The Knoxville News-Sentinel from Knoxville, Tennessee • 1

MUGB- IBEAV: Mayor appoints Commissioner Keith to chiefs post A3 Sal IJliel' from property during by federal -offi- an August search 1 Enforcement Agency says that re Espinal Karla LeQuire 3 were dug up on Blount farm cere Judge Truman Hobbs began an in-chambers hearing Wednesday afternoon on the matter but did not reach a decision The hearing i to resume at 8 am today Defendants in the case are for the vaults in early 1983 and that they were made by a company in Florida Last April the affidavit says investigators had persuaded Bonnie Anders to draw a map of the LeQuire farm showing the location of the buried vaults However she became scared as she drew the diagram and refused to BySTAN DELOZIER nvwFeimiMi ran wmr brother-in-law Bonnie Sue Anders of Corbin Ky and Harold Ward They are charged in connection with a billion-dollar drug smuggling organisation that the government says was in operation for at least five years begin- ning in 1981 In addition Jerry Tommy and Chuckey LeQuire are charged with murder in the 1984 machine-gun slaying of the mother of a government witness An affidavit from Charles Parks an agent with the Drug foriper wife) told investigators' that about $280 million was taken to Tommy farm in February or March 1981 In the summer of that year she said from $14 million to $24 million was taken to the farm All the money was stored in the vaults she said She described the vaults a be- ing constructed of reinforced concrete five feet long four feet wide and three or four feet deep Espinal said die saw blueprints MONTGOMERY Ala Fed-erel agents found i concrete vault buried on on Tommy The vault was found about three weeks ago It was brought to Montgomery two days ago to be used as evidence in the UJS District Court trial for seven members of the LeQuire family and two others Its presence sparing a defense motion to suppress its introduction as evidence as well as the introduction of other items taken brothers Jerry Allen LeQuire LeQuire Gene LeQuire Tommy LeQulr i complete it She subsequently nnection with was charged in connection Blount County farm and they say one of three that once con- tabled more than $300 million in drug money authorities revealed Wednesday the smuggling operation Mike LeQuire and Robert LeQuire Charles Alien LeQuire who is Jerry son Mike Jenkins who is Tommy MONEY page 49 Signs of life showing up on downtown Knoxville toyrers swamp board Former TVA workers file merit system complaints 4- By REBECCA FERRAR I staff writer Nawe OsnMnaistal The The fodepl Merit System Protection Board has been swamped with appeals from employees laid off by TVA leaving the agency with one of the biggest caseloads since air traffic controllers were fired in 1981 said Earl Witten the board's regional director in St Louis Since the layoff of more than workers in June the board has received appeals from 227 employees saying they unfairly lost their Jobs said Witten whose office handles federal employee appeals from Tennessee The load was so heavy many cases are being handled by bureaus in Chicago Denver and New York would say this is one of the biggest" said Widen of the 143 appeals his office received from Tennessee "We handle them ail ourselves so we had to shift some to other regions It is steel I-beams on top of Plaza Tower on Wednesday to anchor a be attached In two weeks Mike Rozzeil and Duane Pressley of Southland Erectors and Riggers install planned two-etory First Tennessee Bank sign The sign face is expected to ft- 4 First Tennessee Installing two-story-tall sign i a -44 i 'f 1 The Atlanta office which hears appeals from Alabama is handling 84 cases from the 972 laid off in that state In Tennessee 4700 workers lost Jobs The appeals by 8500 air traffic controllers however made number seem small! Most TVA appeals are from employees complaining they were unfairly laid off within the areas in which they compete for Jobs For example two Jobs could have been abolished among five positions The five employees holding those Jobs would compete for the maining three Jobs To decide who stays TVA considers status seniority sod employee evaluations Other complaints include sex age and race discrimination Witten said By LAURA SIMMONS Nnw6fnllMl bualnNt wrilfp ing since the UAB (United American 'Bank) days" Arant said he dropped the idea for the sign after being persuaded that drilling holes in the concrete to anchor could increase the risk of leaks A battle by two Knoxville banks to hang the biggest and brightest dpi will the sign for several years but to overcome a number of hurdles such ss meeting Federal Aviation Administration requirements and making sure the sign can withstand winds at that height Williams Arent Jr former president of First Tennessee in Knoxville and now the president of the fledgling First National Bank of Knoxville said Wednesday understand- been trying to put a sign on that build change the cityscape One year ago signs of life erupted on was not only a newcomer to downtown a also is much smaller First Tennes-pushed ahead with plans to construct a sign on top of the Plaza Tower across the street Its sign now under construction win be two stories high says First Ten- neeeee spokeswoman