Sun Herald from Biloxi, Mississippi • 19

1 THURSDAY APRIL 27 1 989 IKSl UNITERM J) Qprrnnw 1 t- 1 'r iheScnHerald- SECTION" THURSDAY APRIL 27 1989 CLASSIFIED ADS C-4 CROSSWORDS 07 JUMBLE PUZZLE C-1 2 OBITUARIES C-3 Creel seeks $82000 from clerk accused of embezzlement Paula Leger admitted to Creel in November 1988 that she had taken money from the trust account and made two payments of $50 each as repayment Creel alleges He also alleges in the suit that in March Paula Leger and transferred her half-interest in a house to her husband and asked the court to nullify the quitclaim deed which transferred her interest in the house to her husband By GENE SWEARINGEN STAFF WRITER A civil suit seeking recovery of $82825 allegedly embezzled by former Harrison County Chancery Court administrator Paula Leger has been filed by Chancery Cleric Nicky CreeL The suit was filed Tuesday in Chancery Court in Gulfport and names Leger as well as her husband Biloxi attorney Charles Leger as ing in on May Meadows said Creel alleges in the suit that Paula Leger took the money between Dec 16 1986 and Dec 6 1988 by writing checks from a trust fund to herself or a third party and then altering the returned canceled checks to reflect a payee who could have legitimately received the money The trust account was for funds held on behalf of Chancery Court cases and litigants defendants In addition to the civil suit criminal action against Paula Leger is expected District Attorney Joe Meadows said Wednesday that his office has completed an investigation into the alleged embezzlement and turned the information over to the state auditor are waiting for his final report If that comes in in time we could submit the case to a grand jury com Harrison County School Superintendent Henry Arledge and wife Charlotte Arledge were named in the suit because they sold and owner-financed the house to the Legers Arledge said the Legers bought the house from him about two years ago and have been making monthly payments on their mortgage Creel asked the court for an equitable lien against the property Creel also asked in the suit for an accounting from Paula Leger of all money converted to her own use and an accounting of what it was used for He asked for a judgment of $82 82516 against Paula Leger for any additional monies which may have been discovered to have been wrongfully taken as discovery progresses in this Neither Creel nor the Legers could be contacted Wednesday for comment I Coast for approve pageant Miss Teen officials to check housing Doing bid-ness Bargain I IRS sells cabin cruiser to pay part of taxes drift to (The boat) will be sold for much less than is owed the federal government The IRS will look elsewhere to recoup the rest of the unpaid taxes just trying to help the Von Antz said Through newspaper advertisements and letters to past bidders this IRS auction drew about 20 bargain hunters Some wanted to own the boat Others were hoping they might sell the boat at a profit Only about a half-dozen bidders liked the boat enough to risk a bid The hull needed cleaning Barnacles had grown in the exhaust ports and the engines had begun to rust slight i I I i i i i i i waits Bill Holmes also said the county Tourism Commission has voted to pitch in its $20000 Still needed: $15000 from the Harrison County Development Commission and $10000 from Biloxi and Gulfport The Gulfport City Council said Wednesday that the dty could not come up with its $10000 in cash but will propose making a contribution in kind by providing security and so on want to let this get Council President Himbert Sinopoli said Miss Teen USA pageant officials today are expected to inspect accommodations arranged by Coast officials the proposed budget for the production and out-of-pocket expenses such as meals and transportation A -press conference is expected to be held sometime today or Friday Hotel accommodations are expected to be worked out by then have to give up some stuff some comp rooms and in-kind services at a time when we have a chance to make said McGuire who also is president of the state Innkeepers Association could say do it in November but that's just not the way the cookie crumbles It crumbles in July when you have a full house But I think that it will behoove us in the long run by much more than we could ever get by buying the advertising Staff writer Louise Taylor contributed to this story significant black support but needs 10 to 15 percent of the white vote to win Guice said He said the anti-gang ad is targeted for white voters It is targeted to air before a May 16 runoff if Calhoun succeeds in the May 2 Democratic primary Calhoun faces two strong white Democrats Mayor Dale Danks and state Rep Kane Ditto as well as lesser-known candidates Marvin Allen James and Anthony Cornelius Out-of-town jury will hear Jordan case By GENE SWEARINGEN STAFF WRITER Circuit Judge Kosta Vlahos kept his courtroom open to the press and public Wednesday and will keep the resentencing trial of Richard Gerald Jordan in Gulfport But he will go outside Harrison County to impanel a jury attorneys had wanted the courtroom closed during motion hearings and had asked that the trial be moved out of the county arguing that publicity surrounding the case made it impossible to seat a fair and impartial jury Two juries have convicted Jordan for the 1976 kidnapping and murder of Edwina Marter a Gulfport wife The conviction still stands but three death sentences have been Please see JURY C-4 auction ly Nevertheless the boat seemed to be in fair shape even though the sparkle of newness had faded After a good cleaning and a tuneup it might turn out to be a bargain a said Hank Kuehn of Ocean Springs like buying a used car without driving it And you can get two people in love with it and they can pay more than you can go out and buy (a boat) Royce Sesser of Columbus came to the marina for a look at the boat He decided not to bid buy any- thing from a go-cart to a dinosaur if I Please see AUCTION C-4 mercial Gangs Move features gang graffiti an upper-middle-class home up for sale a downcast blonde girl and black males in a rundown neighborhood motioning threateningly toward the camera Biloxi media consultant Reed Guice of Guice Guice Advertising Inc said this week that the searing theme of black gangs sparking flight from Jackson is one that no white candidate could air without raising suspicion of confirm ID Black candidate runs anti-gang TV ad By VINCENT CREEL MARQUEE EDITOR Coast innkeepers have found room for the Miss Teen USA Pageant but up to producers of the July