The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 14

The Sun Friday, July 19, 1985 xxK XJl Xw stm" i if fit-' I VVX. -V, I rOy -T-ii viz Tribute (Continued from B-l) People can get help by turning to the politicians, he said. "Newspapers have a great bearing on what's happening," he said. "If you're going to have any influence on what elected officials do, you have to let your position be known. You have to try to Townsend looks at issues in terms of their impact on the lives of disadvantaged people.

In his "People and Politics" column, he regularly urges voters particularly blacks and the disadvantaged to support candidates who will respond to them. But, Townsend said, elected officials are becoming less responsive to voters and an "air of meanness" now prevails. He's referring to cutbacks in funding for welfare, Medicare and other programs for the poor. The cutbacks are not necessarily bad, he said, but there should be a transition period to lessen the impact. Black elected officials, as a rule, don't do much better than whites in helping black constituents, Townsend said.

They too often try to keep happy their financial supporters, and those people don't generally live in the black community, he said. Townsend's big push now is to register a high percentage of black voters and then get them to the polls. It doesn't make so much difference how they vote; it's the number that counts, he said. "One thing a politicians knows how to do he knows how to count," Townsend said. Townsend, a full-time staff of eight and part-time help put together the Precinct Reporter in modest quarters at 1677 W.

Base Line. Townsend's desk, piled high with papers, is just a few steps from the entrance. That's an unusual spot for the publisher. But, Townsend is an unusual publisher. He's also the paper's janitor.

As a matter of fact, he does everything except sell advertising. He doesn't do that because the public might doubt the paper's objectivity if he solicited advertising with one hand and news with the other. Townsend comes across as militant in his column. In person, though, he's soft-spoken and unfailingly courteous. He's candid, but he softens his sometimes sharp viewpoints with a smile and humor.

Last year, when he spoke to the Democratic Luncheon Club, he was asked if he's a racist. "I'll have to think about that," he said, a response that may have shocked some but didn't surprise people who know him. "The Precinct Reporter is a newspaper that serves the black community. If I'm going to be worth my salt, I have to serve their best interests. "I'm not sure what your definition of racist is.

If your definition should include my responsibility to the black community, that's a gray area. You have to judge. But I don't apologize for it. Those people have to be served." Townsend said he works 16 or 17 hours a day, seven days of week. He spends about 80 percent of his time working on the paper.

The Precinct Reporter has a circulation of 40,000 about 8,800 of it paid mainly in San Bernardino, Redlands, Fontana, Victorville, Barstow, Colton, Ontario, Rubi-doux, Perris, Elsinore, Riverside, Pomona and Palm Springs. From time to time, he's dipped into his own pocket to pay the bills, but the paper is breaking even now. Townsend also has engaged in real estate and he's made a few good investments that enable him to live comfortably and to provide top-notch college educations for his three children. At age 64, Townsend is a little thicker around the middle than he used to be, but he still wears the same thin mustache as always. Townsend served with the Navy Seabees during World War II and saw extensive combat in the South Pacific, where he received minor shrapnel wounds.

He received a degree in political science from UCLA in 1946 and shortly afterward began putting out a black-oriented tabloid, called the Hi-Ways News. He said he started the Precinct Reporter in 1965 in hopes of offering a responsible approach to solving problems, an alternative to the burning that marked the civil unrest in Los Angeles, Detroit and Chicago. "I feel that we did contribute to public safety and to common sense at the time," he said. A few years ago, Townsend began making frequent visits to Nigeria and was high on business opportunities there. He invested in three fast-food places, but since a military coup in 1984, he's been unable to get his money out.

A year ago, Townsend began publishing the Tri-County Bulletin, the only black weekly in Orange County. It has a circulation of 5,000 and is at the point of breaking even, he said. Entertainment for the 7 p.m. tribute dinner will be provided by the Movement Band, an RCA recording group. The tribute is being put on by the Inland Empire Section of the National Council of Negro Women and the Westside Action Group.

