The Index-Journal from Greenwood, South Carolina • Page 4

4A-Ttw lnd.Jown, Gr nwood, S.C., Aug. 2, 1987 October report lUiely Iran-Contra hearings enter final week IffleadLte! G0. tttp GHS grad plans recording success prevent leaks and that intelligence officials are becoming far more cooperative and forthright in sharing the nation's secrets with Con- i Senate Intelligence Committee, says the investigation already has had a "salutary effect." "Fundamental changes already have taken place," Cohen said, citing both a change in personnel inside the Reagan administration and "a change in attitude." On the personnel side, he said, former Senate Republican Leader Howard H. Baker has replaced former Wall Street executive Donald Regan as White House chief of staff. Foreign policy veteran Frank Carlucci has replaced Rear Adm.

John M. Poindexter as-national security adviser. Lt. Col. OAiver L.

North has been sent back to duty with the Marine Corps. On the attitude side, Cohen hailed President Reagan's declaration that there will be no further covert operations "unless he woidd be able to proudly stand up and acknowlege them" if they are publicly disclosed. Cohen said the congressional in-telligence committees have tightened security procedures to WASHINGTON (AP) Congress is closing down its long, televised investigation into the Iran-Contra affair and one senator says the message delivered to future presidents is so stinging the deterrent effect will last 10 to IS years. On Monday, the 41st day of hearings which opned May 5, a final public witness, Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger, concludes his story of futile opposition to secret plans to sell arms to Iran.

Then, after hearing privately from a trio of Central Intelligence Agency officials, the combined House and Senate investigating committees will begin the process of writing a final report. The target date for issuing it is Oct. 1 But members are already beginning the process, to be formalized in that report, of sorting out the evidence and deciding what it means. Sen. William S.

Cohen, R-Maine, a member of the Senate Iran-Con-tra panel and vice chairman of the Top 40 Sherreece and husand Wayne act they hope will take them to photo) act Rogge performed the Top 40 the top Friday night. (Staff Labor Department officials will check hospitals for compliance on AIDS rule By JENNIFER BURKE Staff writer Move over Madonna, Sherreece and Nex'D have a show they are lanning to take to the top of the it charts. Calling themselves a three-piece, computerized "high-tech band," similar to the Thompson Twins, Sherreece and Wayne Rogge said Friday night before a performance at Casablanca Lounge that they have high hopes of heading straight to the top. Playing mostly Top 40 and contemporary dance music, the New Orleans-based group's performance in Greenwood was a homecoming for Sherreece (formerly Sherry Reece), a 1983 graduate of Greenwood High School. Explaining that the group is negotiating a contract with Warner Brothers, Sherreece said she wanted to do the local show so her family could see her perform.

Another reason for coming was to let her family get to know fellow band member Rogge, who is also her husband, a little better. The third band member is drummer Stevie Adams. The band begins a tour Aug. 12 on the college circuit, so this is also a vacation, Rogge said. The daughter of George and Hazel Reece started off singing country music, but made the, switch to pop after being approached by Rogge and Adams.

She said, "I might still sound country when I talk, but when I sing it doesn't show up." She said she received most of her voice' training from Susan Walton of Greenwood. Water tower, with ears, coming up LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -Workers for a local company that specializes in water towers are building one 95-feet tall, with ears mouse ears. Walt Disney World ordered the tank for its new MGM-Disney studio project near Orlando, Fla. Caldwell Tanks is building the top with giant Mickey Mouse ears here, while its crews are constructing the rest of the tower and tank in Florida.

The trademark ears and black hat will be shipped later. Two of last week's three wit nesses, Weinberger and Regan, said they resisted selling arms to Iran and were told nothing about the secret diversion of some of the proceeds to Nicaragua's anti-Marxist Contra rebels. The third, Attorney General JEdwin Meese III, told of the Justice Department inquiry he led last November that discovered a crucial memo drafted by Col. North spelling out the diversion plan. Sprinkle bails out TV weatherman LINCOLN, Neb.

(AP) These are trying times for people trying to stay cool and keep their crops from drying out, and one tele-Vision weatherman is sympathetic. Ken Siemek of television station KOLN-KGIN announced Monday he wouldn't shave until it rained somewhere in the station's viewing area, "kind of as a personal protest to the weather." "Every farmer within a 200-mile radius has said to me, 'Do something about the I told them I'd suffer right along with them and not shave until it rains. That's about all I can do," Siemek said. He said he didn't consult his boss or his wife before making the announcement. He said he came up with the stunt to enliven what has been an otherwise boring forecast for the past two weeks hot and humid, with some places topping 100 degrees.

Lo and behold, some rainfall was reported in Nebraska in the 24-hour period ending at 7 a.m. Saturday. Scottsbluff had 0.21 of an inch and Valentine, the state's hottest city Friday at 106, had 0.15 of an inch. Valentine is in the station's viewing area so Siemek "technically can shave," a reporter at the station said Saturday. There was no word on whether Siemek did shave; he had left on vacation, presumably to some cooler place.

