Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • Page 19

Wetlands Act OKd By Panel Sett. Curtis Praises Bill By BOB MUNGER A national Water Bank Act to preserve wetlands and provide additional income to ranchers and farmers was praised Thursday, after it had cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee, by Sen. Carl Curtis of Nebraska, a member of the committee. proposed Water Bank Act would provide income to farmers and ranchers of Nebraska for conservation of he said, in addition would provide additional areas for hunting and The bill, previously passed by the House, authorizes and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a continuous program to preserve wetlands. It provides $10 million a year for payments to farm owners and operators, beginning July 1,1971.

The individual rates are to be negotiated with each land owner or operator signing up for the program. The agreements are for 10-year periods, and may be renegotiated for additional 10- year periods, Sen. Curtis said. Curtis pointed out that many small wetlands areas are lost every year as the operators are squeezed for the need for more income from their land, and process is destroying the natural waterfowl habitat throughout the He says this bill solves both problems by providing income from the wetlands for the operator. It pays the farmer and preserves the wetland areas.

The new act provides that an owner may not drain, burn, fill or otherwise destroy the wetlands character of such areas, nor to use them in any way for agricultural purposes. If he breaks the agreement, he must forfeit all the money he has received under the program. Curtis said that both the Interior Dept. and the Agriculture Dept, had opposed the bill, noting that Interior already had its own program. But he said that their program had not been satisfactorily doing the job it was supposed to do.

The Interior Fish and Wildlife Service has had a wetlands buying program since 1961, but in that time only a little over a million acres of land has been acquired, partly because it retired land from the tax rolls. Curtis noted that the Water Bank Act would merely pay the owner for preserving land in its original state. It will also pay for the retirement of land now in production, to put it back into wetlands. Willard Barbee, director of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, said the Water Bank Act is good He said the program could be tacked on to the Fish and Wildlife Service's present program of land acquisition and ultimately it would spread into Nebraska. could help us here a he remarked.

Omahan Is Killed Man Struck By Auto Traffic Fatalities 1970 1969 Nebraska 387 389 Lancaster County 24 30 Lincoln 14 15 Omaha (UPI) Harry Milo Stock)la, 52, Omaha, was fatally injured Thursday night when struck by a car at a South Omaha intersection. Witnesses told officers Mr. Stodola was struck about 7:15 p.m. He died at a hospital about two hours later. Police identified the driver of the car as Jacqueline Loth, 28, Omaha.

She told officers the man walked into the path of her car. She was ticketed for failure to yield the right of way to a pedestrian. Mishap Kills Columbus Boy Omaha Christensen, 5, son of Mr. and Mrs. Eldon Christensen, Columbus, died Thursday in an Omaha hospital of injuries suffered in a car-pedestrian accident in Columbus Tuesday.

The boy was injured when he dashed into a street and was struck by a car driven by Harry Cromer Columbus. Kenneth was taken to Behlen Hospital at Columbus and was later transferred to the Methodist Hospital here. Top Court OKs Use Of Law in Gas Rate Regulation Case By DICK HERMAN A divided Nebraska Supreme Court Friday upheld the action of an individual city in regulating natural gas rates of a statewide private utility. The high court affirmed the city of use of a 69-year- old law to authorize a 6.7% rate increase for the Kansas- Nebraska Natural Gas Co. The utility had requested a rate boost of approximately Two dissenting judges noted the law in question was enacted 29 years before the introduction of natural gas in Nebraska.

The statute initially was designed to give municipal control over companies which manufactured their own gas. Dissenters Hale McCown and Leslie Boslaugh contended the Legislature has never spoken about rate-setting power over integrated natural gas utilities. A consequence of decision is to make more certain that intrastate natural gas rate regulation will be a matter coming before the 19 7 1 Legislature. Several lawmakers previously have talked about either establishing a gas-rate control body or delegating the authority to an established group, such as the Nebraska Railway Commission. An even more immediate impact of decision may be when 14 cities which had passed ordinances giving K-N the rate increase it originally requested ask for proportionate rate reductions, as they had promised to do if the utility lost the Sidney case.

