The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 17

THE BOSTON GLOBE MONDAY. APRIL 1 1 1988 17 Business 20 Deaths 22,23 Comics 24,25 TV Radio 27 Flynn's needle-exchange plan heads for hearings Questions and answers about the details of the needle-exchange program. Page 28. BELLA ENGLISH But because he needs an endorsement of the proposal from the political leadership of both the city and the state, Flynn can only wait and hope that a public discussion of the issues will persuade his political allies and adversaries alike of the proposed program's merits. Even a pilot program must await adoption of a home-rule petition granting the city a waiver of the state law prohibiting distribution of needles without a prescription.

The proposal will receive three four-hour airings this week, beginning today, before a special City Council committee. Among those scheduled to testify are medical personnel, state officials, work-, ers at drug treatment centers, a drug addict and an AIDS victim. Also expected are Dr. Bailus Walker a former state public health commls- sioner who has expressed support for the needle-exchange Idea, and the present commissioner. Dr.

Deborah Prothrow-Stith, who is adamantly opposed. NEEDLES, Page 28 By M.E. Malone Globe Staff After weeks of closed-door meetings and attempts at quiet persuasion. Mayor Flynn today surrenders his controversial needle-exchange proposal to the unpredictability of public hearings and the political arena, where he has met with mixed success in recent months. Since first announcing his intention to try to formulate a pilot needle-exchange program for Boston as a means of slowing the spread of AIDS among in- Tough guy, soft touch travenous drug abusers, their sexual partners and their offspring, Flynn has tried to keep the discussion to medical grounds, gathering support from specialists in the field and from doctors who, have had success with similar programs abroad.

Gasoline tanker flips at i pike exit Allston ramp closed; driver is arrested fk )yT By Alex Rothenberg Contributing Reporter The operator of a gasoline tanker that overturned on a Massachusetts Turnpike exit ramp in Allston yesterday, dumping up to 1,000 gallons of fuel on the roadway, was arrested and charged with drunken driving and speeding, police said. The driver, Fred Rice, 44, of Roslindale, also was charged with operating to endanger as a result of the accident on the sharp curve of the Allston-bound ramp of Exit 20, State Police Trooper Russell O'Dowd said. "He stated to me. 'I was going too fast for the O'Dowd said. Globe photoBrooks Kraft Firefighters spray foam around a gasoline tanker that over- terday.

The truck's driver was charged with drunken driving, turned on a Massachusetts Turnpike exit ramp in Allston yes- speeding and driving to endanger. The lo-wheel tanker, whicn is CORI opponents fear an attempt to broaden law Murder suspect's friends pray for understanding REVERE It didn't take long for the board of directors of the Jewish Community Center to come up with a name for Its beautifully renovated building at 65 Na-hant Ave. The choice was unanimous. And so the name "Louis B. Fox" came to appear in gleaming gold letters on the outside of the two-story brick building.

Wait a minute. That name rings a bell. Could this be the same Louis B. Fox whose name also appears in Vincent Teresa's book, "My Life in the There It is, listed under "directory of mob members." It says: "Lou Fox, financial wizard for Massachusetts mob; now dead." Louis (pronounced Fox has Indeed been dead since 1965, but his shadow remains In this working-class town, where for years he ruled with both an iron fist and a velvet glove. "Everyone knew who Louis Fox was because of his generosity to the Jewish community," said Toby DIPletro, office manager of the Jewish Community Center.

"Everything we feel about him is very positive." What about his reputation as don of the Jewish Mafia? "We don't have any firsthand knowledge of that," she said. But Vincent Teresa, a mobster turned informer, apparently did. Here's what his 1973 book said of Fox: "Years ago. Revere was owned lock, stock and barrel by a Jewish guy known as Lou Fox. He was known to the public as a big real estate speculator and a multimillionaire philanthropist.

Fox was really the Meyer Lansky of Massachusetts. Nobody could make book or loanshark or run any racket in Revere without first coming to Lou Fox." At the Louis B. Fox building, the book Is not carried in the small library. Fox helped build the center 35 years ago, and his estate has kept up donations since his death, 23 years ago. And so the Invitations went out for the dedication ceremony on Sept.

