The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 19

Mid-America WEDNESDAY July 15 1992 THE KANSAS CITY STAR Fingerprint on bag Anthony Civella sentenced led FBI to 2 men charged in killing Federal judge imposes prison term figure for fraud in the resale of prescription JOE STEPHENS said Sciortino is a on mob drugs By Staff Writer By JOHN DAUNER and JOHN NORTH Staff Writers felon a longtime mob associate and godchild hearing stretched throughout a day punctuated with drama daughter wept on the stand and testified that she had no idea what her father did for a living Lawyer Byron Neal Fox the chairman of the Kansas City Board of Zoning Adjustment testified that he had advised Civella he had not broken the law And in a sworn statement a former New York mob boss identified Civella as the most powerful mobster in Kansas City A federal jury convicted Civella and two associates in December on eight counts of fraud related to the resale of prescription drugs The men allegedly bought more than $1 million worth of pharmaceuticals at steep discounts by claiming they would be used in nursing homes Instead the men See JUDGE C-2 Col 1 Federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty for the two men accused of killing FBI Special Agent Stanley Ronquest Jr C3 connection with death Primm's wife worked for Reliable Drug investigators said The two men were celebrating Primm's 38th birthday the night Ronquest was shot The FBI had checked the fingerprints of more than 200 men during the four-month search for Ronquest's killers The 52-year-old special agent was based in Washington and was on special assignment in Kansas City went 122 days before the case said FBI Special Agent James Esposito who oversees the bureau's Kansas City See FINGERPRINT C-3 Col 1 Reputed Kansas City mob boss Anthony Civella was sentenced to 4'2 years in prison Tuesday during a daylong hearing complete with tears and revelations The ailing 62-year-old will join his father and his alleged top lieutenant in federal custody launching what authorities consider a new era in the Kansas City Mafia sentence is going to leave a leadership said James Esposito head of the local FBI office not clear to us who is going to assume that But already there are strong indications he said that Civella has anointed an acting boss during his absence: Johnny Joe Sciortino reasonable to assume Anthony Civella has given his to Sciortino Esposito A fingerprint on a white plastic bag helped lead investigators to the two men charged with the murder of FBI Special Agent Stanley Ronquest Jr according to documents made public Tuesday The bag from a Reliable Drug store was found in the parking lot of the Historic Suites of America hotel after Ronquest was killed March 1 1 in a bungled street 1 robbery An FBI fingerprint specialist from Washington confirmed last week that a print on the bag belonged to Richard Primm whose name had been given to i investigators by a tipster Primm 38 and his 32-year-old half brother Robert Pearson are charged with murder assault I and a firearms violation in JIM McTAQQARTThe Star Anthony Civella (left) left the Courthouse 811 Grand Ave with his attorney Oscar Goodman during a recess Tuesday afternoon in his sentencing appearance Registration drives reel in young voters 1 8- to 24-year-olds eager to vote but profess party loyalty By SHARON HARL Staff Wrltar Tiffany Wood was walking through the Ward Parkway Center on Tuesday when she spotted the voter registration table felt bad that I doing my said the 22-year-old college senior who stopped to register A lot of 18- to 24-year-olds around Kansas City are signing on to the political process this year say election officials who do not yet have hard numbers on the registrations But some of that enthusiasm may be due to the or Lose campaign being promoted on MTV which launched its own political coverage in February with the New Hampshire primary 18-year-olds are doing said one deputy registrar at the Blue Ridge Mall who signs up about 40 new voters a day MTV surveys show numbers" of young voters getting their political information from the music-video station said network spokeswoman Tina Ex-arhos In addition Rock the Vote a grass-roots drive based in California wants to register 100000 first-time voters in time for the See MORE C-3 Col 3 RICH SUOOTha Star Virginia DeWitt while signing up Wood said that a class on government at Northeast Missouri State University prompted her to become more involved in the political process Tiffany Wood (left) of Kansas City spotted a voter registration table Tuesday afternoon at Ward Parkway Center and decided it was time she registered to vote She joked with registration volunteer Wichita clinic blocked 48 are arrested including Father Norman Weslin By MATTHEW SCHOFIELD Wichita Correspondent