Santa Maria Times from Santa Maria, California • 2

2 Thursday, July 30, 1981, Santa Maria, Time Ooofld odco ULTQ amounting to political prisoner status for the Stato SACRAMENTO (AP) The court clerk announced a not-guilty verdict in a death penalty case but before the defendant could finish sighing with relief, four jurors told the judge they didn't agree with the verdict. As a result, a Superior Court jury was to resume deliberations today in the case of Michael Hamilton, 26, charged with first-degree murder in the June 1980 hammer slaying of Beth Schatz, 57. Another man, Anthony Bean, 21, has already been sentenced to death in the killing of Mrs. Schatz, who was hit over the head with a hammer seven times during a robbery of her mobile home. Her George, chief fiscal officer for the California Highway Patrol, suffered a fractured skull in the attack.

BURLINGAME (AP) About 270 motorists have called the California Trucking Association's hotline to report unsafe truck drivers, the association said Thursday. Of the calls, 90 percent concerned truck drivers who tail gate, 6 percent complained of trucks changing lanes and 3 percent were about speeding. The remaining 1 percent concerned miscellaneous violations. The CTA started the hotline in February, saying removal of careless truck drivers from the highways is one of the its major goals. In Northern California motorists can call 415-579-3500.

In the south it's 213-442-8120. Motorists are asked to jot down the date, time and location of the incident. TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) Israel and Syria traded threats Thursday after Israeli planes downed a Syrian jet fighter over Lebanon and Palestinian guerrillas attacked a bus outside Jerusalem, wounding four people. One of the wounded, 23-year-old Devorah Ar-nett, was in serious condition after a bullet hit her stomach and killed her unborn baby, in its seventh month. Syria promised through its official newspaper Tichrin to make Israel "pay dearly" if it persists with aerial reconnaissance missions over Lebanon of the kind that triggered Wednesday's dogfight.

Israel threatened possible retaliation for Wednesday night's bus attack despite the week-old truce mediated by the United States along the Lebanese border. Tichrin editorialized that Syria would go on "defending Lebanon's safety and security against Israeli aggression" and would "make the aggressor pay dearly at present and a dearer price in the future." BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) Irish nationalist Kevin Lynch lapsed into a coma on the 69th day of his hunger strike in the Maze Prison today, and death could be just hours away, his supporters said. They said jailed guerrilla Kieran Doherty was still conscious but sinking fast on the 70th day of his fast. Both men are 25. Six hunger strikers have died at the Maze since March 1 when the campaign for prison reforms MiGs turned back toward their own territory after the U.S.

fighters approached them over international waters. The Cuban planes got no closer than 60 miles to the Independence and there was no hostile action by either American or Cuban warplanes, said the sources, who asked to remain anonymous. Officials stressed the carrier was engaged only in training operations and was making no moves that could be construed as threatening to Cuba. WASHINGTON (AP) American Honda Motor Inc. agreed Thursday to offer free repairs of prematurely rusty fenders to owners of 1975 to 1978 Civics and Accords, the Federal Trade Commission said.

The rust problem ordinarily costs consumers about $250 to fix and if uncorrected can spread and cause serious structural damage to the car. The Importer of the Japanese-made cars signed a consent agreement covering up to 700,000 Civics and Accords, a document that FTC officials estimated would cost the company tens of millions of dollars. Most of the repairs are expected to be in 24 Northern and Eastern states that use road salt during the winter. After a public comment period, the commission is expected to make the agreement final in about three months. In Gardena, Honda spokesman Russ Daly estimated the agreement would cover about 60,000 of the 700,000 cars.

"Some may need only one fender, others may need both," he said. guerrillas began at the prison. The architect of the fasting campaign visited Lynch, Doherty and six other hunger strikers Wednesday and reported them still determined not to give in to the British government. Gerry Adams, vice president of Sinn Fein, the political arm of the Republican Army, met for eight hours with the guerrillas. NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) The death toll In the Iranian earthquake has risen to 1,200, Tehran Radio said today.

The United Nations in New York said a U.N. representative in Tehran had reports of 8,000 dead, 1,000 missing and 60,000 Injured. Abolhusein Saveh, governor-general of southeastern Kerman province, said half the population in the isolated, mountainous region had been buried by debris scattered by Tuesday night's quake. Tehran Radio said the township of Sirj, 25 miles from the provincial capital of Kerman was the worst hit. It quoted officials from the Red Crescent, Iran's relief agency, as saying that at least 700 bodies had been dug out of the town's rubble by the middle of the morning today.

national WASHINGTON (AP) Navy F-14 jet fighters twice intercepted Cuban warplanes recently in the Florida Strait when it appeared the MiG-21s might be headed for the U.S. carrier Independence, Pentagon sources said Thursday. On both occasions, the sources said, the Cuban to Sonfd Borboro move Perry, 40, was charged with driving while his license was suspended, a violation of a probation condition he received earlier for three drunk driving convictions in the past seven years. Page had motioned that Eckhoff vacate the prior convictions on the grounds that they were illegally entered, but Eckhoff at the time denied the motion. Later, visiting Superior Court Judge John F.

