The Wichita Eagle from Wichita, Kansas • 13

i) 1 1 Bidjita (Cagle Friday February I 1980 1C Kansas Nursing Death Still a By DARRELL MORROW Staff Writer GREAT BEND It was immuI for Mary Robin Walter 23 to miss her afternoon nursing education classes It was also unusual for her not to pick up her daughter Pamela 5 from the baby sitter shortly after classes ended at 3 pm It was (: 40 pm that day Jan 24 when the reason for her absence became known Her 24-year-oid husband Douglas and a friend arrived at the Watters' mobile home in rural Great Bend and found Mary Walter face up on a bed shot at least 12 times No arrests have been made and authorities have few leads Douglas Walter said he was unaware that his wife missed her usual appointments After leaving his service station Job he went with two friends to a private club before going home he said Barton County Sheriff Gene Marks said die was shot at least 12 times in the neck arm and chest with a 22-caliber weapon Tests are being made to determine if the weapon was one the Walters kept at their home Sheriff's officers said the weapon was apparently loaded and emptied twice An autopsy determined that Mary Walter died between 8:30 am and lpm There was no indication of sexual molestation She was wearing a robe The Great Bend Tribune has offered a 81000 reward for information about the case Managing Editor Bob Fairbanks said it has produced no tangible leads No one apparently noticed anything unusual that day outside the mobile home near the entrance to Great Bend Airport was very friendly I don't know of anybody who would dislike her" Douglas Walter said was a very bubbly very happy person She liked people" He said they moved to Great Bend four years ago from Kingman where they both grew up He was to pursue a career in life insurance sales there but he gave up that profession and took a service station Job with his uncle Mary Walter was in her second semester of nursing education at Barton County Community College She had worked at a rest home in Kingman and after they moved at Great Bend Manor a hospital always enjoyed taking care of the old people" her husband said Tuesday before she died she helped deliver her first baby in the hospital She was tremendously happy She worked at Great Bend Manor one year after we moved to the trailer park She said she wanted to go to college and I said OK if she would major in something She knew what she wanted to major in nursing" he said (See BRUTAL 1C Col 1) MARY WALTER liked people' Rate Could Hit 145 Senate Lifts Ceiling On Mortgage Interest Across Kansas Staff Photo by Forrest Hints NELLIE MOTT AS SHE USUALLY IS AT THE STORE Few businesses still operate in Danville but her store is one She Knows Danville Needs After 50 Years in Towns Store i By JOHN PETTERSON Of Our Topeka Bureau TOPEKA- Amid predictions that prospective home buyers will be priced out of the market the Kansu Senate on Thursday unanimously approved legislation to allow home mortgage interest rates to exceed the existing 11 percent ceiling The action came after nearly Slhours of floor debate that left the bin unchanged except for technical adjustments Under current market conditions the bill would allow home mortgage interest rates to hit 145 percent The Mil now goes to the House where leaders indicate it will get rapid consideration with no major roadblocks for passage A HANDFUL OF Democrats attempted to limit the scope of the interest rate bill Thursday but the Republican majority and the remaining Democrats rejected those efforts on repeated roll call votes On the final vote all members of the Senate including those who had opposed the measure during floor debate fell in line behind the proposal They didn't explain their switch but Sen Don Allegrucci D-Pittsburg said I just went dowq for the third time" Here's what the MU would do: Tie home loan interest rates to the monthly interest rate published by the Federal Home loan Mortgage Corp (Freddie Mac) and allow them to exceed that rate by 15 percent Had the Mil been law today interest rates on home loans could increase to 14553 percent Prohibit the use of points on conventional loans but continue to allow them on VA and FHA loans Pants are used by lenders to offset their cost of borrowing money but cost the borrower more (See SENATE 3C Col 1) 150 More Workers Laid Off at Goodyear TOPEKA A diminishing tin market the result of reduced auto sales has prompted the layoff of another 150 workers at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co plant here company officials said Thursday The employees will be laid off next Wednesday bringing to more than 850 the number laid off by Goodyear since September plant manager Jerry Wolf said Goodyear third largest employer after the State of Kansas and Santa Fe Railroad employed 3500 workers before the layoffs began The latest layoffs will be based on seniority Wolf said although some salaried and supervisory personnel also will be included Most of those affected are members of United Rubber Workers Local 307 and local vice president Allen Smith said the union had applied for a trade readjustment allowance with the US Department of Labor To qualify the union and Goodyear have to prove that the layoffs occurred because of the bad effects that foreign car sales have had on domestic auto and tire sales AU eligible workers wiU be compensated with up to 70 percent of their income Job search expenses and relocation expenses i Woman Charged With Murder JUNCTION CITY Geraldine Allen McCoy of Junction City has been charged with first-degree murder after a lesser charge against her was dropped in Geary County District Court The woman was charged in the shotgun slaying May 11 of Janice Bolton of Junction City after an argument between the two women A Feb 12 court appearance date was set for McCoy McCoy originally had been charged with voluntary manslaughter Geary County Attorney Steve Opat said Thursday that he would not comment on why the charges were changed until McCoy's trial began By FORREST HINTZ Staff Writer DANVILLE Nellie Mott was supposed to help out in the store for a week or so while the other girl was on vacation That was SO years ago and Nellie's still there And she's owned the store since 1950 Danville seven miles east of Harper is a tiny quiet place that once had hopes of becoming a city It had three grocery stores a bank school lumber yard and whatever else was necessary But Nellie's store the post office and the elevator are about all left now "It's kind of a bedroom town she said The false-front store building built in 1917 is a far cry from chrome-and-glass supermarkets but it has personality There are potted flowers in the front