The Bradenton Herald from Bradenton, Florida • 13

FLORIDA NEWS Gamblers form lottery clubs, B-6 Crematory bows to gripes, B-7 The Bradenton Herald, Monday, January 4, 1988 LOCAL SECTION I County begins new year with 4 unsolved murders Sheriff Charlie Wells has "excellent the cases, but he further comment. KATE MURPHY Herald Staff Writer Manatee County ended unsolved murders that tors are working furiously Two of the murders last few weeks, while the The cases are all actively being investi- because they believe that Belluccio was says he gated, according to Sheriff Charlie Wells, shot to death in Tampa, then driven to the detectives" on who is optimistic that they will be Manatee River in his own truck and tossed wrapped up soon. in the water. "I've got excellent detectives working on Belluccio, 33, was last seen April 12 declined them," Wells said, wouldn't tip his around midnight talking to another man an hand on where the investigations are at outside the Borden's Dairy plant in Tamthis point. pa, where he worked the late-shift as an The case from April involves the murder ice-cream maker.

His body was discovered 1987 with four of Sam Belluccio, whose body was found three days later in the Manatee River. sheriff's investiga- in the Manatee River weighted down by a His 1980 silver and black Ford Bronco to clear. heavy, rusted chain. He had been shot was found abandoned in a Miami parking occurred within the once. lot three days after his body was found, other two are Detectives are working with the Tampa but investigators have refused to comment Police Department on the investigation on evidence found inside.

Elevated radon levels in Manatee County Estech Inc. TAMPA property BAY 2 LENT ON 5 6 In another unsolved case, relatives of the murdered man are hopeful that the killer will be brought to justice. Mary Alice McAfee said that she has "complete confidence" in the detectives working to find those responsible for the murder of her son, Todd, 27, on Aug. 17 in Myakka City. "There's no doubt in my mind that they will find the one responsible," McAfee said from her Georgia home Friday.

"I have nothing but good to say about them. They've been extremely compassionate." In some previous cases handled the sheriff's deputies, some suspects have left BRADENTON 4 RIO Areas in Manatee County found to have elevated levels of radon gases are 1. Bradenton Beach, 2. Palmetto, 3. Parrish, 4.

Lorraine Road, 5. Rye Road, 6. Keentown, and 7. Duette. SARASOTA SOURCE: Porida Phosphate Institute BAY NANCY Herald Radon gas safeguard proposed A researcher "We're really talking about a life and Homes built on reclaimed phosphate cancer says death issue," Lyman said.

land generally have high radon levels. that though radon levels are low in some areas, the danger still exists. JOHN ALLARD Herald Staff Writer It may become more difficult to build a home in some sections of Manatee County if the state adopts a tough safety standard for cancer-causing radon gas. Even though studies show radon levels in most sections of Manatee County fall below the state standard, county residents should not dismiss the danger posed by the gas, a cancer researcher said. "The data suggests that there's no threshold (for radon levels) below which you are safe," said Dr.

Gary Lyman, chief of medical service for the University of South Florida's H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. Developers, though, argue that there is no indisputable evidence to support implementing such regulations. Industry spokesmen say that without that strong data linking illness to exposure to radon gas, any regulations would be unfair and costly. State officials previously have failed to reach a consensus on setting a radon standard.

Under the latest proposed standard, Floridians would have a one to three chance in 100 of contracting lung cancer after 70 years of exposure to the gas. Even that proposal, however, represents a "significant risk" to human health, according to some federal officials and environmentalists. Radon is a colorless, odorless gas that occurs naturally, particularly in areas where there are phosphate deposits. It seeps into homes through cracks and has been linked to lung cancer. Sections of Manatee County are rich in phosphate deposits, though most are in unpopulated areas.

Adoption of a tough radon standard could limit new construction in Palmetto and eastern Manatee County, where most of the county's new growth is expected to occur. "(The debate) is very important for county residents because you have a terrible, long-range health risk, and you won't be adequately warned," said Gloria Rains, chairwoman of the local environmental watchdog group Manasota 88. Rains fears developers will succeed in pressuring the Legislature to not adopt a tough radon standard. "A main concern in the Legislature seems to be that there be no liability concerns for builders," Rains said. The stakes in the debate are high for RADON To B-2 Beach restoration forum is tonight STACEY FRANK Herald Staff Writer Backers of a multi-million dollar proposal to restore portions of Manatee County beaches are encouraged to attend an informational forum tonight.

