The Wichita Eagle du lieu suivant : Wichita, Kansas • 15

Gun Control National Debate Is Reflected in Views ofDA LaMunyon include fingerprinting prospective purchasers "If you're going to have a handgun" he said "then you should be responsible for it" driver's license as proof of identity fill out a federal form and a simple local police identification form and hand over the money THE QUESTIONS on the federal form are intended to exclude criminals mental defectives aliens drug addicts and escaped convicts from buying guns But no one checks whether you answer the questions truthfol- ly- The federal forms remain in the possession of dealers and the information on the police forms are entered Into the police computer without further checking If you buy the gun privately there are no forms at all to fill out By JEFF WILLIAMSON Stiff Writer Bertha Sims the 24-year-okl woman who was Widiita's latest homicide victim was killed by a person who fired a 45- caliber revolver into the car in which she sat The fatal shot entered her skull She was the city's 18th homicide this year and the ninth to die by a gun wound Last year IS of the SI murder victims were shot to death In 1975 25 of 39 killings involved guns Still it remains a simple matter to buy a handgun in Wichita A person 21 years of age need only present a gun dealer with Ms Would the city benefit by enacting a stiff handgun registration ordinance? Or should it go further and prohibit handgun sale to anyone without a police permit such ai is now the case in Kansu City Kan and numerous other major US cities? Wichita's two top law enforcement officials Police Chief Richard LaMunyon and Dist Atty Vern Miller have different views on the issue LaMunyon said recently that he would favor mandatory registration of all handguns sold in the city with a fiO-to 90-day waiting period between purchase and receipt of guns and a police background check Mat would LaMunyon's and Miller's differences on the issue are quite rational when compared with the emotions provoked nationally by the subject of gun control Extreme gun control advocates have urged such measures as a total ban on the production and importing of all nonsporting handguns or confiscation of existing handguns They point to the nation's high rate of violent crimes and killings in which handguns are most often the weapon of choice and to the ease of obtaining a handgun in the United States as compared with other democratic countries (See LAWMEN IB Cel 1) BUT MILLER said he does not think the benefits of handgun registration would justify the cost which would primarily lie in the time spent by police checking into purchasers' backgrounds "I'm not opposed to the idea of a waiting period" he said "and I'm not strongly opposed to registration in principle but I don't feel that the benefits are there to account for the expense" Cities Still Face Action On Cleanup By FRED MANN Staff Writer Federal environmental protection officials say legal action against kansas cities that have failed to clean up their water is still possible despite state issuance of new waste disposal permits The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are tangled in a dispute over what to do about cities that missed a July 1 deadline to comply with a 1972 federal clean water law On the same day the deadline I Corpse Is Found Victim Missing For 3 Weeks By JEFF WILLIAMSON Staff Writer The body of 27-year-old Sandra Talbott missing from her El Dorado Kan hone since July 10 was found early Saturday morning in a hedgerow- in southwestern Sedgwick County Sheriff Johnnie Dorr said the woman had been slain He was biterviewing persons Saturday afternoon and evening in search of the killer or killers He would not disclose how she was killed The badly decomposed body was discovered by a farmer checking his fields near the Intersection of 111th Street South and 231 Street West Hie woman's only clothing was wrapped around an ankle Miss Talbott was reported missing by her mother Ruby Bale of 720 Taylor in El Dorado the day after she had disappeared from a bingo game at St John's Church in El Dorado LT RALPH GREEN of the El Dorado Department of Public Safety said Miss Talbot's mother had dropped her off at the bingo games about 5:30 pm July 10 and returned about five hours later to find the woman already had departed from the church Miss Talbot who walked with a cane as a result of an auto accident several years ago had lived in El Dorado most of her life Green said She was living with her mother and was not working at the tune of her disappearance he said When Mrs Bales came to El Dorado police July 11 she did not know where her daughter might have gone Green said However investigation by the El Dorado police led them to believe the woman had gone or been taken to Wichita where she had friends he said ACCORDING TO Darr the Sedgwick County Sheriff's investigation was focusing on persons in the Wichita area Several persons had been picked up and interviewed by Satur- day night but Darr declined to reveal whit information if any they had provided taking it step by step" Darr said are a great number of people that need to be talked to We've got some biteresting About 15 detectives and deputies from the Sedgwick County Sheriff's office were working on the case Saturday along with three members of the El Dorado Department of Public Safety MACK TRACTOR CREATES A RACKET CLOUD OF DUST IN PULL Much time and expense goes into powerful machines Hot-Rod Farm Tractors Highlight Sedgwick Fair passed Mel Gray director of the state department issued new waste disposal permits to each of the 185 cities that missed the deadline In a letter Gray told city water officials he issued the permit! to assure them they would not be in violation of state law and to give them some protection from "unwarranted action under federal The EPA responded with a letter telling each of the cities that Gray's action doesn't remove legal responsibility for complying with the 1972 law and reminding them that legal action is still possible' SAID DAVID TRIPP attorney for the EPA: "They (the state) don't have the authority to give legal protection against state and federal law" Tripp said the EPA advised Gray not to issue the permits but its message went unheeded Gray could not be reached for comment last week but Herman Janzen chief of Kansas water pollution control said the state action was taken because it was impractical to expect cities to have had their water clean by July 1 "The studies are not complete to show them how to do that" Janzen said federal law says it has to be done by the deadline" he added saying it isn't worth it that there are other priorities" What has hurt the cities most said Janzen is an inability to get federal funds intended to help clean water In 1973 and 1974 then-President Richard Nixon impounded half the $18 billion provided by the 1972 law Janzen said most cities are doing what they can to clean up their water TRIPP SAID THE