23, 1986. About 30 people showed up on a rainy Tuesday, crowding Into the lobby. Mayor George Colella made some remarks. There were flowers, pastry and tea. No one mentioned the Mafia.

A man with white hair and blue eyes watched from his perch in a portrait on the wall: Louis B. Fox. DiPietro, who grew up in the neighborhood, loves the Louis Fox legends. "He's like Frank Sinatra. People say he has mob connections, but then he turns around and gives lots of money to people In need.

You either loved him or hated him." Naming the building after Fox has "tickled a lot of people," she conceded, giggling. Paul Glazer, director of the Metro North Jewish Community Centers, doesn't see a bit of Irony or humor in the building's new name. Has he taken any ribbing about it? "No one's ever said a word," Glazer said, leaving the distinct impression that no one had better, either. It's almost like, Louis may have been a mobster, but he was our mobster. In fact, Teresa's book hinted at that: "Fox had the whole town in the bag.

There was one rule you had to live by, though. You couldn't pull any Jobs In Revere." Leonard Pass, a Revere attorney, knew Fox well. "Louis Fox was a bootlegger, and then he was in the numbers business," said Pass. "But you have to realize, a bootlegger in Revere wasn't a criminal, and neither was a bookmaker. If you were a friend of his, he'd give you anything." Fox built the Wonderland dog track and amusements on Revere Beach.

He owned hotels, theaters and shopping centers and none of it was in his name after he was Indicted for Income-tax evasion. "Louis dealt with some tough people, and if he'd been a softie, he wouldn't have survived," Pass said. "But." he added, "his rivals lived to an old age." Those who knew him agree that Louis Fox was a contradiction: the kind who had bodyguards and bagmen, but who sent a limo for his grandmother every Sunday and kept losers on staff because he had a heart. When he testified before the Massachusetts Crime Commission in 1957, he was asked if he had been questioned about the murder of a dog-track employee. "I resent that.

I think that's terrible," came the Indignant answer. When Louis Fox died at 61, in a car crash, more than 1,000 people attended his funeral. "He was one of the most outstanding people I've ever known," said Dr. Ralph Levine. who is on the board of directors at the Jewish Community Center.

"We couldn't have built that center without him and his money." And Just where did Fox get his money? 'Investments, as far as I know," Levine said. As for the lovely nursery, classrooms, gym, lounge, exercise room, social hall and kitchen all named for Fox Levine believes he would be very proud indeed. I think maybe he wouldn't have wanted it named fa, him," Levine said. "He was a very priv'-'te person." lv ing held in lieu of $500,000 cash ball at Charles Street Jail. The approximately 80 people who attended the church service donated more than $600 to a legal defense fund for Gilchrist.

Additional amounts were collected in sealed envelopes. One by one, a dozen people, Including one of Gilchrist's sisters, rose to their feet to pray for strength, forgiveness, love and comfort for both the suspect's and victim's families. A memorial service for Cook is scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday at the Welles-ley Hills Congregational Church. Yesterday's service, Rev.

Tan said, was intended to show "love and support" for the Gilchrist family, which belongs to the congregation, and to begin the healing process for the relatives, friends and community. GILCHRIST, Page 26 By Doris Sue Wong Globe Staff Relatives and friends of Lonnie Lee Gilchrist Jr. sought to understand through prayer In a South End church yesterday how the former Merrill Lynch stockbroker could stand accused of, murder. "The tragic events of these past few days have left us in a sense of shock," said Rev. Weell Tan.

a Methodist minister who led an hourlong prayer service for Gilchrist at the Church of All Nations. "We don't know why these events have taken place. We are confused, and I am sure we have many questions." Gilchrist, 41, of the South End was arrested and charged with murder last Thursday after he allegedly shot and killed George W. Cook, 56, of Weston, regional vice president of Merrill Lynch, at the company's downtown office after being fired because of poor sales. He is be By Sally Jacobs Globe Staff Late last year, a Boston police officer was arrested In his Jamaica Plain home and charged with possession of cocaine.

