The State from Columbia, South Carolina • 6

The State on Columbia, South Carolina Friday, August 26, 1988 Capital Report 1 Good morning THE NIGHTS MAY BE PLEASANT, but the mercury is edging back up during the days. Today's high will be in the mid-90s. IF IT GETS TOO UNBEARABLE you can always escape by visiting Columbia Mall, where 14 exhibits of the American World Show of LEGO System Inc. will open today. The models include a 25-foot-long Capitol building, the White House, Lincoln Memorial and Washington Memorial, and consist of more than 1 million LEGO bricks.

IF YOU MISSED "SHOWSTOPPERS VII: Seven Rings of Gold," you're in luck. The musical revue has been held over by Town Theatre tonight and Saturday. The curtain rises at 8. GOVERNOR AND MRS. CAMPBELL are vacationing this week.

Stores host voter registration drives A voter registration drive will be held today and Saturday at three Two Notch Road grocery stores. Today's drive is scheduled 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday's will be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The stores are Food Lion at Polo Road, WinnDixie at Sparkleberry Lane and Bi-Lo at Rabon Road. Committee on aging hosts hearing The Joint Legislative Study Committee on Aging will hold a public hearing Sept. 14 to discuss concerns, problems and legislative issues of older citizens. Organizations, government agencies and individuals are invited to speak at the 10:30 a.m. meeting, to be held in Room 101 of the Blatt Building at the Capitol Complex.

To arrange a time to speak or obtain additional information, call Keller Barron, director of research, at 734-2995, or write to her at 212 Blatt Building, P.O. Box 11867, Columbia, S.C. 29211. The deadline for reserving a time to speak at the hearing is Sept. 1.

Congress to debate new textile bill Debate is expected to begin tile and Apparel Trade Act, by Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, The thrust of Hollings' bill is textile manufacturers maintain of the market by freezing the Sept. 7 on the Texintroduced in late July to ensure that U.S. their current share ratio of foreign imports to domestically produced goods at its present level, about 50-50.

It would limit imports of non-rubber footwear to 1986 levels. The bill also would let administration officials grant a 1 percent annual quota increase to countries that show a willingness to trade fairly with the United States. Some senators see Hollings' measure as an invitation for foreign countries to American industries such as rely on foreign markets. State money brings federal return Hollings retaliate against agriculture that State funds totaling $2.6 million generated almost $19 million in federal money for local projects in the state during the past fiscal year. The funds were increased through a federal match program of the state Division of Local Government, said division director Mike Gulledge.

The match program lets the state compete more effectively for limited federal grants, Gulledge said. The division deals mainly with local water and sewer needs. S.C. ranks lowest in voter turnout South Carolina had the nation's worst voter turnout in the last presidential year, and turnout this year may not be much better, analysts say. South Carolina political scientists and Washington analysts cite several problems, including feelings of alienation and the weakening of the political party system.

Since 1948, South Carolina has ranked no better than 40th in the nation in turnout of eligible voters for congressional and presidential elections. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, South Carolina finished 51st behind every other state and the District of Columbia in 1984. And in the 1980 and 1976 elections, it finished ahead only of the District of Columbia. One reason, advanced by Clemson University political scientist Charles Dunn and Washington election analyst Richard Smolka, is that levels of education and personal income two traditional predictors of voter turnout always have been low in South Carolina and are slow to improve.

The most recent Census figures rank South Carolina 49th in education and 43rd in income. A related factor cited by Winthrop College political scientist Glen Broach is the still-prevalent feeling of disfranchisement among specific groups of voters in the South Carolina. This explanation of low turnout is grounded in two beliefs: Blacks haven't yet learned fully to use the vote, and blue-collar whites feel they don't benefit from voting. The fact that blacks have turned out in lesser proportions than whites since the passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act is telling, Broach said. For example, 33 percent of South Carolina's voting-age blacks turned out in 1984, compared to 43 percent of the state's eligible whites.

law faces court fight erty without due process. The suit was filed by Hilton Head attor- the state can "By virtue of these arbitrary, capri- ney John V. Esposito, one of the 40 plain- erosion." cious, unconscionable and unreasonable tiffs with homes in the North Forest Beach The suit statutes, the value of the property of the section of Hilton Head. Houses, ranging of dangers plaintiffs has been completely de- from 2,000 to 3,000 square feet and worth thought they stroyed," and the ban on reconstruction of more than $5 million altogether, are built homes if they destroyed property "is such to render their on all 25 pieces of property owned by the tiffs wish to property worthless and unmarketable," the plaintiffs, Esposito said. Because of the leg- and do not 35-page lawsuit says.

islation, they could not be rebuilt if they homes by the Furthermore, the suit says, the legisla- were destroyed by a storm or fire. tion has nothing to do with its purpose: to "Everyone that's in our group, these are The suit control erosion. "Man cannot prevent ero- our homes," Esposito said. "We live and al Council, sion," it says. "The law cannot prevent work here and pay our taxes.