There are also pending 18 lawsuits across the state involving K-N and various cities, including Scottsbluff, MeCook and Gering. In 1968 the utility requested rate increases in 108 ol the 141 Nebraska municipalities it serves. All but 19 cities approved the rate adjustment sought by K-N, although 14 passed ordinances declaring if subsequent litigation reduced rates for other cities, they would insist on proportionate reductions. And writing for the five-man court majority, Judge John Newton said by terms of the 1901 law Legislature has delegated to municipalities the authority to regulate, determine and fix rates. power, being legislative in nature, it cannot be assumed by the courts and this court cannot usurp the functions of a rate-making Judge Newton declared.

He added the Legislature has never said rates be substantially equal in all Nebraska municipalities It is entirely possible that a proper rate base may vary from city to city Even when considered on a statewide rate basis, such as Kansas- Nebraska pursued, the evidence fails to convince us that defendants (city of Sidney) have acted Citing court decisions of other states the Nebraska Supreme Court majority said that and gas rates fixed by a city for a utility company are presumed to be correct and reasonable and the burden is on the utility company to show that they are clearly, palpably and grossly Boslaugh and McCown stressed the 1901 law was shaped to regulate rates manufactured gas produced from oil or coal or both in a gas works located in the city. Natural gas, they said, is produced fiom underground sources and transmitted by pipeline to distribution centers. The dissenters quoted approvingly a Colorado Supreme Court opinion on the same subject, saying au 1899 law on the subject of gas rate regulation could not be stretched to cover natural gas developments. think that the proper interpretation of the (1901) law is that is has no application to an integrated natural gas distribution system such as that operated by the plaintiff and that Legislature has not selegated the power to regulate this type of the dissenters said. In other actions Friday, according to the Associated Press, the court: and remanded with directions to dismiss a Jefferson County District Court decision which approved the transfer of land owned by Ernest and Lola Endorf from School District 303, Thayer County, to School District 8, Jefferson County.

The Endorfs said proper notice had not been given of the required hearing. a Hall County District Court decision which dismissed a suit by Clifford Connor against Donovan Southern in a contract dispute between the pair. Connor had said Southern owned Connor $11,250. a Sarpy County District Court jury decision denying probate of the will of Richard Cain, who died in March, 1968. Loyd R.

Holman Cain's nephew, was named as the sole beneficiary and he appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. Lola Morrison, sister, contested the will. a supplemental opinion by Judge Newton correcting a sentence in an opinion handed down last month in re interest of Moore, in which the high court reversed and remanded a Douglas County Juvenile Court decision. Jeffrey Moore, a 13-year old Omaha youth, had been charged with being a delinquent after a playground accident in which he struck a younger girl with his motorbike. Moore said he hadn't known she was hurt but the Juvenile Court ruled against him.

Lincoln City Park and Recreation Director Don Smith inspects a seedling snapped by vandals at Eden Park, 44th and Antelope. Saving Our Green Vandalism Against Trees Is Problem Nationally By CELLA HEITMAN Baltimore, Initials are carved on a tree to such an extent that it dies. Des Moines, Iowa: City crews planting trees get to the end of a block, look back, and see kids pulling out the trees and throwing them into the street. Lincoln, Trees in the city nursery die from the lack of water. Vandalism against trees is not confined to any one city.

And there are few cities, if any, that have not lost nursery stock because the trees did not get adequate water or, possibly, because there just was not enough money in the city budget to take care of the stock. In Lincoln, City Park and Recreation Director Don Smith has that taxpayers spend $15,000 a year to repair vandalism against parks, park equipment and street trees. There is no estimate available of how much nursery stock has died. Former Lincoln City Forester Emilio Fontana, who resigned in June, said he returned to the city nursery this fall with a delegation from the Council Bluffs, Iowa, Chamber of Commerce and was appalled to see that several species had died. Lack of Water Fontana charges that the trees were seriously injured by lack of water during the ultra-hot months of July and August.

want anyone to think that I am bringing this situation up to attack anyone but we had a real nice nursery over there and it is he said. Fontana, who was instrumental in establishing the city nursery, says he does not know how many trees died nor does he have an estimate of the cost involved. Herb Cords, assistant superintendent of parks, says his crews regularly watered the trees in the city nursery this summer. The dead trees, which city park crews were removing this week, are generally on the ends of rows where the sprinkler did not reach, Cords said. He said the city has a portable irrigation pipe to supplement the sprinkler system but even this could not furnish the necessary water.

