The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 17

Tri-State Memphis Tenn Thursday August 25 1983 THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Veteran Auditor Heaps Criticism On 'Mr Notable Losses Hold Changes In Legislature By RHETA GRIMSLEY JOHNSON Freni The Cemmerdel Appeel JACKSON Miss Threatening to forget retirement and run as an independent for the post he has held the past 20 years state Auditor Hamp King 73 yesterday angrily denounced the Democratic nominee for the job former William Winter aide Ray Mabus "Mississippi has survived a great many phonies incompetents and liars throughout the political years and they can survive Mr Maybe" King said during a post-election news conference in which he referred to Mabus as "Mr Maybe" Alternately mad and joking the spry veteran official was asked which if any of the disparaging labels he'd apply to Mabus "fake your pick" he retorted Yet King said he still may run against Mabus who Tuesday defeated veteran audit official Mason Shelby in the Democratic runoff governor of the state called me this morning requesting on the basis of our long friendship that I not become an independent candidate" King said he told Winter he had made no decision would I make a commitment to him" Shelby was not his "hand- Kicked choice" to succeed him eading the agency that reviews the finances of local governments King insisted He denied Mabus campaign that the Department of Audit has been sluggish in recovering misspent money calling the allegations half-truths and fully fabricated King defended the performance of his agency which traditionally has viewed the state job as the ultimate promotion He claimed $571828 not the million cited by Mabus ads was the total amount of unrecovered funds over a four-year period Mabus throughout the campaign insisted taxpayers were ready for a change in the auditor's office He has promised there will be no mass firings in the audit department Returns from 2051 of 2070 state polling stations showed: Ray Mabus 366981 Mason Shelby 344888 King who said a decision to run required "until 5 o'clock on the afternoon of Sept kept this the liveliest of Mississippi's lesser statewide races He even hinted Mabus had been politically motivated to begin attending Galloway United Methodist Church church since 1953 Another former Winter aide 33-year-old Dick Molpus won a tight contest over former Land Commissioner John Ed Ainsworth of Glen Allan In the secretary of state race Molpus a Philadelphia native who was Instrumental in securing passage of education reform package and Ainsworth were the top two vote-getters of seven seeking to follow Secretary of State Ed Pittman in the office Pittman won the Aug 2 Democratic primary to succeed the attorney general without a runoff Molpus after a night of seesawing totals emerged with 516 percent of the vote Final returns with all polling runoffs included Senate Fees and Salaries Chairman Robert Crook of Ruleville Conservation Chairman Charles Ray Nix of Batesvllle Bill Minor of Holly Springs David Smith of Hattiesburg and Judiciary Chairman Martin Smith of Poplarville While Smith the Judiciary Committee chairman won his re-election race in a district that includes Pearl River and Hancock counties two other lawmakers from the area were defeated Tuesday along with several other local incumbents The runoff elections claimed veteran Rep Wade Smith of Poplarville and Rep Terrell Breland of Picayune who is completing his first term in the House Other House members defeated Tuesday included Rep James Neal of Jackson and Rep Joe Rouse of Gulfport House members who survived the runoff elections included Reps Mack Loyd Wadkins Iuka Billy McCoy Rienzi Ed Jackson Cleveland Mike Eakes Philadelphia Butch McMillan Kosciusko Mary Ann Stevens West Johnny Stringer Montrose Joe Warren Mt Olive and Clifton Holmes Columbia Sen Crook held on to the senate seat he has occupied for 20 years by defeating Turner Arant 6042 to 4245 according to unofficials totals Arant an agribusinessman from Blaine gave Crook his first serious challenge in years Unofficial Results Of Countywide Runoff Voting places reporting showed: John Ed Ainsworth 356883 Dick Molpus 379192 Incumbent Snyder defeated Tupelo auto dealer Roy Alexander in 31 North Mississippi counties for the Public Service Commission Snyder tallied 565 percent of the vote to percent Itawamba County SHERIFFi Leland Taylor 6977 Travis Gunlti-arp 3162 no Republicans filed SUPT OF EDUCATION! George 'Jack' Brown 5439 Billy League 4504 no Repubfi-cons fikd TAX ASSESSOR-COLLECTOR John McFerrin 