Desert Sentinel from Desert Hot Springs, California • Page 1

J. Blndera i ServiWg Desert Hot Springs, The nation's Health Center ass She Needs Your Help For several years Alice Driscoll, a parttime resident from Long Beach, has been cleaning up Desert. Hot Springs area roadsides. "It's fun and good exercise," she says. Saturday, beginning at 8:30 a.m., residents of the area are urged to meet at the chamber of commerce building, 13440 Palm Drive, for the city's annual clean-up day.

The chamber will provide work areas, trash bags, and serve cold beverages. If Desert Hot Springs is to be clean and beautiful it is going to take many more people than just Alice Driscoll--it is going to take you. (Desert Sentinel photo by Jim Maxwell) Vol. 36 No. 41 Desert Hot Springs, California 92240 Thursday, May 19, 1977 District III Votes Show Majotity Want Sewers i 'Members of the Desert Hot Springs County Water District Board of Directors got an unexpected surprise Tuesday morning when they counted'the returned ballots from Assessment District III--Nearly 70 per cent of those who mailed the ballots back by? the deadline Monday afternoon were favor of the installation of sewers; A total of 688 ballots were returned out of 1,231 sent out to registered voters in the controversial district.

Of those, 482 voted in favor of sewers and 206 were opposed, Lee Tinkham, board vice president, announced. A total of 56" per cent of the which were mailed at the first of the month, were returned. The vote result has no actual legal standing and results are not binding on the board which by Tues-. day, June 21, whether not to pn ceed with the $2,038,000, project. board was strictly trying to survey the; residents and get some new input on- the issue, which has been hotly debated: for several years, Tinkham said.

He and the board president, Lou Adelman, have indicated to The Desert Sentinel the board will not make a final decision to go through with the project until close to the June 21 deadline. The board is again applying for a grant from the federal Economic Development Act to supplement grunts already obtained from the federal government for the project. The new grant, if approved in Washington D.C., would result in the cost of the project being less than $200 to property owners in the district, which encompasses most of the older section of Desert Hot Springs. The grant would not pay for costs already expended by the district in pushing the proposal for sewers, nor would it pay for installation of laterals from the main line to homes, which has always been a separate matter. President Jimmy Carter signed last week a bill doubling the original EDA grant monies to $4 billion.

The water ONE MAN TRAPPED INSIDE CAB Truck Drivers Burn To Death Interstate Two truck drivers died from burns received early Saturday morning. May 14, in a fiery two truck collision on Interstate 10 eight-tenths of a mile east of the Whitewater River Bridge, the Banning office of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) reports. Interstate 10 eastbound was closed nearly five hours while fire crews battled the flames and cleaned up. One of the dead truckers was burned to death inside the "sleeper" compartment of his rig, unable to escape the inferno which literally melted the two rigs and sent rivers of molten metal running down the freeway; Nathanial Lewis, 38, of Fort Worth, Texas, died in the wreckage. The driver of the rig he was a passenger in, LeRoy Wetherbee, 36, also of Fort Worth, succumbed Monday morning in the San Bernardino County General Hospital Burn Ward.

He had burns estimated to cover 90 per cent of his body. Wetherbee was thrown from the cab of the truck and had landed 114 feet south of where his rig had come to rest jacknifed across the two inside eastbound of the freeway. The driver of the other truck, Arnold Gerstein, 36, of Long Beach, and his partner, William Kerner, 43, of West Moreland, Peoria, 111., who was asleep THIS FRIDAY in the sleeper compartment at the time of the collision, escaped uninjured. CHP officer Jerry Slover, public affairs spokesman for the Banning CHP office, said reports indicated Gerstein was eastbound onl-10 when the brakes on his trailer, which was a refrigerator unit loaded with cabbage, locked for some undetermined reason. Gerstein pulled off on the shoulder and was stopped.

Time was approximately 12:30 a.m. Wetherbee was hauling a load of nursery plants, possibly at excessive speed, and his rig was weaving as a result, Slover indicated. The truck swerved onto the shoulder and struck the left rearend of Gerstein's trailer, ripping off the trailer's fuel tank and shoving the parked rig 51 feet from point of impact. Wetherbee's rig then jacknifed across the two freeway lanes and somehow the spilled diesel fuel from both rigs ignited. Both trucks were believed to be carrying nearly full tanks as they had left from Los Angeles going cross country.

Gerstein and Kerner jumped free of their blazing rig, a 1976 Mack tractor with trailer. Wetherbee was thrown from his 1976 White Freightliner and Lewis could not get. out in time to escape the flames. He was beyond recognition. North Palm Springs County Fire Department was the first fire unit to arrive on the scene and quickly called for more help.

Desert Hot Springs responded along with Cathedral City, Cabazon and Beaumont county fire units. Palm Springs Fire Department also dispatched a unit. There were seven fire trucks and squad trucks from North Palm Springs, Cathedral City and City of Palm Springs. Flames took nearly an hour to cpntrol direction of Battalion Chief Manuel Limon and Capt. Jim Johnson, county fire prevention officer.

Water was a major problem. Also, many of the truck parts were msHe of On Page ROLLER VAN--A van driven by John Robert Wilson, 36, of 14200 N. Indian Avenue, North Palm Springs, was pulling a small trailer southbound on Little Morongo Road when it apparently pulled in front of a pickup truck driven on Dillon Road by Erwin Earl Ladd, 58, of 14421 Mountainview Road, Desert Hot Springs, at 5:05 p.m. Saturday. May 14.

