The Tribune from San Luis Obispo, California • 1

The COUNTY TELEGRAM- 5 117 YEAR NO 258 32 PAGES TODAY Serving the Entire County of San Luis Obispo Daily 25 THURSDAY JUNE 5 1986 Rate decision Saudi arms sale vote to be close riles activist SAN FRANCISCO (AP) An consumer activist says residents were shortchanged when the state Public Utilities Commission Wednesday reduced Pacific Gas Electric Co rates by $133 a month for gas and 221 a month for electricity for the average residential customer was blatant stealing of money from householders to give it to the large the activist Sylvia Siegel founder of Toward Utility Rate Normalization told reporters Siegel made the comment in referring to the fact that a large part of the reduction was awarded to industries in order to encourage them to keep buying from and to prevent itself from switching from gas to oil in its power plants Much of the reduction was generated by abundant electricity supplies and a drop in natural ps prices Siegel said she was in the division of the reduction and promised to mobilize consumers to pressure the commission for a larger share of the next cut However a major victory was scored for residential customers when the five-member commission rejected requests by Southern California Gas Co and San Diego Gas Electric Co to reduce or eliminate the 15 percent rate discount now given for the small amount of gas and electricity used by residents each month The so-called baseline rate formerly called lifeline was authorized by a state law intended to encourage energy conservation and cut utility bills especially for low-in-come people After a closed-door hearing PUC member Priscilla Grew said the commission agreed with TURN that the utilities had not proven the higher rate paid by industries to subsidize the discounts would cause them to switch from gas to oil use The commission in open session first approved a gas rate reduction of $197 million but allocated $171 million of it to the electricity department which uses gas to run some of its power plants PUC President Donald Vial sponsor of the increase in the electricity allocation from $116 million proposed by a commission hearing officer explained that the higher subsidy was needed to prevent from converting the power plants from gas to low-priced oil If the company switched fuels the expenses of running its gas system would be divided among other customers But Ms Siegel argued that fuel-switching by such a major buyer would instead prompt gas suppliers to lower their prices feVwn I cOUSinS Some cousins Mike 7 and Xv coos i Bre'n 1 ndseyf 8 both of AtakaderohVdJ fun on wheels' as Mike tooK -r WASHINGTON (AP) Republican and Democratic leaders said today they think the Senate will sustain President veto of a resolution blocking the sale of missiles to Saudi Arabia but both sides predicted a close vote The Senate was scheduled to vote today ending a month of intense lobbying by opponents and supporters of the $265 million deal It would take 67 votes to override the veto assuming all 100 senators vote Minority Leader Robert Byrd D-W Va said really would expect the veto to be sustained Some people apparently carry their convictions in their arms and although this president is not as good as Lyndon Johnson was at twisting arms very Byrd an opponent of the sale and other senators were interviewed at the White House after a meeting with President Reagan think got the Sen John Chafee of Rhode Island chairman of the Republican Conference told reporters shortly before the Senate session began least I certainly hope As debate opened Sen James Exon D-Neb an opponent of the sale last month announced that he has switched and will now vote with Reagan security interests of the United States rest with sustaining the said Exon we have the leader of the free world laying his prestige on the line That makes it a considerably different than last month On Wednesday Sen Alan Cranston D-Calif the leading opponent said believe got 66 votes for sure The question right now is whether got the extra vote we Earlier in the week Dennis Thomas an assistant to Reagan said at the White House that the administration have much in its efforts to win the 34 votes needed to sustain the veto Reagan declined Wednesday to predict victory when asked about the subject as he boarded Air Force One in Greensboro NC after a brief trip said the president holding up his right hand with his fingers crossed During the trip the president lobbied senators by telephone from Air Force One The Republican-controlled Senate and the Democratic-run House voted overwhelmingly against the sale a month ago But Reagan vetoed that disapproval resolution and the sale will go ahead unless each chamber overrides his veto by a two-thirds margin Congress has never blocked a major weapons sale and Reagan has concentrated his efforts to win the veto fight on the Senate where he has to switch fewer votes The tally there against the sale was 73-22 with five senators absent but Cranston admitted Wednesday that Reagan has switched some votes for rides through a parking on Osos Street Jn I San Lufs OblspWtThekateboardedSun oblivious to the Criterlum races going! on Ja round at the time Doug ParkerTelegram-Tribune Congressmen urge new rocket builder 'Zx' Growth now County focus the planning record for new developments and of the appearance of new buildings Councilman Harry Ovitt who was re-elected to the other available seat saw strong showing as an indication that the people want more attention paid to planning After the Atascadero election Mackey said she would try to get a moratorium imposed on new apartment developments Borgeson said forming an architectural review board was one of her priorities They were supported by the Atascadero Homeowners Association whose president Celia Moss said their election showed the community agreed with the concerns about growth But Michael Sherer president of the North County Contractors Association said the election did not demonstrate the will of the people but instead showed their apathy to the issue of growth because fewer months some Bre'n ot I day bicycle! them Telegram-Tribune news services WASHINGTON More than 200 House members determined to keep closer tabs on NASA after the Challenger accident are calling on the space agency to hold an open competition to find a second source for the booster rockets Currently NASA has a contract with Morton Thiokol to produce all shuttle booster rockets A presidential investigating commission is going to lay the