Bennington Banner from Bennington, Vermont • 1

Vol. 87, No. 210 Bennington, Vermont Thursday, September 6, 1990 22 Pages 35 Cents WEATHER Saddam calls for holy war Today: sunny, warm High: 80 Tonight: cloudy and mild Low: 60 -iefad Adam Frantz Grade 3 Sacred Heart Elementary School up Westerners in Kuwait since Iraq invaded and seized the small oil state on Aug. 2. Embassies in Kuwait have been ordered closed and diplomats transferred to Baghdad.

Western women and children detained in Kuwait and Iraq trickled Complete Weather, Page 2 Oil shortage expected to hit at same time as cold weather. Page 16 JOCELYN NOVECK THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Iraqi President Saddam Hussein yesterday urged Arabs to rise up in a holy war against the West and former allies who turned against him, and said world trade sanctions are imperiling the lives of Iraqi children. An American citizen, meanwhile, was reported shot in Iraqi-occupied Kuwait but details were sketchy. The State Department said last night in Washington that it received a report an Iraqi soldier fired on an American who was trying to avoid capture, adding, We have no information on how serious his injuries might be. Iraqi troops have been rounding out in small groups yesterday, leaving behind hundreds who lack permission to depart.

Iraq, criticized for blocking releases with red tape, said it was doing everything it could to expedite departures. See GULF Page 12 AP An Iraqi television reporter reads a statement by President Saddam Huteeln, Inset, In this photo taken from French television yesterday. BENNINGTON p.2 Selectors consented Tuesday to the purchase of Chapel Road land by the U.S. Forest Service; however, the owner says the land is not for sale. BENNINGTON p.2 The Governors Commission on Women will hold a meeting tonight to hear concerns facing women in the area.

The meeting is one of a series of meetings being held in different regions of Vermont. NORTHSHIRE P.3 Three Northshire Republican House hopefuls are vying for two party slots on the Sept. 1 1 primary ballot. Two other Reo-ublican candidates are vying for another House seat from Pawlet and Rupert. Judge had earlier doubts about ruling in BSD suit tor to the accumulation of the deficit, for which other defendants, through their misconduct, were also responsible, BSD counsel Donald Goodrich wrote last week about the banks involvement in the suit.

The banks attorneys, in a motion filed March 26, sought to have the bank removed from the suit, saying that the bank had no actual knowledge of improper use of loans and was therefore not liable. When the lawsuit was first launched five years ago, Meaker said he disclosed to attorneys the extent of his holdings in First Vermont Bank. At that time, he asked for attorneys to object in writing to his continuing to hear the case. None did, he said. But Meaker himself decided he could not rule on the banks request to be dismissed from the case, he said in a telephone interview from his office in Franklin County Superior Court.

Nothing happened that involved First Vermont until we had a hearing" in March, Meaker said, when the bank asked to be dismissed from the case. At that time I began to have further thoughts on it and decided that it wouldnt appear right. Meaker would not describe the amount of his stock holdings in the bank because he has asked attorneys to respond to his decision to remove himself. Attorneys must file responses by tomorrow. Meaker said any comments he makes now about the situation could prejudice their reactions even though he disclosed that information before.

Id be on thin ice if I said anything. Under the ethics code for judges, a judge should disqualify himself if his impartiality See BSD Page 12 The district is seeking to recoup a $2 million deficit that board members revealed at a press conferences in 1984. The suit names two dozen defendants, including First Vermont Bank. The lawsuit and a fraud audit has already cost the district more than $700,000. The lawsuit is scheduled for trial in Bennington Superior Court in November.

The BSD claims that First Vermont Bank failed to comply with a section of the Vermont state statutes and allowed the deficit to accrue in the years between 1979 and 1984. The statutes require banks holding loans for municipal corporations to send written notice to the chairman of the board of auditors stating the amount of such orders or other evidences of indebtedness, according to the statutes. The failure of First Vermont Bank to comply with the affirmative duty created by the statute was a substantial contributing fac ROBIN SMITH BANNER STAFF WRITER BENNINGTON Superior Court Judge John P. Meaker said yesterday it wouldnt appear right if he ruled on whether First Vermont Bank should be dismissed as a defendant in the Bennington School District lawsuit against former school officials. The judge owns stock in Bank North Group, which owns First Vermont Bank.

On Aug. 25, Meaker made the decision to remove himself from one part of the 5-year-old lawsuit and possibly order a separate trial on the suit against First Vermont Bank. He cited the Vermont code of ethics for judges in making his decision. Last week, in response, the school districts attorney called for a new triar judge for the entire trial rather than see two separate trials occur creating added expense, delay and duplication in the complex and costly case. IN THE NEWS TODAY HOSPICE HELP p.12 Hospice of Ben mngton Area wants Medicare certification, according to Director Ann Bachand, so that it can offer more services to the terminally ill and their families.

