Spokane Chronicle from Spokane, Washington • 3

MONDAY Panel urges more study of N- i i i By Karen Dorn Steele Stall writer The federal government should not decide to leave lethal high-level radioactive wastes in leaky singleshell tanks and buried plutonium in Hanfords soils until theres more research on the consequences, a regional citizens group has concluded. The Northwest Citizens Forum on Defense Wastes will make that recommendation and several others to the U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday at its final meeting in Seattle. A copy of the draft recommendations was obtained by The Spokesman-Review and Spokane al practices which are the result of further research and testing. In strong language, the draft report raps the Energy Department for canceling the search for a second high-level nuclear waste repository in the East because of its effect on the defense waste cleanup problem.

DOEs decision to delay siting a second repository is inconsistent with the risk-sharing policy of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the report says. President Reagan decided this year that defense wastes may be placed in the commercial reposito- Please see WASTES: A5 Chronicle. Of particular importance is testing of techniques for preventing surface water from reaching wastes and examining alternative removal techniques, the report says. The defense wastes about 60 percent of all the radioactive garbage generated in the United States for nuclear bombs are a legacy of 43 years of weapons production. The citizens panel was appointed by Energy Department operations manager Michael Lawrence to study a draft environmental impact statement released in April and make recommendations before Aug.

9, the end of a 120-day com ment period. The citizens committee also is recommending that Congress fund defense waste cleanup on a pay as you go basis out of annual appropriations for weapons production. Funding for disposal actions and for research and testing recommended by the Forum should be included in FY (fiscal year) 87 appropriations legislation, the report recommends. Among the forums other findings: The Energy Department should vitrify high-level wastes stored in newer double-shell tanks and ultimately place them in a geological repository along with stron tium and cesium capsules. Plutonium-contaminated wastes generated after 1970 should be sent to the Waste Isolation Pilot Project facility in New Mexico.

The Energy Department should be required to develop a compliance schedule with the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Washington state to clean up non-radioactive chemical wastes. Informal self-regulation by the Energy Department is not adequate, the report says. The department should continue to develop an open public process and commit itself to developing a supplemental environmental impact statement on proposed dispos COEUR dALENE Rathdrum residents held by gunman Two Rathdrum residents were held at gunpoint late Sunday by a man who threw one of them, his ex-girlfriend, over his shoulder and took her away, officials said. Spokane County sheriffs deputies arrested Richard F. Homan, 42, E18920 Marlin, at his home after reportedly finding Judith Woempner inside.

Homan was held at Spokane County-City Jail on a charge of first-degree kidnapping in lieu of $50,000 bail. Kootenai County sheriffs officials said they would seek warrants charging him with aggravated assault and kidnapping. Spokane authorities returned Woempner, 37, to the state line, where she was met by a Kootenai County deputy who drove her to her Rathdrum mobile home. Woempner and Ronald W. Ta-cheny, who was visiting her, were confronted at gunpoint at the Panhandle Mobile Estates home at 2145 N.

Vicki Drive about 11:30 p.m., Kootenai County sheriffs deputies said. Tache-ny is Woempners current boyfriend, officials said. Homan threw Woempner over his shoulder and carried her to his pickup truck, Spokane inves-- tigators said. Deputies arrested him about 5 a.m. i i Ballot bingo Staff photo by Steve Thompson ballot.

A bingo machine was Tom Wilburn, Spokane County elections supervisor, holds up a bingo ball as names are positioned for the primary borrowed from Big Brothers to decide the order of candidates for each race. Washington residents divided on abortion funding Deaf i education Stiff fee increase forces districts "out of program By Erik P. Smith Staff writer Lori and John Straitiff, residents of Central Valley School District, plan to move to Oregon in late August because their son wont be in a Spokane deaf-education program this fall. This move is definitely the hardest thing Ive had to do in my life, Lori Straitiff said. Im just uprooting everything Ive established here.

But she says it is the only way to assure 8-year-old Gabe a good education. Changes this year in the Spokane School District 81 deaf-education program are an emotional issue for parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. i Parents in the area once could be assured of having their children attend the program, but for most the option no longer is available. Outlying school districts are withdrawing students because Spokane will increase its fees more than 700 percent this fall. Seven districts Central Valley, Cheney, Deer Park, Harrington, Medical Lake, Mead and West Valley sent 20 students to District 81s hearing-impaired program last year.

Only four to six are expected to return. The districts are developing their own deaf-education plans. The Spokane situation runs counter to developments elsewhere in the state. Regional programs have been established in Wenatchee, Ephrata, Yakima and the Tri-Cities. Seattle and other districts in the Puget Sound area are moving toward centralization.