Tickets are available at Harris', AMC Music, Andre's Hair Design II, Groovetime Records, Hair and All That Jazz, or by telephoning (714) 864-7446 in the evenings. I IIIIITllllTlIM tl ill mi ll I IV III ii.mHI Staff photo by Danlol A. Andorson Catnap 1 friends in the summer day camp program were more actively engaged in water sports. Adam Anderson, 9, relaxes on a pile of towels beside the indoor pool at the YMCA at 216 W. Sixth St.

in San Bernardino Thursday. Adam's smuggler ferreted out out of the state. Ferrets are weasel-like animals that have been semi-domesticated for hunting and as pets. The station checks vehicles entering the state from Nevada for produce, animals and other items that are restricted in California. One of the inspectors jumped on his motorcycle and overtook and stopped McMahon when he saw the driver pull off the freeway and onto a road a short distance away, apparently on his way Small quake jiggles desert JOSHUA TREE (AP) A mild earthquake shimmied through the desert near here early Thursday, but no damage or injuries were reported.

The temblor, which occurred at 7:05 a.m., registered 4.3 on the Richter scale and was centered 20 miles northwest of here. Riverside County sheriff's Deputy Glen Miller in Joshua Tree said the only inquiries his office received about the quake came from the media. EXTREME BLOOD SHORTAGE Donon Urgmntty Nthd BLOOD BANK 399 Bloodbank Rd. M-Th 8:30 a.m.- p.m. Fii.

8:30 p.m. Sat. 8:30 1:30 p.m. PubHc Sorvteo from ThtSun Call 885-6503 i Hbwtohave twice as much fun next weekend Attempted A man with a caged ferret was arrested Thursday when he tried to bypass a Barstow-area state agricultural inspection station that already had turned him back because inspectors found the animal in his pickup truck, authorities said. the California Highway Patrol said Mathew McMahon, 27, of Texas was arrested for investigation of avoiding a quarantine zone and possession of an animal outlawed in the state, both misdemeanors.

Officer Paul Crescenti said when officials at the Yermo Agricultural Inspection Station on Interstate 15, nine miles north of Barstow, first saw McMahon drive up about 6 p.m., they ordered him to turn around and take the ferret SONY 26" RCA VMS Top Loading, 34-nour Tkmr, Exprst Rtcordino SpMd Sroh, SMI Fnm. SONY 19" MONITOR RICIIVIR E3 COLOR TV Ha CSVau KV266S --) mia mm to Interstate 40, where there is no station. Crescenti said McMahon was brought back to the station, where a state Department of Fish and Game warden took him into custody. The warden also confiscated the ferret, whose fate was not immediately known. "They compete better for food than most other animals and kick them out of their niches," said Crescenti of the ferret's unpopularity.

S0MY 19" 1 COLOR TV KV1966 G.T.E. TELEPHONE mm 11 14 VHS tr BETA TAPES VHS .876 HEAD CLEANERS, VHS TAPE CASES IS 13 mm inn iw i I I I Si i i i i i i I a- mm TECHNICS DISC 199" ZENITH VR-400O aaaa? "tmf j1 J663J' FREE FRIENDS WEEKEND SPECIAL Two double rooms only $50. Offer qood Fnaay. Saturday. Sunday and holidays through Labor Day.

1985. Subject to availability. Not applicable when attending meetings or conventions tuai'Ji Enjoy a "Free Friends" weekend at the stunning new Irvine Hilton Towers. Two couples, two double rooms, for the price of only one. Dining and dancing.

Pool, spa, health club, jacuzzi, lighted tennis courts, nearby golf. Minutes to Newport Beach, Disneyland, and fabulous shopping. And with two-for-one, you'll have twice the fun THE IRVINE HILTON 17900 Jamboree Irvine, CA 92714 (714)863-3111 Call The Irvine Hilton Towers directly at (714) 863-3111 for reservations. i.