The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 10

10. Friday, October 27, 1 995 THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN State Fines School District For Use of Private Bus Regency Tower Formally Reopens 1 oklahomaIY ,48 Adair Co7f I Wetvlljo 1 ADAIR 1 STATE PARI9aron; Ujai also owns, each morning and then picked up a student in the Stilwell district and brought them to school. Davidson testified he told Limore to have each parent sign a waiver that he or she understood the vehicle was a private vehicle and that, in case of an accident, the parents would not hold Davidson liable for more than his personal liability insurance. Limore testified that he never had any parent sign any forms 1 nor ever met with any parents. He said he recalled seeing a waiver in the hands of one child but didn't know what kind of waiver it was.

Davidson testified that all the maintenance for the vehicle and another school bus that Davidson owned was paid out of his own pocket and 1 cost him $2,500 to $3,000 per year. cate. Appearing on Davidson's behalf was state Sen. Gene Stipe, D-Mc-Alester. He said the superintendent was only trying to help students whose parents went to work at an industrial plant near Stilwell and took their children to work with them, and others who wanted their students to attend Greasy schools.

"It was the neighborly thing to do," he said. A state hearing officer earlier had ruled the situation was a violation of state law and fell under the board's authority. The board also accepted a review of the allegations from the earlier hearing to be used in future discussion. Greasy school teacher, Jim Limore, testified during the hearing that he normally picked up one of the buses at a trailer park, which Davidson slightly higher rent than they were before the bombing. The $15-a-month increase is small, officials said, when compared to the estimated $5 million in bombing repairs that included new painting, carpets, doors and windows.

Ward 2 Councilman Mark Schwartz called the reopening key to rebuilding the remainder of downtown. "This shows it can be done," Schwartz said. "In the future, we will be seeing a new business move into the Water Resources building. I think we may see the art museum or a museum for the bombing move into the Journal Record Build-ing." Other buildings, some vacant and dilapidated long before the bombing, also will be cleared, Schwartz said, for what may be the rebirth of north downtown. "Out of a tragedy this bad, we will see a tremendous rebirth," Schwartz said.

That rebirth may very well include tourists drawn to the bomb site. Minutes after Schnitzer cut the ribbon in front of the tower, two packed tour buses parked down the block, across from By Joyce Peterson Staff Writer Privatization at one school district in eastern Oklahoma went a bit too far for the state Education Board. The state board Thursday fined the Greasy School District of Adair County $1,500 to be paid out of the district's transportation aid fund. The board contends the district used a bus, which Superintendent Kenneth Davidson personally owns, to transport students out of the Stil-well district and into the Greasy district, which is in the far southwestern corner of Adair County. Davidson also is a used-car dealer.

The violation was discovered after an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper stopped the bus, which was tagged with used-car dealer's tags. Sandy Garrett, state schools superintendent, said the bus was By Steve Lackmeyer Staff Writer Surrounded by devastation remaining from the April 19 bombing, dignitaries and owners of the Regency Tower gathered Thursday for a formal reopening of the apartment building. The ribbon cutting was a formality; residents have been moving back into the apartment building at NW 5 and Hudson in Oklahoma Citv for the last month. But for owner Harold Schnitzer and those who helped rebuild the 24-story tower, Thursday was a celebration. "This is an important day for the Regency Tower," Schnitzer said.

"We have been committed to this building and this city since the day we bought the property, and it's a true pleasure to see the Regency become such a shining star in the Oklahoma City landscape." The Regency Tower officials said 160 families moved back into their apartments after they were displaced for six months. The tower is hoping to lease another 25 units in the near future. Tenants are paying a old and unequipped with safety features as state law requires. It is a violation of state law and board of education rules to transport students outside of district lines without board approval, she said. The illegal transportation of about 19 students out of the Stil-well district went on for almost a year, she said.

Garrett said she also may ask for revocation of Davidson's superintendent's certifi Stall Pfiolo by Paul Hollflem The Regency Tower residents, Oklahoma City officials and those who worked to repair damage caused by the April 19 bomb that destroyed the nearby Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building officially mark the apartment tower's reopening Thursday. wanted to see it, and the customer is always right." The customers, all retirees, demanded to see the bombing site in Oklahoma City, Derby said. the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

"I didn't want to come," admitted Barry Derby, a bus driver for TLC Tours of Los Angeles. "But customers Treasurer Axes Treasurer $250,000 Lease Finds Fault On Computer With Plan Gov. Frank Keating's administration through state Finance Director Tom Daxon about the possibility of using the finance agency's computer. He said they reached an agreement which by July 1 "will enable us to migrate our mainframe operations to the Office of State Finance's mainframe computer." "We still will have to pay about $75,000 for software, maintenance and so forth, but the bottom line savings in the first year will be about $140,000 a year," he said. Within two or three years, the savings will increase to about $175,000 a year, he said.

