The Index-Journal from Greenwood, South Carolina • Page 9

CITYgTATE PAGE 9 Monday September 19, 1988 The Index-Journal questions will be on ballot Long 1" s-lk jit Commission. Hi 4 To serve as meeting place The board of directors of the Heritage of Abbeville County. The house has been House, of Abbeville stand on the steps donated to the women's clubs by Milliken of the newly refurbished house that will and Company. (Staff photo by Jan West-serve as a meeting place for women's clubs mark) Abbeville women's clubs dedicate Heritage House SPARTANBURG (AP) Some voters say there may not be enough time to fill out the general election ballot Nov. 8, what with 11 questions concerning eight amendments to the state constitution along with the national, state and local races.

Under state law, each voter is allotted only three minutes to cast his ballot at a voting machine and five minutes in a booth using a paper ballot. "If you read this fast like this you don't understand it," said Linda Lantion of Spartanburg. It took Lantion and Lisa Crossley of Cowpens seven minutes each to read the questions, ranging from a proposal to create a state grand jury to giving the General Assembly permission to establish age and other qualifications for the office of sheriff. But the wording is not that simple. After Lantion and Crossley had finished reading the questions, they said they did not understand the sometimes technical legal language.

For example: Amendment No. 7 "Shall Section 13 of Article VIII of the Constitution of this State be amended so as to provide that counties, subject to the General Assembly first providing by law for bonded indebtedness and school fiscal ability considerations, may jointly develop an industrial or business park with other counties within the geographical boundaries of one or more of the member counties, where the area comprising the parks and all property having a situs therein is exempt from all ad valorem taxation because the owners or lessees of any property situated in the park must pay an amount equivalent to the property taxes or other in-lieu-of payments that would have been due and payable except for the above exemption?" Explanation by the state Election Commission "This amendment would allow counties to develop together an industrial or business park. The owners and lessees in the park would be exempt from all ad valorem (property) taxes. They would be required, however, to pay a charge instead of property taxes that is equal to property taxes or other payments in place of taxes. The amendment also provides the procedures for the counties involved to agree on sharing the expenses and profits of the park.

Before a park can be created, the General Assembly must determine how the value of the property in the park will be set for purposes of issuing bonds and for purposes of school fiscal ability considerations." "I don't even know what we really read. You know that's not enough time. If you're going to vote you need enough time," Lantion said. Election officials agree there will not be enough time for voters to consider the referendums. "There's no way that you can even read that ballot in that time," said Conway Belangia, spokesman for the state Election house meets a need for the county.

Anyone may join Heritage House, and once 51 percent of an established Abbeville club belongs to Heritage House, the club is entitled to use the house for monthly meetings and one social event during the year at no charge. Annual dues are $15 per person. Moorhead said the purpose of the house and club 15 to foster and encourage the educational, literary, cultural and civic growth of the Abbeville area without object of profit. Dues raised from the Heritage House membership go toward paying electric, heat and insurance bills. The house was built in 1937 by Milliken, and features a living room, dining room, den, screened porch, large kitchen, sitting room, four large bedrooms and many bathrooms.

The four upstairs bedroooms will be used as meeting rooms. By JAN WESTMARK Today's Living editor ABBEVILLE The Heritage House, Inc. celebrated its grand opening Sunday, marking a new beginning for ladies' clubs in Abbeville County. Thanks to the generosity of Milliken and Company, the former plant manager's house on Carolina Circle has been leased by the women's clubs of Abbeville County. Named the Heritage House, the house will serve as an umbrella club for women's clubs in the county.

Following months of cleaning, painting and decorating by the ladies on the board of directors, the house is ready to host meetings and will be available for weddings, reunions and parties. An executive committee and a 15-member board of directors operate the house. JoAnn Moorhead, president of the executive committee, said the Auto insurance New standard disappoints many SALUDA ELECTION Runoff set Tuesday SALUDA Saluda town residents will elect a new councilman in a runoff election Tuesday. L. Douglas Grice and Gerald W.

Padget will face off for the unexpired seat of Councilman B.W. Smith, who resigned for health reasons. Voters may cast their ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the town hall.

Although turnout was "33 percent in the Sept. 6 election, Municipal Election official James Padget said he hoped Tuesday's turnout is "even better" and urged all registered voters to vote in the nonpartisan election. GREENVILLE (AP) New standards that took effect Julv 1 were designed to make bad driv ers in South Carolina pay more for insurance so that good drivers; would pay less tosubsidize them. But that isn't how it's always worked out. Some good drivers are paying more for insurance, and state in surance officials say tne main reasons are a higher reinsurance fee, mistakes and previously approved rate increases.

