The Spokesman-Review from Spokane, Washington • 19

nryfwv NggjNtj gpnpstqfi li THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1993 PAGE B3-- -nj -m 1 m1 ui' F'nit WSU Black History Month grows Regional Digest FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS I Pullman! BLACK HISTORY MONTH Legislative issues topic for churches If you always wanted to be involved in government, but didnt know how to get started, a meeting Saturday at St. Johns Episcopal may be for you. The Washington Association of Churches and the Washington State Catholic Conference will hold a legislative conference from 8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. Representatives of the two groups will discuss issues facing the state and the Legislature, as well as the churches own legislative agendas.

Workshops will offer discussions of health care reform, taxes and budget issues, welfare reform, childrens issues, housing and rural economic development. The registration fee for the confer- ence is $10, which includes a lunch. For more information, call 624-5156 during morning hours. Events scheduled et WSU during Black History Month include: EXHIBITION, Feb. 1-19, 10 p.m., Compton Union Gallery: "The Evolution ol African Amencan images and Realities," an exhibition of photographs, artifacts and music celebrates African-American culture.

VIDEO-CONFERENCE, Friday, noon, Compton Union Building: "Black Athletes: Winners or Losers In Academia?" A video-conference on issues concerning black athletes in the nation's colleges and high schools, followed by discussion. Moderator: Andre Patterson, WSU Athletic Department. CONCERT, Friday, 8 p.m., CUB Ballroom: Seattle hip-hop artists L.S.R. Silver Shadow and a local rap group, Student Teachers, at 8 p.m. Following the concert, the ballroom will be open for a dance party.

Tickets cost $3 for WSU students, $7 for others, TALENT COMPETITION, Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., Butch's Den: "Night at the Apollo" talent competition, Including song, dance and dramatic Interpretations, DISCUSSION, Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m., CUB Auditorium: James Chapman (author ol the play Our Young Black Men are Dying and Nobody Seems to Care) will discuss Principles ol Empowerment" CONFERENCE, Feb. 20: Black-Male Orientation to Leadership Development Conference. Among the events: Seattle Mayor Norm Rice will discuss "African American Males: An Endangered Species, Fact or Fiction?" at the CUB Cascade Room at noon, bv Invitation only, An oratorical competition, CUB Gridiron Room, p.m. A reception, CUB Cascade Room, 6:40 p.m.

PLAY, Feb. 20, 8 p.m., Bryan Hall Auditorium: "Our Young Black Men are Dying and Nobody Seems to Care," a fictional portrait of the struggles of several black men and how they meet their early demise. The play will be followed by an open discussion about the challengee facing young black men and their families. DINNER, Feb. 24, 4:30 p.m., Wllmer-Davis, Regents, end Rotunda dining balls: The annual all-campus cultural dinner with a variety of African-American soul food.

Served during the normal dining hall hours. For rnore information, call 335-2626. BANQUET, Fab. 2S, 8 p.m., CUB Cascade Room: African-American unity banquet with guest speaker Dr. Mona Lake Jones, a WSU graduate and writer of both adult and chHd-rena literature.

Tickets cost $8.50. For mors Information, call 335-6830. Malcolm will be shown in the CUB auditorium at 7 and 9:30 p.m. At 8 p.m., Seattle Hip Hop artists L.S.R., Silver Shadow and the local rap groyp, Student Teachers, will perform in the CUB Ballroom. A highlight of the month will be an appearance by author James Chapman, who turned a suicide note to his mother into the off-Broadway play Our Young Black Men are Dying and Nobody Seems to Care.

Chapman will appear on Feb. in the CUB Auditorium to speak on the theme Principles of Empowerment. A Feb. 20 performance of the play, fictional portrait of the struggles of several black men and how they meet their early deaths, will be followed by a discussion of the challenges facing young black me(i and their families. Black males will also be the focus of the Black Male Orientation to Leadership Development, or BOLD, conference Feb.

19 and 20 for African-American men attending high school or college in Washington and college students from Idaho and Montana. The Saturday luncheon will feature, Rice speaking on African Americaii Males: An Endangered Species, Fact or Fiction? Other conference activities elude discussions of self-esteem and sex uality, choosing a career, developing leadership skills and helping develop com-' muniites. I By F.ric Sorensen Staff riter Move over Dads Weekend. Here comes Black History Month. After years of seeing traditional Washington State University festivities get a full head of steam, black students at WSU have rallied to make this black history month the campuss biggest yet.

