The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 7

BMSDC3ESS Pages B4-8 MEMPHIS TUESDAY JUNE 13 1989 TUe Commercial Appeal msTar EDIT10H SECTION Entire court recuses Arkansas justices balk at suit on expenditures "I think for them to decide I think there's always the possibility that someone would think there was a conflict Clinton said itself tice of appeal Friday If the lower court upheld state lawmakers will have to return Rock before July 1 to keep from Inerrancy will rule as Baptists vote today He said he hopes the case can be settled quickly so that state spending is not interrupted at the beginning of the fiscal year July 1 He added he does not expect to have trouble finding seven replacement justices The case came to the high court last week after Pulaski County Chancery Court Judge Lee Munson ruled that state spending bills approved by lawmakers this spring were improperly passed and are void Jeff Bell a lawyer handling the case for the Arkansas Attorney General's Office said he will file an appeal of the decision to the high court today He gave no The money bills involved in the lawsuit include all state spending for the next fiscal year including the S75508 annual salary of Supreme Court Chief Justice Jack Holt and the 569352 annual salaries of the six associate Justices Arkansas Gov Bill Clinton who learned of the justices' decisions late Monday afternoon said he would move "as quickly as possible" to appoint a special court to hear the case Earlier Monday Clinton said he would understand if the justices disqualified themselves because of a potential conflict of interest By Jerry Huston LHtleRock Bureau LITTLE ROCK In an extraordinary move all seven members of the Arkansas Supreme Court disqualified themselves Monday from hearing a case concerning state spending legislation The members of the high court without explanation recused themselves from hearing the case which could void all or the state spending bills passed by the legislature this spring said Janie Owen a deputy Supreme Court clerk Safety Town ruling is probably to Little state spending grinding to a halt Bell said Clinton said Monday he expects to call a special session to vote again on at least part of the spending measure struck down by the court but added he hopes the replacement high court will allow the majority of the spending bills to remain intact Bell will ask the special Supreme Court to hear the case immediately Clinton added that if the appeal is unsuccessful the state will ask the court to hold off voiding the spending bills until the legislature can reconsider and pass new spending measures By Michael McMullan shock tion and extremist white supremacist and skinhead groups are among the grass-roots organ izations now attracting people who feel disenfranchised "It (the Moral Majority) hasn't been of significance for years They had absolutely no influence in the 1988 presidential election Their efforts were more focused on keeping themselves economically afloat with direct-mail think that Mr Falwell has probably overestimated the extent of his said Dr Harry Moore regional director for the National Conference of Christians and Jews don't have any objection to the so-called evangelicals getting into politics I think everybody who wants to ought to jump in" Moore said However he added: "I wouldn't call him the moral 'majority' I think in reality Mr Fal- Please see MORAL Page B3 WILLIAM THOMAS Commentary Heroism outshines sports feat If you think Michael Chang's victory in the French Open was something wait till you hear what Anthony Muscarella did when he was a kid By the time he was Chang's ae 17 Muscarella had been a arine three years he'd won the Silver Star he'd been wounded in combat and in one fearful night on Iwo Jima he'd saved his platoon life and slain eight Japanese soldiers Kids grow up fast in war and tennis At least Muscarella who lives in Memphis did He was only 14 when he lied about his age and joined up in May 1942 to become the youngest Marine who never got caught It was easier to do then There was a war on and the Marines needed more than a few good men went down and told them I was 18 and I wanted to enlist" said Muscarella whose mother had died when he was born and whose father had been killed in a traffic accident Five months earlier the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor he said and everyone wanted to go get 'em "It was as simple as Muscarella kept a log of his Marine Corps days which included landing on the beaches of Iwo Jima Saipan and Roi-Namur Island Now after more than 45 years that log has become the core of a small personal locally published account titled Iwo Jima: The Young Heroes (Castle Books) Muscarella came by to talk about the book as Flag Day Wednesday approached and to discuss the part he played in the most famous flag photo them all the planting of the Stars and Stripes on Mt Suribachi As things turned out Muscarella was on the same landing craft with Joe Rosenthal the photographer who made the picture This is how he