Plano Daily Star-Courier from Plano, Texas • Page 1

Water i lCPXlILM CriiTlK, HiU. HinCTOR 75? Now VOL. 240 PLANO DAILY News and Pictures About People You Know PLANO, TEXAS, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1974 Conserve Water Now TEN CENTS Higher Cost Shocks Board Inflation Increases Costs 9.3% BY PAM TROBOY Staff Writer Inflation hit the Plano school board again Tuesday night. As a result, the price of school lunches was increased by 10 cents and a bid on the Jackson Elementary School was accepted which will hike costs by more than nine percent. The higher cost of food supplies and the chancy allotment of federal commodities were cited by Business Manager Bill Phipps as causing the need for higher lunches.

He said food costs are expected to go up 15 percent from last year by the time school opens. By increasing the cost of plate lunches from 55 cents to 65 cents on the elementary level and from 60 cents to 70 cents in the junior highs the expected deficit for the year can be met, he said. A la carte prices in the high school and junior highs will also be raised accordingly. Phipps told the board he would recommend reducing the lunch prices if costs failed to rise as much as expected. Ray F.

Skiles, was awarded the base bid plus four alternates for the Jackson Elementary School which ran 9.3 percent over the estimate of architects Jack Corgan and Associates. A JCA spokesman noted that inflation in the building industry is currently running atK)ut 28 percent rather than the 15 percent which was allowed for the estimate. JCA had predicted the ba.se bid at $1,088,000 but the low bid from Skiles was $1,131,000 plus $124,000 for an activities center, $7,300 for terrazo floors rather than An architect from Jarvis, Putty and Jarvis guided members of the board and their guests through the new senior high school Tuesday night. Members walked through the Business-llumanities Building and the Science-Industries Building and then viewed the Activity Center, Commons- Media and Performing Arts Center. The $9,4.56,185 project is about 55 percent complete and Is scheduled to open in the fall of 1975.

(Staff photo by Mike Newman) Kickback Case to Die WASHINGTON (LIPI) The Justice Department has decided to drop its four-year- old investigation of Rep. Jim Collins. because it cannot obtain sufficient evidence to prove Collins was guilty of obstruction of justice in connection with salary kickbacks by his employes. A spokesman for Attorney General William Saxbe said Tuesday Saxbe it was a weak and enough of a case to on." A Justice Department spokesman said the decision not to prosecute was made by personally because there had been a split among members of the Justice criminal division staff as well as in the U. S.

office on whether the case should proceed. The investigations began in March, 1970, following complaints by parttime employes in the office of the congressman from Dallas that they had given parts of their salaries to administrative assistant, George A. Haag. Haag was convicted in 1972 of taking $13,000 in kickbacks, of mail fraud and obstruction of justice Confession Admitted DALLAS Robert Excel White said in a statement read in court Tuesday he casually killed a helpless grocer and two young customers near McKinney, last May One of the two teen-age made a and White said he responded with a shot from a rifle. White, 36, of Waco, was on trial for the murder of Preston Broyles, 72, during the robbery of Hilltop Grocery.

The state rested its case Tuesday. White said he forced the three men to lie down on the grocery floor but then ordered one of the youths to empty the cash register. made him hand it to me, and then I made him lie back statement said. smart with me. That was a wisecrack.

I then him. concrete. $3,600 for sidewalks running the length of the property and $2,400 for an asphalt-concrete play area. The total bid is $1,269,.300. Since the bid price would be held constant for only another week, the board agreed to accept the base bid with all four alternates but instructed JCA to work with the successful bidder to hold a decision on several possible deductions which may be handled as change orders.

The board also took two hours of its meeting to tour the new senior high school. Board members as well as school officials, civic leaders, architects and subcontractors were the guests of Bat son-Cook contractor for the school, at a dinner and walk-thru of the large facility which is expected to open in the fall of 1975. A detailed account of the tour and the progress on the building will be in back to school edition of the Star-Courier In other action, the board tabled the floor plans for the Armstrong Middle School to study the possibility of either reducing the overall size or increasing its capacity by flooring over an open area on the second floor. The open space was included in the floor plan to give students on the second floor visual access to the library located on the ground level. However, several members felt the concept should be studied further.

is just good space commented President Rutledge Haggard. are trying to make each dollar count and it seems as if this 3,000 square feet of open area could be floored in and used for The proposal was sent to the newly formed building committee which will meet with staff members and architects Jarvis, Putty and Jarvis. The committee will also study additional band hall requirements and the possibility of leaving the space open for the present and flooring it in at a later time. The floor plans for Vines High School were approved after the board decided to put the building adjacent to FM 544 rather than on the middle of the site. JCA, architects on the project, had recommended that the school be placed on the Continued on Page 2 4 Teens Held For Burglary Democrats Meet State Representative Bob Hendricks helped the Collin County Democrats begin an extensive activities program I'uesday night The group held its first meeting and sponsored a meet the candidates program for area Democrats.

