Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 15

Birmingham Post-Herald Thursday August 31 1995 TATE Your Town C2-3 Nation C6 Update i I VisionLand facts Langford vows park by 1 997 i i public meeting of the Western Area Alliance as the group followed lead and selected the board of directors the advertising agency the legal counsel the bank and an administrative assistant for VisionLand Langford said the announcement wu timed to be 40 days after the original request for city money to fund the park The 40-day period is in keeping with certain biblical time frames it rained 40 days during the Great Flood of Noah for instance 40 days they saw land What we now see is Langford uid The computer-animated video created free by SteinerBressler Zimmerman Advertising flashed wards on the screen Please tun to VISION page C3 Several pitapats ware put Wo plaoe lor VBuuna Manama name perk yesterday Among foam: Board of Gov Fob James Stats Sen EB McClain State Highway Director Jimmy Butts Jefferson County Commissioner Bettye Fine Coins BelSouth Teleoommunications-Aiabama President Neal Travis Bessemer Mayor Quitman Mitchel Alabama Power President Elmer Harris Dr Lawrence Lemak of Health South Former Booker Washington Insurance Co By Nick Patterson Psst-Hcnid Reporter With a ban-laden video biblical references and T-shirts Fairfield Mayor Larry Langford yesterday announced that his visionary water theme park will be a reality in summer 1997 are going to build the park It's a done deal" Langford told a crowd of supporters at the Fairfield Civic Center With $24 million Mayors yastorday ehosa a board of directors for the planned VisionLand park pledged from 11 cities including Vance in Tuscaloosa County Langford said the $27 million warrant issue needed to build VisionLand wu money in the bank The noon press conference and luncheon turned into an impromptu President Louis Wffie Dr Lycfia Alexander of IIAB business owner Edie Hand and someone to be named later by the city of Birmingham General counsel Haskel Slaughter Young Johnston and Calvin Biggers Bank SouthTrust Advertising agency SteinerBresslerZimmerman Administrative assistant Pat Whitaker SouoKFttMdMwar' LanyUngtord-' Warden put on leave I Keys missing for locks on leg irons By Stephanie Desmon I'M yj Coaches on field Birmingham dty schools' athletic coaches will be on the field with their players tonight as the 199S high school football season kicks off Coaches and band directors had threatened a walkout if improvements were not made in their supplemental pay equipment and facilities The walkout has been postponed indefinitely as negotiations continue But the Birmingham Education Association which is representing the coaches has scheduled a rally for 6:30 pm Tuesday at the association's headquarters in Norwood The rally will provide the opportunity for parents and community members to show support for the coaches association representative Michael Todd said Stephanie Demon Re-funding sought MONTGOMERY Historians are pressing Gov Fob James to restore funding tor a little-known state agency dedicated to turning Alabama's territorial capital into a tourist attraction The Si Stephens Commission had been receiving 310000 a year until 1993 when state officials cut the agency off "I think when some people began to strip away pork as well as funding for nonstate agencies they decided to eliminate support tor Si Stephens without realizing that it was and still is a state agency said Lawrence Oaki director of the Alabama Historical Commission Press Workshops slated COATOPA Project Awake plans to use a 120000 federal grant to educate minorities in Emelle on the disadvantages of living near a hazardous waste landfill The nonprofit group based in Coatopa plans to develop workshops publish a newsletter and establish a recycling pickup site in Sumter County One id the chief goals is to educate area children about the future disadvantages of having a hazardous waste dump nearby said Daisy Carter wbo helped draft the grant proposal Associated Press if eijtete rl JVVI-A iA5Vi I- -V 'h'1 JC'T Westt adtorofs last By William Singleton III Pmt-Hcrald Reporter Shortly after her birth Guo Ying wu abandoned by her mother But her abandonment only served to unite her with her new parents Joseph and Kathy Bianco of Helena baby wu found in a schoolyard She wu found by the police there (in uid Mrs Bianco of their new 11-month-old daughter now named Patricia Kathryn Bianca just a blessing that my husband and I were able to get over there and adopt this baby and give her a normal life and a happy The Biancos were one of two local families who recently visited China to adopt children Robert and Paula Critx-Crosby also of Helena adopted a 10-month-old daughter Alexandra Li Crosby The adoptions were arranged by Villa