The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California • 3

New Law Stalls Woman's Plan To Rehabilitate Delinquents John Crowe The Early Bird AT LEAST when Wilbur Wagstaff is off probation from his job as assistant administrative officer for personnel management he have to go through the powder-puff ceremony Used to be when a Personnel Department employe finished probation he or she would receive a key to the bathroom Until then one had to ask a secretary for the key which was attached by a small chain to a powder puff By DARRELL MADDOX Bee Statt Writer MADERA Mrs Irene Robinson of Madera likes teenagers and wants to try and help delinquent youths by training them for jobs She has spent close to 66000 of her own money to get her project under way but now she is having trouble She rented a defunct drive-in restaurant on Highway 145 just east of Madera and was training youths to fill restaurant jobs That was last September but a new law that went into effect Jan 1 has eliminated the youths from the program compensation must be paid and Mrs Robinson said it costs 61100 in advance for a one-year period She is working with the Juvenile Justice Commission and others in an attempt to come up with the money plus additional financing for the program Meanwhile Mrs Robinson is operating the drive-in by herself from 10:30 am to 6 pm seven days a week and says if no assistance is received she will probably have to close about the end of this month because the long working week is too much for her although some senior citizens are volunteering their time Mrs Robinson 67 is a senior citizen herself but is not about to slow down will have to catch me on the run I sit around doing nothing waiting go nuts if 1 had to sit and watch television all Her program has had other setbacks in addition to the compensation problem The drive-in was burglarized and later an armed holdup man got away with 645 At one time up to 20 youths were involved They were to donate 80 hours of time at the drive-in and after that receive the minimum wage They painted the building and named it Uncle Take Out It was never a money-making proposition but that does not bother Mrs Robinson who says it was never intended to be a profit maker However it has never broken even Some say the location is bad and Mrs Robinson said that by opening in September the summer highway traffic was missed She said that most of the customers are truckers and persons who live in the mountains and stop on their way home from Madera Once they stop they usually come back Mrs Robinson said mean she's out to lunch I gotta go Everyone has a key to the bathroom now and a relief And Wagstaff ought to be sure to wear nonscuff shoes otherwise boss Edward Firby might be trying to trace scuff marks to yet another desk His last sole-searching effort to find the scuff-mark culprit went for naught ROBERT GRIFFIN says Judge Hollis Best's talk to the Lions Club on the Bee Four case "Freedom of the Press vs A Fair stirred up a lot of talk among many big businessmen but not in his favor criticized every aspect of the press" Griffin said But when the members later discussed the judge's talk Griffin said they noted that his viewpoints were carried accurately and without comment by the same media he criticized thing he wanted to shut down is now being used to carry his Griffin said He concluded: press what would we do without CORKY DWORACK chuckled over the conversation he heard in a office between a receptionist and a 100-year-old patient waiting to be fitted for new dentures When the receptionist asked who his physician is the cenenarian replied: haven't got any use for doctors They always want to put me on my Says Dworack: why lived so THE CHASE was hot and heavy for 15 minutes as officers followed a motorist at high speed from the northern part of Fresno to the Palm Lakes golf course They had him within a few minutes after he hit the greens divots flying got an officer said over the radio in a well-satisfied tone bring a tow Not being familiar with Palm Lakes as the name implies said motorist ended up in a water hazard instead of being as free as a birdie THINGS DID NOT go as well for another officer answering a call for assistance from a fellow officer The call proved to be minor but when the responding officer returned to radio in he discovered he had locked himself out of his patrol car So officers broke in through the back door with a screwdriver and used a bent coat hanger borrowed from the hotel to pop the locking button inside All this in front of the Sheraton This never happens to Starsky and Hutch Channel 18 Telecasts May Begin In March NEWS of the VALLEY McClatchy News Service Tues Jan 18 1977 BI Session Airs County Space In Los Banos LOS BANOS Agreement on how best to provide additional office space for expanding county departments particularly the sheriffs office may be closer at hand following three hours of discussion on the subject during an administrative practice session of the Merced County Board of Supervisors here yesterday afternoon The question is whether the additional space should be created by enlarging the existing county courts building in Los Banos building a new complex for county offices at a new site or join with the City of Los Banos in construction of a joint city-county complex downtown as preferred by the city The discussion was held in Los Banos at the suggestion of Supervisor Pete Cassinerio in order to give local citizens an opportunity to offer opinions on the matter Among those expressing views were city council members City Manager Loris Brod-derick directors of the Merced County Fair and the fair manager Norm Swanson Most seem to agree with the