5538 Charles Kitisey 4494 no Republicans filed i Lafayette County SUPT OF EDUCATION Jimmy Nelson 2177 Jimmy Arrington 1507 no Republicans filed PROS ATTORNEY Ed Roberts 4279 Glenn Alderson 3434 no Republicans filed Lee County SHERIFF Roy Sandefer 1 1003 Jack Shirley 6173 no Republicans filed CHANCERY CLERK Jerry Clayton 8649 Julian Riley 8586 Clayton faces Republican Chuck Weaver Nov 8 CIRCUIT CLERK Mildred Pearce 9713 Mary Faye Gwin 7305 no Republicans filed SUPT OF EDUCATION Leroy Belk 4559 Aubrey MHcheR 4123 no Repubficans filed TAX ASSESSOR Karri Weathers 8784 WU-Kam Harvey Benson 7954 no Repubficans filed PROS ATTORNEY Joe Blair Timmons 8645 Gene Barton 8171 no Repubficans filed The status of runoff voting for countywide government offices in North Mississippi is listed below North Mississippi counties that did not have runoffs in countywide races include Boli- var Carroll Holmes Humphreys Marshall Monroe Panola Tallahatchie and Tunica Independent candidates can qualify for the Nov 8 general election until 5 pm on Sept 9 Vote totals are based on unofficial results Alcorn County SHERIFF Jack Halt 7073 Larry Brinkley 5862 no Republican! filed Holt faces independent BIN Gant Attala County -cdv r-iCBV i sxn CHANCERY CLERK Charles England 3862 Betty Ferguson 3327 i SUPT OF EDUCATION James Foster 2577 Lucille Wingard 757 Benton County CIRCUIT CLERK Maurine Bain 2356 Cindy 1 Elliot 1645 no Republicans filed Final returns from all polling places showed: Roy Alexander 107087 Snyder 138807 Democratic candidates who still face Republican opposition include Pittman whose Republican foe is Asst Atty Gen Roger Googe Molpus' Republican opponent in the secretary of state race is Laurel lawyer Jerry Gilbreath Leflore County CIRCUIT CLERK Deborah Elfin 4373 Bob Sahreson 3614 Lowndes County CHANCERY CLERK Chariot Younger 9378 Tommy Johnson 6895 Montgomery County CIRCUIT CLERK Lora Ryalt 3270 Emmar Hammond 2546 SUPT OF EDUCATION Frank Surles 2998 Bennie Watson 2634 Noxubee County SHERIFF Cedi Russell 2836 Albert Walker 2777 Pontotoc County SHERIFF John Uoyd Moore 5095 John Grisham 3831 no Repubficans filed SUPT OF EDUCATION: Hugh Gene Turner 3614 Gerald Waldrop 1632 no Republicans filed Prentiss County SHERIFF Horn 5588 Walloc Davit 4456 no Republicans filed SUPT OF EDUCATION Greene 3996 Lex Cain 2851 no Republicans filed securities activities that were documented in a nine-month FBI investigation Davidson said that Coleman former owner of the Green-water Marina and boat dealership near Iuka signed a proposed plea bargain 'agreement here Tuesday and faces a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison and $54000 in fines attorney Grady Tollison of Oxford said the collapse last year of marina a subsequent spate of civil and criminal charges and the federal action were obvious By JAMES YOUNG Free TM Cnwmrcll Am nl JACKSON Miss Numerically the Mississippi Legislature suffered minor losses this month but the Democratic primary and runoff elections claimed some major individual casualties Rep Stone Barefield of Hattiesburg one of the sharpest tacticians in the Legislature was turned out in Tuesday's Democratic runoff toppled by newcomer Van Slyke among 33 candi-dates backed by the new legislative reform group Mississippi First While the party elections this month produced the defeat of Barefield House Banking Chairman Kenneth Williams of Clarks-dale and Senate Finance Chairman Ellis Bodron of Vicksburg most Incumbents seeking new four-year terms have survived at least until the Nov 8 general election After Democratic runoff elections only 15 percent of the senators and 17 percent of the representatives seeking re-election had been defeated raising the likelihood that this year's legislative turnover rate including voluntary retirements would fall below 45 percent During the primary elections 12 House members and five senators were toppled runoff elections produced five more House losses and one more in the Senate Algle Davis of Meridian who lost to Eddie Briggs of De Kalb Incumbent senators winning Quitman County SHERIFF Harrison 3581 Fred Robinzine Jr 2398 no Repubficans filed SUPT OF EDUCATION Leroy Matthews Jr 3434 Jesse Jostefi Jr 2566 no Republi-filed SharkeyCounty SHERIFF Joe Ford 1529 Robert 5tigoff 1250 TAX ASSESSOR-COLLECTOR Charles Bar-low 1368 Marie Bartow 1333 Tate County SHERIFF Ingram 5202 John Adams 2669 no Repubficans filed CIRCUIT CLERK Steve Lentz 41 14 Sylvia Seaiy 3558 no Repubficans filed SUPT OF EDUCATION Donald Clanton 5601 Jessie Edwards 2198 no Republicans filed Tippah County SHERIFF 'Pete Crum 5111 