The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 14

64 The Sacramento Bee Anal Friday March 91990 He teaches at Irvine but wins vote in Estonia Year later van blast still puzzle Driver's husband ordered downing of Iran jetliner New York Times II 4 4 St 4 4' 4 rit Irt PR I 1 I 4 ic4t 4 4444444 -2e 4444 41''' r4P1 41411' '14 44Y "2:4 lit P-It 414 1410-444 tt 'P" At 1441 4 110A 1 By Dan Froomkin Orange County Register IRVINE A social science professor at the University of California Irvine has been elected to the Estonian Congress a new body that hopes to lead Estonian secession from the Soviet Union Rein Taagepera a 61-year-old expert on Baltic history was elected last week as a delegate from his hometown of Tartu Even though he has lived in Irvine for the past 20 years public comments during recent trips to Estonia have transformed the soft-spoken professor into one of the best-recognized and most-admired figures in his homeland Early this year Taagepera asked a friend to put his name on the ballot There were 11 candidates for five seats Taagepera did not campaign Sunday a transoceanic call brought the results: He had won 4346 votes more than twice as many as his nearest competitor The election was tolerated but not recognized by the Soviet authorities and the Congress is far from being internationally recognized as the ruling body of an independent state 'Taagepera's hope is that the Congress will be able to persuade the Estonian Supreme Soviet to disband rather than hold elections set for later this month elections that ironically Taagepera provided advice on how to structure For Taagepera (pronounced TAH-geh-pair-a) the rapid relaxing of Soviet controls that have allowed the Congress to form and have allowed a North American to win a seat on it are cause for celebration "I am quite exhilarated" he said this week The 500-delegate Congress elected last week by 600000 Estonians intends to become the ruling body of Estonia one of 15 Soviet republics and secede from the Soviet Union Estonia home to 16 million people had been an independent country until 1939 when Soviet troops invaded annexing the land on the Baltic Sea Taagepera will not be at the new Congress' first meeting March 11 He has learned that the Soviet authorities might not let him in now and anyway it is finals week Taagepera whose wife Mare is a lecturer in chemistry at UCI said he does not know whether he would move to Estonia if the Congress is allowed to assume power He plans to teach at UCI during the spring semester but to spend the fall on a sabbatical in Estonia His father was a university professor in Tartu "I would like to teach at the university where my father was teaching" he said Taagepera said that so far there has been no conflict between being a member of the Congress and holding Canadian citizenship (He moved from Germany to Morocco to Toronto before settling in Delaware then Irvine) Forty-six years after his family left Estonia fleeing to -Nazi Germany rather than face Stalinist rule in his homeland Taagepera is now elbow-deep in the struggle to win independence Because of his social science background with a specialty in the electoral process Taagepera has been asked to help the burgeoning democratic movement in Estonia structure its voting system And through long-distance faxes he has sent philosophical manifestos that make front-page pews in Estonia's newly-liberated press Taagepera was not allowed to visit Estonia until 1987 when he spent five days there watching citizens take part in a mass protest Since then Taagepera has visited Estonia two more -times including a six-week stay in late 1989 He became such a public figure that a poll in January ranked him 10th in the nation in terms of name recognition and SAN DIEGO Nearly a year later federal agents still have not solved the mystery of who placed the pipe bomb that exploded in a van driven by Sharon Lee Rogers wife of the captain of the Navy cruiser that mistakenly shot down an Iranian passenger jet Sharon Rogers escaped uninjured but the bombing on March 10 1989 set off fears of terrorism and led to a widespread federal investigation The FBI and the Naval Investigative Service have developed more than 1000 leads but officials say they are still far from solving the case "We have not ruled out any possible motives" said 'I am not going Dennis Usrey regional director of the naval investiga- live my life tors "But we have not been spinning our wheels getting in seclusion or nowhere We have compiled lots of information We be- in guarded lieve the case will be solved" custody A spokesman for the FBI in San Diego Charles Stein- Sharon Lee Rogers metz said the agency "will whose van was bombed continue the investigation March 10 1989 until it is resolved" Investigators still have no clear motive The authorities believe the bomb may have been an act of revenge aimed at Capt Will Rogers III commander of the missile cruiser Vincennes Rogers gave the order to shoot down the Iranian A-300 Airbus over the Persian Gulf on July 3 1988 believing it was an Iranian fighter plane threatening his ship All 290 people aboard the airliner died However investigators say circumstantial evidence points away from organized terror groups