"We knew there was going to be some disappointment," said Carlton Truax of the South Carolina Insurance Information Service. No one is sure how many driv ers with clean records are getting rate increases instead of the widespread cuts predicted when the law took effect, but Truax calls it relative handful" of the state The commission is encouraging people to study the referendums before they go to vote and be ready when they enter the booths, he said. Some voters already plan to do that. "If I could read all those and make a decision in three minutes, I'd be doing pretty good," said J. P.

Huckaby of Roebuck. He rou tinely studies the referendums as they are published in the newspaper and knows how he is going to vote before he heads to the polls, he said. "I think if you wait until you're in the voting booth to make up your mind, you're in trouble, said Bob Burchette of Mayo, adding he will study the referendums before the election. Belangia said the number of referendums is comparable to the 1984 ballot. The length and number of questions on that ballot resulted in a great deal of voter drop-off, he said, adding only 65 percent of those who voted in the election cast ballots on the referendums.

Voters should use sample ballots or ballots printed in the newspaper, studying them and making notes on the way they want to vote on each question, he said. They can take the notes into tne voting booth and vote quickly, he said. The questions and explanations also will be posted at each polling place, and election officials will be asking voters to read the questions and make their decisions before entering booths. mrs. Workman demand around the country.

The teachings emphasized literature, paintings and sculptures created on the British Isles, particularly Ireland. Several lectures were televised on the South Carolina Educational Television network. Among her many several accomplishments, Mrs. Workman was credited with creating Columbia College's "BIG" English major a program that combined business, industry and government studies as an alternative to teaching for English majors. Before joining the college in 1957, Mrs.

Workman taught English for several years in public schools. An Orangeburg native, she graduated from Walterboro High School, where she was valedictorian She received her bachelor's degree in English in 1937 from Winthrop College, a master's degree in English in 1949 from the University of South Carolina and and a Ph.D. in Ene lish in 1958 from the University of South Carolina. rf 'Tommie' Workman, former S.C. Mother of the Year, dies Curator collects snakes, lizards for new aquarium-reptile complex main reason for rate increases in about 100 complaints checked so far by the state agency, he said.

Those cases generally involve drivers whose coverage costs less than $400 annually, he said. The recoupment fee would fall if the higher rates and loss of license threatened for bad drivers reduces accidents and insurance claims, officials said. A new system of rating drivers may also increase rates "for a few." Truax said. The number of categories used by insurers to classify drivers grew for 10 to 22, intended to be a safeguard against windfall profits for insurers by more closely identifying common characteristics. "This may have shifted a.

few good drivers into a higher rate by removing the flexibility companies had to adjust rates within done on a new restaurant. But the biggest part of the expansion is the new Aquarium-Reptile Complex, called the ARC by workers. The building will have four galleries South Carolina, The Desert, The Tropics and The Ocean. The South Carolina gallery will follow the waterways of the state from the mountains to the coast. Visitors will then enter the arid Desert Gallery to view tortoises, sand vipers and rattlesnakes.

The center's hallways then wind toward the Tropic Gallery, which will have lush vegetation and be home to schools of piranha, electric eels and an endangered crocodile. The final and largest exhibit is The Ocean, which will feature a tank containing Pacific Ocean species. A diver, who will feed the fish and clean the tank twice a day, will talk to zoo visitors through a microphone. Other, smaller tanks will highlight other oceans in the world. One smaller tank will house creatures from the northwest coast of the United States and periodically will have waves crashing into it.

That tank will have a bubble that visitors can stick their heads in. Admission to the zoo, which is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., is $3.25 for adults and $1.25 for children ages 6 to 12. Children under 6 are admitted free. broad classifications," Truax said.

The categories are based on age, sex and other factors. State officials have said one group that would see an increase due to this change is women under 25, long considered a better driving risk than men, to eliminate complaints about discrimination. Some insurers may also be making mistakes with the new system. Truax said. But many motorists upset about higher rates forget that most traffic violations can increase rates for ud to three years, he added Some motorists also are seeing rate increases that were obtained last year but delayed until now, Barnett said.

The freeze was ordered by the legislature to give state officials time to prepare for the new method of setting rates. Jerry Clower brings comedy to Greenville GREENVILLE Jerry Clower, Yazoo City, Mississippi's most famous storyteller, will bring his special brand of comedy to urman University Saturday at 7 p.m. in Paladin Stadium. are $7.50 and can be purchased at the gate the night of the performance. In case of rain, Clower per-1 formance will CLOWER' take place in McAlister Auditorium.