EPA is aware of the funding problem and has backed off to some extent The EPA doesn't have the resources to pursue each violator he said and if cities show (See CITIES 7B Cal 2) Storm Causes Blackout Lightning and high winds knocked out electrical transformers and power lines in Wichita Saturday night causing a blackout throughout much of the city said a spokesman for KGRE the Electric Co Heavy thunderstorms moved through the city in the early evening They were part of a line of storms that stretched from south-central and southeastern Kansas to northern Oklahoma Lights began going out around 7 pm when the storms knocked out lines and transformers in many parts of the city the KGAE spokesman said POWER FAILURES occurred from the northern city limits along the Arkansas River southward to Pawnee and from Douglas in the center of the city southward aimed to 63rd Street South KGAE crews were looking for downed lines and repairing trans-formas at 9:30 pm Some power already had been restored but other areas were expected to be powerless si least until 11:30 pm' City and county law officials said no trouble resulted from the weather and no flooding or other damage had been reported Small hail was reported at Conway Springs around 8:15 pm and small hail and strong gusty winds were reported just north of Arkansas City at 8:35 pm A Coiwich resident reported high winds flattened at least two barns in that i I 1 i- i I I spin aimlessly until a red flag would drop signalling the end of the run IT IS CALLED a tractor pull and the men who do it are dedicated They must love it for the expense and time are great to build such a machine is (expensive) but what said Bob Webber president of the Kansas Mini Pullers Association take four wheels a motor a transmission put it in your garage and throw money at it and if it comes -out good you got a hot-rod tractor" Glenn Smith of Garden Plain roared down the track for 288 feet the longest of the day before the sled won over the machine As the sled was unhooked Smith gunned his engine and the tractor's (See ROARING 7B Col 1) down the track The idea was to pull the sled as far as possible with tractors that cost from 12000 to $10000 to build And grown men were doing it A green flag would drop signalling the driver to start Explosions of sound would erupt from the engine wheels would spin and tractor and sled would barrel down the track The farther the tractor would go the more weight it would pull as a heavy weight would crank up until its center of gravity was over the sled The tractor would begin going slower and slower its engine racing at fever pitch and wheels diuming up dust that enveloped sled tractor driver and crowd Finally the machine would be able to do no more and its wheels would By DAVE GOODWIN Staff Writer Engines roared and the earth vibrated Saturday as the men brought their streamlined machines up to the starting line They leaped forward as they edged in place the engines were too powerful for low speeds On the sidelines crowds at the Sedgwick County Fair edged forward to get a closer look at the contraptions and the track they would be racing down From the sounds the machines could have been top-fueler drag racers or funny cars But they weren't They were hot-rod tractors garden and mini tractors THEY WOULD be hooked up to a sled that would grow in weight from 400 pounds to 9000 as it was pulled Bob With Sensitivity Getz Great just great Wichita's cops are going to get sensitivity training If the program is successful our cops may soon be the most popular people in town Provided of course that they aren't instructed to be sensitive only in dealing with thugs punks troublemakers criminals and other rowdies Think about it A cop pulls you ova fa running a red light Comes up "Excuse me" he says hate to detain you because obviously in a hurry but allow me to introduce myself My' name is Officer Krupke and if I could have just a moment of your time like to call to your attention the fact that you just ran a red You start sweating You'd known you should've stopped when the light turned yellow as you were approaching ment? May I intrude upon your attempted You wait Soon Krupke and the guy in the ski mask come back their arms around each other and they return the stolen money to the store As they pass you Krupke with tears streaming down his cheeks says "This poa man is the product of a broken home and a victim of Ms environment He's been temporarily out of work since 1984 and just needed money to pay Ms rent" Krupke tells the guy I'm gang to give you a lift home Tonight you write 50 times 'I will not steal anymore' and mail it to me Then 111 talk to your landlord about your rent" The last you see of Krupke he's rolling out a red carpet so the "victim of Ms environment" can get Into the police car a credit to the department" you I do my best Now I hope you'll forgive me but I must ask something of you Would you just promise me that you'll never consciously run a red light again? That would warm my heart and it'd also be fa your own good I don't want you to think that I condone running red lights and we certainly wouldn't want you to have a nasty accident some day now would we?" promise Thank interrupts Krupke pointing Nearby a guy wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun and a papa bag has just rushed out of a convenience store excuse me" Krupke says running off after the guy Krupke shouts at the guy me sir! Pardon me but do you have a mo I be so bold as to ask you why you ran the light?" Officer Krupke inquires offering you a cigarette you have your mind on more important matters than traffic signals? Or do you perhaps have some problem that's bothering you so much that you're unable to concentrate folly on your driving? And if you do have a problem would you like to talk to me about it?" you say "well I guess you want to see my driver'i license?" "Now now Let's not be hasty I really would like to know why you ran the light Not that I want to pry But I would like a chance to understand your position relax and tell me about it" Krupke says know how you must be feeling right now All uptight Worrying about having to pay a fine But trust you say "to tell the truth I guess I just used bad judgment I don't expect you to believe me but I'd just caught three red lights in a row I was annoyed and then when I uw this one turn yellow I speeded up and tried to make it so I wouldn't have to stop again" know just how you Krupke says happens to all of us at one time a another and I can tell just by looking at you and listening to you that you're basically a good thoughtful conscientious person who has told the truth I just find it in me to issue you a "Why "Think nothing of it This makes me feel just as good as it does you If I gave you a ticket I probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight suppose I'm too Krupke says ever since I took our department's course in sensitivity I just cant help it I hate writing tickets".