James M. Sides is president of the new organization. (Staff photo by Mike Newman) Four teenagers were arrested early this morning on suspicion of burglary of Discount Center Police believe that the seven teen-year-old and three fifteen-year-olds broke into shortly after 10 m. Tuesday night and spent several hours in the store. Officers said the safe was entered and several guns and a substantial amount of narcotics were taken from the store Patrolman Linden Payne stopped the suspects at about 4:30 a.m.

as suspicious persons and observed a quantity of merchandise in the rear of the car. He said the suspects had about $6,000 worth of stolen merchandise in their possession The four suspects are currently being held in the Plano City Jail and charges are expected to be filed later today. The teen-year- old will be charged as an adult, pi)lice Nearer to Reality Combined Efforts Give Push To Dream In a dedicated effort to retain and restore some facet of historical past, the Plano Heritage Smietv has secured use of the Wilson house Iwated on F.M 5tl West. and construction are now in prrn-ess to restore the old Plano to its original condition, it will he, in time, a museum of some value. of the work and materials needed are supplied by citizens free of charge.

Other photos are on page 2. (Staff plndo BY NELDA WHITEHEAD Staff Writer As the signs and sounds of progress come ever closer, the Amy Wilson home stands ground hidden behind a thick veneer of trees and shrubs that have thrived in spite of little rain and form a living shield against the outside world. Here and there clusters of Bowers dance in the breeze; birds sing in the sturdy pines and yes, snakes cut a path across the grass. lx)caied on FM 544 west, the house sits alone, lending a touch of yesteryear to the fast moving city around it. At the time of her death, in 1973 Miss personal effects were auctioned and from then until a short time ago when the home was broken into and robbed, it has remained relatively unchanged Most of the valuables taken were items which had been purchased by FManoites.

who then donated them back to the home which is to become a museum, thanks to efforts of the Plano Heritage Due to alert antique dealers all of the stolen property is now back in the hands of the who have placed it in storage where it will remain until renovation on the house is completed For some time following the robbery the house was guarded by the Plano Si'curity Patrol, however, the hou.se is now occupied by a couple -ho will live in the upper story and look after the property. They are Frank and Mary DePeri. teachers and Residents of Plano for the past three years. The couple met while P'rank was a teacher at Hardin-Simmons in Abilene where Mary was a student. They have been married for seven years.

Mary has been a teacher at Bowman Junior High for the past three years where she teaches history to seventh and eighth graders. Presently Frank is working toward his Ph D. at North Texas University and teaches clas.ses there also Mary became interested in the history of Plano last year when she conducted a Plano unit for her classes. One thing led to another and she has big hopes for forming a Junior Historian this fall if it will I allowed by the school board and a charter approved students conducted two oral interviews on tape last year with Mrs. John Weatherford and John Wells, both senior citizens and a living part of historical Mary explained said that she hopes to supervise more such tapes this fall as they would be a lasting memento for future generations.

Mary is also vitally I Mr. and Frank DePerl are the new tenants of the Amy Wilson home, located on FM544 West just east of Custer. The will live on the set ond Bixir of the home while improve men Is are made on the ground level to be used as a museum. The fireplace in the backgi ound behind the couple is in what was originally the dining room. The upper floor will provide an apartment for a custodian and two will serve as office space for the Plano HeriUige who is sponsoring the pteservafioii of the well-known landmark.

(Htalf photo by Newmaii). terested in the Bi-Centennial and is hopeful that Plano citizens will work together to bring local projects to a fruitful experiment. She includes the Amy Wilson home in that dream and also hopes citizens will consider other such projects. Recently she attended a Texas Historian Workshop in Ft Worth in the company of five other Plano history teachers. of the speakers was Mrs.

Gene Browning, executive director of the Texas Bi -Centennial Committee, and in her speech she mentioned three catagories that cities could said One is Heritage of which could I individual endeavors, she explained, and the other two are a permanent endeavor which would outlive the Bicentennial and the world The latter would be invitations to be extended to people of other countries to come and celebrate the Bi Centennial with Americans. said that she hopes to become involved in Hi Centennial events and hopes to involve parents by creating interests in her students The are bike riders and like to swim and play tennis He is an avid tropical fish addict per- ferrmg tancy guppies Both are meinbt'rs of the Allen Friendship CB club which boasts memlKTS from six or seven area communities and While weather worn the basic foundation at the Wilson borne stands sturdy against time and wind and Photo by Newman) both are licensed radio operators each have radios their cars. Mary is ahso a collector of Texas history liooks and while she her collection is not t(X) large it is probably larger than most Frank remarked that lately interested who drive by the Wilson home and see lights in the hou.se have called the police. He said it is good to know Continued on Page 2.