We're fighting erosion." to save our homes because we don't think SCHOOL BUS SCHOS 12 By CINDI ROSS Staff Writer A group of Hilton Head property owners, whose homes couldn't be rebuilt if destroyed by a storm, has filed a federal lawsuit to have the state's sweeping beachfront protection legislation outlawed. The suit, filed Wednesday in Charleston, says the state's controversial retreat-fromthe-beach policy represents an illegal taking of private property by the state, in violation of the Fifth and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Those amendments prohibit the government from taking prop- Doug State Spokesman John Warner holds keys turned in Thursday by school bus drivers at Gilbert High Gilbert bus By KAY GORDON Staff Writer Gilbert school bus drivers parked their buses and threw down their keys Thursday morning to protest a pay plan, but they were back on the road in time to take children home from school in the afternoon. After one-on-one negotiations between Lexington District One officials and drivers, part of the problem was solved with a call to the state Department of Education.

The bus drivers were demanding pay for all the time they spend on their jobs, including time spent having buses refueled and serviced. They also said they want the option of working a minimum of 30 hours a week, which is necessary to receive state benefits. City, county claim victory in Newberry By JOHN COLLINS Newberry Bureau NEWBERRY Both sides claimed victory Thursday, although it seems bragging rights belong to Newberry County after a circuit judge dismissed a suit the city of Newberry had filed against the county. The city in May sought an injunction against the county's acting as a conduit for a $409,000 repayable grant from the governor's office to the Newberry County Water and Sewer Authority. Half the money is supposed to be paid back by the authority in two years, something authority officials have said they will not be able to do.

The city contended that county residents, including those in the city, would then have to repay the loan, which would benefit only a limited number of residents. Eighth Circuit Judge Tommy Hughston in his order said the question before the court was whether or not an injunction could be issued to prevent the county from levying and spending tax money "at some indeterminate future time to lend to the authority if the authority is called on by the governor's office to repay any portion of the grant monies." Hughston said county officials have taken no legislative action pledging tax revenues for the repayment of any debt of the authority and there was no showing of irreparable harm. County attorney Gary Pope of See 3-C fight take our property to control says the plaintiffs knew the building on the beach but would be able to rebuild their were destroyed. "The plaincontinue to own their property want to be driven from their state," it says. was filed against the S.C.

Coastwhich enforces the state's beach- See Beach, 2-C Stay sought on SCEA dues ruling S.C. seeks suspension of deduction order By JEFF MILLER Staff Writer Gov. Carroll Campbell and two other state officials want a federal judge to suspend his own order allowing the South Carolina Education Association to collect dues through payroll deduction while they appeal it. Among other reasons, the state contends the order subjects it to lawsuits from other professional organizations. SCEA officials say any delays would be damaging.

A hearing is scheduled for 10:30 this morning before U.S. District Judge Matthew Perry. The SCEA sued Campbell, Secretary of State John T. Campbell and Comptroller General Earle Morris to reclaim payroll deduction benefits. Perry ruled on Aug.

11 that the General Assembly had acted unconstitutionally in 1981 when it passed a law denying the SCEA payroll deduction. SCEA lost more than 3,500 members when payroll deduction ended. During a four-day trial in July, several legislators testified they pushed the law because they disliked the SCEA's affiliation with the National Education Association and its support for collective bargaining. The law did not mention the SCEA by name, but the SCEA was the only professional association using payroll deduction for dues collection at the time. Two-thirds of South Carolina's school districts permitted the SCEA to collect dues through payroll deduction when it was outlawed.

State officials filed a notice of appeal on Tuesday. According to court documents, attorneys for the state will argue that the "vast majority of evidence" from the four-day trial in July was "inadmissible legislative testimony" which tainted the record. Their request for a stay contends drivers park "All we want is to get paid for the time we work. What's so hard to understand that, you want to get paid for your work?" John Warner, spokesman for the drivers, asked. Ralph Hendrix, transportation director with the state Department of Education, cleared up the issue early Thursday afternoon when he said the state requires drivers to be paid for time spent on servicing vehicles and that the department would send all districts a policy to that effect by Monday.