basic recommendation of the project's architects Aaron Green of San Francisco and Robert Beharka of Los Banos that the best interests of the citizenry would be served by constructing a new building for all county services adjoining the Los Banos police building thus benefiting from the existing jail facilities and with city hall nearby providing a centralized location for city and county offices The architects' recommendation also calls for sale of the existing courts building to the state department of fairs and expositions for use as a fair administration and rental building The courts building is across the street from the main portion of the fairground The possibility that the fair will purchase the courts building met with some question from fair officials present The questions resulted from the amount the county would want for the courthouse and the fact the fair has no money which could be used either for purchase of the building or converting it to fair use Walter Lopes county building director said the average of three appraisal methods places the value of the courts building at 6190000 while construction costs to duplicate its 7478 square feet would run an estimated 6338364 Fair officials are opposed to the county expanding at the courts building because parking space used by fair officials would be lost Brodderick reiterated the city's stand that it will pay whatever additional land costs the county would incurr by building office space downtown over expanding at the courts building One idea which seemed to receive favor was the possibility that some office space could be immediately created adjoining the police station and the existing courts building used for non-justice related county business such as welfare and mental health This could be done until such time as the county could afford to place all these offices together downtown and the fair obtains money from the state for use in acquiring the courts building for fair business The matter again will be discussed next Monday at 1:30 pm in Merced at the supervisors chambers and next Tuesday at 2:30 pm at the regular meeting Dos Palos Meeting Drug Pusher Tip-Off Mrs Irene The menu consists of a hot roast beef sandwich for 61 hot dogs for 35 cents milkshakes a salad coffee tea and ice cream The trade has paid for the food but Mrs Robinson bas paid the utilities and the 650 a month building rent She said she does not expect to do better until next summer Most of the customers have not heard of Mrs program but once they stop a sign on the window explains it and Mrs Robinson said she makes a point of telling persons In addition to being paid a small salary after the volunteer period the youths got free meals and Mrs Robinson said kids practically ate me out of house and home" Mrs Robinson has done volunteer work at the juvenile hall where she taught the girls sewing and helped with arts and crafts work It was while working at the juvenile hall that she became interested in delinquent youths She says she does not want the money she has invested in the drive-in Cline says the reason of the program's success is that the identity of the person who provides a tip regarding a drug incident is never revealed The person's identity is never revealed because the tip-off is made to a Los Angeles number and the caller is specifically instructed to not give his or her name The caller is assigned a code number and should there be an arrest and conviction a reward of up to 6500 is offered Payment however is made in such a way that no one ever knows who made the tip or who collected the reward WeTIP founded by Bill Brownell a retired Southern California sheriff is a non-profit program but there are some expenses involved which communities participating in the program must share These costs are basically for the phones which are manned by trained operators and literature which is dis- Drop ROP Hanson said Coalinga and Tranquility Districts have also indicated they may have to pull out of the program because of lack of adequate state financing Ernie Wall district ROP and vocational education coordinator said there were 147 students and about 20 adults from Dos Palos enrolled in ROP programs last year compared to an entire enrollment of about 240 for the overall region This year's local student attendance is about 80 he said LOOK Our showroom the finest office Bee Photo project back care to get my money back because I feel I have gotten value received in satisfaction" she declared That satisfaction has been in the form of helping young people is a good place to counsel kids because we are not that Mrs Robinson said She said counseling helped one boy who was on the verge of committing a murder Most of the youths who worked at the drive-in had been in the juvenile hall kids were never disrespectful of me regardless of what they had done" she said Mrs Robinson has no children of her own but reared an adopted boy get disgusted with senior citizens who sit around and say kids are no she declared In spite of the problems at the drive-in Mrs Robinson is not discouraged because she feels the project is worthwhile must teach kids reasoning and the need to do a dollar's worth of work for a dollar's worth of she says Will Air Program tributed in the communities describing how to go about turning in a drug abuse reports The cost runs around several hundred dollars depending on how much literature is desired Cline says that any tip can be helpful but the focus of the program is the pusher not the user The toll-free statewide line is open Monday through Friday 9 am to 9 pm and on Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm and is available to anyone in California Tip-off