Keane of Sierra County upheld the motion, and issued a writ of mandamus that overturned Eckhoff's denial. In a letter of information filed in Superior Court this week, however, Eckhoff explained that he advised Page in court on July 17 that he is striking the priors in ccmpliance with the writ. "The court did not intentionally disobey the writ," he stated, "in fact although it did not agree with the ruling, it complied by striking the priors and went beyond it by reducing the judgements." Deputy County Counsel William R. Allen in a legal memorandum submitted earlier this week stated that contempt of court charges against Eckhoff should be dismissed as he did not willfully disobey the court' order. A contempt hearing for Santa Maria Municipal Court Judge Robert G.

Eckhoff has been shifted to Santa Barbara in the wake of two local Superior Court judges being disqualified from presiding over the matter. Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Bruce W. Dodds will preside over the hearing Friday at 8:30 a.m. to determine whether Eckhoff complied in March with a Superior Court order in a probation violation case. The files on the case, Charles Perry versus Municipal Court, were sent to Santa Barbara from the Santa Maria Superior Court Wednesday, Attorney for Perry, Thomas Page, disqualified Lewellen from hearing the case, and by law was not required to show cause.

He filed a motion to disqualify Canter because the judge had at one time served as deputy public defender under Eckhoff, but Canter disqualified himself on other unspecified grounds. Page contends that Eckhoff did not comply with the higher court order in a probation violation case, In which Charles Leroy Perry had been sentenced to 18 months in the county jail. --r r. i YI X- i r. I tj i 'r zzz 1 i i i Explosives plant levelled GRANTSVILLE, Utah (AP) A series of three blasts rocked an explosives plant today, demolishing most of the building and engulfing it in flames, officials said.

Five workers in the plant at the time were believed dead, the company said. The Mining Services International plant, 20 miles west of Salt Lake City, was "blown away," according to Tooele County Sheriff Walt Shubert. The sheriff flew over the building this morning and said the walls had disintegrated. He said he saw no signs of life. "MSI has released a statement, and they say there's no hope," said Grantsville police Sgt.

Larry Prince who manned a command post at the fire station where relatives had gathered. The first blast was felt at least 15 miles away in Tooele, home of the Tooele Army Depot, where nerve gas and other chemical warfare agents are stored. There was no threat to th3 depot, officials said. The initial blast occurred at 4:30 a.m. MDT.

As Are spread to blinkers and tanks containing solid and plastic explosives, a second explosion rocked the plant about 6:30 a.m. A third explosion occurred at about 7:20 a.m. When deputies arrived, what was left of the building was engulfed in flames, Shubert said. Officials erected a barrier two miles from the plant Flag-waving enthusiasts including "skinheads" of Wales. Police "relaxed" a bit in good-natured danced atop one of the fountains in London's tolerance of the day's overall happiness about the Trafalgar Square after watching Wednesday's wed- big event.

dina procession of Prince Charles and the Princess Associated Presa Laserphoto AAGM GRAND OPENS ITS DOORS After Oct. 1, paychecks should AFTER REMODELING FROM FIRE be bigger for most Americans Hotel spokesman Don Usherson said all of the MGM Grand's 2,081 guest rooms were booked for the upcoming weekend. A 762-room addition is scheduled to be opened in September. The hotel opened in December 1973 in Hollywoodlike style, with film stars and others arriving in limousines amid hordes of fans and autograph seekers. On Wednesday, the first few guests trickled into the hotel lobby as the sound of an occasional slot machine jackpot rang out in the cavernous, almost empty casino.

Actor Cary Grant, who will introduce singer Dean Martin when the hotel's showroom opens Thursday night, was the first guest to check in. "I think it is glorious," said Grant. "It's unfortunate it had to be a second time, but it is a glorious second time." LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) Stripped to its concrete shell and remodeled after the devastating fire which claimed 84 lives, the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas began to check in new customers Wednesday. "We always open a day ahead of time to give our employees a chance to get acclimated," hotel president Bernard Rothkopf said Wednesday.

The resort, rebuilt at a cost of $50 million, now features a $5 million computerized life-safety system that includes thousands of fire sprinkler heads and smoke detectors in each room. A huge display board in the system's nearly fireproof control center automatically pinpoints the location and nature of any problem. "You name it, they've got it," Clark County Fire Chief Roy Parrish said of the system. "In my opinion, it is the safest hotel in the world," said Deputy Chief John Papageorge. Reagan a 'big winner' Continued from p-1 working couples or single parents who pay for child-care services during working hours.