Columbia launch scrubbed because of leak DAY 2,000 p.6 Terry Anderson marked another grim milestone yesterday his day as a hostage. The 42-year-old American journalist is the longest-held of the six Americans, four Britons, two West Germans and one Italian who are captives in Lebanon. Most are held by pro-Iranian Shiite Moslem militants. DEMANDS p.7 North Korea demanded Wednesday that South Korea release jailed dissidents and stop joint military exercises with the United States as a step toward easing tensions between the rival nations. During the historic meeting between the prime ministers of North and South Korea, the North also demanded that South Korea stop efforts to enter the United Nations separately saying that to do so would perpetuate national division TAX COLLECTOR p.12 Vermont ranks 17th in the nation in the percentage of residents' income collected by state government in taxes and fees, according to a tax-study group Police see pattern in fire, bomb MATT KELLY BANNER STAFF WRITER BENNINGTON An early Tuesday morning arson attempt at the Grand Szechuan restaurant on Northside Drive is apparently linked to a fire that destroyed the restaurant last fall.

I think its the same people, because there is a pattern developing, said Sgt. Thomas Truex, the state police arson investigator. On the surface, it looks like a revenge motive. Certainly it has the earmarks of competition, but all I can say is that its under investigation and we have some suspects. The Northside Drive restaurant, owned by Jimmy Chang, was burned twice last year.

The first fire, on June 14, was an accident according to police, but the second fire, on Sept. 10, was declared an arson by police. The arson attempt this week came just six days short of a year to the day from last Septembers blaze which gutted the building. I have no enemies in this town, Chang said yesterday. Im the new See ARSON Page 12 MARCIA DUNN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

NASA scrubbed the launch of space shuttle Columbia for the third time after discovering a leak as liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen were being poured into the fuel tank yesterday. The decision was made after 10 times the normal amount of hydrogen was found in the shuttles aft compartment, said shuttle director Robert Crippen. The launch crew immediately began trying to trace the leak. No new launch date was set. NASA canceled the first launch attempt in May after sensors detected an unusual buildup of liquid hydrogen during fueling in the aft compartment and around a valve in plumbing between the orbiter and external tank.

The second scrub was last week because mission control had trouble communicating with one of the four telescopes in Columbias cargo bay. I think we got fooled by the fact we had two leaks, Crippen said. "I think this leak has been there all along. Crippen said there was no leak See SHUTTLE Page 12 AP Members of the NASA Launch Control team watch their monitors yesterday at Kennedy Space Center as Space Shuttle Columbia continue fueling. SPORTS FINAL HAYNES' 100TH WIN p.8 Acid rain no environmental crisis, study concludes The report also acknowledged that acid rain is affecting visibility across much of the East; causes damage to some forests, particularly red spruce at higher elevations; reduces soil nutrients; kills some aquatic life; erodes buildings and statutes, and poses health problems to some humans exposed to acidic aerosols.

James Mahoney, director of NAPA, outlined the draft report to a final meeting of the group and said its findings have "reduced the scientific uncertainties about acid rain. "Acid rain is correctly viewed as a longterm problem which should be resolved by permanent measures, he concluded, summarizing the findings. Mahoney said that while the study supports many of the scientific views expressed over the years on acid rain it also rejected other, more extreme views such as those that consider it a flat-out crisis or those who would say theres no problem at all. NAPAP was established by Congress in 1980 to improve the understanding of acid rain. During its decade of work it spent $537 million.

The report stopped short of endorsing specific control requirements, including the 10-million-ton cut in sulfur dioxide emissions required by legislation nearing approval in Congress. The study said, however, that if annual sulfur dioxide emissions were cut by 10 million tons the damaging trends would be reversed. Such emission controls would lead to the chemical recovery of lakes in the Adirondacks, where the acid rain problem is said to be most severe, and protect lakes in the higher elevations of the mid-Atlantic states. It also would reduce other damages caused by acid rain and improve visibility. But the pollution controls would not be cheap, with the expense increasing sharply as steeper emission reductions are put in place.

An 8-million-ton reduction in sfflfur dioxide emissions would cost $1.7 billion to $2.7 billion a year, while cuts of 10 million tons would cost as much as $4 billion a year, the study estimated. The most severe pollution control requirements would have to be imposed on electric utilities, especially those burning high-sulfur coal in the Midwest, for the results to be effective, the study said. The National Coal Association issued a statement urging that Congress ease its acid rain pollution controls in light of the NAPAP study. The report provides strong evidence that there is time to implement more cost-effective ways in which to mitigate the limited environmental impacts of acid rain, said Richard Lawson, the associations president. But Eileen Claussen, a senior director involved with air pollution issues at the EPA, said the NAPAP report clearly establishes the link between (sulfur) emissions and environmental damage.

H. JOSEF HEBERT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON A $537 million, de-cade-long study ordered by Congress concluded today that acid rain should be viewed as a long-term problem requiring pollution controls but is not the environmental crisis some scientists have suggested. The report by the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program was embraced both by those who support steep cuts in sulfur dioxide emissions and by critics of such cuts. The critics have long claimed that severe pollution controls, costing as much as $5 billion a year, are an overreaction to the acid rain problem. In its final draft report, the scientific group, known as NAPAP, reiterated that pollution-control measures are needed to return hundreds of lakes and streams especially in the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic states to healthy conditions.

The Mount Anthony boys' soccer team opened the season with a 6-0 victory over Mill River for head coach Rick Haynes' 100th career victory as a varsity soccer coach. INDEX.