Johnson City Press from Johnson City, Tennessee • 1

Y3il'Q I BriefingBtt BusinessB12 ClasslfledD31-34 ComicsD3S Dear AbbyD35 Louisiana State tnttVnlenoo 11 Iijw IWI TrUai Ti i mm DeathsA2 EcJltortaWU 4 EntertaimrontA U(estytes'C13t SportsD23138 Dogs lifeA6 vV 'n A Vf-rST-" V-" t'-1 PA i ft ft m- artlycloiioySi i viTTj Jt 2 1 5 tasssggs em pressing mwi Ws 4 Daily 25 Sunday 00 WEDNESDAY JAN 1 1 1 989 VOL 69-NO 156 JOHNSON CITY TENNESSEE WilffcwSoTi Hey don hitch up that horse KX A timyi The Associated Press NASHVILLE The Tennessee Sentencing Commission wants to purge the criminal code of the Kind of outdated laws that make hitching your horse to a city sidewalk a misdemeanor Tossing a banana peel onto a sidewalk racing steamboats and keeping dogs that kill sheep are also crimes in the states criminal code "It was a crime not to ply your trade whether you were a blacksmith or whatever said Metro Nashville General Sessions Judge Barbara Haynes chairwoman of the commission "It was a crime to be a sparring partner in a boxing match Theres a lot of them like that The antiquated laws most of which were written in the 19th century technically could still be used to charge someone she Baid The Sentencing Commission was formed by the Legislature in 1985 to revise the states criminal code especially to reduce sentences for nonviolent crimes to help relieve prison overcrowding Its recommendations will go before the General Assembly which convened Tuesday While reviewing the codes 26 volumes commission members ran across more than 120 obsolete laws they want taken off the books "If you remember' our code dates back to 1858 and there has never been a major revision ever Ms Haynes said "There are antiquated statutes that are never enforced In Tennessee it is illegal to op-' erate a train without a bell rope connected to the engine or fire a gun in someone elses barnyard -Theres a $100 fine for selling "intoxicating bitters AP LaserPhoto they could be changed by a 17-vote majority However the Senate voted 21-10 to make the rules permanent and it now requires a two-thirds majority or 22 votes Since the 22 Senate Democrats are split it is doubtful the Senate can find 22 members to agree on anything "I know you have the votes but I dont think its fair to do this today Hamilton pleaded before the vote 1 The Wilder-Hamilton contest enlivened the first day of the 96th General Assembly when Democrats remained in firm control of the House Speaker Ed Murray and Speaker pro tempore Lois DeBerry both were re-elected without opposition 1 1 Both the Senate and House recessed until today when they meet jointly to re-elect Secretary of State Gentry Crowell1 Comptroller William Snodgrass and Treasurer Steve Adams The legislators meet jointly again Thursday to hear Gov Ned McWherters annual State of the State address and then recess for two weeks until Jan 30 McWherter will present his $76 billion budget' including a requested 3-cent per gallon increase in the states 17-cent gasoline tax on Febl i Hamilton who had been Senate majority leader was replaced in that post by Sen Riley Darnell D-Clarksville Wilder defeated Darnell 18-15 for speaker two years ago with Hamilton voting for Wilder At a caucus of Sehate Democrats during a recess Hamilton conceded defeat Lt Gov Wilder is going to beat me on the floor today" he said Tuesday "Hes a fine man We just saw different ways of Please see SQUABBLE Page 8 By Bill Rawlins Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE -Lt GovJohn Wilder came through as expected put down a challenge from Sen Milton Hamilton of Union City and was elected Tuesday to his 10th two-year term as Senate speaker by a coalition of 11 Republicans and nine Democrats Hamilton received 13 votes all from Democrats Wilder said he will as he did in 1987 appoint Republicans to head the committees which sift through bills and decide whether they should become laws "I also will appoint Democrats and women and black people and white people he said He told the Senate he "will make every effort to make the Senate one body" The state Democratic Executive Committee will be asked to go on record against Democrats who voted with Republicans for Wilder when it meets here Jan 28 The same party leaders refused to appoint Wilder as a delegate to last summers Democratic National Convention for accepting Republican support two years ago The vote in the speakers race was cut and dried but the Senate still fussed and maneuvered for more than an hour over fries of procedure Hamilton who had conceded defeat said a proposal to make last yearB rules permanent locked out consideration of a proposal to elect the Senate speaker pro tempore "Nobody wants to be locked out Hamilton said The post of speaker pro tern held for the past two years by Sen John Ford D-Memphis now is filled by appointment from Wilder Hamilton urged that the rules be made temporary so that Sen Milton Hamilton congratulates Lt Gov John Wilder on his victory Senators elect Arnold docile compared to the battle we had over this two years ago Arnold said "Politicians and senators have long memories of course But they also have to face reality" Prior to the Legislature convening the Republican caucus met to select officers for the new session Members of the news media crowded into a small conference room to watch the proceedings "Well the Republicans are going to have a contest said Atchley who was elected to another term as Senate minority leader Albright later congratulated Arnold