They say the bomber was more likely an individual or two or three people perhaps Iranian students working independently to avenge the Airbus deaths But investigators have not discounted other possible motives including reports of grudges against the officer by crew members or others with more personal motives Sharon Rogers had planned to issue a statement to be released on the anniversary "I started writing but there really is nothing new to report" she said "About all I can say is that the friends who surround me have made my life very very good" In many ways the lives of the Rogerses are back to normal Will Rogers is commanding officer of the Tactical Training Group US Pacific Fleet stationed on Point Loma a 15-minute drive from their home in the University City area of San Diego Sharon Rogers works as a substitute teacher for the Poway Unified School District in north San Diego County and serves on the Elementary Grades Task Force that is evaluating elementary education for California's superintendent of public instruction Bill Honig Together the couple have made speeches on terrorism but turned away literary agents who were interested in a book on their experience Naval investigators continue to provide protection "as may be necessary depending on their activities" said Usrey But neighbors often observe them walking alone at a nearby shopping center she sometimes rides a new bicycle About 60 friends attended a surprise party at their home Feb 5 to celebrate Sharon Rogers' 51 st birthday Friends are planning another party for Saturday the anniversary of the bombing am not going to live my life in seclusion or in guarded custody" she said "That's what a terrorist wants to do create unreasoned fear isolation for all of us and forced modification of our lifestyles" The most painful loss of the year she said was the termination of her job teaching fourth grade at the La Jolla Country Day School The private school where she had taught for 12 years cited security worries when it dismissed her six days after the bombing She received $140000 from the school in exchange for her resignation She has been unable to find another full-time teaching job 4 Associated Press Mission accomplished An unarmed MX missile slips through the clouds after being launched Thursday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern Cali fornia The missile flew 4200 miles to a target ill the Pacific It was the first successful launch since a failed attempt last September LA supervisors air quality district split on ride sharing Los Angeles Daily News ulators because it is dependent on unions agreeing to the proposal "We cannot unilaterally change collective bargaining agreements" Los Angeles County Supervisor Edmund Edelman said earlier this week The supervisors delayed action on the measure one week and requested that the head of the air quality district appear next Tuesday to explain why the agency refuses to approve the county proposal Under air quality rules major employers must submit plans governing how they the county's plans have been rejected for a variety of reasons "The plans were disapproved because they failed to pay filing fees" Siwek said "The county also does not have trained coordinators The incentives were considered inadequate because most of them are conditional on future negotiations with their unions" Siwek said the county has until April 9 to file a new program She said she did not know if district representatives would attend next week's hearing will reduce the number of employees driving to work The county's plan calls for an end to free parking for downtown workers and includes a $70-per-month transportation allowance that could be used to defray new parking fees on county lots or to pay for bus passes or van pool expenses Space in one of the county lots outside of the central area would range from $50 to $70 per month Sarah Siwek director of transportation programs for the air quality district said LOS ANGELES The county Board of Supervisors and the South Coast Air Quality Management District are at loggerheads over a proposed ride-sharing program for the county's nearly 9000 downtown workers The plan which includes new fees of up to $120 per month for parking at the Hall of Administration's underground garage has been rejected by the air pollution reg 0 Roads Available at most Raley's LI DtwEEKEN I 0 CAL -)v4 1 It i I 1 lki fr) miriat -7 T1 7 1 4 6 "I'' g4t re I 1 1 6 7 411vhbivo olukttp 1111Soplro Available ali -1' at most -1Hormel) Raley's But team owners have locked up the training camps this year while labor negotiations with the players remain stalled and even officially the state of Arizona is suffering for the loss Gov Rose Mofford has sent telegrams to baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent imploring him to bring the disagreement to an end and to get the camps and ballparks open "Spring training and Cactus League baseball are a part of life in Arizona" explained Geoffrey Gonsher of the governor's staff "We did a study a couple of years ago that showed baseball brings MO million into the state every spring but it's more than just the money we miss It's the action the excitement" The money is important however Out on