Black history month, especially on the Palouse, is often overlooked, said Liz Peterson, one of 17 students on a task force organized for this months activities. I think its important for us as students to make ourselves visible and show the talent we have available and the leadership abilities. Its time to show people what were all about. Nearly two dozen different activities are planned throughout the month. They include an art show, films and documentaries, a talent show, a leadership conference featuring Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, an off-Broadway play, a dinner, a banquet and a ball.

All are organized around the theme, Knowledge of Self: Keeping the Legacy Alive. You cant educate others about your heritage if you dont know it, said Frankie Harris, task force advisor and resource coordinator for the WSU Womens Resource and Research Center. First we have to have knowledge of ourselves and second we can keep the legacy of our forefathers alive through us. Three different activities are slated for today alone. At noon in the Compton Union Building there will be a video conference on Black Athletes: Winners or Losers in Academia.

The movie Mississippi Burning" and a documcntaiy on Molester gets 4-year term COLFAX, Wash. A 45-year-old Pullman man was sentenced to more than four years in prison late Wednesday for repeatedly sexually molesting a teenage female relative. Leslie A. Georgi was sentenced to 53 months in 1 prison and ordered to pay at least $2,000 in restitution to help pay for the 15-year-old girls therapy, according to Superior Court records. Judge Wallis Friel also forbade Georgi from being with the victim or any girls under the age of 18 and from dating any women with daughters or other female relatives younger than 18 who live with them.

After he is released from prison, he be on community placement for two years. Friel rejected Georgis request, to which Chief Deputy Prosecutor Ron Shirley had agreed, for a special sexual offender sentencing alternative -that would have given Georgi only six months in confinement and then special counseling for a longer period. Georgi pleaded guilty last fall to three counts of first-degree incest for incidents between 1990 and 1992. He was sentenced to 53 months on each count, to be served concurrently. The standard range for the offense is 46 months to 61 months.

Gun case, shells found in Freier car (Pullman Boys held in thefts COLFAX, Wash. Two Colfax boys and a boy are suspected of stealing more than 30 car hood ornaments two months ago, said Colfax Police Chief Barney Buckley. The Colfax boys, ages 11 and 12, and the LaCrosse boy, age 12, face possible third-degree theft charges, Buckley said Thursday. Police recovered 33 hood ornaments, some of which were found by the youths parents. In November and December, police received numerous reports of hood ornament thefts.

Information on the cases was sent to the countys juvenile department this week for possible es. By Margaret aus Staff writer Police found a gun case with an empty revolver holster and a box of cartridges in the car of City Councilman J. William Freier shortly after he and1 his, business partner were shot to death, according to court documents. Pullman police have finished their written report on the mysterious deaths of Freier and his diaper business partner, Robert E. Meyers of Spokane, but Chief Ted Weatherly said the results would not be made public until state homicide experts review it.

Our focus is at this point on a suicide-homicide, Weatherly said. The charred bodies of Freier and Meyers were found. Oct. 20 in the back of Freicrs burning AFA Paint Depot, NE780 College Ave. Meyers died of multiple bullet wounds, while Freier died of a single gunshot wound to the temple.

Police found what appeared to be a damaged revolver near the bodies. Weatherly would not-say what caliber of bullets killed the men, but said there i was no evidence of other weapons. Shortly before the fire was reported, Freier tried to-, contact his attorney and left a message when she wasnt'; in, newly opened search warrant records show. The message was that he would call back, Jean Campbell of Pullman. I dont know why he called Freier called at 2:07 p.m.

The fire was at 2:40 p.m. Campbell continues to sort through Freicrs financial matters, which show massive debts and two lawsuits against the diaper business, Paradise Inc. Police are puzzled by three blanks found" inside the stores warehouse area, Weatherly said. Quite honestly, we're not sure what they mean. They! dont appear to be directly related to the case, he sajd.

At one point authorities thought another person might have come to Pullman with Meyers from Spokane, theyve now discounted the possibility, Weatherly said. Police were providing protection to a figure in the case, Weatherly said. The protection was canceled because person now agrees his or her life is not in danger. After state experts review the case, Weatherly said, he will request a coroners inquest to try to determine how the two men died. suspect charged EVERETT A 22-year-old Edmonds man has been charged with second-degree burglary in two break-ins at a funeral home.

1 The bodies of four elderly women in the home I were disrobed or moved during the burglaries last month, according to documents filed with the charges Wednesday against Ronald Shawn Ryan i in Everett District Court, i Ryan was arrested outside the funeral home 1 Sunday after police were summoned by an alarm, I according to a search warrant filed in Snohomish i County Superior Court. Investigators found elec- tronic equipment and other items in Ryans home 1 that had been reported missing from the Sno- homish County funeral home, court documents show. The mortuary was not identified. 1 Deputy prosecutor Jim Townsend said an investigation continues to determine whether the bodies were sexually molested. But even if that is I the case, no additional charges will be brought I because state law does not specifically prohibit 'sexual contact with the dead, Townsend said.