Cords said the solution is to expand the city present underground sprinkler system but he has no estimate of cost. Bare Rooted The trees in the nursery mand more care because they are planted bare root. That is, there is no protecting ball of soil around the young seedlings to help them get a start. Cord explains the city can buy trees cheaper bare rooted. The city plants the bare rooted trees in the nursery and then they are moved with a tree machine which allows some soil to remain with the roots.

Fontana was also critical of the Park Dept, for leaving wire guards on some trees too long. The guards, put on to help deter vandalism to young trees, can strangle a young tree or seriously damage its trunk if not removed in time. The city, Cords explains, is leaving some wire guards on longer than what would be the usual practice because of vandalism. The guards are metal cylinders that stand away from the tree trunk to allow breathing room but which protect the fragile part of the young tree. Arborists also use wires, covered with a strip of garden hose to wrap around a tree and help keep it upright.

think we have lost any trees from the wires being on too Cords said. may have had some that could Continued: Page 22, Col. 1 Cittnrlti Second Front Page Life LINCOLN, FRIDAY, DEC. 4, PAGE 19 Fremont Schools Absolutely Forbid Says Supt. Sexton By BOB NELSON is absolutely in Fremont schools, says Supt.

Lloyd W. Sexton. North Platte Supt. Jack Elliott says he know offhand whether any of his teachers are bootlegging. What talking about has nothing to do with whisky.

Bootlegging in this case means utilizing instructional television (ITV) offered by the Nebraska ETV network without paying for it. Nebraska Council for Educational Television (NCET) hopes to put a stop to bootlegging. It is drafting legislation which would have the Legislature appropriate state funds for ITV. Alone among states which maintain educational television networks, Nebraska does not fund the instructional programs that go into classrooms. Instead, the costs are borne by school districts.

They join NCET, primary programming agency for ITV, and pay $2 per pupil per year. Or, in the Omaha area, they join smaller counterpart, MOEBA (Metropolitan Omaha Educational Broadcasting Assn.) and pay $2.10 per pupil. Not All Join But not all districts join. Fremont and North Platte are among 20 of larger school districts (more than 1.000 students) which are nonmembers this year. After belonging to NCET since its beginning, North Platte dropped out this year but intends to rejoin, according to Elliott.

Because its schools were short of equipment. North Platte decided the $11,000 it would have spent for membership in 1970-71 could be better used for other purposes, Elliott explained. When ITV became available Fremont decided it could get more for its money by buying library books and audio-visual equipment, Sexton said. But Fremont, with 5.600 pupils, certainly take another at the possibility of utilizing ITV if programming costs were taken over by the state, the superintendent added. The fact that not all districts join a programming agency limits resources, says Robert Chapman, NCET director.

And the fact that some bootleg programs encourages member districts to drop out because they want to pick up the costs for somebody else, he adds. Reasons Vary Membership fluctuates from year to year for a variety of reasons, but Chapman says he knows of three districts that quit NCET in the last two years because they were fed up with bootlegging by non-members. NCET now serves about 120.000 pupils through 305 member districts across the state, MOEBA 102,000 students in Omaha area schools. The agencies stop a school from bootlegging, but they can deny it the guides and other supplemental material available to members. How large an appropriation will be sought from the state is still uncertain, according to Richard Raecke, education coordinaor for the network.

About $560,000 a year would be needed to match present budgets of the programming agencies, but ETV officials would like not only to shift the burden of cost but expand and improve the courses. Both NCET and MOEBA are dipping into reserves to meet their current budgets, according to Raecke. Besides eliminating bootlegging, state financing would make ITV available to all Nebaska schools, better utilize the network, equalize the financial responsibility, and relieve the burden on local property taxes which support schools, Raecke pointed out. State Funds Many Nebraskans, including some state senators, think the state already supports ITV, Chapman reports. But what state funds have gone for, Raecke explains, is network con- structon and equipment.