Leroy Meeks 1174 no Republicans filed CIRCUIT CLERK James Ervin Dees 5468 Ed-die Barkley 4815 no Republicans filed SUPT OF EDUCATION Glee Rutherford 6183 Eugene Taylor 4098 no Repubficans filed TAX ASSESSOR-COLLECTOR Darrell Nance 5553 Ronnie MartimMe 4591 no Repubficans filed signs of his poor business judgment He said Coleman was using proceeds of boat transactions in which Coleman served as middleman to keep the ailing marina business afloat One of the ways Coleman allegedly came up with the operating cash according to the federal charges was to agree to sell boats for people and then sell the boats as if they belonged to his dealership Documents state that he inform buyers about unpaid debts on the boats they were school openings and political campaigns They are obstacles that 20 years ago would have been brushed aside very disappointed in the response to this said Dan ordinated by leaders in four towns: in Clarksdale by Elijah Brown in Lexington by Amette Lewis in Greenville by Owen Brooks and in Marks by Carl Brown Planes cars and buses will be used "I think there are a whole lot of reasons to go Walker said think the message that Martin Luther King had in 1963 is still one that motivates people to get involved But right now we are in the middle of distressing times in America fact is that the agenda of is still before us in many ways This is an opportunity to go to Washington and assess the situation with people from different parts of the country and come back with a new emphasis" Former Marina Owner Pleads Guilty Sheriff Thinks Fire Not Racial Matter Tishomingo County SHERIFF Bob Payne 3941 George Cut-diaN 3763 no Repubficans filed CHANCERY CLERK Richard Abies 4000 Horace Ledgewood 3757 no Repubficans filed Union County SHERIFF Joe Bryant 5378 Wayne Gaines 4270 no Repubficans filed Washington County CIRCUIT CLERK Estelle Pryor 6788 David Wilson 6608 Ms Pryor faces Republican Nancy White Reed New 8 TAX COLLECTOR Mary Andrzejewski 7696 Laveme Moore 5694 Webster County CHANCERY CLERK Robertson 3535 Lady Doolittle 1893 CIRCUIT CLERK June Castle 3243 Jessie Faye Hunter 2198 Yalobusha County SHERIFF Lloyd Defer 3440 Lester Smith Jr 2433 no Republicans filed Yazoo County SHERIFF Sadler 4800 Doyle Jones 4442 Sadler faces Republican Spiars Nov 8 To Fraud buying and give sellers their rightful shares of sale proceeds Coleman now a car salesman in the Memphis area was accused in documents filed by Davidson of four counts of mail fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud Each count carries a maximum penalty of a $1000 fine or five years in prison or both The five counts of interstate transportation of fraudulent securities each carry maximum penalties of 10 years in prison or $10000 fines or both Suggs coordinator for the mobilization effort here of the impact Dr King had on this city Memphis should be leading the way to Washington Saturday Instead the response has been very From Arkansas groups of 12 will set out in vans today and tomorrow on the 22-hour trip They will leave from the Arkansas Peace Center in Little Rock cording to organizer Jeff Ledbet- ter About 20 Arkansans will make the trip on their own Ledbetter called the state's par- -ticipation and said the group should be evenly divided between whites and blacks He said none of those attending were involved in the march want to go because we feel the country is at a crossroads at a crucial time like in Led- better said want to demonstrate solidarity with other groups we want to say we still have a dream Not too much has change since Calhoun County SHERIFFi Henry Joe Pafterton 4834 George Lesfio Pollan 2111 SUPT OF EDUCATION Grady Ferguson 3867 John Burt 3102 Chickasaw County SHERIFF! Cart Craig 3353 Richard Davis 3228 Choctaw County RIFFi Bovce Bruce 2461 Joe Jones SHERIFF Boyce Bruce 2461 Joe Jones 2090 CHANCERY CLERK Donald Nunn 2468 Wil-Bam McMinn 1908 Clay County SHERIFF Sammie Me Noel 4643 Walker 3609 CIRCUIT CLERK Joyce Aycock 5122 Hffl 2857 Coahoma County CHANCERY CLERK Wayne Orr Jr 4958 Jo Ann Bradham 3142 no Republicans filed Grenada County SHERIFF Jesse A Strider 4860 Wayne MKey 3564 no Republicans filed CHANCERY CLERK Powell Vance 4216 Lou A Golding 4130 no Republicans filed John Allen Jones said he does not believe the fire could be attributed to racial motives Jones leading the investi- shal Buddy Applewhite met yesterday with FBI officials from Jackson Civil rights activist Rev Jesse Jackson visited the burned church Tuesday and claimed the fire was an attempt by whites to intimidate blacks in the county and keep them from the polls