The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 46

FIRST EDITION THE PANTAGRAPH, Thursday, Sept. 13, 1990 A5 Simon takes aim at oil 'profiteering' Ms NEWSWp) AROUN Richard Durbln, Springfield Democrat The bills would allow the president to declare a "national energy emergency" In the event of natural disaster or military threat, thereby banning excessive price hikes In oil and gas. "Excessive" would be defined as prices "not Justified by actual costs, plus a reasonable profit" Producers charged with profiteering could then be fined up to $500,000, imprisoned and forced to turn over any profits resulting from price gouging. The however, is dismissed by many as an election year gambit Of the 15 primary co-sponsors in the Senate, more than half are up for re-election. Moreover, Simon and his co-sponsors have not discussed the bill with the White House, have secured few Republican sponsors and conceded that the chance for passage Is slim.

But Simon said he might be able to get at least the Senate to vote on the bill and send a message to the oil industry that it "can't let greed get the better of the national By AMY BAYER Pantagraph Washington, D.C, bureau WASHINGTON, D.C. Seeking to make "profiteering crime In times of crisis," U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, yesterday Introduced legislation to strike back at the oil Industry after huge price hikes. "There Is no justification for the oil price Increases that followed Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait," Simon said.

Public suspicion of price gouging was renewed Tuesday night when President Bush, during his prime-time address to Congress, railed against oil profiteering. Since Aug. 1, average gasoline pump prices have jumped 20 cents a gallon, a hike critics blame on price gouging by the oil Industry. Congressional sponsors-said U.S. oil reserves are at nine-year high and that the Invasion has not affected supply enough to Justify the increases.

"Apparently the laws of gravity and economics do not apply to the oil Industry. What goes up, stays up," said Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a co-sponsor. A companion bill was Introduced In the House by Illinois Rep. Staley plant to close for Inspection DECATUR A.E.

Staley corn milling plant In Decatur will be shut down today for safety inspection and procedural review by federal health and safety officials. One worker died at the plant In May and the government has received complaints from workers about safety Issues at the plant Workers will report to work as usual but will focus on safety-related issues. WSOY (1340 AM), Decatur Peoria working to correct census count PEORIA The City of Peoria Is making some headway on finding residents that census canvassers missed in April City officials have until Monday to document discrepancies between census figures and city figures for a possible recount by the bureau. Since Monday, Peoria Mayor James Maloof says about 2,000 people have been tracked down and the city planning office also found a square block area in the city where 200 homes had been overlooked. If the city finds enough discrepancies, the Census Bureau could do a recount of 2 percent or more of the homes in Peoria.

WMBO (1470 AM), Ptorla Defendant admits he faked mental illness PEKIN An East Peoria man admitted yesterday he faked mental illness after killing his wife in 1978. Ronald "Pete" Uppole, 53, told Tazewell County jurors that his father, Marvin Uppole, advised him to "fake mental illness for three years" to escape a possible death penalty or life Imprisonment Uppole entered a catatonic state shortly after his arrest and was judged unfit to stand trial. He spent the next 12 years in state mental hospitals. "You're never going to be able to 'tell this to another living soul," Uppole quoted his father as saying. "You have to think of your children." Marvin Uppole was a former East Peoria police officer who died in 1985.

He had visited his son at state mental hospitals about every three months "to give instructions," according to testimony. Uppole has admitted shooting 35-year-old Nelma Uppole as their teen-age daughter watched. But he blamed his actions on a "pernicious spirit" and an addiction to pornography. Aatoclattd Press Progress reported on budget negotiations WASHINGTON, D.C. Bush administration and congressional bargainers considered a boost in the federal tax on cigarettes yesterday as they pushed with new optimism toward the end of marathon talks to reduce the federal deficit, officials said.

After months of deadlock, budget bargainers' positions have moved toward each other and participants have begun to predict they will soon produce a package cutting the deficit $50 billion next year and $500 billion through 1905. Negotiators planned to work non-stop until they either succeed or deadlock. "I tend to be optimistic we'll reach a conclusion this week," House Speaker Thomas S. Foley, told reporters during the sixth day of talks at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, near Washington. Crushed seal fixed, launch set for Tuesday SPACE CENTER, Houston A crushed seal that escaped repeated checks of Columbia's leaking rear compartment has been replaced, and a confident NASA set Tuesday as the date for the shuttle's fourth launch attempt Engineers Initially believed one of Columbia's three recirculation pumps leaked during fueling last week for NASA's third attempt to send the shuttle on an astronomy mission.

The crushed seal was discovered Tuesday as technicians checked the newly installed pumps. NASA spokesman James Hartsfield said yesterday that the seal apparently was damaged when It was installed improperly after Columbia's last flight in January. 1 Souter goes under spotlight today WASHINGTON, D.C. This is the day the quaintly private inclinations of Judge David Hackett Souter finally clash with the insatiable curiosity of American politics and mass media. In the television age, few Supreme Court nominees have been more shrouded in mystery as they face the Senate Judiciary Committee than the insular New England bachelor who begins his confirmation hearing this morning.

Senators and the nation are anxious to know Souter's opinions on abortion rights, individual freedoms, affirmative action, school prayer, flag burning, the right to die and the role of the judiciary. Eight picked to become 'biospherians' ORACLE, Ariz. Eight environmental pioneers were named yesterday to spend two years with just each other and 3,800 varieties of plants and animals inside a glass-and-steel dome trying to duplicate Earth's ecosystem. Among the crew are a 66-yedr-old gerontologist, an electrical engineer, a marine biologist and a botanist They are two Britons, a Belgian, a German and four Americans. All the "biospherians" have worked together for at least three years on the Biosphere II project an attempt to copy the planet's natural environment inside a 2V4-acre closed, self-sustaining system.

