The Bradenton Herald from Bradenton, Florida • 13

FLORIDA NEWS Rapist's location worry neighbors B-3 Gator hunting applications issued B-3 The Bradenton Herald Tuesday June 21 1988 SECTION fast fingers may have saved his life BART GREENWALD Herald Staff Writer I knew was that if I let go of that sucker he was going to shoot Joseph Bernhard sheriff's deputy Deputy Joseph Bernhard stared death in the face Sunday Ss75jl A convicted felon jA Pl pointed a loaded 357 Magnum pointed at Bernhard's chest Then he pulled the trigger Jones still claimed that he lived at the residence Acting on the arrest request Bernhard said he was going to take Jones tojaiL said going to jail' Bern-hard said Then Jones rushed the deputy and tackled him During the scuffle Jones took gun from his holster and held it to the chest In a split second the officer grabbed the gun with his left hand and held the cylinder in place so it rotate and foe He then put his middle finger of his right hand behind the trigger so Jones couldn't pull the trigger all the way back Three times Jones tried to pull the trigger and three times Bernhard held tight The officer then managed to grab his radio and call for help Forty-five seconds later Bradenton Police Department backup arrived was terrified It seemed like three days but it was probably only about five Bernhard said I knew was that if I let go of that sucker he was going to shoot me" The deputy said he responded to a trespassing call at 1119 Seventh St Court about 9 pm and saw several people standing in the yard After talking to them he saw a man later identified as Jones standing at the back door of the house Bernhard asked the man to leave but Jones refined claiming he lived there Bernhard brought Jones to the front of the house where the owner said he wanted the man arrested for trespassing Acting out of shear terror the 22-year-old deputy grabbed the gun held on to the cyl- mder and put his fin- Jones ger behind the trigger The gun didn't fire i Benjamin Jones 36 of 305 15th Ave is being held without bond in the Manatee County jail He is charged with attempted murder resisting arrest and trespassing Hours after the arrest Bernhard reflected on the ordeal that almost cost him his life JENNFER TEETERBradenton Herald Deputy Joseph finger saved his ToB-2 FIGHT A i Drug-bust charges dropped Body-hauling-bids mired in legal morass Circuit Judge Scott Brownell had ruled that the cocaine was illegally seized and could not be used as evidence MARC PERRUSQUIA Herald Staff Writer JOHN ALLARD Herald Staff Writer This is no science fiction tale It's a true-to-life story about the fierce competition among firms that sell body bags to the county Folk singers arts and crafts not worth keeping Two thinga in thia world that we can well do without today are art and crafta and folk lingers I know that thia is practically unAmeri-can And I muat admit that my dislike of arts and crafts and folk lungers is of a fairly recent origin I used to love arts and crafts and folk singers But arts and crafts got too big for their hand-made boots Imd folk singers began showing up in Carnegie HalL In short success ruined arts and crafts and folk singing In the 1960s arts and crafts moved from the back woods to auditoriums glitzy malls and convention centers where the products were passed off to the rubes as the teal tiling Today lots of arts and crafts items are as shoddy as mass produced goods What caused the decline of arts and crafts in the first place was the fact that city folks took over Remember all those stories in the gbout the Wall Street stockbrokers who earned hundreds of thousands A year and went to Vermont to work in leather carve little elephants out of teakwood hand-paint pottery write poetry engrave belt buckles study Islamic art and generally go for baroque? Everybody in the 60s was going back to the land rediscovering their roots and acting in general as if it was the 18th century again It was a reasonable' reaction to the ennui and boredom created by technology But as with many good things it went too far Now Vermont and New Hamshire are hill of former corporate managers who run cottage industries in converted bams turning out lamps trays bowls bookends tables chairs handbags billfolds and costume jewelry Some of those who fled the city for the simple life got so rich from their handicrafts that they have moved back to New York and now reside in the Trump Towers They have traded in their jeans and are back in Brooks Brothers suits and Gucci shoes Now the movement in Vermont and New Hampshire is to chuck it all and go back to the corporate jungle where people are sincere about making money and doing it to the other fellow before he does it to you This is a healthy sign of course especially with the Reagan era waning The folk singer era bloomed with the back to nature movement In beginning they were the real tthing and a delight to listen to But this was before Joan Baez the Weavers and saints Peter Paul and Mary I liked to hear Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley as much as anyone else because it was authentic not overdone But when you had to sing along 'with If Had A Hammer for the time with a trio of million--aires it gets a little too much Those guys make enough to buy hammers than they would -ever need In fact like to take a hammer to them myself I still get queezy when I hear a singer invite an audience to sing along with Hue Land it My Land Hue Land it Your Land yet again I feel sort of the same way when I have to join in on a couple erf choruses of Got The Whole World in Hit Hands Folk singers used to be guys who wrote their own songs and Hopped freights when they had to go some-'where for a performance They wrote good music sang it well and starved They recognized until they had been dead 'for 10 years They jokingly call it case of body snatcher" But a legal nightmare that could be costing Manatee County taxpayers thousands of extra dollars this year This is no science-fiction tale a true-to-life story about the fierce competition among firms that sell body bags to the county and transport the deceased victims of murders suicides and other tragedies The twisted tale has as many subplots as it has accusations One of the charges involves a claim of conflict of interest against two Manatee County sheriffs deputies who formed their own body-haul- ing firm and tried to underbid the current contractor Other fingers have been pointed at the Manasota Enterprises Inc the company currently providing the service to the county With competitors stymied by legal red tape the firm bumped up its prices over vain protests by county offi- Will And taxpayers may be losing money to a series of legal obstacles during the past eight months that have enabled Manasota Enterprises to conduct $25000 in business with the county without a contract and without competition from other firms Manasota contract expired