on the win He told reporters he harbored no ill feelings toward the new caucus chairman "Sen Albright is a real gentleman and has been throughout this thing Arnold said "I have a great deal of respect for him Arnold said speculation that his successful bid for the caucus leadership was rooted in "regional politics" was unfounded Please see ELECT Page 8 By Robert Houk Nashville Bureau NASHVILLE State Sen Don Arnold Johnson City was elected Senate Republican Caucus chairman Tuesday narrowly defeating Sen Ray Albright Harrison for the No 2 GOP spot in the Senate In a 6-5 vote Republican senators elected Arnold to the post With the win Arnold becomes second only to fellow East Tennessean Sen Ben Atchley Knoxville within the Republican Senate power structure Senate Republicans including the delegation from Upper East Tennessee later banded together Tuesday to help elect Lt Gov John Wilder D-Mason to his 10th term as speaker Arnold said neither the contest for the GOP Caucus chairmanship nor the dispute over the speakers seat would leave lasting bitterness among senators "This battle for the speakers chair was really Please see HITCH Page 8 Deaths JOHNSON CITY Miss Mariorie Ross DAMASCUS Va Mrs Sue Rowe JONESBOROUGH Mrs Fleta Merritt PINEY FLATS Alton King Youve got a week (cough) left to immunize (sneeze) dont see a significant number of cases until mid-January but we expect a peak of cases in mid-February So we can expect to see influenza develop at any time Symptoms he said include a cough fever sore throat malaise and usually an upper respiratory infection Immunization for the flu began in November "Protection will peak within four weeks after someone gets the shot and will last for four or five months" he said "But because the flu has been occur- ring later in the season for the past two to three years the CDC recommended people get their shots a bit later "Last year we started giving the shots Please see SNEEZE Page 8 By Elaine McClellan Press Staff Writer The flu is coming! The flu is coming! Three types of influenza are expected to reach the Tri-Cities area within two to three weeks and health officials say those who want to avoid it have only one week left to receive their immunization The flu season in the United States usually begins in January but officials from the national Centers for Disease Control Atlanta say a few cases were reported in December "So far there are no epidemics reported anywhere in the country said Dr Lawrence Moffatt Washington County Health Department "In this area we usually Show rabblt(s) Unofficial rabbit mascot Faith Welch a 6-year-old from Linden Ta cuddles a 7-month-old Flemish rabbit Monday at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg Faith donned her rabbit costume to mark the debut of rabbits at the annual farm -show and became the exhibits mascot (AP LaserPhoto) in missing test missile recorder Soviet Unjon suspect i Department The missile which carried a dummy warhead and not an actual atomic weapon was launched from California toward Kwajalein Atoll a coral-ringed atoll in the 'Marshall Islands which the United States uses to test the accuracy of its strategic atomic weapons The atoll is in the western Pacific Ocean about 11000 miles from the United States US officials recovered 400 pounds of debris from the bottom of the lagoon the next morning and shipped it back to the United States for analysis CBS said But the 45-day analysis turned up no sign of i The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Pentagon is investigating the loss of a flight data recorder from a long-range atomic missile test in 1987 and there is a possibility the Soviets may have recovered the device the Pentagon said Tuesday night The recorder would contain valuable information about the performance of the Minuteman 2 missile according to the CBS Evening News which first reported the story j' The recorder was part of a July 7 1987 test shot said Army Maj Bill OConnell a spokesman for the Defense The recorder was not classified OConnell noted but its recovery "would be useful to our missile testing efforts and five searches have accordingly been mounted to find it The Soviets may have grabbed the recorder with a mini-submarine CBS said A Soviet trawler was about 50 miles away from Kwajalein the network reported OConnell refused to say if a Soviet sub had been detected in the area "There have been a number of reports of Soviet submarine sightings and these reports are not being ignored he said "I cannot however confirm that there was Soviet submarine activity in or near Kwajalein" But he did confirm a CBS report that Soviet personnel may have landed on Kwajalein which is supposed to be uninhabited US officials have found "vodka bottles cigarettes bug spray and a few technical items of Soviet manufacture that could not have floated ashore and would have been unlikely to have been left ashore purposefully he said Please see TEST Page 6 I the flight data recorder "Part of the payload form the dummy warhead which splashed down in the atoll was lost said OConnell "It is unlikely that the Soviets recovered it in the hours between splashdown and the first search but that possibility cannot be ruled out" "There are many possibilities that might account for the loss including accidents during the handling of the recovered debris poor record-keeping and problems in shipping he said "None of these possibilities has been ruled out and the investigation is continuing CwMi ftfe aft LJf i ft.