Leslie Grossman "Ihe lighting is going to be unbelievable YouU be able to see it from quite a she fays Grossman says First Tennessee has "Fin sure they must have found a way around that" he said In the meantime forging ahead with efforts to get a sign for his own bank in One Centre Square the long-vacant Riverview Tower when the Bank of East Tennessee hoisted its logo in giant green letters across the top of the building Not to be outdone by a bank that Please see PROTEST page A9 Environmentalists list needs for Bush Apparent end of road became new beginning would save billion lN3IOEW8SBri By ED MARCUM Ilwiw Itanllial alaJI (VMlKWnRW vumi WfiwT Notz wishes state would change stance reception termed positive The Stocking Fund By FRANK MUNGER News Bsntlnal Oak Rldga bureau By ROBERT ENGELMAN Scripps Howard New 8ervoe tional Laboratory hnd chairman of the MRS Information Group was scheduled to testify this afternoon before a panel assessing the need for such facilities The News-Sentinel received an advance copy of his prepared remarks Plans to locate a MRS facility in Oak Ridge were scrapped amid controversy a couple of years aga The state of Tennessee opposed the storage and packaging facility which woukf receive highly radioactive spent fuel from the nuclear power plants car broke down as she was passing through Knoxville in July and her life seemed to break down With it She credits local charities with helping her put it bade together original plan was Just to pass through here and live in Atlanta but the people here have been so great I think I George Bush has 1 friendly meeting with Jesse JacksonAIS Senate Budget Committee Chairman Jim Sasser believes Bush will have to break his campaign promise and raise taxesAIS Many of those who worked for election get plum JobeAIS OAK RIDGE Building one or more Monitored Retrievable Storage facilities could cut billions of dollars from the overall cost of handling the high-level nuclear waste an Oak Ridge scientist was to testify today in Washington Dr Karl Notz a nuclear mate- rials specialist at Oak Ridge Na Please see ESP page A2 Environmental leaders asked Presidentelect George Bush in private meeting Wednesday for billions of dollars in new spending cm the environment mid a gas tax to helppayforit They gave Bush more than 700 recommendations which they called Blueprint for the Environment and said he had listened attentively The door to such environmentally targeted "fees" might not be closed they added despite campaign pledge of new taxes" His reaction to the recommen- Please see NUCLEAR page A2 tion problems -1 About $4 Ullion annually for WKXT-Channel announces news team initiatives to improve public efficiency lands promote energy VHP station to goV oh the air Monday IU i VC A 1 dations as whole was pos itive very encouraging" said Jay 0 r- the Channel 8 VHF station license by the Federal Communications Commission In October has put' together news crew of faces familiar to the East Tennessee audience i WTVK is broadcasting at low power during the transition but without newscasts WKXT goes increase the use of mass fltansit and halt the destruction or spe-desirich tropical rain forests DMore support for programs to reduce population growth abroad mid "an official population policy for the United States" Noting that the net cost of the proposals would be more than $5 billion the group proposed scrapping federal research on oil coal and nuclear energy and new "fees" of 10 cents a gallon for gasoline and an undetermined amount far the chemicals that destroy life-protecting ozone in the upper atmosphere By REON CARTER New Sentinel staff writer Hammitt said he was surprised by his selection did not know I was under consideration" he said "At first I thought I was going to be noon anchor and lead live' reporter Though I expect it to happen wanted an opportunity like this for a long time" Elda Brown will be his co-an- chor Brown a graduate of the University of Tennessee was an "The cornerstone of any television statiod is the news team" Bagwell said "This partnership took a considerable period of time putting this team together We made the decisions based on what we felt like we wanted to project to this community" Norman 'Hammitt former WTVK weekend anchor beat out more than 400 applicants for the weekday pin and 11 pm main anchor slot A native East Tennessean and graduate of East Tennessee State University Hair executive director of thd National Wildlife Federation Among the key recommendations is to elevate the Environmental Protection Agency to Cabinet status The officials and the Blueprint docuihent also asked for 20 percent increase in the $5 Ullion annual budget to better address hazardous waste cleanup and other national pollu- A few -hours before WTVK- Channel 26 delivered its last newscast WKXT-Channel 8 ex- on the air at 6 am Monday ecutives introduced its 1 news Don BagkeU WKXT news di- to the media Wednesday rector shared the introductions 235 with Ralph Boston WKXT public Knoxvffle Channd 8 Limited affairs and sports director during Partnership which was granted cocktail party at the Orangery --'it 'i anchor fca- WBIR-Channel 10 be- 4 f- FIcsm see TEAM page A9 '1 it Hfc 3 i a i 4 "ii: V' 4 1 -I' Nejr 'i sifuc sr' tt 411.