I Prosecutors would use any information about contact with the bodies to support a request for an exceptionally long sentence if Ryan is con- 1 victed of the burglaries, Townsend said. AP photo LOTT A LOBSTER. Keith Chandler of the Seaside, Aquarium shows off a new guest at the facility: a 25-pound Maine lobster, The aquarium acquired the crustacean after a food store's seafood manager couldn't bear to see the lobster end up in someones cooking pot, Bank manager arrested in wifes death DeFazio will head task force on BPA (Wenatchee (Washington was found near her hand on the bed! where the body was found. The situation was initially re- ported as a suicide, Breda Our suspicions were aroused by! things at the scene and were confirmed in the results of the autop-; sy. Beck was arrested after meeting with detectives Thursday morning.

The Becks had been experiencing problems in their 3-ycar marriage, Breda said. $250,000 bail pending a court hearing today. Deck called deputies and emergency crews to his home north of Leavenworth on Tuesday morning and told them his wife, Laura, 35, was dead. He said she had apparently shot herself in the head. A purported suicide note was found.

Mrs. Beck had a gunshot wound to the back, right side of her head, Breda said. A revolver Associated Press A bank manager was arrested Thursday after an autopsy raised questions about his claim that his wife had killed herself, Chelan County Sheriff Dan Breda said. Steven D. Beck, 35, manager of Wenatchee's downtown Seattle-First National flank branch, was hooked into Chelan County Regional Jail on Skull not linked to deaths SEATTLE A skull found near Auburn is 'that of a young woman but is not linked to the River serial killings, the King County medical examiners office said Thursday.

The skull is that of a white female, between 16 and 20 years old, who died at least three years ago, said Bill Ilaglund, chief investigator for the I I (is statement did not explain how investigators dismissed a link with the serial killings in the early 1980s. Haglund was at the scene of the discovery Thursday and could not be reached for comment. Authorities are exploring the area for more Remains. I The skull was found along Washington 18 1 Wednesday by a survey crew from the state I Department of Transportation. Remains of two victims of the Green River serial killer were found earlier in the area.

The Green River killer is officially blamed for the deaths of as many as 49 young women, many Iof them prostitutes, from the summer of 1982 through early 1984. Four victims were found in Oregon, but the killer operuted primarily in the greater Seattle-Tacoma area, Two wanted for questioning in fatal fire As.iociutcd Press Rep. Peter DeFazio, has been named chairman of a new congressional task force overseeing the Bonneville Power Administration. "The BPA and the Pacific Northwest arc at a critical crossroad, DeFazio said Thursday. The regions prosperity depends upon a stable and affordable supply of power." Rep.

George Miller, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, announced the of the task force. I le said the panel will consider cleMfc power issues "that are crucial to the future economic and environmental health of the Pacific Northwest. Peters expertise makes him uniquely qualified to help the region resolve many of the controversies surrounding power generation in the Columbia River basin, said. House Speaker Tom Foley, said the task force is an important tool in the region's search for a stable energy future. DeFazio said the task force will begin hearings on the BPA in April in Washington, D.C., and the Pacific Northwest.

He said it will focus on the agency's financial needs, debt repayment, salmon runs und priorities for buying new energy resources. (Seattle) Seattle man, Risdon said. The Blackstock fire killed Seattle firefighter Lt. Matthew Johnson. It one of more than a dozen in the state where chemicals similar to rocket fuel were used to set fire- to large buildings.

1 The Blackstock fire has been linked to the 1982 Tri-State Distribu- tor warehouse fire in Spokane that killed firefighter Paul J. Hcidcnreich, 27, and injured seven others. 1 i them and see if they will go on the polygraph, said Capt. Ray Risdon, Seattle arson-squad commander. One man is from Illinois and has a criminal history that includes being hired as a professional arsonist, Risdon said.

A second man, who was seen driving away from the lumberyard shortly before the fire was reported, is believed to be from the Seattle area. Authorities plun to question the Associated 1rcss Two men arc wanted for questioning in the 1989 Blackstock lumberyard fire that killed one firefighter, authorities say. Fire investigators identified the men from public response to sketches of two people seen at the site of the bln.c. We dont know if these men nrc suspects but wc want to talk to I.