last October but it has been extended amid a court challenge and bid protests filed by three different firms Other firms have offered substantially lower bids than Manasota but all claims have become mired in the legal morass Prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against a suspected drug-dealer after a judge ruled the Manatee County Office illegally seized 10 pounds of cocaine from apartment Assistant State Attorney Dennis Nales said Monday he had no choice but to drop the charges against Dominic Johnson 25 of Dania Circuit Judge Scott Brownell ruled last week that the cocaine the only evidence against Johnson could not be used in a trial He said Det John Kenney and former Det Robert Ricciardo illegally searched apartment at Palm Place Apartments 7734 Alicia Lane believe the decision was a correct one based on (prior Nales said Johnson has never confessed to detectives about the drug bust which was one of the largest in county history Johnson had been charged with trafficking in cocaine possessing cocaine with the intent to sell it and manufacturing a controlled substance If convicted he would have been sentenced to a mandatory term of 15 years in prison without parole Undersheriff AE "Gene" Hambacher said he does not believe the detectives intentionally made an illegal search County purchasing director Sim! Smith said he has never seen anything like it i can imagine all the joking going said Smith whose co-workers have tagged the matter case of the body the 30 years been in this business this is the first one ever gone beyond my Smith said whole thing is rather bizarre" said Charles Hague a former sheriff's deputy who quit the force three months ago after the conflict-of-interest charge was leveled was flabbergasted HoW can they give somebody that kind of Charles Stenza a partner in Manasota Enterprises disagrees saying his price of $156 per trip and $68 per body bag is not out of line may sound like a lot 'of money but said Stenza who also challenged the approach to paying by the body a odd approach to begin he said know a cold' Bradenton Herald Mansion getting a Gamble Mansion is closed for a 2tt-week facelift Crews from Ted Dawn Flooring Inc of Sarasota began sanding and refinishing wooden floors Monday in seven of the Ellenton mansion's 10 rooms An oil-based finish will make the floors look like vintage 1840s when the mansion was built Park Manager Robert Perry said the grounds remain open to picnickers and visitors but the mansion is dosed until July 7 He said the project costs about $4800 or about $250 per square-foot DROP ToB-2 BID To B-2 Camera crew to shoot murder re-enactment The James Burnside case will be shown on the America's Most Wanted TV show Mott Wanted show Producer Joanne Fish said the segment will be broadcast July 3 The half-hour program can be seen locally at 8 pm Sunday nights on WTOG-TV Channel 44 Burnside 51 is charged with murdering his estranged wife and with attempted murder of Otteni A grand jury indicted Burnside two weeks ago Burnside eluded deputies after the actual murder and has been a fugitive since Sheriff Charlie Wells thought national television exposure might help so Wells and his staff will help the actors today Freelance crews from Fox Broadcasting Network are preparing a 5-6 minute report about the Burnside case for the Amenea'e Police officers will watch the crimes They will stand by to prevent anyone from interrupting the scene They will not arrest the killer This time the terror is staged Active will re-create the Feb 17 murder of Annette Burnside 24 and attempted murder of her co-worker David Otteni 44 today at De Soto Center 600 US 301 Blvd The performance has a police purpose to help Manatee County deputies find James Burnside NICK MASON Herald Stall Writer Burnside A woman will be stabbed to death late this morning in a Bradenton parking lot A man will be shot in the stomach The killer will get away WANTED To B-2 Palmetto law to crack down on landlords of drug houses Public can review plan for jet noise reduction STACEY FRANK Herald Stall Writer JOHN ALLARD Herald Staff Writ are affected by the blast of jets" including Bayshore Gardens and Trailer Estates of he said property owners really care All interested In is collect- But pretentious folk lgers travel in limoe have agents id often vote Republican A lot of singers trave and them took a beating in the October stock market crash although you Witt Known as the nuisance abatement ordinance the law is designed to rid the city of houses places where people go to buy use crack cocaine The mayor will appoint a five-member panel in the next week to hear complaints filed by Police Chief Herb Van Fleet The board will be comprised of the mayor vice-mayor two members from the code enforcement board and a member of the planning board Witt is vice-mayor Van Fleet has said repeat drug offenders who frequent the ume places are a problem for the city people are back in business a day or two after they get out Modify the left-hand turn departure route for northern bound jets by delaying the point wherepilote make the turn liter takeoff so that they fly over mostly undeveloped areas Encourage airlines nut to schedule departures from the airport between 10 pm and 7 am by charging an impact fee that would be 10 times greater for flights departing late at night Manatee County residents will have a chance today to get their first look at the plan to curb jet noise at the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport Members of the Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority will hold a public workshop on a draft proposal to reduce jet noise at 9 am today in the Jeanne McElmurray Auditorium at the airport The noise-reduction plan would: Provide updated maps showing additional areas that PALMETTO Landlords take note: By end the city can board up your property for a year if considered a drug hang-out Voting 2-0 the city council approved an ordinance Monday night that will hold landlords responsible for drug-related nuisances on their property Council member Ron Witt was chairman of the meeting and did not vote Mayor Don Olmstead was on vacation chairman would vote if he said Witt explaining that tiie law will address an ongoing drug problem in Palmetto ingtheir The ordinance is modeled after laws in other Florida cities including a similar one passed last month in Bradenton The nuisance board would give a property owner two weeks notice before a hearing and in some cases the landlord would have the opportunity to correct the hear them singing any songs a bout it They'd rather sing about how poor and put down they are I prefer pure old country music like the songs of the Brake Jimmy Rogers who his living working for the railroad or Hank Williams ti the modern crowd Even Tex Ritter was better than your typical Carnegie Hall and Boston Pops folk singer of today AIRPORT ToB-2 To B-2 PALMETTO.