The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 1

Season For Also Looks At Spas California Life Black Spiritual: The fi 1 Message Of God Page A 14 Six Cordova Wells OK'd Three Others Flunk Page 1 SATURDAY Vol No 40404 SACRAMENTO CALIFORNIA Saturday Founded 1857 154 State Supreme Court Upholds Death Penalty Frierson had allegedly taken the drug prior to the slaying of Edgardo Kramer and the attempted killing of Guillermo Bulnes The two men were in an auto awaiting a with a woman from a motel near Los Angeles International Airport when Frierson allegedly forced them to drive away at gunpoint and then shot one to death and tried to shoot the other opinion upholding the death law said the statute was on firm our fundamental organic law both federal and The statute expanded by voter initiative in 1978 to include more crimes for which death may be the penalty outlines special circumstances for its imposition They include murder for hire or by explosives the killing of a peace officer or witness to a crime or murder during the course of other felonies such as rape and child molesting In upholding the law the court Soviet Brigade In Cuba Brings Warning From US SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) The California Supreme Court split severely on the issue but upheld the much-debated death penalty law Friday the majority opinion declaring the statute is consistent with the intent of voters the Legislature and the US Supreme Court In a 5-2 decision three justices lined up with the lead opinion strongly defending the capital punishment law two justices reluctantly concurred and two others including Chief Jus September 1 1979 nevertheless overturned the conviction of the defendant who brought the case before it The court ruled unanimously that the accused killer of two Peruvian airline employees in Los Angeles in January 1978 was inadequately represented at his trial Among other things the court said counsel for defendant Lavelle Frierson failed to call expert witnesses to show possible diminished capacity from the effects of the drug PCP also known as Joaquin' ramento said Caltrans spokeswoman Susan Brown passengers must use regular Greyhound Lines service Caltuns Brown said insists on express service between Sacramento and Stockton Automatic switching at Port Chicago soon as Assemblyman Costa said a change from manual to automatic switching would cut 20 minutes from the time required for the run between the Bay area and the San Joaquin Valley Costa praised Gianturco and fellow legislators in Sacramento and Congress for their work in continuing the San Joaquin beyond its scheduled Oct 1 demise and promised that going to do our darndest to make it run like a train so it will be a viable means of transportation between the valley and the Bay Sen Rose Ann Vuich D-Dinuba who also participated in the legisla- See TRAIN Back Page A16 By Jim Anderson WASHINGTON (UPI) The State Department publicly warned the Soviet Union Friday the United States opposes the newly confirmed stationing of a Soviet combat brigade in Cuba A State Department spokesman confirmed for the first time US intelligence has determined the Soviets have moved a brigade group of 2000-3000 men with artillery and armor into Cuba The spokesman emphatically repeated an earlier statement by President Carter: is the policy of the United States to oppose any effort by the Soviet Union to establish military bases in this The State Department called in the Soviet acting ambassador Vladillen Vasev on Wednesday for a meeting with a department official to express a similar US concern The US official was not identified but a department press officer said it was not VCi Ml 'y 1 tice Rose Bird sharply differed with the majority George Deukmejian attorney general hailed the ruling as a decision upholding the constitutionality of the death penalty in California a question which has not been answered in a space of over seven Justice Frank Richardson writing the lead opinion said the court had concluded the 1977 law constitutional (and meets) the demands of hvy'it a Thanks We trains as planned Oct 1 In a letter to Amtrak President Alan Boyd Gianturco said the state would pay part of the operating costs to prevent Amtrak from shutting it down Oct 1 However she said the "double-crewing problem" must be solved by Dec 1 or the state will drop the proposed ar-rangementon Jan 1 The involves a situation in which two crews ride the train part of the way between the Bay area and Stockton Assemblyman Jim Costa D-Fresno who has carried legislation aimed at keeping the train operating said Caltrans has been meeting with railroad union officials in an attempt to stop the use of double crews understand they have reached tentative agreement" Gianturco in her letter to Amtrak also cites other "major that Caltrans spokeswoman Ann FAIR Bee Needed That ground Juries cannot impose the penalty at will his opinion said California statute lists specific factors which must be considered in deciding whether or not to impose the death By stipulating specific circumstances where it may be applied the opinion said the state's death law is consistent with legislative intent the See COURT Back Page A16 Secretary of State Cyrus Vance From his vacation in Plains Ga President Carter conferred with Vance Friday and said instructed him what to say" Conservative senators said Carter should delay Senate action on ratification of the SALT II treaty until the Soviets withdraw the troops State Department spokesman llodding Carter said intend to pursue the matter we are actively pressing the The spokesman said the top US diplomat in Havana Wayne Smith has been instructed