The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 141

or more area coverage see Regional News Section Saturday September 29 1984 The Miami Herald Section TC safety tes Vero to rebuild beach devoured by stormy Isidore building the crosswalks planting the Suthard said A great deal of that vegetation seagrape vines at Conn Beach was swept into the sea Thursday Some seagrapes had main vines more than two inches thick But the city manager said damage could have been worse Little said the only reason roads close to the beaches destroyed was because of the contoversial sand-pumping the city has done Two local taxpayer groups object to spending tax dollars to renourish beaches for what they call losing battle against Please turn to EROSION 4TC By LORI ROZSA Herald Writer VERO BEACH While other Treasure Coast cities mop up minor debris along their shorelines from Tropical Storm Isidore Vero Beach hit hardest by the tides will begin Monday rebuilding a beach with what the city manager calls Isidore pounded Conn Beach the hardest gnawing away about 10 feet of -shoreline and causing structural damage to some of the crosswalks Dana Garrett of the Engineering Department said the beach lost all of the material put in during a $181000 renourishment project lost every bit of the 2000 yards of material we put in and probably more All we can do Is keep on pumping the dirt in at least it buys Garrett said Most of the crosswalks have about a seven-foot drop between the last step and the beach Garrett said the city will pump enough dirt into it to make the drop four feet at least enough so people can jump down if they want Vero Beach City Manager John Little said the city will take about $5000 from a special storm restoration fund in the budget to repair the beaches Public Works Director Cliff Su-thard said the city has tried a variety of ways to control erosion none of them entirely successful tried everything tried rebuilding the dune vegetating the dunes By FRANCIS DONNELLY Herald Staff Writer As a civil emergency Isidore was a dud but civil defense officials say tropical storm was a sort of spot test of their abilities And by all accounts they did very well was said Steve Wells director of the Indian River County Department of Emergency Management were ready for any had no said Phil Rodi director of the St Lucie County Department of Disaster Preparedness was standing by and ready to Martin County went the furthest in preparing for the storm by opening an evacuation shelter at Stuart Middle School but in the end the shelter needed Martin County Public Safety Director William be reached for comment Martin emergency management director Herb Smith took the day off because of his heavy workload the kept track of the storm Tuesday night and met with county department directors Wednesday morning to apprise them of what could happen Wells placed emergency officials on alert and bolstered the number of persons answering his phones to help keep the public informed about the storm Fortunately the civil defense departments have to proceed past that step the directors said was a good mental Wells said the storm had gotten worse we would have fared well We did The directors attributed their performances to experience and one of the Boy oldest mottos: Be Prepared prepare for the worst and hope for the best" Rodi said it hit in clover and if it does you smell like a information because there are so many Rodi said are the things that people get excited about what our office does: puts out the true last two days his secretary said The only problem faced by civil defense departments was trying to stop rampant rumors spread by residents Some residents said the storm had winds of 500 miles per hour while others said it would return to the Treasure Coast soon after it had left The winds actually were 40 mph need to have true Besides the rumors everything went well from the time counties learned of the storm Tuesday night to the time they packed up Thursday night In Indian River County Wells Florida Highway Patrol investigator George Gordon climbs out STEPHEN CROWLEY Miami Herald of the wrecked bus 'MiM r- Probers check bus wreckage US'tmsr Along the Coast Long-sought drug suspect surrenders STUART A woman who had been sought since January 1983 in connection with a marijuana smuggling ring in Martin County surrendered to the Martin County Department Friday With her attorney leading the way Denise Lubash 32 who gave a home address in Chicago surrendered to county drug officers She was booked at the Martin County Jail on a charge of possession of marijuana Bond was set at $250000 Drug officers said Lubash has been sought since January 1983 when the department raided a house on Pinetree Lane in Palm City where they charged several persons were operating a marijuana smuggling ring They arrested five persons and seized 846 pounds of marijuana a Porsche two boats and a small arsenal of weapons Police charge Vero man in wreck that killed one VERO BEACH Vero Beach police charged Joseph Murphy 60 with failing to yield the right of way in a traffic accident that killed Gloria Maroon Skis-cim 26 Monday Murphy of Barefoot Bay in Brevard County has a mandatory court date Oct 16 Police said Murphy ran a stop sign on State Road A1A Monday morning car collided with a truck which struck car killing Skiscim but leaving her 2-year-old son Michael who was strapped into a child saftey seat uninjured Palm City home robbed of $2400 in valuables PALM CITY Someone broke into a home between last Saturday and Thursday night and stole jewelry crystal and pewter items valued at more than $2400 Walter Alesi of 1721 SW Crane Creek Ave told police he arrived home about 6:30 pm Thursday after being gone several days and discovered someone had burglarized his home Stolen was $100 in cash a $500 gold watch a one-carat diamond tie tack and a diamond necklace three gold rings a crystal vase and other jewelry The loss was valued at $2435 iriSIDE St GOP is alive and well Cody Bailey vs Jim Minix runoff for County Commission accents the resurgence of the Republicans 3TC Fellsmere filled with history The quiet city of today conceals a stormy past complete with floods and feuds 2TC Index Sick tree project is proposed Lethal yellowing is killing palms By KATHY MCCARTHY Herald Staff Writer STUART A Palm Beach project aimed at replacing coconut palms destroyed by lethal yellowing disease is needed in Martin County according to County Forester Roger Petkoff lethal yellowing) is