WICHITA This month of silence in the abortion battle ended Tuesday For the first time this summer protesters slipped across police lines forcing 48 arrests It was the one-year anniversary of the day anti-abortion foes arrived in Wichita and protesters marked the day by again trying to blockade the clinic of George Tiller The most prominent national anti-abortion figure in the city this summer Father Norman Weslin was arrested Others halted traffic crawled under fences and pulled themselves into the street in scenes reminding many of six weeks of turmoil last year But abortion-rights advocates said police acted much more quickly this time and the foes were not successful in slowing down the clinic Tuesday Police had feared extreme measures by followers of a new national anti-abortion group The Lambs of Christ But officers said the effort was less intense than expected probably seen the real hard-cores yet maybe waiting for said Maj Tyler Brewer one of about 40 Wichita police at the scene think our officers responded real well today Their tactics were real easy to Still Michael Dodds a local anti-abortion leader said they could keep up similar blockades for the rest of the week He said increased police vigilance and restrictions such as lengths of snow fence and tougher laws would keep the protests from escalating into a six-week siege like last summer But he said others were ready to risk arrest believe today we witnessed an heroic and spiritual he said leadership sowed the seeds of sacrifice and I know it made me want to follow him In fact I'm sure just a matter of time before I do is just the beginning of a long-term local The protests began just before 7 am on busy Kellogg Avenue outside east-Wichita clinic A truck pulling a horse trailer stopped and six abortion foes leaped out and scurried under the trailer brought tape and wires with which to attach themselves to the trailer axles The rush-hour traffic was backed up several blocks but police estimated they cleared the road in 10 minutes While police were clearing Kellogg another group of protesters slipped through a hole in the snow fence around the See WICHITA'S C-2 Co 4 Wet and wild Study of black culture in schools stirs academic debate Activists say KC district not going far enough By MARY SANCHEZ Staff Wrltar County lawmakers urge school district to add African theme to magnet plan C-8 proach misinterprets history and promotes separation of the races In Kansas City activists have been urging school officials to make African studies a magnet theme They also vow to avoid controversies that have occurred elsewhere by insisting on historic accuracy and scholastic integrity On Friday Superintendent Walter Marks offered a compromise He proposed that Chick Elementary School become a magnet school in 1993-94 with an international studies theme and an African emphasis DA Holmes Elementary School would follow suit in 1995-96 The plan must be approved by the school board and by US District Judge Russell Clark who oversees the See AFROCENTRISM C-8 When parents and school activists denounced the Kansas City school board Monday night they seized on a fundamental topic of growing academic debate: How should the accomplishments and views of black and other ethnic groups distorted or ignored in the past become a part of standard school curriculum? One emerging approach is Afrocentrism which often emphasizes ancient Egypt as a black culture that spawned much of Western civilization one is talking about replacing Shakespeare or Columbus" said Molefi Kete Asante chairman of Temple department of African-American studies only grounds the African-American child in a true historical reality and it also enlightens and teaches the white Still some scholars criticize Afrocentrism saying the ap- FRED BLOCHERTha Star Wesley 8 of Shawnee and they gleefully took to the pond Tuesday The boys were visiting their grandparents Leon and Myrtle Coker who live next to the park Grandfather Coker estimated the rainfall amount by checking a can in the back of his pickup truck Overnight thunderstorms that dropped more than 4 inches of rain on the De Soto area of Johnson County early Tuesday left a temporary wading pool in Miller Memorial Park in the 32200 block of West 83rd Street Temptation proved too much for Steve Coker 6 and his brother INSIDE TOMORROW in The Star The Sea Horse Fountain at Meyer Circle on Ward Parkway is dedicated before a crowd of 4Q0 C-3 Missouri supporters of Ross Perot discuss their petition drive A comody troupe hired to perform on a River Market stage once used by exotic dancers has been told it cannot perform there any longerjC-2 A A Missouri doctor may be disciplined for events at two abortion clinics that led to the death of one patient and medical complications for several others C-2 9mmm BWtisrwws.