of the body. Several South Carolina hospital officials said that the labor department's warnings are unnecessary and insulting since hospitals already are aware of the danger of posed by AIDS patients. "Every hospital has an infection control committee. Employees are constantly being told about these things," said Dr. Mariano Lavia, an immunologist at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Lavia said officials at the labor department "are acting like many people act in such situations with all deliberate speed, opening their mouths before engaging their brains." He added that the labor department's announcement would have no effect on MUSC policies, since the institution has long been emphasizing safety in handling AIDS patients. "If we hadn't, we would be fools. AIDS is the final thing. This is some thing you have for the rest of your life." COLUMBIA (AP) Officials from the state Department of Labor will make surprise visits to hospitals to see if they are complying with the departmment's guidelines to prevent diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis B. The checks are several weeks away because the department is awaiting further details from Washington, said state labor commissioner Ed McGowan.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced on July 23 that hospitals could be fined up to $10,000 for each "willful" violation of the department's requirement that employers protect workers from well-known hazards. The guidelines cover use of special waste containers for disposing of contaminated equipment such as used needles and gloves, and wearing gloves and other protective equipment while a worker is exposed to a patient's body fluids. McGowan said the labor department also will investigate any complaints from workers regarding a hospital's failure to comply with the safety requirements. However, he added, bis department hadn't received any complaints, although some have been lodged in other states.

McGowan said the labor department is emphasizing safety against AIDS in the workplace because "there have been three or four, accidents in the last six months." AIDS most often spreads through use of contaminated needles for drug abuse or sex with an infected partner. Recently some health-care workers got infected with the AIDS virus after getting AIDS-con-taminated blood on their ungloved hands and other unprotected parts Dave Partridge, director of public relations for the Greenville Hospital System, also said the labor department's announcement would have no effect on the facilities in the Greenville system. "It's not as if this is going to make us scramble. We have already initiated a number of procedures, such as gloving, to protect our employees from AIDS," he said. Cynthia Thompson, spokeswoman for Richland Memorial Hospital, also foresaw little change at the facility.

"It has not had much of an impact because we exceed the labor department's requirement," she said. CHOOSE PEOPLE YOU KNOW PTL's Dortch, wife charged with tax fraud Coot Your Votto For A United Telephone Long Distance DADE CITY, Fla. (AP) -Ousted PTL minister Richard W. Dortch falsely claimed to live full-time in his $280,000 Pasco County home in order to obtain a property tax break, a prosecutor said in charges filed here. Dortch, No.

2 man to Jim Bak-ker in the PTL until both were fired in the wake of recent scandals, was charged Friday with one count of homestead exemption fraud, and his wife Mildred was charged with two counts. They face a maximum penalty, of up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine on each count. Mrs. Dortch was previously accused in a similar case in neighboring Polk County, where the Dortches have a home valued at $179,000 in Winter Haven. She faces grand three grand theft charges as well in that case, but has pleaded innocent.

The Pasco case was filed Friday by State Attorney James T. Russell, who said Dortch signed a homestead exemption request for their New Port Richey home in 1987 even though the couple actually lived elsewhere. Mrs. Dortch signed requests tor both 1986 and 1987, he said. The Pasco property appraiser's staff didn't establish exactly how much time the Dortches spent at the residence, Property Appraiser GM recalling WASHINGTON (AP) General Motors Corp.

has begun recalling 472,600 1982 model Chevrolets, Pontiacs and CMC vehicles because they put an excess of gasoline fumes into the air. The models affected by the recall, which began Friday, are the 1982 Chevrolet Impala, Caprice Classic, Camaro, Malibu Classic, Monte Carlo and 1 Camino, the 1982 Pontiac Firebird and GMC Caballero light truck. -The vehicles are equipped with 3.8-, 4.4-, 5- and 5.7-liter engines, General Motors said. The Environmental Protection Agency said the vehicles have a faulty thermal-vacuum switch, part of the emissions-control equipment required by federal regulations, which failed to open. The umerare eventually released into the air, where they form ter- Ted Williams said Friday.

But according to neighbors, "It didn't appear to be very much," he said. Williams has said previously that the couple appeared to live in North Carolina during the time covered by the homestead exemptions. Russell said he had spoken with the Dortches' attorney, Anthony Battaglia of St. Petersburg, and said the Dortches either would receive a summons or would appear in court voluntarily to answer the charges. It.

is unlikely a warrant will be issued for their arrest, said Russell. The Dortches now live in Pinellas County, but have kept the location secret. In April when questions about the exemptions first surfaced, Dortch told The Associated Press his wife had handled the paperwork on the homes and the exemption applications were an "oversight." Florida law exempts the first $25,000 of a home's value from property taxes if it is a taxpayer's primary residence, but Pasco of "ficials said the Dortches did not live full-time at the home. The exemption saved them about $400 in 1986 alone. The Polk case involved $879.

1982 vehicles restial ozone, a chemical that "irritates the eyes, mucous membranes and the respiratory system," the EPA said. "It impairs the normal functioning of the lungs and reduces the ability to perform physical exercise," the agency said. Detroit-based GM said it began mailing letters to owners of the vehicles on Friday. The automaker said it would install "new and improved" switches on the vehicles, a procedure taking less than an hour. The company said the malfunctioning switch does not affect vehicle operation.

Donald Zinger, a special assis-, tant to the director of the EPA said the problem was discovered only recently because "most times the-defects-don't-oocur. until the. cars aire a couple of years old." Choose United Telephone Long Distance On Your Long Distance Ballot. Many of you have chosen United Telephone Long Distance, and we thank youYou may receive further mailings or ballots concerning your choice of a Long Distance Company. If you have already chosen United Telephone Long Distance you can disregard these or: VOTE FOR UNITED TELEPHONE LONG DISTANCE ON THE BALLOT.

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