remembers it: we climbed over the side Set Wesson says 'how about helping this guy down he's a war correspondent' Well he was 40 years old and we were a bunch of kids To us he seemed ancient We know and he didn't know either that he was going to take the greatest picture or the war" After helping Rosenthal into the landing craft they headed for the beach Muscarella remembers the photographer sitting in the boat with cameras and film dangling from his neck and shoulders "It was like any other landing" he said we didn't realize what we were in for We were supposed to take the island in three days It but five miles long 2Vi miles wide But I was there from Feb 19 to St Patrick's Day when they declared it secure" Both sides paid a terrible price for a volcanic island that looked like the far side of the moon About 22000 Japanese troops were killed or captured US casualties totaled more than 21000 Of that number more than 4500 were killed Although Muscarella saw the flag on Mt Suribachi he did not see the famous picture until later And he did not know who had taken it until he saw a photo of the photographer and recognized him os the man he'd helped into the boat After the war Muscarella met Rosenthal ut a reunion of his old Marine outfit which is down from 900 to about 40 men Muscarella who works nights as a truck mechanic has never thought of himself as a war hero "I ain't nothin' but a country boy" he said "We all did what we had to do to stay What they hod to do was fight their way out of some genuine hot spots Says Muscarella "We dug a foxhole one night that was so hot with volcanic rock we couldn't sit in it except on our helmets" 1 Throughout the war Muscarella managed to dig himself out of one hole after another And like Michael Chan who has handled himself Just right he came home a winner before he was 18 years old There's just one difference: Muscarella and his generation of World War II buddies never had a chance to choose their racket Crossing Guard Jean Doyle keeps a watchful eye on her students as they drive toy tractors through the streets of Safety Town For the 23rd year the Police Department opened the gates to Safety Town on the parking lot of Southland Mall to give By Tom Bailey Jr Stall Reporter LAS VEGAS Nev The Southern Baptist Convention today will choose between two presidential candidates a Bible-be-lieving conservative and a Bi-ble-believing conservative During the previous 10 years a fundamentalist coalition gained control of the 148 million-member denomination by defeating so-called candidates But the challenger this year stresses that he is a theological conservative who takes the Bible literally "I don't like the word 'moderate' It sounds like a wimp halfwarm Dr Daniel Vestal told reporters Monday He is challenging Dr Jerry Vines who is generally favored to win a second one-year term as head of the nation's largest Protestant denomination By noon Monday 11014 messengers had registered to vote for president and on other business matters About 18500 are expected to participate compared to 32700 who came to the convention in San Antonio last year Each Southern Baptist church elects messengers to send to the meeting Dr Vines is supported by the dominant fundamentalist coalition The president has appointive powers and over the years the coalition put biblical inerran-tists in control of most the six seminaries boards and agencies After last 10th straight win in San Antonio conservatives and many moderates agreed the battle was over Dr Vines recently declared that the conflict is past that peace and reconciliation have taken hold Dr Vines pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville Fla has said he wants the conven tion to concentrate on personal evangelism and church growth But Dr Vestal said Monday the controversy die until Dr Vines starts appointing people to the SBC's boards and agencies who don't necessarily share the Please see BAPTIST Page B3 Woman arrested not Sigmin By Cornell Christion Jonesboro Ark Bureau A case of mistaken identity landed a Little Rock woman in jail for more than IS hours this weekend authorities said The unidentified woman was taken into custody Saturday night after police received a ti that she was Ann Sigmin 34 sought for the 1986 slaying of her estranged husband in Car-uthersville Mo The tip was received by Pulaski County Ark authorities from a viewer of Unsolved Mysteries an NBC television program that has twice featured reenactments of the slaying most recently on Wednesday night The program included a composite drawing of Mrs Sigmin The drawing looked like the woman mistakenly jailed said Cathy Fisher Pemiscot County Mo deputy sheriff The woman was jailed about 6 Sm Saturday by Saline County rk sheriffs deputies while she was visiting friends in Benton Ark about 155 miles west of Memphis She was released about 9:30 am Sunday after Pemiscot County Sheriff Jack Davis who drove from Caruthersville to Benton to interview the woman determined that the wron woman had been arrested sal Saline County sheriffs