime was spread, "the odor was gone." Rossi also testified that he used to dress up as a clown and entertain with Gacy at children's birthday parties and at hospitals. "He would do various funny stunts," he said. "He'd make animals out of balloons, blow whistles." Rossi said Gacy never threatened to sexually assault him, but Cram claimed that Gacy once threatened to rape him. "I came into the house and he had a clown suit on," Cram said.

"It was my birthday. He said he would show me the handcuff trick." Cram said Gacy then handcuffed him with his hands in front. "The trick was that you needed the key," Cram said. "He grabbed me by the chain and swung me around. He said, 'I'm going to rape Cram said.

"I KIND OF freaked out. I ended up kicking him in the head" and Gacy fell to the flqor and the attack ended. much as $400. That plan apparently was ruled out because it would give no help to taxpayers on their current returns. THE GOVERNOR also Is expected to renew pressure on the General Assembly to pass a plan limiting the amounts of revenues which state and local governments can collect and spend.

His proposal for such a ceiling on revenue increases for local taxing units was rejected by the legislature last month after which the Democrats sent their own plan increasing the general Homestead Exemption to $3,000 to his desk. Thompson, speaking at the luncheon, emphasized, however, that his tax relief proposal will fit within a balanced budget for the next fiscal year, which he is scheduled to announce March 5. The state has a current available balance of about a half billion dollars, of which budget officials believe at least $200 million must be left in the treasury as a cushion. "THE MONEY IS there and the people expect tax relief," said one source. "It's an election year and he wants to pull out the rug from the Democratic program House Majority Leader Michael Madi-gan Chicago told The Tribune, however, that the Democrats have not yet devised their tax relief proposals.

He also complained that Democratic leaders were excluded from a Tuesday afternoon meeting in the Executive Mansion where Thompson unveiled his plan for GOP leaders of the House and Senate. "I guess he has abandoned the rules of civility," Madigan said. Continued from page one will benefit all the taxpayers," Thompson said during a Lincoln Day luncheon sponsored by the Sangamon County Republican Party. The governor said his plan will "give back to the people of the State of Illinois that which is rightfully theirs, that which they have helped us save in the last three years of balanced budgets, that which will enable them to make their inflation-torn dollars stretch farther." Although Thompson's proposal comes only weeks before the March 18 primary end would be considered in the legislature just before the Republican national Convention, he claimed, "It will not be ijolitical tax relief. It will be real dol-ars.

THE REDUCTION In the sales tax on groceries and medicine is expected to amount to about $100 million. The administration also has considered restoring last fall's one-cent reduction on food end medicine and then decreasing the entire sales tax on all merchandise by a half per cent. Retailers have complained loudly that implementation of the cur-vent plan created problems. Under the rebate plan, which sources paid Thompson repeatedly called a ''good government dividend" because of pie state's improved financial status, a lamily of four would receive $40. Those (rebates will be based on 1978 state taxes taid in 1979, sources said.

Another plan under consideration, Sources said, would have increased the standard income tax exemption by as Continued from page one charged with any crime stemming from the recovery of the bodies. HOWEVER, 'ROSSI has hired a law-yer, former State's Atty. Edward V. Hanrahan, to represent him. Hanrahan sat in the rear of Judge Louis B.

Garip-po's courtroom throughout Rossi's testimony. Both Cram and Rossi testified Tuesday that they met Gacy in 1976 and began working for his construction company. Cram said he moved Into Gacy's home in the summer of 1976 and stayed until the end of September of that year. Rossi said he moved in when Cram moved out and stayed until April, 1977. Rossi said he is now married and has a child.

Rossi said he never had a sexual relationship with Gacy. However, when Cram was asked by defense attorney Robert Motta whether he ever "participated in any sexual conduct" with Gacy, he replied, "I'd like to plead the 5th Amendment." Cram gave the same answer when asked whether he had ever had a homosexual relationship with Rossi. CRAM IDENTIFIED for the jury a trap-door that had been brought into the courtroom. He said he had used it to climb down into the 30-inch high crawl space in Gacy's home. Then he demon- strated for the jury how he had crouched for three to four hours and dug trenches one day in August, 1977.

"He Gacy showed me how deep to dig a couple of feet wide and about knee-high," Cram said. One trench was about 8 feet long and another was about 3 feet long, he said. Gacy had told Cram to dig the trenches so that a plumber could lay new piping, Cram said. "He had a pair of ankle-high black boots in the crawl space," Cram said. He added that he noticed mounds of dirt in the crawl space but at the time did not think it was unusual.

HE ALSO SAID Gacy once asked him to spread lime in the crawl space "to sweeten the odor." Prosecutors have said that Gacy told police he ordered Cram to dig the trenches "because I wanted to have graves available." Rossi told the jury Tuesday that in the summer of 1977 Gacy told him "to go down into the crawl space and dig a treuch line for some drain tile." "He would go down into the crawl space and draw a specific line," Kossi said. "He would actually mark it out in sticks," and "would get very upset" if anyone deviated from the lines. Rossi said the trenches were about thigh-deep and a foot wide. Gacy also ordered him to spread "800 or 900 pounds of lime" throughout the About a month later, in September, 1976, Gacy "pounced on me. We fought a little, he ripped my pants," Cram said, "Then he smiled a little bit and said, 'You're no and walked into bis room and went to sleep." Shortly thereafter.