A few weeks later, he was apparently cleared of the charges and released. Just what happened In the courtroom, however, is anybody's guess. The officer, Salvador Aponte, was tried without a jury before a West Roxbury District Court Judge. There is a question, according to a lawsuit seeking access to the court records, whether the judge was persuaded to change his ruling to not guilty after he had been told that the officer would lose his job If found guilty of the crime. But there is no way of knowing for sure, unless one happened to be in the courtroom at the time.

Under an obscure state law, it is impossible to find out what hap- COURT RECORDS, Page 28 owned by Mass. Petroleum Lines of Lynn, was heavily damaged In the 1:20 p.m. accident. O'Dowd said he did not know the truck's destination or origin. Boston Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Mochen said that the truck con- i tained 8,700 gallons of fuel when it crashed and that between 500 to 1.000 gallons spilled onto the roadway.

Both Rice and a passenger, Cooley Abdullah, 24, of Mattapan, suffered minor scratches and bruises, officials said. They were treated at St. Elizabeth's Hospital In Brighton and released. After the accident. Rice ran across the street to the Embassy Suites Hotel to call for help, ac- cording to a desk clerk who saw 1 him enter the lobby.

"The poor man was terrified; he was really shaken up," the clerk said. O'Dowd said Rice then returned to the crash scene, where he was interviewed by investiga- tors and arrested. Firefighters worked quickly to seal leaking lids on the top of the tanker and build dirt dams to pre- i vent the flow of gasoline into near- 1 1 by sewers. The Fire Department dispatched a hazardous materials unit to the scene, and Clean Har- jj bors Inc. of Holbrook was called in to unload the truck and clean up the spill.

Eastbound traffic on Storrow i Drive was tied up for more than five hours as drivers slowed to ex-. amine the scene and were pre-. I vented from turning onto Cam-bridge Street. Rice was being held by State Police last night and was sched- uled to be arraigned in Brighton District Court this morning. At service for Thresher, feelings run deep INSIDE I I life? Wmw Vi WW (J By Clare Klttredge Special to the Globe PORTSMOUTH, N.H.

-Their children have grown up. Their parents have aged or passed away. And many of the Naval officers and shipyard workers who were their friends have retired. But as those family and friends gathered yesterday for a service honoring the 129 submariners lost 25 years ago on the Thresher, it was clear that the memories of the disaster have not lost their edge. The USS Thresher was the first of a new class of nuclear-powered attack submarines the Navy's fastest, most silent, deepest-diving submarine when It was launched In 1960.

But on April 10, 1963, during routine sea trials 220 miles off the New England coast, the Thresher dove in more than a mile of water with 129 young men aboard and did not come back. "She was intended to lead submarining as we knew It 25 years ago to a new peak of perfection," said retired Rear Adm. Dean L. Axene, 64, nJvho skippered the Thresher 'three months before Its last trip, "and she did but the price was very high." During yesterday's service, grim-faced families and friends assembled In North Congregational Church here expressed their grief. "It still hurts," said Margaret Cain, 46.

who was pregnant and 21 when her husband, electrician's mate Douglas McClelland, died aboard the lost submarine. "I still feel bad." echoed Al Bovyn, 72, a grizzled former shipyard machinist who lost several friends aboard the Thresher. "I'm very proud of what they did," said Joan Lyman, wife of Lt. Cmdr. John S.

Lyman wiping her eyes. They listened In silence as Cmdr. Lawrence A. Sho-berg, chaplain to the commander of the Atlantic Fleet's submarine force, retold the story. Like the Challenger astronauts, he said, the Thresher's crew were pioneers exploring the "unknown world of our technology-" The disaster left children fatherless, he said, parents without sons and young wlve, many of whom were THRESHER, Page 28 Speakers at international con- ference on the Holocaust In New-', ton discuss legal efforts against Nazi war criminals.

Page 19. The new $40 million campus of Roxbury Community College offl- daily opened yesterday. Page 26. At least five persons died in automobile accidents in Mass- achusetts. Rhode Island and New Hampshire over the weekend, po- lice reported.

Page 51. i Globe staff photoJohn Blandlng Air Force Sgt. Edward Annible plays taps in the doorway of North Congregational Church in Portsmouth, N.H., after memorial services for th crew of the USS Thresher. MetroRegipn news on pages 17-19, 26, 28, 51.