Setting off the protest was a three-hour wait for refueling earlier this week that left drivers fuming. Every three days, buses are refueled and serviced. Gilbert drivers said the biggest problem with Tuesday's unexpected in protest wait was a fear they wouldn't be paid, since they had never been paid for routine, shorter waits in years past, Warner said. Warner first met Thursday morning with Superintendent Dr. Chester Floyd; Dr.

Karl Fulmer, assistant superintendent for fiscal affairs; Wayne Hall, Gilbert High assistant principal and director of transportation for the Gilbert area; and Gilbert High principal Bobby Whitehead. After the meeting, which lasted more than an hour, Warner told the 17 other adult drivers waiting in the teachers' lounge that officials had pledged to ask state officials whether drivers could be paid for any time other than that spent See Bus, 3-C Riley heads Dukakis lineup on S.C. steering committee By BOBBY BRYANT Staff Writer Former Gov. Dick Riley said Thursday he will lead Democrat Michael Dukakis' presidential steering committee in South Carolina, while Lt. Gov.

Nick Theodore and U.S. Sen. Ernest Hollings will be among the campaign's seven co-chairmen. Four of the seven Hollings, Dr. R.N.

Beck of Florence, Dr. Walker Solomon of Columbia and Charleston Rep. McKinley Washington supported Greenville native the Rev. Jesse Jackson's presidential bid, said Det Bowers, Dukakis' state campaign director. "We've got more Jackson than Dukakis" among the co-chairmen, Bowers said.

"I think it's going to send out a signal of inclusion. There's no one being written off." The co-chairs include two women Ann D. Funderburk of Greenville and Helen Harvey of Beaufort, the wife of former Lt. Gov. Brantley Harvey.

The lineup was announced at a low-key news conference Thursday at the State House, one floor above the offices of GOP Gov. Carroll Campbell, Southern campaign chairman for Republican presidential nominee George Bush. Riley said he gladly accepted Dukakis' request to serve as chairman of the Massachusetts governor's state steering committee as Bowers had expected. "When I came on board, that was kind of a given that Governor Riley would be chairman," said Bowers, who will run the day-to-day campaign activities. Riley will be in charge of the campaign's broad goals and will be "intimately involved in the policy decisions and the direction of the campaign," Bowers said.

"Governor Dukakis is our kind of governor, and he will be our kind of president," Riley said Thursday. "I believe the Dukakis-(Lloyd) Bentsen campaign is going to win in November. It's going to win nationally, and it's going to win in South Carolina." Riley called Dukakis "a person of high character. I think he will bring an entirely new See Riley, 2-C Adams' beaming face beamed across country By BILL ROBINSON Staff Writer Columbia Mayor Patton Adams' one-man campaign to convince New Yorkers of South Carolina's claim it helped originate the nickname "The Big Apple" took a comedic twist in the wee hours Thursday morning. Adams unknowingly appeared on the Late Night With David Letterman television show, which pirated a satellite shot of the mayor being broadcast from Columbia.

Letterman, one of the quickest wits in show business, poked fun at Adams' appearance while he was waiting to be interviewed via satellite by a newsman in New York. Adams had gone to the WIS-TV studio See Dues, 3-C Dukakis Bentsel Linda State Riley joins Dukakis' team Wednesday to have his image and remarks transmitted to a New York TV station that was attempting to report on the Big Apple theory familiar to most Columbians. The interview was broadcast in the New York area about 5:40 p.m. Wednesday. Seven hours later, Adams' face, with a sheepish smile, was transmitted again nationwide while Letterman facetiously commented that the mayor must be "the happiest man in the world." When told Thursday morning he had been an unwitting participant in a network comedy show, Adams replied simply, "I didn't know that.

I was fast asleep. I'm surprised my children didn't see it. They're a bunch of night owls." Adams laughed off Letterman's biting remarks about his appearance. He's been having a good time trying to persuade his New York counterpart, Ed Koch, that Gotham's nickname is derived from a Depression-era dance many Columbians insist began at black nightclub on what is now Park Street. Why all the fuss? the New York TV newsman asked Adams via satellite.

"We're very pleased to be part of New York's heritage," the mayor said. "And we wanted Mayor Koch and the people of New York City to know that we're proud to be a See 2-C.