The Modesto Bee from Modesto, California • 18

B-2 Thursday September 11 1933 The Modesto Bee v- MetroThe Region rlh Brief AIDS initiative figrC Ted BensonThe Bee Stanislaus County's kick-off luncheon Wednesday at Graceada Park Diners line up for the United Way of Teaming By KARYN HOUSTON Bee staff writer Without the $46000 it received from United Way last year Mary Toepfer figures the agency she runs for battered women and children the only facility of its kind for victims of domestic violence in Stanislaus County would be "nowhere" "We get about 40 percent of our budget for The Haven from United Way" Toepfer said "I guess if we didnt get the money by hook or by crook we'd still be able to operate the shelter But we wouldn't have any of the vital support services" Toepfer is director of one of the 26 social service agencies United Way funds each year with community-wide donations She and 500 other supporters came together Wednesday for the 1986-87 campaign kickoff picnic in Graceada Park Everyone gathered at brightly bak tooned tables in the park pavilion to lis Teen-age girl Susan Bender Scare for pilot fA student pilot had scare Wednesday afternoon while landing at Modesto Airport when the nose wheel on her airplane blew out as the craft touched down on the runway Modesto police said The pilot Susan Mary Pry 30 of Walnut Creek was not injured in the 12:45 pm incident The airplane a single-engine Cessna 150 received damage to its propeller nose wheel and cowling Police said that after the wheel blew out the nose gear collapsed causing the plane to skid along the runaway untu it came to a stop Bus-crash hearings SPARKS Nev The National Transportation Safety Board will hold hearings Sept 23-24 as part of hs investigation into the May 30 bus crash near Walker Calif that killed 21 and injured 20 others The hearings will be held at the Nugget Hotel About 17 people are expected to testify The Stariine Sightseeing Tours' bus plunged into the Walker River while carrying 42 mostly elderly people back to Santa Monica after a four-day outing at Lake Tahoe Presiding over the hearings will be NTSB Vice Chairwoman Patricia Goldman who said the two-day meeting is part of the fact-finding phase of the board's investigation Tax measure opposed SONORA The Tuolumne County Farm Bureau announced Wednesday that it opposes a 1 percent sales tax measure that will go before the voters this fall The tax has been proposed to raise funds to improve roads throughout the county The farm bureau says the measure circumvents Proposition 13 and that the list of projects amounts to a "pork-barrel" effort to convince voters to support the tax measure Besides that the farm bureau says the county "has been remiss'' in assessing mitigation road fees for developers and has not used gas tax money wisely The statement also says that the added tax would harm the county's economy Fewer meetings planned ThereH be more closed sessions and fewer public meetings of the Board of Education under a revised Schedule recently adopted by board members The board's new schedule calls for it to meet publicly every three weeks Instead of the second and fourth Mondays as has been common practice for years Superintendent James Enochs and board President Paul Neumann said the change was made for several reasons Board members want to try meeting in Closed session more often between the public meetings to discuss personnel and legal matters In the past this usually has been done after a regular meeting leading to late night sessions that dont serve the district well because everyone is tired board members have said Also the board wants to give staff members more time to prepare agendas The public many comment at any regular meeting at its beginning usually 7:30 pm The board's schedule for the remainder of the year is as follows: Sept 29 Oct 20 and Nov 11 Meetings are held at 426 Locust St Animal League The Pro Animal League of Stanislaus County will meet at 7 JO pm today in the Daisy Belle Mobile Home Park clubhouse 400 20th Century Blvd Turlock The group's main concerns are encouraging adoptions from the Turlock Animal Shelter and educating the public about spayneuter programs Memorial scholarship TURLOCK Contributions are being Accepted by Stanislaus State University for a Paul Harder Memorial Scholarship Harder a college administrator died last month while vacationing In Michigan Contributions may be directed to the Paul Harder Scholarship Fund Stanislaus State University Cashier 801 Monte Vista Ave Turlock 95380 A fall music department concert also will be dedicated to Harder a music faculty member officials said Turlock drug forum TURLOCK A community forum focusing on cocaine use and abuse will be conducted at 6:30 pm Sept 25 in the conference room of the Emanuel Medical Center 825 Delbon Ave Among other things the forum will address medical complications and risks associated with cocaine use treatment of drug dependency helping addicts quit and confronting troubled employees The program also will include testimonials by two former cocaine users and a display of drug paraphernalia by the Turlock Police Department Persons interested in attending the forum are urged to pre register by calling Emanuel's Care Unit at 668-4357 Setting it Straight Becerra of Modesto and the Rev Kick Estrada Jr of Stockton will be married Sept 20 Their wedding story was printed in error in Wednesday's Bee joined by Stanislaus Stanislaus County supervisors have joined the battle against Proposition 64 the initiative on the November ballot that could lead to Quarantining AIDS victims and banning them