Lexington Herald-Leader from Lexington, Kentucky • 51

The Islington Leader Lexington Ky Thursday September 29 1977 C-13 Uncle Sam going after crooked Former1 postmaster guilty in SI million mail heist members of school boards 6 NEWARK NJ (AP) Suspended Atlanta City Postmaster Gordon Lawson has pleaded: MifUu 7 in federal guilty court to playing a part in a rob By Joseph Volz New Yoifc News bery of more than II million in mail money property from the post office he once headed thtf US attorney here announced against 432 local officials In the past seven years But there are many areas where there have been few or no federal prosecutions of state and local officials In California for example only three local officials have been prosecuted com-! pared to 56 in New Jersey and 63 in New York Lawson 37 of Ocean City and Wyndmoor Pa was charged with masterminding a plot involving four other persons to rob the valuables from the post office Feb 27 He was arrested by FBI agents and postal inspectors at his post office on May 31 Justice Department prosecutors' headed by Thomas Henderson chief of the Public Integrity Section have been so encouraged by successes in Scranton that they have targeted two states one in the Northeast and one in the Midwest for the next phase of the campaign Justice Department officials would not name the states but said that they have established some "indicators" to locate passible areas of corruption "If an area has strong organized crime activity and has had few convictions of public officials it is a good place to one official said WASHINGTON-The Justice Department is launching an unprecedented nationwide campaign to find and prosecute corrupt school board officials The department has already obtained 40 convictions in the Scranton Pa area mainly against local officials who took kickbacks from contractors selling supplies to the local school systems In the Mid Valley Pa School District eight of the nine school board members pleaded guilty after another school official testified that they had taken more than (100000 in kickbacks The following states have had no convictions of local officials in the past seven years: Nevada Kansas Maine Oregon Rhode Island Utah Vermont Washington and Wyoming Some of the states Including Rhode Island and Nevada have had flourishing organized crime operations The 20-year veteran of the postal service eih tered the guilty plea Tuesday before U3 District Court Judge John Gerry in Camden He faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison and a $10000 fine at his Oct 28 sentencing The department has won convictions Search for coed A poster on a phone booth serves as a reminder to Indiana University students that police are still searching for Ann Louise Harmeier The 20-year-old coed disappeared Sept 12 while driving to the campus from her home in Cambridge City Ind (AP wirephoto) cities Adams Square 4-Pc Bedroom Suite to get more aid The Classic Look Thai Lasts Regular $99999 By Aaron Epstein Leader Washington bureau The aging stagnant big cities of the Northeast and Midwest will get dramatically larger amounts of federal rebuilding money even more than the Carter administration sought under a House-Senate compromise The compromise was worked out after several months of deadlock It would preserve a new mandatory funding formula that shifts huge chunks of a $124 billion community development bill from the growing Sunbelt states to the declining cities of the Frostbelt over the next three years In addition it would require Housing and Urban Development Secretary Patricia Harris to apportion "discretionary" -money an estimated $12 billion in a way that will siphon still more millions to such older cities as Philadelphia New York Cleveland and Detroit Sen Harrison Williams (D- NJ) who led the to pour larger amounts of discretionary money into the Northeast called the compromise very important gain for the older The compromise measure expected to win easy clearance in both houses would require Harris to favor cities with the largest proportions of pre-1940 housing in dispensing discretionary money The result would be huge increases in the amounts of federal funds that older cities could spend on slum clearance playgrounds streets neighborhood centers and other community improvements Northeastern states would get a 71 per cent increase in funding Here are a few examples of the three-year increases in millions of dollars that the new formula would provide over currently existing funding Philadelphia: $2323 up from $1277 Detroit: $1866 up from $873 New York City: $7333 up from $515 New Jersey: $2064 up from $1474 Pennsylvania: $4296 up from $2493 Wilmington Dei: $123 up from $7L Akron: $273 up from $173 By contrast such cities as Miami Dallas Phoenix San Francisco and Los Angeles which suffer more from growing pains than decay would get only slightly larger amounts Some smaller Sunbelt cities would be funded at lower levels than they receive under existing legislation The existing formula gives a 50 per cent weight to poverty and 25 per cent each to population and overcrowded housing a method criticized as shortchanging older decaying communities The administration proposed and both houses accepted an alternative method which favors the Northeast and Midwest regions by giving a 30 per cent weight to poverty 20 per cent to growth lag and 50 per cent to amounts of pre-1940 housing Environmentalists say clothes unsafe Aphrodite Living Room Sofa 7-Piece Dining Room Suite Gaspe Living Room Sofa WASHINGTON (AP) An environmental group is charging that a manufacturer of sleepwear has replaced a government-banned chemical with one that also is unsafe 87-in Sofa Regular 859995 $49)9) 91-in Sola Regular 839993 Regular 8139999 $49)9) Cape it beautifully designed in ulk bloc rayon and cotton velvet With wrap-around arm 91-inchet long for real comfort and ftyle Suite Includes: China base china deck table with 2 leaves and 4 side chairs 7 piece are of a rich honey maple with honey maple veneen Topped by shiny brass-plated hardware Aphrodite puts a lot of comfort into classic styling Designed in lush printed rayon and cotton velvet With big thick reversible cushions 87-in long 832995 Matching Chair 8279 Not Shown: 834995 60-in Dead-Sofa 8849 834995 62-in Demi-Sofa 449 829995 Matching Chair The Environmental Defense Fund identified the substitute chemical as Fyrol FR-2 Officials said the substance poses cancer risks similar to those of Tris the flame-retardant that was banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in April "It is inexcusable that the commission has permitted the sleepwear industry to phase out die use of one hazardous chemical Tris only to subsitute another Fyrol FR-2 that may be hazardous" said Robert Harris a spokesman for the group- Harris said inadequate testing by die manufacturer of the substance Stauffer Chemical Col "misled the fabric and apparel industry into believing that Fyrol FR-2 was a safe alternative to But a spokesman for Stauffer said the charge was a "bum rap" He said the firm volunanly removed the chemical from the market last spring A spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission confirmed that Sears Where America stops KEEDAKET? 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