While federal officials have approved the renourishment project, estimated to cost more than $10 million, they have not approved funding. State officials also have not approved any money for the renourishment, but the state Department of Natural Resources plans to ask the state Legislature for $4.6 million during the spring session. Tipoff Despite errors, Martinez shines LARRY KAPLOW Herald Capital Bureau Gov. Bob Martinez must have heard the comparisons some in the national press and others just in rumblings around the capital. Maybe that's why on the itinerary for his trip to Arizona to see Florida State University battle with Nebraska there was no scheduled meeting with Arizona Gov.

Evan Mecham. Mecham, a fellow Republican, is embattled in a statewide movement to have him recalled, partly because of his Martinez statements ridiculing minorities and gays. By comparison, Martinez's problems look small. While the governor has been assailed for flip-flopping on the tax on services, he has only dropped in opinion polls; Florida has no governors' recall. Martinez's spokesman Jon Peck joked about the absence of a meeting of the governors at the game.

"I guess we just couldn't squeeze it in," Peck said. "I didn't realize Gov. Mecham was a football fan." behind a trail of clues and witnesses. Not so in the McAfee case. Todd McAfee, a tomato-farm manager, was found in a tomato field about two miles from his trailer near the DeSoto County line.

Investigators are looking for three people in connection with the murder. Three people who fit the description of the suspected killers were traced to Michigan, but Capt. Gary Wells said those people did not kill Todd McAfee. After that turned out to be a deadend, MURDER To B-2 At large HOWARD HALL What would Papa have to say about this 'prize' prose? Since I have won very few prizes in a journalism career that has spanned almost 35 years, I have decided to enter the annual International Imitation Hemingway Competition. In order to win you have to be able to write something as badly as Ernest Hemingway did, as I understand it.

As a longtime admirer of Papa, I think I can do this. Anyway, here is my official entry: In February we enjoyed a false spring in a sudden thaw and a spell of weather so warm that the man was comfortable without a coat. The air was laden with the promise of summer. And the girls on the Via Flamingo were round and firm and good. And we toasted them.

The man went down to Anna's to find young Otto sunning himself on the doorstep in company with Tiger, the cat. "Liegt die Katze im Februar in der Sonne, liegt sie im Marz hintern Ofen mit Wonne," the boy sang out as the man approached. The others were all up in the vineyards. The boy had been left to tend the home chores and was sitting with Tiger until milking time. On the terrace the man found Anna and Suse busy with their pruning shears.

They all agreed that the weather was lovely, but hoped that the mildness would soon end, lest the vines be wakened and send forth an early fruit only to be ravished by the winds of March. Across from the terrace, Wofgang and Hans were hastily hoeing the manure into the thawed ground. "Twenty times round each vine is the least number of hoeings any sensible tiller gives," Otto sang out to the man. "Yes, yes, it is good," the man called back. "It is the manure that makes it so," Wolfgang sang out.

"Never mind, I have business with Anna," the man said. Anna lowered her pruning shears and said to the man: "Do you know there is more warmth in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony than in eleven overcoats?" The man hadn't thought about it before. But he knew it was good and right and true. "I am repairing this coat for the last time," Anna told him. "After next harvest you must buy a new one.

"It has been a good coat," he answered. "There is no weaving now like the wool cloth made before the "The best of clothes do not last forever. The collar needs turning," she reminded him. "And the wine, will it be good this year? As good as '37?" the man asked. "If the manure holds out," Anna said languidly, for she was not a woman to be trifled with.

"I thought it was the slate in the soil that gives the grapes an iron that builds up strength in those who drink the wine such as is not found in the juice of fruit grown elsewhere," the man said. the manure," Anna said. "Da, the manure," Suse nodded. "Grape growers who would prosper must water their vines with sweat every month of the year," Otto sang out from the terrace. And the man knew the grapes would be firm and red and good.