from jobs in schools and restaurants The Board of Supervisors this week Joined a growing list of government agencies that have gone on record opposing the measure sponsored by supporters of political extremist Lyndon LaRouche The board without discussion unanimously adopted a resolution attacking the initiative at the request of the Stop LaRouche Now Committee of StanislausSan Joaqum counties The board resolution contends passage of the Initiative "would create an atmosphere of a witch hunt" against people suspected of having acquired immune deficiency syndrome "I am against putting people in glass cages Just because they have AIDS" board Chairman Nick Blom said Wednesday "It has never been proven medically that it is a contagious disease" Alfred Rodriguez campaign coordinator for the local Stop LaRouche Now Committee said "We are glad to have the backing of county officials" The committee which has about 50 volunteer members is asking the Modesto and Stockton city councils and San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors to adopt similar resolutions The measure would require the state to place AIDS on the list of infectious diseases Public health officials in both counties Wednesday applauded the board's stand against the measure "I'm opposed to Proposition 64 1 feel it's not at all an appropriate way to deal with the AIDS problem" said Dr Kern Kelly Stanislaus County public health director Four cases of AIDS have been reported in the county since 1978 All four victiris eventually died In San Joaquin County 21 AIDS cases have been reported since 1982 Thirteen have died "This is an absurd proposal based on a totally false concept that AIDS can be transmitted like measles or whooping cough" said Dr Howard Mitchell head of communicable disease prevention for the San Joaquin Local Health District Health officials say AIDS can be transmitted only by intimate sexual contact through blood transfusions or sharing jf hypodermic needles The California Medical Association and the California Conference of Public Health Officers have condemned the LaRouche initiative Rodriguez said his committee so far has raised $1500 to defeat Proposition 64 "If this initiative passes AIDS victims and even those only suspected of having the disease will be driven underground" he said "They will be afraid to go for treatment because of the threat of being quarantined" SABATINO: Teacher files $3 million suit CONTINUED from B-1 grades students "That I am informed and believe and allege that the actions taken against me are in fact based on my participation in an investigation of the school lunch program at Beyer" That Investigation centered on the actions of certain employees one of whom ultimately was dismissed Breon said Sa-batino's testimony was in support of the oisoiKsca employee rooa service man-q ager Brian Weiss was found to be inno cent of any wrongdoing The result Sabatino said are that his reputation and standing in the teaching professiori and community have beeai damaged causing him mental and emotional distress and hurting his earning" capacity The persons Sabatino said caused his-injuries and who are being held response ble for the $3 million claim are: 3 '4 Sabatino filed the claim against Super- intendent James Enochs Beyer Principal James Nicholas Beyer assistant Principal Dave Cooper former Superintendent Robert Otto Beyer teachers Harold Crumpley and Gordon Chan board! member Steven Grenbeaux and former! board members Allan Vincent John UhLJ Michael McKibban Maijorie Fovind and Dan Wood Breon said the school board likely will! reject the claim perhaps at its next meet-1 ing Sept 29 and refer it to the district's insurance company Sabatino may then- formally file suit In state or federal court) up to ten to quick speeches from volunteers Mickey McNickle Wells Fargo Bank president and Bill Seavy division manager of Patterson Mayor Pat Maisetti community relations volunteer on the board said she started planning for the picnic in February As she looked around at the activities Wednesday she deemed the affair a success "very upbeat" The audience seemed to agree Speeches were kept short the barbecued food was hot several members of the San Francisco 49er Gold Rush cheerlead-ing squad made an appearance Musicians from Modesto High School also performed Seavy reminded the audience that United Way is trying to collect $15 million this year a 20 percent increase over last year "That's a big jump from what we've had in the past but there is a need ta this community" Seavy promised the money would con- ttaue to go to strictly local social service missing foul By DARYL FARNSWORTH Bee staff writer A 15-year-old Modesto girl who disappeared ui April under mysterious drcum-stances may have been the victim of foul play investigators said Wednesday City police Detective Richard Ridenour said Susan Robin Bender told her mother on April 25 that she was going to take a bus to Carmel to visit friends for a few days He said a girlfriend of the Bender girl who by coincidence ran into Bender at the bus depot told police Bender also told her she was taking a bus to CarmeL But the friend said she saw Bender talking on a telephone at the depot and about 10 minutes later saw Bender get into a green van that had stopped in front of the depot A Turlock police fraud investigator who handled the case said a private audit of the firm's finances in December turned up evidence that as much as $35000 in company funds was misappropriated i by Cone for his personal use during 1984 and 19851 He was employed by the corporation from Jury 26 1982 until he