here no one knows how bad going to Petkoff said The killer disease which destroyed thousands of coconut palms in Dade and Broward counties a few years ago has been detected in trees at Park Point and near the Bay Harbor Club Petkoff said In his annual report presented to Martin County commissioners on Wednesday Petkoff suggested the county begin a coconut palm replacement project such as the one started in Palm Beach County The commission has not taken action on the report The project entails interplanting resistant varieties of palm trees among the coconut palms which also are known as Jamaica Tails Coconut palms are susceptible to lethal yellowing disease Petkoff said At the same time foresters inoculate the susceptible coconut palms to maintain them until the new palms are large enough to serve as replacements Petkoff said The trees are inoculated with oxytetracycline or OTC which acts as an antibiotic suggested the program Petkoff said whole idea is a preventive one This way we would have something to replace the palms with if the worst Lethal yellowing is transmitted through insects which carry the fungus or algae the fungus rubs off on the tree it will kill Petkoff said In his report Petkoff also suggested establishment of a county nursery to raise and store plants that could be planted on public property County commissioners agreed and directed staff members Wednesday to work with Petkoff in developing a nursery Staff Who knows there might even be some employes of Amalgamated Windmill on the list I am sure Amalgamated Windmill would say all it wants is a fair deal and I am sure John Smith would say that campaign contributions do not affect his decision And both may be absolutely correct But the perception the suspicion would be there And the same groups that fought for an elected PSC responsive to the will of the people may wonder which inspires more response the need to keep rates low or substantial campaign funds A number of years ago the PSC was changed from an elective to an appointive board to take it out of the political arena of elected officials The comment has been made that the campaign to change the PSC from an appointive to an elective body faces an uphill climb I hope that uphill climb is perpendicular Better think this one over carefully problems with its steering mechanism and "other minor he said deficiencies were corrected and the bus was reinspected and was he said On Friday investigators with the Federal Transportation Safety Board joined troopers to try to determine if a defect caused the bus to stall The bus carburetor which feeds gasoline to the engine was removed to be examined more thoroughly have to do various testing and analysis the investigation) could take several months" said Kenneth Rogers a highway safety inspector for the transportation board Another transportation board investigator whose training is the Friday talked to Douthitt and the two children who fled the bus before it was hit bottom line is that we will try to determine the facts and the Please turn to PROBE 4TC By MARY JO TIERNEY Herald Staff Writer PORT ST LUCIE Investigators Friday picked apart the torn wreckage of a private school bus that was smashed by a freight train killing two children instantly- Florida Highway Patrol troopers said that bus driver Cindy Douthitt pulled the Indian River Academy bus too far into the Florida East Coast Railway crossing and the crossing gate struck the top of the bus When she tried to back up the bus stalled and rolled onto the tracks Douthitt 28 remained in stable condition at Port St Lucie Hospital Friday Her 10-year-old son John who was sleeping in the rear of the bus and Raimie Finn 12 who tried to get the boy off the bus were killed in the Thursday morning wreck Sgt Billy Smith a bus inspector for the Florida Highway Patrol said that the 16-year-old bus had flunked a state inspection on Oct 27 1983 At that time the bus had Rick Carpenter of Florida Highway Patrol collects belongings of students left in bus Light is shed on talk of an elective PSC How about this for a scenario: The Amalgamated Windmill Co has filed for a rate increase The PSC staff has analyzed the request and recommends the increase PSC members including John Smith approve the increase Smith is honest and upright with the good of utility bill payers engraved on his heart He also is convinced that if Amalgamated Windmill is to continue in business it needs higher rates And now those newspapers (always looking for the negative you know) publish a list of campaign contributions which Smith spent in his successful campaign We find that large contributions came from Amalgamated Windmill We also find that there is a contribution from a man who is identified as the president of Amalgamated Windmill Reporters when the contribution lists were available also identified a number of other substantial donors as the wife of the president the sister brother first cousin and cousin once removed and the mother When two or three people are gathered together to protest utility rate increases the idea of an elective Public Service Commission is apt to surface Recently it has been surfacing frequently The Public Service Commission has the power to grant or deny utility rate increases and I hear mutterings that an elective PCS would be more meaning that such a commission would keep rates down It sounds very appealing and it makes me very nervous because its appeal ignores a couple of facts One is that with all costs going up utility charges are going to go up no matter who is setting the rates The appeal also overlooks a little item called money which utility users are trying to save If Public Service Commission members are elected they must run for office in statewide races A statewide compaign costs lots of money and campaign costs are met by political contributions It would take political advertising in newspapers TV and radio to cover the state: it would take statewide tours and it also would take campaign headquarters and fake straw hats with the name of candidates on the hatband How much of the campaign chest will come from small citizen groups working for lower rates? How much from utility companies which also have an interest in the PSC rulings? Not that any public service commissioner would be influenced by campaign contributions Heaven forbid But a certain measure of suspicion is going to surface The Herald and other newspapers keep careful records of campaign contributions to elected officials.