information is immediately conveyed to the narcotic sheriff or police departments of the area involved and arrests are never made on the basis of a telephone call alone Rewards are paid upon verification by WeTIP from law enforcement agencies that there has been an arrest and conviction or the seizure of a large cache of drugs The reward drop is made at a secret postal location by use of the assigned code names and numbers No personal contact is ever made with the informant Cline says the program has received excellent endorsement from communities where it has become activated and in less than five years it has been in existence over 1200 arrests from WeTIP sources have led to over 700 convictions and the seizure of over 618 million worth of illegal drugs and narcotics as well as a large quantity of stolen property In Los Banos Councilman Elmer Austin has been designated as coordinator Cline also is making contacts with interested persons in Mendota Tranquility and San Joaquin He suggests that persons from other valley communities who might be interested should contact WeTIP by writing to PO Box 858 Glendora CA 91740 or by calling WeTIP at (213) 686-2621 Tj Light Tan Only Sizes Available Robinson NOBODY NEW 77 101 WWa Itil ads hrdw wiyl ntenw tnww NoinenonnM KMTF Channel 18 the public broadcasting system is expected to go on the air the last week of March although a public fund drive will be needed to raise enough money to keep it operating through June 30 The possibility of running out ot money in the initial months of operation was raised Monday at the Fresno "County Board of Education meeting A result was County Schools Supt Ernest A Poore was directed to invite superintendents and board members k' of the other three counties involved Kings and Tulare to meet Jan 26 to discuss the financial situate tion fc Seven finalists for the job of station manager will be interviewed Wednes-? day and Fresno board member Mrs Violet Heintz suggested allowing new manager to study a prelim i- nary operations budget before it is taken to the station's Board of Man-' agement a group composed of repre-' sentatives of the four counties The financial picture as outlined by Mrs Harriet Jowett educational tele- vision cbordinator looks like like this: A public fund drive to purchase and install equipment has raised 1171548 A total of 6204748 has been pledged r'V The fund drive goal was 6250000 so the project is about 646000 short Ole Mathiasen coordinator of community Affairs is working to raise the 646000 can go on the air without get-Ming the full amount" Mrs Jowett 'psaid J'With the equipment now installed X1 films from the Public Broadcasting System could be shown in color And local programs could be produced in S' black and white The 646000 is needed for equipment that would allow local programs to be produced in color she said In addition to that phase of the operation Mrs Jowett gave the board a proposed operations budget totaling DOS PALOS A meeting will be held at City Hall here Feb 9 to explain a drug pusher tip-off progra The program called WeTIP (We Turn In Pushers) is a statewide citizens self-help program designed to eliminate the hard drug problem and is being coordinated in this area by Firebaugh Councilman Eugene Cline Jr designated by WeTIP as zone coordinator Cline has already interested persons in several West Side communities to coordinate local efforts and hopes other East Side communities will want to activate the program in their communities so as to make a united effort at reducing the serious drug problem Dos Palos Councilman Bobby Norris is acting as local coordinator and after explaining the program to trustees of the Dos Palos High School the board gave its enthusiastic support to the idea High May financed by four cents on the local tax rate plus 61000 from the state for each student in the program This year the district is having to contribute about 6400 per student in the program plus the four-cent tax rate and according to a state formula to phase out of assisting alltogether next year's local contribution would be greater followed by a still greater kick-in the following year when the district would have to pay all costs of the program for local students 6186205 That money would cover salaries office expenses and renting and producing films Participating schools in the four counties would pay an estimated 6100000 of the operations budget through June 30 Mrs Jowett said A grant from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting will be about 625000 That leaves about 661000 to be raised by another fund drive which has not yet been started For the period from July 1 through Dec 31 operations money will come from a new contract to be negotiated with the schools and probably still another public fund drive will be needed Mrs Jowett said About a year from now the station will be eligible for another grant from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting Depending on the amount of money that has been raised locally in the first year and the size of the potential viewing audience the grant could be larger in the second year Mrs Jowett said Dos Palos DOS PALOS Trustees of the Dos Palos High School District have voted to drop out of the West San Joaquin Valley Regional Occupation Training Program after June 30 The action was taken after the school board heard reports that the state is cutting back its contribution toward the program which will require a greater contribution from the district if it is to remain in effect Dist Supt Leamon Hanson said that ROP last year was OF AN INVITATION TO ANNUM SA1E nettle cneex LaAuM AacamUec 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