The Spokane move also is counter to current thought among many educators of the deaf. A report issued July 25 by the Governors Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, for example, says parents and school districts frequently do not have the expertise to plan adequate programs for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth. This may result in the hiring of support personnel (e.g., a classroom aideinterpreter) with inadequate skills in an attempt to provide a mainstreamed program, or an inappropriate placement (e.g., in a resource room with children with other special needs, taught by a teacher with no background or skills in deaf education). District 81 officials say the higher rates that will be charged reflect the actual cost of the program, and add that Spokane taxpayers should not have to subsidize programs for out-of-district students. To charge other districts less than their share of the costs is not terribly honest to the general public, said Spokane special education director Rob Knox.

Knox and Special Services Director Ed Gaffney said that the more services that can be provided by local districts, the better. They cite hour-and-a-half bus rides, and the sense of isolation children can feel, knowing no one living nearby. If they can possibly go to their neighborhood schools, that's the way it should go, Gaffney said. Please see SPOKANE Burglary sparks marijuana bust A Spokane couple were accused Sunday of growing marijuana in their basement after a neighbor spotted burglars carrying away some of the crop. Police said Terry Lee Horn, 37, and Jennifer D.

Horn, 35, E928 Joseph, were arrested as they returned to their home around 3 p.m. Police had been called by a neighbor who saw two people taking potted plants from the house and putting them in a van. The neighbor said the two left when they spotted her, but she waited 45 minutes before calling' police. They found a potted mar-, ijuana plant left in front of the house by the burglars. The license number and van description indicated the vehicle was stolen.

Officers said they obtained a search warrant and found 30 plants in the basement of the home. The Horns were arrested on charges of manufacturing a controlled substance. SPOKANE- Teen-ager reports assault and rape A 15-year-old Spokane girl reported she was assaulted and raped early Sunday by a motorcyclist, sheriffs Lt. John Goldman said. The victim was partying with a carload of frienas in a remote area north of the city that she described as sand dunes.

A motorcyclist wearing a full-face gray helmet, black leather jacket and blue jeans and riding a large, dark motorcyle rode up and joined the group. Around 3 a.m., the victim asked the cyclist for a ride to a friends house, and he agreed. They rode about a mile before the cyclist stopped and pulled her from the motorcycle. She reported she ran through a field, but was stopped by a fence and the cyclist caught and struck her, knocking her unconscious. She awoke after daylight with cuts and bruises, and examination at a hospital confirmed that sex had taken place.

The motorcyclist never removed his helmet, so the girl could describe him only by his height, which she estimated at 5-foot-10 to 6 feet. abortion should- remain legal as it is, while 35 percent said it should be allowed only to save the mothers life or in cases of incest or rape. Some 8 percent said it should not be allowed at all, while the rest were undecided. Seattle teacher Glenda Madison said she believes public assistance money should continue to be used to pay for abortions and she favors existing abortion laws. In all, 409 voters were queried in the copyright Seattle Times Washington Poll.

The poll was conducted from last Sunday to Tuesday by El-way Research Inc. and has a margin of error of 6 percent. The new results indicate public sentiment may not have changed much since 1984, when voters, by 53 percent to 47 percent, opted to continue state abortion funding for poor women. In the Times poll, 52 percent said ative 479, filed last month, calls for an end to state-funded abortions. But it may take another week to determine whether the measure has the required 151,133 valid signatures.

Its really running too close for us to say right now, said John Pearson, assistant state elections supervisor. In addition, a legal challenge by the initiatives opponents could leave its fate in doubt for a month or more. Associated Press SEATTLE Washington resi- -dents are divided over whether the state should continue funding abortions for poor women, with 48 percent favoring the practice and 39 percent saying it should end, a new poll shows. Another 13 percent of those polled were undecided. State officials still dont know whether an anti-abortion initiative will qualify for the fall ballot.

Initi Avalanche buries two on Mount Baker By Marilynn Wheeler Associated Press BELLINGHAM The search for two climbers buried in an avalanche on Mount Baker over the weekend was called off for the day at mid-morning as the intense sun increased the danger to rescue workers. Whatcom County Emergency Services Coordinator Jan Leonardo said 13 rescue workers, three avalanche rescue dogs and two reporters were being airlifted by helicopter from a 300-foot square area on the mountains Roman Wall beginning at 10:30 a.m. Leonardo said a decision to continue the search would be made late this afternoon. Were going to have to wait until the team leaders come down, evaluate the weather and see what the dog people have to say about how thoroughly the areas been covered. Theres a lot that has to be taken into consideration, she said.

