Lancaster New Era from Lancaster, Pennsylvania • 1

Lancaster New era 109th Year No. 34,459 METROPOLITAN EDITION LANCASTER, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 2, 1987 Price 300 Daily Home Delivered $1 .65 A Week President Pleads for Sustaining Of Veto WASHINGTON (AP) President Reagan made an extraordinary personal appeal to Republican senators today to sustain his veto of an $88 billion highway bill and spare him from defeat in -a showdown with the Democratic majorities of Congress. With aides and GOP Senate allies unable to find the votes needed to sustain the veto, Reagans journey from the White House to the Capitol represented a decision to place his political prestige clearly on the line. I advised the president I wasnt sure it would said Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole of Kansas. The Senate voted 65-35 to override the veto Wednesday, one short of two thirds needed.

But freshman Sen. Terry Sanford of North Carolina the lone Democrat not voting to the override and thus to support Reagan announced he was prepared to switch his vote. Sanfords announcement set off a scramble by administration officials and Senate GOP leaders to find an offsetting Republican vote. Their targets included 13 Republicans who voted to override the veto on the first roll call. The House, with a large Democratic majority, voted 350-73 on Tuesday to override the veto.

It takes a two-thirds vote by both houses to override a veto. Reagan has been overriden on vetoes previously most recently on a clean water measure that Congress enacted into law over his objections earlier in the year. The White House decided to turn the highway bill veto into a test of Reagans political standing after months of controversy caused by the Iran-Contra affair. Reagans decision to address Republicans was an indication of the political importance of the vote. In a concession that Democrats have rounded up the 67 votes needed to join the House in overriding the veto, Dole said he could see no ray of hope out there for finding the vote Republicans need save the president Se PRESIDENT Pag 6 New Ere Photo by Gree teaman Firemen prepare for action while heavy roller skating rink building in the background.

The five-alarm blaze broke out about 5 a.m. smoke rises from the former Rocky Springs Park The structure burned to the ground early today. 5-Alarm Blaze Destroys Pretzel Bakery Housed There Soaring Fire Levels Rocky Springs Kink By JOHN M. HOOBER III New Era Staff Writer Flames enveloped the building on Millport Road within minutes and leaped 35 feet into the air. The fire did not spread to any other buildings or reach the wooaen roller coaster in the abandoned Rocky Springs Amusement Park.

The roller coaster is about 100 feet from the burned building. Sixteen fire companies sent men and equipment to the park, located in West Lampeter Township, just south of the city. Officials declared the fire under con- The former Park ballroom and roller skating rink a local landmark for dec- ades burned to the ground about 5 a.m. today in a roaring, five-alarm fire. Total damage to the building, which was converted into a pretzel bakery last year, was esti-; mated at $500,000.

A state police fire marshal is investigating the cause. Mother, Baby Seriously Burned In House Fire Near Manheim Calls Plant Safe trol at 6:42 a.m. There were no injuries. General Nutrition Pretzel (GNP) bakery is looking at a $200,000 loss for the buildings contents. The building, which was converted from a big band ballroom into a roller skating rink in 1948, is valued at about $300,000, fire officials said.

Building owner Mary Corthouts and Frank McSofley, the 32-year-old manager of GNP bakery, watched as Detween 75 and 100 firemen poured thousands of gallons of water into the concrete block building. 1 Thousands of Lancastrians grew up skating in this roller rink, said Ms. Corthouts. Built in 1924, the building was first a ballroom that featured big bands and headline performers. Patty Page, Nat King Cole and Eddie Arnold all performed at Rocky Springs, Ms.

Corthouts said. McSorley said two employees were in the pretzel bakery when the fire started in an empty room near the kitchen. "The employees said they smelled smoke and the fire erupted, said McSorley, who lives at Bridgeport. GNP makes specialty pretzels using no added salt, whole-wheat dough and a sesame HUGE FIRE Pag 2 Nw Era Photo by Marty Heitoy By JANET KELLEY New Era Staff Writer Frank McSorley, left, manager of the GNP pretzel bakery, talks to Mary Corthouts, owner of the former Rocky Springs roller skating rink building, at the scene of the fire today. ITHIS1WEEKEND The cause of the fire, which extensively damaged the modular home on Elizabethtown Road at Manheim R4, is still under investigation.

Deb Stewart, who lives next to the Griffiths on Elizabethtown Road, said she was startled by the sound of her doorbell ringing shortly after 7 a m. I knew something was wrong and threw on my bathrobe. They were standing by the back Set MOTHER Pag 4 A mother rescued her baby from his burning bedroom this morning as fire swept through a I Manheim area home. Theresa Griffith, 25, and her 1 10-month-old son, Jordon, sustained burns of the hands and face and were taken to Lancaster Gen-; eral Hospital. They were admit-; ted in serious condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Mrs. Griffith's husband, Craig, and their two older sons, Jared, 4. and Joshua. 3, escaped without injury. Broadway comes to the Lancaster area this weekend, with one hit playing at a new dinner theater and another in Hershey.

The Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, near the Quality Inn on Centerville Road, opens its first season on Friday with A Chorus Line," the long-running Broadway musical. And a professional touring company is bringing the second hugely successful show, Dreamgirls, to ilershey Theatre. Even Bruce Willis, that crazy guy from television's Moonlighting, cant make Blind Date fun, says movie critic Roger Ebert. Do you know what yu hsiang scallops are? How about sai woo duck? Read about Hong Kong Garden and find out all about Chinese food. For these stories and others, turn to This Weekend, pages 25-32.

I uraEEftamyftREcQe See Expansion into Security Products RCA Buyers Hopeful New Firm Someday Will Use Entire Plant RCA workort road to tho nowt about tho division talo and plcturo tubo doling. Soo Pago 39. PE Defends Control Room Operators By ERNEST SCHREIBER Nw Era Staff Writar The Philadelphia Electric Co. has not lost confidence in the ability of its control room operators to run the Peach Bottom nuclear plant safely, a company spokesman said today. One day after federal officials shut down the plant charging management had failed to discover sleeping plant operators the company this morning defended the overall safety of its plant on the county border, 20 miles south of Lancaster.

Sleeping should not be tolerated on tne job," said Pat Webster, a public affairs spokesman. However, that does not say that they (the control room operators) have been operating an unsafe plant." While the charges are serious and will be investigated thoroughly, she said, the company has "no reason to doubt the confidence of the operators to operate the plant in a. safe manner." The company stopped nuclear power production at the plant early Wednesday on orders from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NRC operations director Victor Slcllo said the unprecedented order was issued because investigators had found a "pervasive Eattern of operators sleeping or eing inattentive" on the job. Their conduct, he said, posed "an Immediate threat to public health and safety." The NRC investigation is continuing, as is a separate internal investigation by Philadelphia Electric managers.

Details or the investigations will not be made public until they arc completed. Philadelphia Electric "is not ruling out" the validity of the NRC charges, "but doesnt know the extent" of sleeping on the job, Ms. Webster said She suggested that the notion that the Peach Bottom plant was operating ithout any alert operators was highly unlikely. In that central control room, she said, a number of signal panels continually are ringing bells to I PI Pog 4 Columbia's Sutton Provident Store Loses Final Game To Leave Downtown Provident Bookstore will move its downtown store to the Lancaster Shopping Center. For the story, see page 39 of the Business section.

nnan-HH-ih i Cloudy, chance of light rain and light snow tonight, lows in low to mid 30s. Chance of light rain and snow Friday, highs In upper 30s. (Detail on Pag 4) Gary Sutton, Columbia's basketball coach who guided the Tide to a PIAA Doublc-A State title, was the losing coach as his Black team lost to the White 82-68 Wednesday in the Lancaster Lebanon League all-star game. Sutton, who resigned at Gary Sutton By TIM MEKEEL Nw Era Staff Writer Local RCA executives buying the RCA New Products Division, which occupies about half of the company 's New Holland Avenue site, are so optimistic anoul its future that they believe it someday will fill the entire complex. The six executives, headed by division vice president and general manager Erich Burlefinger, reached an agreement Wednesday with RCA owner General Electric Co.

to buy the division. The move saves at least 1 of the division's 1 ,140 jobs. General Electric also announced Wednesday that the RCA picture tube business, which occupies the other half of the plant, will be closed over the next nine months. About 150 of its 729 workers will be offered jobs at plants in Scranton and Indianapolis, Ind. Burlefinger's group is forming a new company, Detek to buv the New Products Division and the entire 89-acre New Holland Avenue site.

In an interview today, the 52 year-old Burlefinger said: The picture tube business will lease its space from Detek. When the picture tube business closes. Detek will seek other tenants for that space. But Detek has no plans to sell any of the complex because it holies to eventually grow large enough to need the entire 1 2 million square feet. Detek will stay in the division's two present businesses power tubes and security products.

But It sees its opMirtunity for growth in security products, The company name, a play on the word detection, reflects that direction. Detek hopes to complete its purchase of the division in a matter of several weeks Burlefinger to disclose the price, saying It has not been finalized. Employees say it is $35 million; Burlcf- RCA Fog 2 Columbia, mav not Ik out of a job for long For the story. for see naee 33 Bridge 30 Snorts 33 36 Business 39,40 Theater 27 30,31 This 49 Weekend. 25-32 14 TV 31 11-13 Want Ads 41-55 21 Washington.

18 Health 30 World News 9 Obituaries 3 Today's Chuckle Ever i ince man ducov-ored fire, tomeone't been making an aih of fhemselvet. Nw Ira br rftn Ptofik Erich Burlfingr I i.