windows a gas stove toward the back and chairs where the customers can sit and visit And the pin-neat shelves hold enough to meet the everyday needs of the town NELLIE HAS QUIT handling fresh meats except for some she keeps frozen But the meat case holds plenty of lunch meat bacon and so on and sometimes she makes sandwiches for customers who want them She vividly remembers a sandwich she made two years ago man asked for a ham and cheese sandwich and I began to Fix it" she said turned around and he had a gun That's the first time I ever looked into a gun and it's the last time I want to "He get much Hardly enough to make it worth his time but it was quite an experience" Nellie said merchandising has changed greatly in her half-century in business WAS THINKING about that the other day" she a lot different now and I appreciate that We used to get peanut butter and lard in 25-pound cans and you can imagine what it was like to handle that in hot weather We used to sell beans and sugar and all that sort of thing by bulk But now everything is packaged and it makes it a lot better no 'rush period' here Just the regular customers who like to come in and visit and I know practically all of them In some cases I'm starting on the third generation and some of the trade comes from Freeport Norwich Bluff (Sty and even Harper always been my home and this has always been a small store so I just wouldn't fit in a big place I guess they'd miss me if I closed up" Forrest Hints has been writing about Kansans for II years If you have an idea for call him at 1112SI-8S13 or toll-free Higher State Aid Sought 4 Sought in Kansas City Robbery Will Kansans Fight School Taxes? KANSAS CITY Kan Four armed men are being sought for robbing the First State Bank in Kansas City Kan of a large amount of money just hours after a cash delivery arrived at the downtown bank Authorities said they have no suspects and are uncertain exactly how much money was taken during the holdup Wednesday morning Investigators Thursday said they are examining the getaway car found abandoned in a railroad yard The four men wearing coveralls and ski masks robbed the bank wMle employees were counting money from a large shipment of cash delivered that morning No shots were fired and no injuries were reported Lee -Wastell lobbyist for Kansas-National Education Association said school districts should be allowed to increase their budgets a minimum of 9 percent for next school year Even a 10 percent increase would fail to keep pace with 13 percent inflation he said Carlin has recommended 8 percent (See CARUN 3C Col 3) classroom teachers who addressed the committee on the always-trouble-some school finance issue The issue is expected to receive final committee action in the House late next week or shortly thereafter All OF witnesses asked fa liberalized state budget limitations on school districts to permit raises for teachers and other public school employees By TIM KIDD Of Our Topeka Bareau TOPEKA Kansas property taxpayers may stage a proposition-13-style revolt if the Legislature fails to go beyond Gov John recommendations for state aid to public school districts the House Education Committee was warned Thursday John Bottom representing the United School Administrators of Kansas called the 5-mill average statewide increase that would occur under the governor's plan unacceptable He asked legislators to increase state aid enough to hold local school levies at their current levels According to state officials that would require up to $65 million in aid above the current level roughly twice as Mg an increase as the governor is recommending Bottom was one of several persons representing school officials and From Staff and Wire Reports Institution9 This Week Eagle-Beacon Loses an HERBIE SAID was going to quit last March but they talked me out of it I've done yard work for 14 years and now that's what I'm gonna do full time" I told HerMe I was amazed at how highly people thought of him I'm friendly" he said try to be" years" 1 said a long time" years three months and one week" he said like to do a column about you" I said nothing much to he said Nothing much except the Eagle-Beacon obviously is losing one of the best representatives it's ever had it's hard to quit something you like after you've had it a long time" Herbie said Grinning he added probably still keep waking up at a quarter to three every morning" work only twice (for a hernia operation and for a funeral) and his schedule was a killer He would get up at 2:45 in the morning and his days included spending eight hours walking 10 miles to deliver more than 400 morning and afternoon papers and in between those two routes he did yard work scooped snow if there was snow to be scooped and ran an egg route But this week Herbie's 20-hour days end He is quitting his paper route ABOUT TIME to change jobs and do something else" said Herbie who is 36 and lives with his wife Bonnie in a one-bedroom apartment in the downtown area When Herbie told his customers he was quitting he found out how they felt about him They gave him a clock a watch flowers for himself and his wife money and other things including protests we found out he was quitting'' said Bonnie Carinder almost wrote a For a while Betty Dements was puzzled by it Every day Monday through Friday the door at KGAE would open this pleasant young man carrying newspapers would walk in and he would announce a number Or Or Whatever I first started working here I didn't understand what he Betty Clementssaid I realized it was the temperature He always gave the weather The daily weather report In downtown Wichita in the eight-block area where Herbie Krehbtel had delivered both The Wichita Eagle and The Wichita Beacon for II years the daily weather repot became Herbie KrehMd's trademark and Herbie himself became something of a beloved institution EVERYBODY it seems businessmen switchboard operators secretaries knows and they talk about him in tones you usually use only when talking about your immediate family or your favorite football team do anything for you if you said Betty Clements is really a nice person" such a nice young man very dedicated very prompt and real friendly" said Bonnie Carinder with 8OS Secretarial Service Others several others offered similar testimonials And dedicated he certainly was Over the past 18 years Herbie missed letter to the editorial page to tell how much we like that young man and to protest his Virginia Lingg of the Better Business Bureau said "It's a shame he isn't going to And Don Saunders city manager of the Eagle-Beacon's Circulation Department said better believe we tried to change his mind We tried every way in the world".