Butkin, a Democrat, said, "The message to the people out there in the public is considerations of turf should play no role in our efforts to streamline and become more efficient." Daxon, a Republican, said Butkin "deserves praise for this initiative." By Paul English Capitol Bureau The state treasurer's office will drop a $250,000 lease on a mainframe computer and shift its operations to the Office of State Finance's computer, state Treasurer Robert Butkin announced Thursday. Butkin said his office will save $175,000 a year from the move and will have more flexibility and operate more efficiently. The previous treasurer, Claudette Henry, leased the current computer from a private vendor for $250,000 a year when increased computing capacity and memory capacity were needed, Butkin said. "Right next to our data-processing center, the Office of State Finance's data-processing center has had a computer all along which we understand had surplus capacity, computing and memory capacity," he said. Butkin said that shortly after taking office in January, he approached Republican 1 1 I I I MHB MBUSB sto.

wlA aSBm AtHHk HHM mk. HHalv fflHiLf LAST By Paul English Capitol Bureau Democratic Treasurer Robert Butkin said Thursday he is opposed to one of Republican Gov. Frank Keating's study group's proposals to have the governor appoint the state treasurer. "I think there's merit in preserving ultimate accountability to the people through the elective process," Butkin said. The elective process "hasn't always worked satisfactorily, but there's no guarantee the appointive process would work satisfactorily." he said.

A group of 50 state employees assisting Keating's Commission on Government Performance recommended last week that the treasurer be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. The group also recommended consolidating the Treasurer's Office and the Office of State Finance to eliminate duplication. "It is estimated that implementation will result in an annual range of administrative savings of $1 million to $1.3 million," the group wrote. Butkin said he would like to know how the group arrived at its projection "They may have assumed there was duplication of functions in vhat we do when in fact there is none," he said. One of the basic functions of the treasurer's office is "to Identify the amount of cash available for investment every single day," he said.

"When you're dealing with the huge amounts of money that flow in and out of state government, I think it is important to have an independent treasurer keeping track of the flow of money." He said, "My sense is they were looking at some formulaic concept of efficiencies to bo gained by consolidating agencies that wasn't really addressed to the specific case of the treasurer's office and the Office of State Finance." ANY ONE REGULAR PRICED ITEM ri in ali rv iur Ainu 389 I SAVE EVEN MORE Bartlesville Schools Sued by Insurer TULSA (AP) An insurance carrier for Bartlesville Public Schools wants a federal judge to decide who has liability for the district's debts to 798 employees and more than 450 vendors. The district has until mid-November to respond to a federal lawsuit filed by St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. Bartlesville Schools officials say the company beat them to the punch by suing over who should take responsibility for covering at least a part of the district's budget shortfall. "I think it was a pre-emptive strike," school attorney Bob Kane said Wednesday.

"(St. Paul) wanted to do that before the district got around to suing them." A senior claim representative for the company refused Wednesday to comment on the lawsuit. The Bartlesville Board of Education filed a with the insurance company asking that It cover the shortfall under the district's $1 liability protection policy. In an Aug. 22 letter, the insurance company denied the claim, which was based on a class faction suit filed by school employees and vendors owed money since the $2.2 million budget 'shortfall was discovered June 20, The company said the class action suit was foot covered because it did not allege negligence tagalnst administrators.

The lawsuit also was filed by employees covered in the claim and 'asked for salary compensation not included in ithe policy, the insurance company said. Associate District Judge Jan Drolling had en-fcouraged the district to file a claim based on Ibudgetary mistakes made by administrators. nan Dally 9 a.m. to p.m., 8unday Noon to 8 p.m. 23rd Morfdlan Rockwell N.W.

Highway 63rd N.W. Highway May Brltton S.W. 74th i Ponn Edmond I Plain Edmond Bryant Squaro Norman Mooro El Ftono Yukon Midwest City gur hour vary at those locations: Chootaw N.W. 23rd A Council flOth 4 western N.W. 122nd Penn Purcoll Mustang Prices good at all Anthonys locations 1.