deputy Jim Harris The sheriff coula not be reached for comment Harris said there were several similarities between the woman and Mrs Sigmin including appearance the use of aliases and connections with the West Coast "There were a bunch of similarities and coincidences enough to warrant the Pemiscot County sheriff to come down here and Interview her" said Harris He said the woman seemed "understandably upset" when she was released but didn't Please see SIGMIN Page B3 youngsters an early start on practicing good driving habits Through the summer the Police Department Is sponsoring eight one-week courses designed to teach youngsters about safety and obeying traffic laws when aboard their bicycles Demise of Moral Majority no opens gates 7 don't think the folding up of the Moral Majority is going to have any impact Long ago they lost the potver to do much on a national level Art Kropp they are closing down" said Rev Don Wildmon of the Tu-lo Miss-based American Fam-ly Association which is best known for fighting against "anti-Christian" television shows and films like The Last Temptation of Christ Mr Wildmon said the Moral Majority has been less active in recent years while his organization has continued to grow be meeting at the Holiday Inn in Blytheville about 70 miles north of Memphis Eight stops and 24 hours later Clinton will address a meeting of the Arkansas and Tennessee chapters of the International Council of Shopping Centers at the Omni Memphis Hotel is kind of a part of his recent continuing travels around the state sort of his preparation for calling a special legislative session" to consider a tax increase for education said Susan Whitacre the governor's assistant press secretary kind of call it a coffee-stop tour kind of campaigning for his education program I guess you could say Clinton's proposed education program was defeated during Please see CLINTON Page B2 cause "we're not interested in politics We're involved in social issues sex and violence on television abortion sex education there's any number of issues still out there Art Kropp president of People for the American Way said the Moral Majority's mixture of right-wing politics and religion has in some ways entered the mainstream diluting the influence of the organization itself People for the American Way is a Washington-based liberal advocacy group that came into existence in 1980 as a direct reaction to the Moral Majority "I don't think the folding up of the Moral Majority is going to have any impact'1 Kropp said "Long ago they lost the power to do much on a national level There is a whole new crop of people people who understand the Importance of organizing at the grass-roots level He said Wildmon's organiza By John Belfuss Staff Reporter ry Fal- well agreed Monday that it is a fitting time for the evangelist to shut down his 10-year-old Moral Majority organization Republicans have been in the White House for almost 10 years Some video stores refuse to stock The Last Temptation of Christ for fear of being picketed by fundamentalist Christians And many people think the Supreme Court may reverse its 1973 decision legalizing abortion Moral Majority Inc had lost its uniqueness on the American scene and was losing money as a result "We believe we have accomplished what we set out to do" Falwell said Sunday in Las Ve- Bis as he announced that Moral ojority Inc would cease to exist Aug 31 "I was surprised to see that Clinton swing will push school plans not politics TODAY BUSH SPEECH: President Bush speaks in Lincoln Neb on alternative fuels STAR TREATMENT: A golden star is unveiled to honor Jerry Lee Lewis on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Lewis whose movie biography Great Balls of Fire is due out June 30 is scheduled to be a guest on the Arsenio Hall Show at 11 pm on WMKW-TV Channel 30 MAYFEST MEET: The Memphis in May International Festival board of directors meets at 6:15 pm at the French Quarter Inn to choose the honored country for the 1991 festival It is expected to be New Zealand In 1990 the annual party-with-a-purpose will honor France TAX TALKS: Arlington Board of Mayor and Aldermen has its third and final hearing on the 1989-90 budget and tax rate at 7:30 pm at the Town Hall OUTSIDE TODAY: Partly cloudy with a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms High in the mid-80s Wind southwest at 10 mph Overnight low near 70 Sunrise 5:45 Sunset 8:15 More about TODAY Page B2 By Cornell Christion Jonesboro Ark Bureau Arkansas Gov Bill Clinton is scheduled to make a campaign-style swing through Mississippi and Crittenden counties in Northeast Arkansas today and Wednesday But Clinton wont be talking politics Instead the governor will be pushing education and listening to public opinions about his proposed tax increases to back educational improvements a Clinton aide said The stops in Mississippi and Crittenden counties will be his first public appearances this year in those counties Clinton's tour is scheduled to begin with a noon speech to a joint Lions ClutvOptimist Club -V-.