The planet's natural environment is designated Biosphere I. Inside the sealed geodesic frame, all air, water, food and wastes will be regenerated and recycled. Plans call for the venture to begin Dec. 5. LeRoy district forced to dip into reserves in new budget revenue in reserve, but this will dip into it in a significant way.

The future fiscal health of the district will not be determined until we know if the temporary tax increase Is sustained." A HealthLife Insurance Committee has been formed by district employees, the board has learned. The committee will be reviewing needs, services and price comparisons. In other business The board Monday night: Learned the LeRoy Kiwanis Club donated $250 to the district's athletics fund. The money was donated in addition to the printing of pocket sport schedules, which are being distributed free. Awarded a contract to Project Oz, Bloomington, to provide drug education programs.

By JUDY MARSHALL Pantagraph correspondent LeROY LeRoy school district reserves will be hit hard this year under the 1990-01 budget adopted this week by the school board. Anticipated receipts for the year' total $1,938,645. That figure does not include money on hand. Anticipated expenditures are $2,724,861. In spite of the deficit, the district will have $456,766 in reserves at the end of the fiscal year.

The education fund will be $812,000 in the red, and the transportation fund will have a deficit of $62,000 because of the purchase of two vehicles. Part of that money will be retrieved from the state in the following years by the depreciation of the vehicles, the board learned. Superintendent Richard Schuler said, "The district will still have Meetings set for future string instrumentalists strument will be at 3:45 and 7 p.m. today in the Bloomington Junior High School cafeteria. Two meetings for parents and their fourth-grade students in Bloomington District 87 who are interested in playing a string in $1,000,000 hkii E)(J 1 A mr mm mm mm mm vcrv -m' i xJumw- fc- mm mm mm mm.

jmm eF-. mm i i mmw mm mm mm wmmm' mm mw J- More than a 3 sales in 1 i Loose Diamond 3.NV SALE Violence rages in South Africa JOHANNESBURG, South Africa Chaotic violence raged yesterday through black townships, where armed gangs set fire to homes and chased people through the streets. Police said at least 50 people were killed. It was some of the worst unrest in a month of black faction fighting in townships near Johannesburg. More than 700 people have died.

People piled possessions in wheelbarrows and supermarket carts to flee clashes between groups armed with machetes, axes, spears and clubs in the black townships. "We have to leave. We are helpless without guns," said one man who refused to give his name. 0 Area combed but jet stili missing ST. JOHN'S, Canada Canadian, British and American search planes and vessels yesterday combed a area of the North Atlantic for a jet carrying 18 people that apparently ran out of fuel and crashed.

The Boeing 727 jet disappeared about 3 p.m. Tuesday but officials were still hopeful because the plane was capable of floating for hours after ditching and carried at least four lifer-afts, said Dick Pepper, a federal department of transport spokesman. The jet, owned by Faucett Airlines of Lima, Peru, was carrying airline employees and their relatives, all Peruvians, when it disappeared. Rain toll still mounting in South Korea SEOUL, South Korea A river flowing through Seoul burst its embankment yesterday following record-breaking rains, triggering landslides and flooding dozens of villages. The death toll from the storm reached 83, and 52 people were missing.

The figures did not reflect casualties from an area west of Seoul, where more than 80 villages disappeared in a sea of torrential water unleashed when a 100-yard section of the Han River embankment collapsed before dawn. Thousands of people awakened by the thundering water raced to rooftops and higher ground. Thousands were ferried to safety in a rescue effort involving 4,000 soldiers, dozens of helicopters and hundreds of boats. American troops also helped rescue stranded Koreans. Food aid found unfit for consumption AMMAN, Jordan More than 650,000 cans of French corned beef "full of hair" and "other dirty and smelly stuff" were recalled from refugee camps along the border with Iraq, officials said yesterday.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency had delivered the donated food to the refugee camps. The camps are home to at least 50,000 foreigners, mostly Asians, who have been stranded here since fleeing Iraq and Kuwait after the Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait Health Minister Mohammad Adoub Al-Zaben said the cans of corned beef, delivered Monday, had "to be immediately trashed because laboratory tests proved they were unfit for consumption." He refused to say who made the donation, but reporters who saw the shipment read on the cans: "Not for Sale. Gift of the European Economic Community." From Pantagraph wire services 24-hour news information on GITYLINE Call 829-9000, enter 9030 Just a sampling of round diamonds. Hundreds of other sizes shapes are on sale.

2. Remount SALE Update cherished rings, or create your own unique designs. Our team of professional jewelers will craft your you watch! Plus, free labor to mount your stones and create your new ring. All Emeralds, Sapphires Rubies are on sale. Plus: Buy 1 Save an extra 10 Buy 2 Save an extra 15 Buy 3 Save an extra 20 Everyday Size Low Price Sale 15 CT.

'23990 $14990 14 CT. $31990 $19990 13 CT. H4990 $27990 111 CT. '70990 H3990 1 CT. $194990 $129990 Friday Saturday Sunday September 14th, 15th 16th AtittlecUffbvnt.Alotbetter.

1700 E. College Ave. Normal, IL 452-9351 Hours: 9-9 Sun. 11-5 We -reserve the right to refuie to set any stone. Five stones per ring may take additional time.

We carry diamonds with G.I. A. (Gemologkal Institute of America) gem trade laboratory grading reports..