on election day Jackson can come into this county for IS minutes and he may think he knows what is going on but lived here all my life and I Know Humphreys Jones said The sheriff has arrested a suspect in connection with the Sunday morning blaze Elbert A Mathis Jr 34 a white man who lives about 200 yards from the church is being held under $20000 bond Jones said Mathis has confessed to the burning and said the motive was not racial "He just said he wanted to hurt Jones said "He had been fighting with his wife and said he just wanted to hurt someone so he set the church on Jones' Investigation Into the lire which caused heavy damage to the church indicated the arsonist attempted to set the fire three times the sheriff said "I knew who did it when I was there but I want to say anything because I had to go back to Belzonl and get some plaster to pour some footprint molds Mathis followed me to Belzonl and came in and said want to tell you about it You know you?" said Jones Jones said case will be presented to the grand jury which convenes in February Capital Lacks Marching Spirit for this 20th anniversary march on Washington several would-be demonstrators were grumbling about the cost of the trip about the time and energy required to make the drive and about conflicting events such as By WAYNE RISHER Free Tin Csmmsrdsl Appeal OXFORD Miss A former Pickwick Lake marina owner and boat dealer accused of cheating boat buyers and sellers out of boats and money has agreed to plead guilty to federal fraud and securities violations an official said yesterday US Atty Glen Davidson said George Coleman Jr of Corinth agreed to plead guilty to 19 felony counts of mail fraud wire fraud and illegal Return To By WILLIAM THOMAS Shortly before the march on Washington in 1963 a black leader promised that hispeople would show up even if the only way some of them could get there was to look down and say "Feet start While a number of civil rights demonstrators did hike to the Capital and one man Ledger Smith roller skated 698 miles from Chicago hordes of others found ingenious ways to overcome the obstacles that lay between them and the rally For example 40 unemployed blacks in Cleveland Miss raised $33 for their bus fare by selling symbolic shares in their tickets at $1 apiece Today two decades later there is little sign of the kind of spirit that carried more than 210000 black and white marchers into the shadow of the Washington Monument where Dr Martin Luther King Jr set the cadence and defined the dream for an age that helped make marching feet the dominant sound of the Nowadays that sound 1b little more than an echo As fual plans were being made By LYNN CONLEE From The CemmercW See eel LOUISE Miss An investigation into the weekend burning of a black church here is continuing but Humphreys County Sheriff NN My Mends all tell me I am a worrywart and I guess it is true I always seem to worry about everything and imagine all the things that could go wrong even though they usually How can I overcome this? Everyone worries of course but some people especially seem to be beset with an attitude of con-stant worrying You apparently are one of these persons and I pray that you will deal with this as you should both for your own sake and the sake of those around you The most important thing you can do is to learn to commit the future to God and trust it to Him No one really knows what the future holds you and neither do your friends Only one knows the future and He is God The Bible commands "Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and tion with thanksgiving present your requests to God then it goes on to promise "And' the peace of Goa which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ (Philippians But I would suggest also that you need to keep your mind occupied with other things Ask Christ to give you a new love for others ana a new sensitivity to their problems also i March Anniversary To Pull Pilgrims Several hundred Mississippi-ans 40 Arkansans and about 250 folks representing West Tennessee and West Memphis will leave today and tomorrow for the 20th anniversary of the March on Washington The West Tennessee group will board buses at the Holiday Inn-Rivermont at 1 pm tomorrow No official representatives of Memphis or Shelby County will attend according to spokesmen for both mayors Robert Walker field director for the NAACP in Mississippi said his estimate of several hundred participants is "kind of He said economics statewide runoff elections and the start of school may keep people home The Mississippi trip is being co NFd.