Clower, a Grand Ole Opry star, has entertained audiences all over the country with his humorous stories of life in Amite County, Miss. He was named "Country Comic of the Year" for nine consecutive years by the ma jor country music trade publications, and he has recorded 12 best-selling albums for MCA, including "Live From the Stage of the Grand Ole Opry" and "Ledbetter Olympics." A native of Mississippi and a graduate of Mississippi State University, Clower spent 18 years as an employee with the Mississippi Chemical Corporation before he recorded his first comedy album and became one of the country's most popular entertainers. He has also co-hosted the nationally syndicated television show "Nashville on the Road" and has written two books. Ain't Good Good! and Let The Hammer Down. For more information about Glower's performance, call Furman's Athletic Department at 294-2150.

i 2.1 million drivers. No dollar figures were available on premium changes. State officials are reviewing the overall impact of the changes on the rates of abput 15 insurers that supply two-thirds of the coverage in South Carolina. The main reason for the higher rates experienced by some motorists is that, in some cases, an increase in what is known as the "recoupment fee" was greater than the reductions brought about by changes in the law, said Joseph Barnett of the state Department of Insurance. The fee covers the losses of the state Reinsurance Facility, an insurance pool where insurance companies place drivers they consider to be poor risks.

The fee, which adds $73 to each premium this year based on past claims paid by the pool, is the Pfaff hopes that by the time the center is opened, he'll have all the animals on his acquisition list. A nationwide search is on for an aquarist who will handle the aquarium side of the project, "I'm starting to get a little nervous," Pfaff said about being ready for the opening. "We know what (animals) we want. Getting them in time is a different matter." The fish and other water creatures are not as difficult to acquire, and will be brought in two or three months before the center opens. They will not be collected in advance partly because of the difficulty of housing them temporarily, Pfaff said.

The Aquarium-Reptile Complex is part of a $6.35 million expansion project at the zoo that's being paid for by general obligation bonds approved by Richland and Lexington counties. The bonds amount to a tax increase of $1 for the owner of a $100,000 home, zoo spokeswoman Mary Marlowe Leverette said. The expansion includes the Riverbanks Farm a barn and classroom building that opened in April and has a variety of domestic animals including beef and dairy cattle, goats, sheep, swine, horses and poultry. A second phase to be completed in December is a new entryway to the zoo, including an expanded gift shop, security area and first-aid station. Work also is being COLUMBIA (AP) Friends and colleagues of Rhea "Tom-mie" Workman, who died Saturday night, say the 1978 South Carolina Mother of the Year had a quick wit, dynamic personality and was a dedicated teacher.

Services for Mrs. Workman were scheduled for 4 p.m. today at Trenholm Road United Methodist Church, with burial in Greenlawn Memorial Park. Mrs. Workman, a retired Columbia College professor and an expert in Irish history, was 69 when she died at Providence Hospital in Columbia.

Surviving are her husband, William Douglas Workman former editorial analyst for The State newspaper; a son, William D. Workman III, mayor of Greenville; and a daughter, Dorr ill Workman Kir bow Haymes, of Hilton Head Island. When longtime friend Jerry Savory came to Columbia to chair Columbia College's English Department in the 1970s, he was struck by Mrs. Workman's "very, very quick mind and wide variety of interests," he said. "I always used to say I couldn't believe the first Southerner I met spoke so rampantly." As a knowledgeable English teacher, "Tommie held her classes in awe, principally because of her superior intellect," Charles Wickenburg, a family friend and former editor of The State, said.

"She spoke very rapidly, at length and at depth. Students used to say if they dropped a pencil they got a semester behind." It was her authoritative com mand of subiects that earnml hr several post-doctoral fellowships in 1965 and the May Youmans Edens chair at Columbia College in 1970. Most recentlv. Mrs. Workman's lectures on Christian art were in COLUMBIA (AP) Tucked out of sight near the tiger exhibit at the Riverbanks Zoo is the Rep tile Quarantine Center, better known as the snake trailer, where the inhabitants of the new Aquarium-Reptile Complex are being temporarily housed.

Though only the shelTof the $4.5 million complex is finished and the opening date is tentatively set for next June, reptile curator Scott Pfaff is already gathering the harder-to-get creatures. The clean' spartan trailer houses aquariums, some of which at first seem lifeless. But exotic snakes such as the eyelash viper from Central America so named because of the way the scales over its eyes look are curled beneath cardboard boxes that are their homes. The reptiles are being checked for parasites and viruses and being held until their new home is completed. Most of them came from other zoos, but some were collected on a hunting trip Pfaff conducted recently in Arizona.

An oblong, deep, metal wash tub holds several small lizards leapin' lizards that try to escape up the sides but can't manage the slick walls. They are not too un common, but nevertheless exotic- looking creatures Pfaff collected in Arizona. The whitewashed trailer is kept especially warm for the reptiles, and the decor is practical newspapers line some of the aquariums..