was fired by its board of directors on Sept 19 1985 Cone's dismissal occurred after an initial audit ordered by the board in re- rnse to suspicions voiced by some of firm's 25 employees disclosed various financial discrepancies a plant official said Wednesday rv Hypower a firm that manufactures hy- draulic cylinders for farming and other specialized uses is located in a small industrial complex on Broadway near the Stanislaus County Fairground Corporation board members initially contacted the Turlock Police Department with their suspicions last October A second audit of the corporation's fi say he has no chance at all? I dont think so" Breon said Wednesday he and his partners hope the board considers all factors and not Just political ones He said the law firm is considering opening an office in Modesto if it means keeping its job He said he has specialized in school law since 1973 and that his firm of 19 lawyers represents or consults for more than 250 school districts statewide "There Is no law firm in or near Modesto that has the background or expertise that we have" Breon said "I'm not sure all the board members know the exent and involvement of our firm" Neumann disagreed needs He said that some new agencies probably wity be added next year This is the first year in a stepped-up United Way campaign If the county reaches its $15 million goal volunteers say they will go for $175 million in 1987-88 and $2 million in 1988-89 John Ward general manager of The Modesto Bee is chairman of the Modesto campaign Ward said campaign volunteers started knocking on the doors of local companies in earfy August already working toward the new goal Last year $1 million was raised in Modesto Campaign efforts win be increased in the outlying communities as well according to Maisetti In charge of the outlying areas are Stanislaus State University President John Moore Turlock Bob Crowther Ceres Kris Thompson Oakdale Ross Smith Riverbank Eleanor Beach New-manCrows Landing andColeen Atkins Patterson play is feared The girlfriend said she was unable to see who was driving the van or if the driver was a man or woman Ridenour said the girl's mother Pat Bender reported her daughter missing May 1 Bender said she became worried when her daughter didnt return home and didnt call to say she wouldn't be home vv Ridenour said Bender contacted him Aug 9 and reported that her daughter had returned home but only stayed about five hours and then left again without saying where she was going Bender is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall weighing 130 pounds with black hair and brown eyes Anyone who has seen or talked to the teen-ager since April 25 is asked to contact Ridenour at the Police Department at 526-2501 nances ordered by its board of directors after Cone's dismissal uncovered further evidence that business invoices had been dummied money was missing from the petty cash account and company checks had been written for personal purchases police fraud Investigators said Investigators said Cone used corporation funds to pay for such things as the dosing costs on his northeast Turlock home and to cover the uninsured portion family medical expenses Cone also is suspected of using a company credit card to buy parts for a motorcycle and a speed radar detector for his automobile according to police lnvestiga- tors i- Cone's wife mother and lister also worked at Hypower but none remains on the payroll a corporation official said Before Joining Hypower Cone worked a brief time as controller of the Emanuel Medical Center Cone's departure from Emanuel was "by mutual agreement" according to Assistant Center Director Robert Moen "It depends on what he means by expertise I firmly believe there are qualified firms locally" Breon made the comments after learning that the board voted unanimously late Monday night to hire a Modesto attorney as soon as possible He said he was aware that there was some interest among board members to hire a Modesto attorney But Breon said he did not know the board was going to impose tiie office-residency If the board eventually decides against Breon an effort would be made to name his replacement within 30 days Neumann said Ex-manager sought in Turlock fund loss By TONY WALKER Bee staff writer TURLOCK A former general manage er of Hypower Hydraulics Corp is named in a felony embezzlement complaint in connection with $35000 police say is missing from the manufacturing firm Carlton Edgar "Ed" Cone Jr has been charged ma complaint filed in Stanislaus County Municipal Court with two counts of embezzlement Cone 41 is accused of misappropriating the money from Hypower over a two-year period while managing the corpora- tiom In a letter accompanying the complaint Cone was ordered to voluntarily surrender to the court according to Deputy District Attorney Tom Quinlan investigators said Cone apparently has sold his Carleton Drive home and they are uncertain of his whereabouts But they said they expect to contact Cone through a local attorney who represented him at earlier police interviews ATTORNEY: Politics behind residency requirement CONTINUED from B-1 mannsaid Those political considerations include "the amount of money the district has Gdd for negotiations and legal services" eumann said "It has been a community concern" Therefore Neumann said "I dont think his chances are good In fact his chances are really not good" Asked to be specific Neumann estimated there was a 60 percent chance the board would select someone other than Breon "Is it fair to say the cards are stacked against him? I'd say that's fair Is It fair to.