Hope International Adoptions an agency that matches American families with children from other countries The nonprofit agency hu offices in Birmingham and Fairhope Pat Baldwin director of the international program of Villa Hope in Birmingham said it wu the first time Chinese babies have been adopted through the program Five children were united with five couples seeking children she uid Villa Hope which has operated as a private adoption agency since 1988 and is licensed with the Department of Human Resources also tries to match children from South and Central America and India with adults in the United States So far nearly 250 adoptions have been arranged Mrs Baldwin said Chinese children have become sought after by couples adopting internationally think it is because the adoption process is going so smoothly in China right now so that's one of the things they (parents) are looting A national television magazine program recently featured a segment on orphaned children in China The most populous country in the world China hu a one-child-only policy for families resulting in thousands of babies being left unwanted by their parents Since boys are favored over girls orphanages are filled with Chinese girls The Biancos and the Crosbys werq provided pictures of their future daughters and then traveled to China in July with Pat Lee a representative of Villa Hope in Fairhope to get their children Couples from Huntsville Dadeville and Mobile also went to China to adopt children A continuing criticism of international adoptions hu been that adoptive parents tend to bypan the many children in this country who need homes Mrs Baldwin uid an unfair perspective when people start out adopting they may start out wanting to adopt in the United she said so few children are available under the age of five and healthy that there's a long waiting list" Mrs Bianco uid she and her husband have tried unsuccessfully to have their own child They were set to adopt a child in Texas but the mother changed her mind after giving birth Poit-Hcrald Reporter The warden who oversees the south Alabama chain gang from which two Inmates e' caped in July has been placed on adminUtri tive leave and could be demoted from his post'1 The warden's wife uys her husband is beinjj' persecuted for political reasons because ooers escaped from Fob James' beloved chain Prison Commissioner Ron Jones said the July incident wu just part of a rash of escapes in Clio and Warden Leslie Thomp- son failed to both properly train his officers and Investigate the iou of keys at the facility On July 19 two chain gang prisoners from Easterling Correctional Facility in Clio jiin-mied the lock on their leg irons with wire and metal from a pair of headphones At about 4:30 pm the shotgun-carrying officer assigned to watch them placed his weapon on a plow and lit a cigarette they ran The two were recaptured the ume night leu than two miles from the prison grounds Jones uid the Clio inmates have been the only two escapees from chain gang duty since its return to the state in May He said he knows of no other attempts Following the Clio escape Jones uid several leg iron keys were discovered to have been missing when the chains were delivered Keys are strictly Inventoried Jones uid because' those keys can be transferred from prison' tif prison with inmates and wreak havoc throughout the system Jones uid Thompson never ported the missing keys have a handcuff key lost in your prison system is like losing a loaded gun" Jones said -A proposed demotion is not too harsh -a method of punishment for what happened at Thompson's prison Jones uid The escape! might not have happened if Thompson hat properly trained his officers Jams uid Iv An internal investigation left Thompson facing departmental charges of failing to properly train his officers At a Sept 12 hearing department official will determine whetnqp-Thompson deserves a proposed 10-day suspend sion and a demotion back to his Job a prison system psychologist a position he left five-years ago to become warden in Clio Thompson is the only person facing punish ment in connection with the escape Thompson would not comment on the pend! ing case but his wife Gaetane uid she be4 Iieves her husband is being wrongly blamed and harshly punished tar the escapes Mrs Thompson uid the incident embir rassed Jams and the department because thp commissioner had touted his chain gangs as! being virtually escape-proof (Jones) is positive the chain gangM she uid yesterday don't want So! let the public know that it was a Jones uid he is aggravated not 'etnbarw rassed by the Clio escape He uid he newt promised the chains would be "escape-proof? Instead he said the three tiers of security leg inns armed officers and nearby dog units! would keep prisoners from getting too far -Please turn to WARDEN page C4 i William LutberPoat-Herald Above Kathy Bianco looks through a scrapbook wHh her new daughter Patricia Kathryn Bianco The scrapbook contains pictures of her trip to China where she and her husband Joe adopted Patricia At left Mrs Bianco talks to Patricia with gave them Information about Villa Hope we read about China and all of the children that are abandoned there it seemed the right thing' to Mrs Crosby 33 uid Both couples Hid they had no problems adopting children from a race and ethnic group different from their own Both Mrs Crosby and Mrs Bianco Mid they plan to teach their children about their Chinese culture well their UJ5 culture The experience hu linked the families Bln Crosby uid was helpful to us to have friends before are went on the she uid I think much closer having had this experience together" FOLLOWUP Sj 75 prosecuted WASHINGTON US Sen Richard Shelby's Child Support Recovery Act of 1992 continues to make news as federal authorities have begun prosecuting 75 Authorities also have called for formal investigations id 500 more fathers Shelby R-Ala sponsored the bill which created federal penalties for rents who flee across state i to avoid paying for the support of their children He was critical when the Justice Department spent almost a year developing enforcement guidelines have come up to speed recently and we are much more pleased" Shelby's press secretary Laura Cox said yesterday Jeffrey Nichols of Vermont allegedly the worst offender was arrested earlier this month on charges of failure to make $582000 in support payments President Clinton this week defended the act after a federal Judge in Phoenix declared it unconstitutional Thomas Hargrove SHORTTAKES ON The Alabama International Air Show is tcheduM Saturday and Sunday at tha Anniston MetropoNan Airport Gatee open at 8 am and doea at 5 pm both days Daly admission is 35 far adults $3 for chldran ages 3 to 12 and free to chidrsn under 3 For more information cal 205-831-4410 POINT OF INTEREST Morgan County la Alabama's top mlk producer In 1993 tha county produced 46 mon pounds of mlk Its neighbor to the south Culman County had the second-highest mlk production wHh 26400 pounds Tha state ranked 381h nationaly In mlk production and had 38000 mlk cows at tha beginning of 1994 Patrick RupkvM were disappointed" she said In one sense adopting a baby from China eliminated the problem the faced biggest fur wu the mother taking the child back from she said didn't want to deal with that the mother coming back after two years saying 'I want my baby Mrs Bianco also said many agencies the couple worked had age restrictions for parents Since her husband is 47 and 44 they were considered outside many agencies' age limits Mrs Crosby said she and her husband also planned to adopt an American-born child But an adoption agency they were working Four officially in race fifth to enter soon qualifying fee for the Oct 10 election but uid she definitely will be in the race The deadline to qualify is Sept 19 planning on doing it (paying the fee) by the end of next uid Ms Bell a Birmingham advertising agent Chris Woods became an official candidate Tuesday and filed financial disclosure forms detailing contributions to his campaign Mayor Richard Arrington Emory largest coffer behind Arrington According to the financial disclosure forms the construction company owner collected $10052 of which $5532 came from himself Woods also loaned himself $12450 Most of the contributions came from individuals none of whom gave more than $1000 Woods spent $20248 and uid it paid for advertising Arrington started the campaign with $98154 remaining from his 1991 bid far mayor He hu since collected1! another $366085 most of came during fund-raisers the mayott hu held Some of the biggest Iqfir-J sions of cash came from loyal Aivj ringtan allies such lawyer Donald' Watkins $10000 Alabama Power! PAC $9000 lawyer Robert A Jonet $6000 and lawyer Lanny $10000 Another $10000 came fojft MCFAG PAC headed by Founder! GalellL Please tun to RACE page C4 By Deborah Solomon Fart-Herald Reporter Birmingham's mayoral election is only six weeks away but the pace of the campaign makes it seem more like six months Five people have uid they are running for Birmingham mayor but only four have paid the $300 qualifying fee and officially become candidates Pat Bell who announced her candidacy last month hu not paid the I Anthony and Perry Grant have all filed the necesury forms with Jefferson County's probate court but Arrington wu slow to file financial disclosure papers He missed deadline to submit the 45-day report but wu given an extension because of a misunderstanding about the data He filed his forms yesterday Aside from Arrington the candidates boast modest war chests forms show him with the i.