With this phase of network development nearing an end, many educators feel state funding of programming would amount to a of the input and commitment" the state has made to ETV, he adds. It was Raecke, in a study of 13 state ETV networks, wo discovered that present scheme of financing is unique. Raecke says he is merely assisting in drafting the legislation and that the real battle for state funding is up to the schools. At this point, MOEBA does not quite share enthusiasm for the plan. While MOEBA has no official position on the issue, General Manager Paul Borge says most members want to preserve the role they have in programming and leery of NCET's proposal to place programming under the State department of Education.

Grassroots Voice Raecke, however, feels a system can be devised to insure a strong grassroots voice in programming decisions. MOEBA is not opposed to state financing for ITV, Borge emphasizes. funding is coming eventually and he says. NCET may pick up more support for its plan before the month is over. The Nebraska Council of School Administrators, through i legislative committee, may take a stand on the question, according to Loren Brakenhoff, executive secretary.

A resolution urging a for ITV will be before the Delegate Assembly of the Nebraska State Education Assn. in Kearney Dec. 18 and 19. At its convention last month, the Nebraska State School Boards Assn. adopted a resolution calling for by the Legislature for development of quality through the state education department.

Service Praised by Officials University of Nebraska officials who came to know Clarence Swanson in a variety of circumstances including his opponent in the 1966 regents election joined Friday in paying tribute to the late civic leader. record of service to the university is one we all said Robert L. Raun of Minden, president of the Board of Regents. sense of dedication made a great impression on during the year they served together on the board, Raun said. Edward Schwartzkopf of Lincoln, who defeated Mr.

Swanson in the bid for a third term as regent four years ago, said University and the state have lost a great friend and As a student and athlete, then as an alumnus and member of NU's athletic board, and finally as a regent for 12 years, Mr. Swanson was a dedicated and very faithful Schwartzkopf declared. before I came to Nebraska I learned of the contributions of Clarence Swanson to the said Chancellor D. B. Varner, whose tenure began after r.

Swanson had left the board. was a tower of strength to the university7. His commitment to the fundamental rights of responsive inquiry and expression at the university was recognized not only in Nebraska but in educational circles throughout the Joseph Soshnik, president of Lincoln campuses and outstate activities, called it a to work with Mr. Swanson for a period of 10 Soshnik described the former regent as a and said his service to the board and NU was marked by broad vision, integrity, and an unswerving dedication to the welfare of faculty and students. provided leadership for many of the important Club Offers Bowl Float The Milford Businessmen's Assn.

is offering to do Nebraska a big Orange Bowl favor. If the rest of the state find the backing and money needed to send a float to Miami to represent the state on New Years Day, Milford is offering to send their award winning Centennial float display. Pete Peterson, in charge of the project, said the club will pay for shipping the float out of a $2,500 promotion fund maintained by the club. think our float represents the kind of Nebraska that the nation knows the good old days. Our float shows the covered wagon, settler family, and oxen, a real piece of Nebraska Peterson said.

Earlier this week it was noted that when the 1966 Orange Bowl Parade was held, a suggestion that the Centennial oxen team of Neb and Raska be considered for the parade was vetoed by bowl officials, who said the anipials would be out of place. The Milford float might run into the same problem. developments that advanced the university in the late 1950s and early 1960s, especially in the establishment of the Nebraska Center for Continuing Education and the construction of student residences. Swanson had a deep and refreshing confidence in young people. He always supported, quietly but effectively, the full right of students to express responsible opinions on any subject, and he was often an anonymous contributor to student Soshnik said.

George S. Round, director of University relations, called Mr. Swanson a and a dedicated His devotion to the faculty, students and administration of the university will never be Round said. was a great Mayor Sam Schwartzkopf said. always had a lot of admiration for Schwartzkopf added that he had known Mr.