blame for the Jan 28 explosion of the Challenger on a faulty seam in the right booster rocket Any competing company that wins a contract would be required to manufacture the same rocket as Morton Thiokol but many lawmakers believe competition would save money as well as give the space program a hedge against any single difficulties The accident also produced new repercussions within NASA itself with an announcement of early retirement by William Lucas the longtime director of the facility that supervises the booster rockets No successor has been named but members of Congress said they welcomed decision to depart resignation was entirely appropriate under any responsible form of democratic said Rep James Scheuer D-NY a member of the House committee that oversees NASA Nearly all of the engineers and managers who had key roles in the derision to launch the Challenger have now been shifted to other jobs or have retired Three rocket-booster manufactur- Galvan throws support to Storton in sheriffs race By Phil Dirkx Telegram-Tribune People In Atascadero and Paso Robles are now trying to decide how their city council elections will affect their future growth In the Atascadero election Tuesday the two available council seats were won by two women incumbent State election wrap-up 8B Majorie Mackey and Bonita Borge-son who both promised to work for more controls on growth Incumbent Rolfe Nelson lost the election despite endorsements from the North County Contractors Association and the Atascadero Board of Realtors In Paso Robles Councilman Michael Thomdyke who was also endorsed by the North County Contractors was defeated by Kevin Dolan who was sharply critical of Pismo Beach Police Chief Ed Williams have a runoff for sheriff in November feel that Tim understands the operations of the Department because he has been there Galvan said today On Friday in the Sky- A fleet of Formula One model p'anestook cently above Camp San Luis Plane owners were jockeying for the the state championship in the event sponsored by the SLO Flyers nc Photographer Doug Parker was on to capture the action See Telegram-Tribune for his work and a wrapup of the event than half of them turned out to vote In Atascadero contractors are discouraged because they fear an end to the recent improvements in the service they get from the Planning Department said Sherer who is a former member of the city Planning Commission staff will be confused and know which way to he said He also believes the change in the balance of power on the council kind of stall everything because it will be a standoff situation of moving forward things will come to a grinding halt and therefore he said Wayne LaPrade chairman of the Atascadero Planning Commission said the election results seem to represent a signal from the people for less growth He thinks the results may have been a backlash against Councilmen Please see North County 3A really have any idea at this point" Hastie said going to look things over" Williams pulled 13197 votes Storton got 10693 Galvan got 7196 and candidate John Pierce got 1100 weeks to fend off a takeover bid by Macfadden Holdings Inc of New York City Macfadden had offered Blair stockholders $25 per share plus a package of notes that was to mature some time in the future In a press release issued Tuesday the Blair board of directors said it unanimously approved the Reliance Capital offer of $27 per share in cash plus a package of notes Blair officials said the Macfadden offer was not in the best interest of stockholders Reliance Capital Group is a private investment partnership and is a subsidiary of Reliance Group Holdings Inc owned by Saul Steinberg of New York City feel some changes are needed and needed soon And we feel Tim is the person to do Lt John Hastie who finished just behind Galvan with 6493 votes said he is still considering endorsing a candidate William Lucas NASA booster chief quits ing executives who overruled their warnings about the danger of launching the space shuttle in cold weather have either retired or been demoted this week The shuffling of top space-division executives of Morton Thiokol came only a few days before the issuance of the final report on the fatal launch A reliable source familiar with operations said Wednesday was a public-relations problem either way Thiokol looks bad making these changes before the commission report is released But the corporation would look much worse if it had waited until after the report became public to juggle these three-quarters under the market Haas said indicates something is going on over until over That trading $175 over the Reliance offer indicates there is stfil a question mark in eyes I think it indicates people think (Blair) is worth a lot Haas said Michael Boylan president of Macfadden said Wednesday he was still examining his options really have a plan Boylan said are considering all the alternatives Blair has not done an FCC filing yet Until we really look at the Reliance offer Please see KSBY sale 3A parent firm in corporate tug-of-war Deputy George Galvan who finished third in primary campaign for sheriff announced today he is throwing his support to candidate Tim Storton Storton former undersheriff came in second Tuesday behind Index Business 5B Classified 2D Comics 5c Community 1C Entertainment 3C Obituaries 4C Opinion 6B Sports 1B Stocks 4C TU cn Weather 4C Uncertainty still shrouds the transaction however as Wall Street sources said that Macfadden and Reliance Capital were likely to face off in the latest tug-of-war over the potentially lucrative media property according to the New York limes stock was the second most active Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange and closed Wednesday at $2875 The close was higher than Reliance $27-a-share offer indicating that the bidding contest may not be over said stock broker Ken Haas of the Bateman Eichler Hill Richards Inc stock brokerage firm in San Luis Obispo Reliance offer is a buck and By Tom Fulks Telegram-Tribune The parent company of KSBY-TV in San Luis Obispo may have successfully fended off a hostile takeover attempt of one company this week by accepting a takeover bid of another The board of directors for the New York City-based John Blair Co which owns KSBY KSBW in Salinas three other television stations and several radio stations around the country unanimously accepted the $300 million takeover bid by the Reliance Capital Group Blair the largest independent broker of advertising time in broadcasting had been trying for UP.