And that girls on the Via Flamingo would be ripe and ready ere the buds of May burst forth. State will probe tax districts Members of a special House committee were shocked by tales of abuse and promised to crack down on special tax districts. LARRY KAPLOW Herald Capital Bureau TALLAHASSEE When they started last fall, members of a special House committee were shocked by tales of abuse and promised to crack down I hard on the state's more than 700 special tax districts. But as they prepare to review a proposal Tuesday for the spring legislative session, they've decided the fault lies not in the localities, but in themselves. The committee's proposal will prompt more requirements from state regulators, not local districts.

Special tax districts are autonomous units of government formed to raise money for specific projects such as condominium developments, hospitals, water management districts, fire departments and sewer districts. With little monitoring beyond the creation of a district, the Legislature and local governments have allowed these districts to proliferate. Now, there are more than 700 and some, most notably the Palms of Terra Ceia Bay condominium district in Palmetto, have gone belly up, raising suspicions of careless management. State officials aren't even sure of the 700 figure, but whatever the number, the hundreds of special tax districts across the state have sold more than $19 billion in bonds, according to estimates. Palms of Terra Ceia Bay, which went bankrupt after selling $11.5 million in bonds, is now being investigated by the State Attorney's Office.

Some members of the House committee said last fall they would consider abolishing special districts, which would have left much of the development and services they provide up to localities. But that tune has changed. "I don't think we could do that," says Rep. Winston "Bud" Gardner, D- Titusville, who's vice chairman of the House Select Committee on Special Districts and chairman of the House Finance and Tax Committee. "I don't think we need to throw out the baby with the bath water.

We've got the controls in place. They should be expanded." The committee, picking up on a movement that started in the Senate last year, is looking at a proposal that would create a state department to oversee the districts. That department would be charged with compiling the bits of information the districts now file with nine different government agencies. "Not one bureau knew what the other one was doing," says Sen. William "Doc" Myers, R-Hobe Sound, who chaired the Advisory Committee on Intergovernmental Relations which formed recommendations that form the heart of the proposal.

Myers says, for example, that even though districts have to file annual audits with the state, no agency is The money will be used to refill an eroded 5.6-mile stretch of the island from its southern tip to approximately 77th Street in Holmes Beach. The restoration of the beach there just missed legislative funding last year and has been in the works for more than a decade. "Ninteen eighty-eight is the critical year to get the funding that we need to do this project," said Katie Pierola, head of the local Beach and Shores Preservation chapter. "We've gone two years without storm problems, and you never know what will happen. And from all indications, Anna Gotcha! A Manatee County sheriff's afternoon.

The Florida are governed by the same According to the FHP, people lights, insurance and a lights, insurance, registration Maria Island is number one on the (state funding) priority list." Pierola warned that the next hurricane could wipe out portions of Gulf Drive, the evacuation route for an estimated 15,000 island residents. "People are very concerned about their property values out here," she said. "They're very concerned about the damages that we've had since (the hurricane) in 1985." The project was designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1978. The BEACH To B-3 A80 deputy stops a youngster on a moped Highway Patrol reminds people that mopeds traffic laws affecting automobiles and operating mopeds must wear helmets, motorcycle license.

Operators of go-carts must and a license as well. TAX Herald Sunday and go-carts motorcycles. have brake have brake To B-2 DUI arrests total 41 for weekend STACEY FRANK Herald Staff Writer Ten more motorists in Manatee County were arrested on alcoholrelated charges Saturday and early Sunday, "driving" the total for the holiday weekend up to 41. Sheriff's deputies stopped a man at 4 a.m. Saturday for running a red light.

After being pulled over, he backed his. car into the front of a Bradenton police squad car, according to reports. Deputies smelled alcohol on his breath while they were investigating the traffic accident. They arrested Flores A. Compos, 23, of Ellenton, in the 200 block of Ninth Avenue East and charged him with driving under the influence.

The Florida Highway Patrol arrested Eric Scott Hughes, 23, of 5115 18th Ave. and charged him with driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, refusing to sign a traffic citation and resisting arrest with AL DUI To B-2.