Swanson since he was a child. had a great compassion for he said. always had an interest in the city, in the university, in Two Roads Men Killed By Blast Oil Storage Tank Explodes Fire Fatalities 1970 1969 Nebraska 32 19 Lancaster 2 1 2 1 Neligh Two Roads Dept, maintenance men were killed Friday morning near here when a road oil storage tank became ignited and exploded. The Roads Dept, identified the victims as Richard Sterling, 22, Neligh, and Van Warner, 21, Oakdale. It is believed the two.

men were trying to draw a bucket of road oil from the storage tank and were using a torch to thaw out the nozzle when the blast occurred, a Roads Dept, spokesmen said. Department officials surmised that flames from the torch spread back through the nozzle and ignited the fumes in the partially empty tank. The tank was beside the Chicago Northwestern Railroad right-of-way at the State Highway Dept, maintenance yard here. The department said privately owned buildings in the adjacent area were damaged by the blast but the extent of the damage was not immediately known. It was learned that windows in a low cost housing development across the street were blown in by the blast.

Neligh Fire Chief Bob Flen- nekin cordoned off the area after the blast occurred pending arrival of the state fire marshal to complete the wi- vestigation. Mr. Sterling, married and the father of one child, joined the department in March, 1968. and Mr. Warner, who was single, joined the department in May, 1970.

Ex-Regent Swanson Dies at 72 Businessman, Civic Leader Clarence E. Swanson, 72,2633 So. 34th, the man who felt his deep appreciation for what the University of Nebraska had done for him placed obligation for on him, died Thursday in Lincoln after an illness. Services have been set for 11 a.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church, 17th to be followed by a private interment.

He was born in Wakefield, and graduated from Wakefield High School in 1917, having lettered in baseball, football and basketball. He enrolled at NU, pursuing a degree in business administration, meanwhile distinguishing himself on several athletic fields. He lettered in baseball and for three vears consecutively in football. Playing left-end, he served as captain of the 1921 Cornhuskcrs and earned honors on the All- Missouri Conference team and on several all-American lists during his collegiate athletic career. At the time of his death his records for most touchdown pass receptions in a game, a season, and career were still unchallenged, having stood for 50 years.

He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the Innocents and N-Club. He served in the Naval Training Corps in World War I. Following his graduation from NU, Mr. Swanson began his business career as a traveling sales representative, returning to Lincoln in 1924 to join the Sardeson-Hovland clothing firm. Later he served as secretary- treasurer and general manager of the Hovland-Swanson Co.

and Hovland-Swanson Building Co. organized in 1928. Also in 1928, he began his career of service to NU, when he became the alumni representative to the University of Nebraska Athletic Board, where he served until 1933. In 1937 he was elected a member of the Lincoln Board of Education, and in 1938 he organized and headed the Lincoln Better Business Bureau. In 1952 Mr.

Swanson became president of Hovland-Swanson, a vice-president of the Community Chest and began a tenure with the board of trustees executive committee of the University Foundation. In 1954, he was elected First District Regent. He was subsequently named Regent representative to the board of trustees of the University Foundation and was a member of Grants-in-Aid Drive Committee which raised funds for athletic program. Mr. Swanson served in 1957 as chairman of the Downtown Development Committee and in 1958 was renamed as a trustee of the University Foundation.

In 1959 he was chosen president of the NU Board of Regents, the first of three terms he would serve in that position during his 12 years on the board from 1954-1966. He received the Arthritis Foundation Service Citation in 1967 for efforts as Lincoln district president and 1967 campaign director. In 1969, he received the highest nonacademic award conferred by NU, the Nebraska Builder award. Last February a $1,000 annual scholarship was established in Mr. honor by the Hovland-Swanson Building Co.

He had served as director of the Junior Chamber of Commerce and was a life member and former director of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of the Masons, Scottish Rite, a Shriner and Lion and a former member of the board of trustees of First Presbyterian Church. He was also instrumental in laying administrative groundwork for the rise to national prominence of the Nebraska Cornhusker team. When he returned to his native Wakefield in 1966 for a town sports banquet, he took Bob Devaney along. Before a packed house Devaney allowed that Clarence E.

Swanson was of the important reasons I came to Nebraska. And one of the big reasons I have stayed in Nebraska. He has an understanding of the athletic problems and has been a big help to Devaney said he believes that Clarence E. Swanson go down as one of the greatest men in the history of the University of Mr. Swanson is survived by his wife, Helen son, James Lincoln; daughter, Mrs.

Jerome A. (Kathryn) Druliner, Lincoln; sister, Mrs. Elmer Swanberg, Wahoo; and seven grandchildren..