Cram moved out of Gacy's house, he said. Over the ZVt years Cram knew Gacy, he said he learned that Gacy often pretended to be a policeman, speeding down expressways and stopping Tribune Photo tw Ernie Cox Jr. David Cram heads into court, where he testified Tuesday that he dug the trenches under John Gacy's home, where 26 bodies were found. Schools face huge cuts Fi Continued from page one ne day of pay during the current year to save $4.1 million. Boa'd employes jrould have to agree to a similar loss next year for the board to save an equal tmount at that time.

In addition, she said that the weekend lecision to restore 504 jobs at the demand of the Chicago Teachers Union Will have an adverse impact on spending next year. The 504 employes, Including 300 teach- rs, will still be board employes next 'all and will still be collecting pay. Had No pay again for teachers FRIDAY WILL be another pay-less payday for 27,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union. The Chicago Board of Education has the money to pay them, but Friday's paychecks cover the two weeks of Jan. 28 through Feb.

8, when, most teachers union members refused to work. The school board will pay those who worked during the. period but not those who refused to do so. CHUCK BURDEEN, a spokesman, said the union is aware of this and will raise no objection. The union's members will be able to make up 9 of the 10 days of lost pay in June when the school year is extended so students can recover most of the class time lost when teachers were off the job.

i they been fired as planned they would nave been off the payroll next year. From other sources, The Tribune earned further details of the agreement eached at City Hall over the weekend. THE NEW information indicates that board is closer than formerly be-'ieved to meeting its goal of cutting $60 pillion from current spending. All of the details still are not known, iowever. One unanswered question is how much will cost the board to operate Chicago's 600 public schools for nine extra jays in June to make up most of the tlass time lost during the two-week vork stoppage by the teachers union.

Here is the latest breakdown of those (ortions of the weekend settlement for vhich figures are available. The board agreed to give up the following spending cuts it imposed in late January: $3,694,000 by restoring 504 jobs previously eliminated. $2.5 million by requiring teachers give up only one day of pay instead tf two. $434,000 by restoring certain vocational education instructors to eight-hour pork days instead of holding them to six-jour days as required in the earlier Spending cut plan. THE TEACHERS union and representatives of other employe groups agreed a the following alternative spending uts: $1.5 million in spending eliminated when other school employes agreed to join the teachers in giving up a day's "ay.

$3.5 million cut from purchases of equipment and supplies for summer school. The former figure was $2.5 million. $600,000 cut from the $6 million fchool maintenance budget. $582,715 saved by abolishing the READ program that attempts to improve reading scores at three schools by assigning 65 extra teachers and clerks to the schools. Studies show the program to be a failure.

$434,000 saved by holding to 115 the number of extra teachers hired for another program to improve reading iiiSil i it' i' scores. There had been plans to hire 85 more such teachers. $73,800 saved by eliminating holiday and weekend work for playground teachers. THE SPENDING cuts that were eliminated total $6,628,000, while the alternate cuts now total $6,690,515, a difference of $62,515 more. The newest cuts for which figures are available total $60,188,065 compared with the earlier total of $60,125,550.

In addition, there is no danger of the school board losing another $2.5 million by restoring 900 school psychologists, social workers, and nurses to a 47-week work year from a 41-week year. An officer of the teachers union, which represents these 900 employes, said that the school board had discussed reducing the work year of the 900 employes, but had never included such a cutback in its spending cut plan. At the weekend conference the board dropped even the suggestion of such a step, the union official said. THE ADDED costs of operating the schools in June remains the biggest potential unknown cost that could pull the spending cuts to below $60 million. Although teachers were not paid for the two weeks they were off the job, the seemingly futile effort of the board to keep the schools open during that period cost an estimated $2 million a day, or about $20 million.

These expenses include salaries of principals, custodians, and other staff members who worked during the period, plus nonsalary fixed costs. $324,000 suburban heist Diversejj An ambulance chaser can make up to a six-figure income by being in the right place at the right time. As part of the accident swindle, his job is to persuade you into turning your injuries into profits. Tonight, Peter Karl.will show you exactly how the chaser earns his "finder's And to what lengths he'll go to get to you before his competitors. Chicago Site of bank holdup pW 'I ii ii a North Continued from page one leaps, which were partially pulled over their faces.

Only last April, three gunmen armed 5 with revolvers and an M-l carbine sur-' prised two Brink's guards and caped with about $350,000 in cash from tan armored truck outside the Hangar 'Furniture Warehouse, 17500 S. Har-'lem Tinley Park. i AT THAT TIME, FBI agents and Brink's officials said the robbery was "strikingly similar to an unsolved Brink's 'robbery in Hammond last October that fietted three armed robbers $346,000. The suspects in the Hammond and Tinley Park robberies were never caught. FBI agents noted that in each robbery the thieves wore rubber Hallow-'een masks and were armed with heavy (taliber weapons, i Oak Park i River Forest CD Division 3 Tribune Map.

For -those reasons, investigators tend to discount the theory that the Elmwood Park robbers were of the same gang or gangs, because no Halloween masks were' evident and the Elmwood Park robbers brandished no large weapons..