In the ensuing collision the van rolled over into a field ejecting the driver and injuring Quint, 12, Kenneth, 14, and Eddie Dow. 16. Also hurt was Mrs. Margaret Ladd, a in her husband's vehicle. All were taken to Desert Hospital by ambulance for treatment of minor injuries.

North Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs fire departments responded. Officer John Graham responded for the California Highway Patrol. Further investigation is pending. (Desert Sentinel photo by Doug Huff) district applied last fall for an EDA grant from the original $2 billion EDA allocation but was turned down. Tinkham said the district was not sure if the same guidelines as before would be applied to determine who grant recipients would be.

The board wants to postpone the decision on the sewer project as long as it can in hopes of obtaining the additional a Once the iContinued On Pftge A-51 Husband Held For Homicide A domestic a Saturday evening, May 14, ended in the death of a 36 year old Desert Hot Springs resident and the arrest of her husband on suspicion of murder, Riverside County Sheriffs deputies report. Paramedics and personnel from Ihe Desert Hot Springs County Fire Department were unable to save the victim, identified as Tonl Bloemhof. "She was pronounced'dead at-the scene from a gunshot wound to the head. Her husband, George Bloemhof, 47; has been booked into county jail at Indio. He has been arraigned and will shortly face a preliminary hearing on the charge.

He was arrested without resistance, Sgt. Frank Andrews reported. Palm Springs police received a call from Bloemhof about 8:40 p.m. Saturday. He told them he was calling "to advise that he killed his wife," according to Andrews.

Bloemhof was still talking to police when deputies arrived. Mrs. Bloemhof was found lying on the kitchen floor of the couple's home at 66093 San Juan Road. No other details about the shooting were available, Andrews indicated. This is the second murder within six weeks to occur within the city limits of Desert Hot Springs and the third since the city was incorporated in the mid- sixties.

VIPS Plan To Attend Senior Citizens' Day DHS COMPOSER 1 Song For President's Daughter The third annual Desert Hot Springs Senior Citizens' Day is not only going to feature some very important people to the community of Desert Hot Springs--its senior citizens--but also many top city, county and state officials, it has been announced. The event is Friday, May 20, beginning at 11:30 a.m. at Wardman Park Community Center, Eighth and Cactus streets. Everything is free, including the noon luncheon of sandwiches, fresh fruit salad, coffee, tea or punch--if you are a senior citizen. The activities conclude about 2:30 p.m.

The featured guest will be Dr. Wayne Neal, commissioner on the California State Commission on Aging. He will be joined on the podium Hubbard, director of the Riverside County Office on Aging and his assistant, Esquibel, informa- tkm and referral officer for the county department 4 Supervisor Clayton R. Record Jn weather, William and tfce Thure. city council: Carl May, Cole Eyraud, Wolf and Julius Corsini.

Seniors will be entertained by The country-western band, and pianist-singer Michelle Nichole. Randy Anstine, director of the Desert Hot Springs Department of Senior Citizens Affairs, andBernadine Thure, member, the city's senior citizen advisory commission, will share honors as masters of ceremonies. The senior citizen of the year in Desert Hot Springs, will be named and honored for his or her contributions to the city. This annual event is sponsored by the department of senior affairs and its advisory commission composed of Martin Semel, chairman; Agnes Rittmanlc. Mary Higgina, Fred Fickaa and Leo Schoppraeyer.

The commission has had a committee working, on the event for many weeks: Randy Anstine, chairman, Carl May, Mary Gibson, Geneva Moore, Don Fair- Nellie CoscareUi and Mrs. "When all the pages of my life have been written upon, and the main events have been lost or The words are from by Desert Hot Springs pianist-composer Jorge Darden. dedicated to the young daughter of President Carter, and a companion piece dedicated to Amy's parents, have been sent complete with score and tapes to the White House, and Darden is the proud possessor of two warm notes of thanks from the First Family, one of them from the President himself. Darden and his wife, Donna, are two more of the many artists and musicians who have deserted the hectic pace of living for a desert life-style. -Two yean ago they purchased a home on acreage southeast of Desert Hot Springs, and Darden is now busy establishing a music publishing company called Four-D Music.

An ASCAP member (American Society of Composers and Publishers), Darden has an impressive musical arts background. A graduate of Los Angeles Conservatory of Musk and California Arts Institute, he has been a professional musician since the age of 16, working with such as. Eugene Church, Roy Milton, Bobby (Roekin- Robin) Day, Lowell Fobom Bhm Band. In Europe he was co-leader and arranger with Hans Joachim Von Fenna, West German Jaxz Poll winner in 1962. He studied privately with Oscar Rasbach, the ASCAP composer who wrote the music for Joyce Kilmer's Bill Fritz, arranger with the Stan Kenton Neo-Phonic Orchestra; and with Harry Richman, well-known ASCAP composer-producer and director of many movie and Broadway musicals.

Darden is not a newcomer to the music producing business, having previously founded Doorway, Ladonia and Middle Door Recording companies. As a pianist he has performed in many of the top spots in Pandora's Box, the Biltmore Bowl, San Marino Huntington Hotel, LaMer in Malibu; Pasadena's Mephisto and many others--as well as a nationwide tour for Ramada Inns, other engagements in the U.S. and abroad. The versatile Darden is also an accomplished and sensitive lyricist and some of his works include "Please Don't Stop the "Alone "She Moves "In Another World" and a haunting piano study "Night Flower" which he composed for a personal signature. His music has aired locally over KCMJ and KREO.

He was co-producer with deejay Greg Monica of a Peace commercial airing currently. He has also written children's music and studies for string quartet The Darden publishing catalogue is registered with ASCAP, Lincoln Center, New York, N.Y. JORGE DARDEN.