Baseline Road near the boundary between Tempe and Mesa Ron FilipsId said his baseball card store ordinarily would be doing a brisk business in February or March "I guess we'll just have to get by on our local business this year It's OK but we'll miss the extra business from the spring training fans" he said And on the non-money side things hurt as well At the Good Life Resort an adult recreation vehicle park in Mesa there is plenty to do without baseball for the people age 55 and older who park their rigs in the 1198 spaces each winter People checking into Good Life are handed a five-page activity schedule covering every day of the week from 7 am to 10 pm everything from swimming and silversmithing and tap dancing lessons to potlucks and grief support groups But at the trailer of Bill and Sara Merlde of La Conner Wash the lack of baseball is no small thing Merkle 76 retired in 1977 as an executive for an air compressor manufacturer but ask him about his career and he starts talking baseball how he worked as a scout for the Seattle Mariners for 10 years after he retired how he played minor-league ball before and after World War II but never got his shot at the big leagues "This lockout or whatever it's called it's enough to break your heart" said Merk le "It's all about greed owners and players alike They're forgeting that it's us the fans people who love the game who made them rich We're the ones who are suffering while they're fiddling around" Around the corner from the Merkles Ken and Beulah Clothier both 70 of Kalispell Mont were even more disgusted "We've been coming here every winter for 10 years" said Beulah Clothier "We're Chicago Cubs fans back home but we've never been to Chicago for a game We watch them here" Back in November she said she mailed off $142 for 20 tickets to Cubs games at Mesa's Ho Ho Kam Park "Now we're waiting to see if they'll give us our money back It just seems baseball has turned into nothing but greed" Charley Briley is equally dismayed with it all Briley who owns the Painted Pony a baseballers' bar and restaurant in Scottsdale said his whole year is likely to be ruined if there is no spring training "This place is always standing room only three-deep at the bar this time of year" he said "But look at it now It's dead I could close my eyes and start shooting a shotgun without hurting anyone "And I might just do it too I'm frustrated" Continued from page BI baseball And baseball is missed "It's the saddest thing I've ever seen" said Frank Monaco the other day as he took his lunch hour in the seats behind the first-base line at Phoenix Municipal Stadium where the Oakland A's normally hold forth each spring "I have seats right here for the game tomorrow" said Monaco 45 who works as a programmer next door to the stadium in the offices of the Salt River Project the big reclamation agency that provides Phoenix's water and electricity He said he usually spends his lunch hours at the stadium just to be in a baseball environment assume they'll give us refunds for our tickets but I wait for this March spring training every year i and I'm disappointed" he said "I don't want a refund I want baseball" Spring training in which major league baseball teams come south to work out the kinks and get in shape for the beginning of the season has been a staple of Arizona's winter economy for decades HormeI) SAVE 100 LB Smoked CHICKEII BREAST Buttes 0 JiG PER LB All white meat oven roasted and seasoned mildly for flavor enhancement High in protein and low in cholesterol He said most people he knows favor the golf courses but many question residential development because there may not be enough water "The water district" Munger said firmly "will not serve Southridge" "This used to be the peach bowl of the nation" said rice farmer Frederick Ziegenmeyer who blames developers for gobbling up Sutter County and its water "I just hate to see them keep cutting up farmland "I hate to see the houses come but I guefis it would be sooner or later" surface storage and water rights El Linwood said which should more than supply the entire development except perhaps in very dry years A neighboring almond farmer who asked that his name not be used said it still might not be enough He said he wants to sell his land because he can't get enough water to produce profitable crops so he can't understand how the adjacent Southridge could maintain two golf courses a resort and more than 600 houses Ellwood Munger of Sutter is an organizer of a proposed Sutter water district trying to get a 8100000 giant to develop two wells for the community's 875 homes Continued from page BI Supervisors "1 gave a talk recently at the Sutter High School" he said "and when 1 asked the kids who favored Southridge 17 out of 20 raised their hands The other three didn't raise their hands at all Doesn't that reflect what their parents think?" Pfeffer asked There may be a few opponents Pfeffer said but so far he has heard of no serious opposition While the golf course may enjoy wide approval Pfefferjaid the question of water must be an swerecr before residentatl development takes place Southridge will have two water wells plus Wa ee 95 ORE- Fashioned ashioned Service Deli Price Good March 9-13 1.