One of them is that its incredibly dangerous now to searchers on the mountain. Rescue efforts began today at about daybreak and were aided by low clouds over the mountain, Ms. Leonardo said. Dave Jenkins, acting director of Whatcom County Emergency Services, said earlier it was difficult to predict what searchers would find, but he did not rule out the possibility that the two climbers could be found alive more than 24 hours after the avalanche occurred. The search area includes everything from sopping wet snow to huge ice blocks three to 30 feet deep, Including a crevasse, Jenkins said.

Rescue teams left Bellingham, about 60 miles west Please see AVALANCHE: A4 KAYU-TV signs up with Fox network KAYU-TV of Spokane is among the Independent stations that have signed affiliation agreements with the new Fox Broadcasting Co. It reached the agreement two weeks ago, said Bob Hamacher, KAYU president and general manager. Hamacher said today he is optimistic about the fledgling companys future. I think Fox certainly has the money and the expertise behind lt, he said, adding that believes the company will offer good alternatives to established network offerings. The most important factor in the future of television broadcasting is programming, Hamacher said, and they are a programming outlet that, I think, gives us and the viewer in Spokane the type of program that were going to need not only now but in the 1990s.

He described The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, which Fox will offer, as "excellent counterprogramming to the late-night news of the other network affiliates. Reflecting on the possibilities for additional programming once Fox has established itself, Hamacher gurt Petellin talks with reporters after he was rescued said, We just need to take it step Sunday from an avalanche on Mount Baker, by step." CITY HALL Citys garbage project debate leads to lots of posturing SPOKANE Man wounded in confrontation A Spokane man suffered a gunshot wound to the thigh In a confrontation with two other men early Sunday, police said. All three will face charges, in- vestlgators said. The victim, Todd A. Ingram, I 25, N4620 Howard, was released this morning from Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Police said he is under investigation for simple flflCQIlH Dean M. Allen, 27, W803 Montgomery, was booked into County-City Jail on a charge of second-degree assault for al- 1 legedly shooting Ingram with a i pistol. James P. Talarico, 23, El 1011 16th, was charged with simple assault and released on his own recognizance. Police responded to a report of a man with a gun at Garland I and Division about 2:30 a.m.' Sunday.

Ingram and Talarico al-l legedly were threatening Allen by advancing on him and picking up a rock. Allen fired a warning shot into the ground, but the other two kept coming and he then shot one attacker in the thigh, police said. Allen told police he had done nothing to provoke the other two. The design envelopes are to be opened and ranked before the price tags are read. The city and county will keep the second and third choice builders on the line while they try to negotiate the price with No.

1. Then theres the refrain from some people connected with the project, who complain that Hansons alternative is coming In at the 11th hour. Where was he, they ask, when we were studying trash during the past few years? That complaint would carry more weight if the Technical Advisory Committee the group that reviewed the various technical aspects of the ways to get rid of Spokane's trash hadn't met behind closed doors for part of its existence. There's no Indication, of course, that Hanson employees ever tried to sit in on those committee meetings. But if they had, they might have received the same project ought to be bid the American way.

Certainly Hanson does not mean the American way of bidding that gets the military $600 toilet seats and $437 hammers. But project officials are quick to point out that tneyre Interested in tne Washington way" of finding a builder for project. Under the rules established by a 1986 state law, there isn't even what most people consider a bid. The system lets anyone who thinks he's qualified to build the project, explain how much money he's got and how many other trash facilities he's built. Companies that are deemed qualified are told to submit detailed proposals with two envelopes one that says how they'd build the project, and the other that says how much they'd charge.

reception a newspaper reporter got: Get out. The committee excluded non-members to keep the discussion free-flowing, they said until their bosses at City Hall and the county Courthouse told them to open things up. If you thought you saw City Councilman Rob Higgins pushing a clunker down Spokane Falls Boulevard in front of City Hall last Wednesday, you were right. But in fairness to Higgins, lt should be pointed out the clunker was mine, not his. Higgins happened upon the temporary city hall reporter and nis stalled car ana was kind enough to helppush It into a nearby lot.

He gets the Good Samaritan award for helping a stranded motorist even though it made him late to a business meeting with an attorney. Please see CAMDEN: A4 i i l' There Bccms to be more than enough posturing to go around on the waste-to-energy project these days. Maybe it's the summer weather, maybe its the fact that there's $120 million out there to spend. 1 But folks cant seem to avoid talkin' trash when theyre talking about what to do with Spokane's trash. Theres Raymond Hanson, a successful industrialist who looks a little like actor Jimmy Stewart, and even sounds a bit like a iatter-day Mr.

Smith Goes to Washington character when he says the From Huff report! 41.