worldwide telecast to approve them today Since two major conventions will be on the Coast in July when Miss Teen USA contestants will begin arriving Coast hoteliers have been forced to look outside normal accommodations to find rooms The solutions: using dormitories at Keesler Air Force Base William Carey College on the Coast and the Perkinston campus of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College know at this point in time just how many we are going to need said Eddie McGuire president of the Mississippi Coast Hotel-Motel Association and manager of the Biloxi Beach Resort Motor Inn places have been ap- proached and have offered their help 100 percent to help us solidify this Originally conventions in July involving Witnesses and the Mississippi Municipal Association were expected to conflict with efforts to house contestants and others when they begin arriving July 5 for the July 25 telecast The Harrison County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday instructed Chancery Clerk GN Creel to see if he could find $40000 in the county budget to put toward the estimated $167000 in production costs for the pageant Coliseum director racism But in case the commercial is just a strong statement on crime he said the past law and order has been a racial icon If a white candidate ran a commercial strong on the crime problem there would be a backlash from the black community they be able to overcome Guice said Calhoim a 10-year Democratic state legislator is expected to claim Stephen Howard Roman cept Roman who was shot four times He was in stable condition but unwilling or unable to talk much investigators said Wednesday investigators are still as- Please see CONFIRM C-4 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JACKSON A hard-hitting television commercial produced for black mayoral candidate Credell Calhoun links black gangs to white flight from Jackson a campaign message his media consultant admits a white candidate use without raising allegations of racism Calhoun is attempting to become first black mayor The com Authorities hunters taxes on Wednesday the a 1985 Chris Craft brought $20200 which will pay part of the 1986 taxes a Rankin County man owes the Internal Revenue Service get boats very often said Von Antz fortunate in that this is the right time to sell a Before seizing property for delinquent taxes the IRS allows taxpayers every opportunity to pay is the last step in a series of unfortunate events Von Antz said seize things as a last resort Mike Moore It was later discovered that inhaled asbestos fibers could cause lung disease or cancer Among the companies named as defendants were several from Mississippi including United Builders Supply and Harper Foundry and Machine in Jackson Most of them were unaware of the lawsuit Attorneys for Metropolitan Life Insurance Co the other major defendant declined to comment on the lawsuit because they had not seen a copy They said they had expected the state to file suit against the company Moore alleges in the lawsuit that Metropolitan Life ran tests in 1929 of health effects on workers Those studies the suit says showed that asbestos dust caused lung fibrosis and other health problems But when the results were published in 1935 the lawsuit said Met- Please see ASBESTOS C-4 By PATRICK PETERSON STAFF WRITER Standing on the dock beside a 29-foot cabin cruiser the tax man became a salesman yourself going down the Intercoastal IRS Revenue Officer Joe Von Antz told a wary group of bidders at the Point Cadet Marina in Biloxi would be a cream puff if we were in the car he added encouraging the bidders Seized last month and sold for State files $200 million asbestos suit By TERRY CASSREINO CAPITOL BUREAU CHIEF JACKSON Mississippi filed a $200 million lawsuit Wednesday against 27 companies including Metropolitan Life Insurance Co to cover damages from asbestos found in state buildings The lawsuit filed in Circuit Court in Jackson County is one of the largest filed in Mississippi State Attorney General Mike Moore said it is the first time a state has sued Metropolitan Life for asbestos found in buildings will be a terrifically large Moore said "We would certainly hope they write us a check tomorrow but I doubt that will occur 27 defendants all of them probably will have separate counsel It will be a very complicated litigation There will be a lot of depositions filed a lot of paperwork until we get to a he said lawsuit names 221 state buildings that contain asbestos The list includes the mansion Mississippi Memorial Stadium and the Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs the only one from the Coast The suit seeks $200 million in compensatory damages money that Moore hopes to use to pay for asbestos removal and expenses related to the cleanup The suit also seeks an unspecified amount of money in punitive damages Asbestos a non-flammable substance at one time was frequently used in fireproofing and as insulation 4 i i i i of man shot By GENE SWEARINGEN STAFF WRITER Jack McCory a prisoner who allegedly shot at a doctor kidnapped his office manager and led police on a two-county chase before he was shot and wounded Saturday has been positively identified as Stephen Howard Roman authorities said Wednesday Roman had identified himself to Harrison County deputies as 26-year-old McCory and showed a Social Security card and other documents to back up his claim when he was arrested April 15 He was charged then with the burglary and arson of a office in Biloxi Investigators had not been able to properly identify Roman through fingerprints because his hands were burned allegedly when he set the fire Investigators said Wednesday that photographs from Florida and a per- A car chase manently injured or malformed finger on his right hand described by former parole officer there left no doubt that McCory was Roman 32 believed to be a native of New Hampshire Roman is under around-the-clock guard at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport to recover from gunshot wounds he received Saturday after a highspeed chase west along Mississippi 53 from Dr Richard office on US 49 The chase began after Roman overpowered a guard who had taken him to Peden for treatment of his burned hands Roman allegedly shot at Peden with the gun kidnapped one of employees Diane Stephens stole her car rammed a deputy sheriffs truck with it and exchanged gunfire with the deputy before continuing on into Hancock County where the car engine died and Roman was shot Nobody was seriously injured ex- 'i1 's f- i rt i -w -iwi mmm 1.