Current law provides a tax credit which is subtracted directly from taxes owed for 20 percent of the first (2,000 spent each year for the care of a child, or $4,000 for the care of two or more. For families with incomes under $30,000, the bill increases the credit to as much as 30 percent. The level of expenditures subject to the benefit would be raised for all taxpayers to $2,400 for one child and $4,800 for two or more. The $30,000 family could get a maximum credit of 20 percent of $4,800, or $960. Assuming the family has a small savings account, it would lose one benefit that is in current law.

The law allows a couple to avoid taxes any kind of non-business loan except a home mortgage would have to be subracted. If the family earned $500 interest in a year and paid $200 for interest on a car loan, it could deduct from taxable income 15 percent of the remaining $300 or $45. The couple would benefit also from an expanded retirement-savings provision. Present law lets a person who is not covered by a company pension plan avoid current taxes on 15 percent of income or $1,500 a year whichever is smaller that is set aside in an Individual Retirement Account. Under the bill, that limit would be raised to $2,000.

A person covered by a company plan could get a deduction for up to $1,500 in an IRA or contributed to the company plan. Taxes would be due probably at a lower rate when the money is withdrawn at retirement. on up to $400 a year in interest. That would be repealed at the end of 1981. A much-touted new savings Incentive probably would not benefit the $30,000 family at all, although it would likely help those in higher tax brackets.

This is the misnamed "all-savers certificate," which is designed to increase savings and build a pool of mortgage money. The interest on those certificates would pay 70 percent of the rate earned on one-year Treasury certificates, which now is in the 15-percent range. That means a yield of 10.5 percent tax-free. But to a couple in the $30,000 income range, that would be less beneficial than many other types of taxable investments already available. Beginning in 1984, the couple' could avoid taxes on 15 percent of the first $3,000 interest earned each year from any kind of investment.

First, however, interest paid for President's phone calls, personal 'appeal' pay off S.IIM.I JJi HO TIMES WALT tOSEIKOCK Publisher DON BSOWN Executive Editor Advertising Director ANOY OITIZ Circulation Manager MONTE RUTHERFORO Business Manager DON TWINO Production Manager ERNEST PARDO Press Room Foreman Kern killings up BAKERSFIELD (AP) Kern County's single-month homicide record rose to 16 today as a Bakers-field man was found beaten to death In a park. The previous record of 13 was set last July and tied the following month. It was broken in a string of seven homicides from July 17-21. The latest victim was identified as John William 47. Deputy Coroner Demas Cardoza said he appeared to have been struck about the head with a blunt instrument.

Cause of death given A Sisquoc resident killed early Tuesday morning in a two-vehicle crash on the Clark Avenue U.S. 101 overcrossing died of chest and spinal injuries, according to a coroner's report. The victim, Audel Martin Batons S3, was pronounced dsad at the scene. Deputy coroner tHie Schroeder said an autopsy was conducted on which showed that the man suflend CzA injuria In the accident, when his wrstbocid pick-up track collided with a largs gravel ssmi and dcutle trailer rig that was eastbousd and was turnkg left. Both ttlor-d.

to the Rich-Sand Service Company of Ortrutt. Continued from p-1 over 21 months, with an additional 10 percent reduction in a third year contingent on the economy performing as well as the Reagan administration forecasts. The Democratic cuts would have favored families with incomes less than $50,000 a year. A typical four-member, two-earner family with $15,000 income would realize a $333 tax cut in 1984 when Reagan's bill is fully effective. The Democrats would have provided a $431 cut.

For a $40,000 family, Reagan's bill gives $1,637, compared with $1,806 under the defeated version. The 5 percent of taxpayers earning more than a year would get 32 percent of the individual tax relief in Reagan's bill. The 50 percent with incomes under $20,000 would get 15.8 percent. In addition to cutting tax rates, both the House and Senate bills would: Reduce the "marriage penalty," which forces 17 million working married couples to pay more tax than if they were single. Cut to 50 percent the current top 70 percent tax rate on Investment income.

Allow a person up to $1,000 In tax-free income from a new savings certificate. Wipe out estate taxes for all but a relative handful of Americans. Allow a special charitable-contributions deduction for those who don't itemize. Cut business taxes deeply through faster write-offs for plant and machinery purchases. Allow workers, even those covered by company pension plans, to avoid taxes on up to $2,000 a year put aside in a retirement account In Wednesday's closing debate, House Speaker Thomas P.

O'Neill Jr. said Reagan and his supporters were content to borrow many of those provisions from the Democrats' proposal. "But there is one prominent feature the administration refuses to adopt and that is the targeting of tax relief to middle-income Americans," the Massachusetts Democrat added. The real issue, said Rep. Guy VanderJagt, is that without action by Congress, taxes on Americans will rise by 22 percent over the next three yean because of inflation.

The Democratic measure would continue increasing the government's share, he said, but "by 1984, under the president's bill, every American will be keeping more for himself." Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Art, said the Reagan bill will widen the gulf between rich and poor. "I cannot support a bill that does so much for so few and so little for so many," he declared. JULY 30. 1981 NO.

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