to voice the American concern to the Cuban government However a Cuban spokesman said in Havana the government would have no comment on the troop reports The Soviet Embassy in Washington similarly refused comment llodding Carter said Soviet troops do not constitute a military threat to See CUBA Back Page A16 gasoline prices He also said that further price hikes would be unfair to consumers who have to beara 45 percent increase in gasoline prices since the beginning of the The staff recommendation was made known Friday as some 500 dealers and in many cases their spouses were combing the hallways and offices of the Capitol to lobby for a higher profit margin Many of the same dealers were the focal point of an effort to close North- ern and Central California stations during the Labor Day weekend to protest the current ceilings on their profits In advance of that lobbying effort Duscha touted to The Sacramento Bee a report that the federal government's 154-cent rule of Aug 1 had allowed "up to 63 percent of the (California) dealers to increase their prices" That conclusion was based on data compiled by a consultant for the Energy Commission The data do not distinguish between profit margins for See GASOLINE Back Page A16 See FONDA Back Page A1B Gas Profit For Dealers Too Low State Found ing fingernails must soon give way to history and arithmetic when the summer job ends A time to swim to picnic to go rafting to hold on to the last moments of vacation before they fade to memories Rafters enjoy a cooling moment provided by wild and crazy folk who jump from the old Sunrise Bridge on the American River to splash the rafters below that weekend of transition: When tanning and paint Caltrans Willing To Help Amtrak's 'San By James Dufur Bee Staff Writer The state Department of Transportation announced Friday it would be willing to put up enough money to keep the Amtrak passenger train operating between Bakersfield and the San Francisco Bay area until at least Jan 1 It said Amtrak must first agree to arrange express bus service between Stockton and Sacramento start a second train on the route this fall and extend train service to Los Angeles Caltrans said if it can agree with Amtrak it will pay 20 percent of the cost of operating the during the first year ($850000) 35 percent in the second year and 50 percent in the third and succeeding years Department director Adriana Gianturco also said the state will continue to press a court case that seeks to prevent Amtrak from dropping any Garbeff said must be met before Caltrans will sign an agreement with Amtrak Amtrak must agree to start a second "San Joaquin" by Oct 28 Caltrans submitted a possible schedule for the second train It would leave San Francisco at 7:05 am arrive in Bakersfield at 2:05 pm stopping in Stockton at 9:30 am Riverbank at 10 Merced at 10:50 Madera at 11:25 Fresno at noon Hanford at 12:40 pm Wasco at 1 30 and Bakersfield at 2 05 It would leave Bakersfield at 3:25 pm and arrive in San Francisco at 10:20 stopping in Wasco at 3:50 Hanford at 4:45 Fresno at 5:25 Madera at 6 o'clock Merced at 6:35 Riverbank at 7 15 and Stockton at 7 45 Extension of train service to Los Angeles "as soon as and improved bus service between Stock-ton and Sacramento Currently there is train-side to train-side bus service between Bakersfield and Los Angeles However between Stockton and Sac By Stephen Green Bee Staff Writer The state Energy Commission staff concluded in lute July that California service station operators getting a fair shake under new price rules adopted by the federal government Commission employees told The Sacramento Bee Friday that then Energy Commission Chairman Richard Maullin was advised "18 cents per gallon would be a fair for California dealers rather than the 154 cents per gallon maximum gross profit allowed by the US Department of Energy Maullin who has since resigned to be co-chairman of Gov presidential bid could not be reached for comment Friday Steve Duscha a spokesman for Brown said he did not know if that recommendation was ever communicated to the governor Nonetheless Brown has refused to use his authority to raise dealer margins contending that federal not state governments should regulate Arts Council Post What's doing today Fonda Wanted Public Favors Her For California STATE FAIR FEATURES The Evelyn King Show will take over the Plaza Stage at 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm today highlighting State Fair activities at Cal Expo Also among numerous features is Golden Bear Senior Boxing slated for 6 pm in theOutdoor Exhibit area Fair hours are 10 am to 10 pm Admission: Adults $3 senior citizens $150 under 12 free HOW JANE FONDA IS REGARDED BY CALIFORNIA PUBLIC High regard Low Regard In Today's Sacramento By MervinD Field Despite the fact that public regard for Jane Fonda is sharply divided a majority of Californians thinks she should be on the Arts Council a position recently denied her by the state Senate A just-concluded California Poll survey finds that 94 percent of the California public knows enough about Fonda to express an opinion about her Among this group 49 percent have a "very or "somewhat regard for her while 45 percent have a "very low" or low" regard Appraisal of Fonda varies widely according to political partisanship and age She is regarded most favorably by Democrats and people under 40 Republicans and people over 40 years of age perceive her most negatively Overall there are no significant differences in perceptions of Fonda between men and women Yesterday's high 19 low SO Obituaries Religion Scene Sports Take A Break Television Vitals 1 Dll Alois B4S EH 8 DM Weather details on PageAl A.