The Stuart News from Stuart, Florida • 19

LOCAL 3 SPATE riday March 30 1990 THE STUART NEWS SECTION City desk 220 2015 Public to air views on PL request BRIES News staff report Please see PL on B2 Action to leave PBS station at the altar Please see WPBT on B2 Remains in of meeting News staff and wire reports Deputy: Conversation taped for probe I By Bob Betcher of the News staff By Michael Cote of the News staff By Michael Cote of the News staff levision evangelist and founder of Trinity Broadcasting Network Palmetto had entered into an agreement with WPBT for Chan nel 2 to run the station which would have provided a PBS affili ate for Martin St Lucie and Indi an River county viewers were shocked to learn the citizens of the Treasure Coast area will apparently not have their own local public television said George Dooley president and off icial resigns in wake of arrest The bones were those of a white man between the age of 25 and 40 INDIANTOWN State environmental officials will hold a public hearing in Indian town today to solicit comments on lorida Power Light $676 million plan to ex pand its Indiantown plant The meeting before state Department of Environmental Regulation officials will deal only with land use plan pro posal to boost its existing 1600 megawatt now apparently we may lose any public TV Peterson said Cable TV subscribers as far north as Vero Beach can receive Channels 2 and 42 But non cable households north of Port St Lucie have difficulty picking up any PBS station Neither station offers programs specifically dedicated to Treasure Coast issues re airing many of its same shows over Channel 21 to Treasure Coast residents Lynne Peterson for mer acting station manager said this region is now a two time loser in its bid to attract a PBS affiliate of the debate over Channel 2 or Channel 42 to be the buyer of Channel 21 this appar ently means the community is a loser for a second time irst we lose a local public TV station and plant by another 1540 megawatts and the means of fueling this boost will not be dis cussed DER officials said Under state law the DER is required to hold a public hearing to determine if con struction of the proposed plant meets state1 regional and county regulations regarding land use The meeting is scheduled for 10 am in the Seminole Inn Indiantown The DER will issue a finding in the near GAINESVILLE A Univer sity of lorida assistant vice presi dent resigned Thursday after his misdemeanor arrest for alleged lewd homosexual acts at a public park during an undercover sting operation police said Stephen Brannon 46 a vice president for development was ar rested Tuesday and charged with battery and committing a lewd and lascivious act after he allegedly ex posed his genitals and fondled a police officer on a racquetball court said police spokeswoman Lt Sadie Darnell The battery charge was based on the alleged fondling not on any violent act Darnell said Brannon who was promoted to the fund raising position in Jan uary after working for the univer sity's law school since 1987 re ferred all questions to his attorney who could not be reached for com ment Darnell said police had been called in after complaints of bla tant lewd homosexual activity at the park Among the graffiti on the racquetball court's wall is the an nouncement: men meet here to have sex" Police also arrested the head of a local crime task force after he al legedly exposed his genitals to an undercover officer in a wooded area of the park last week That man Greg Johnson 39 resigned Wednesday after being charged with a misdemeanor lewd and las civious act Darnell said It appears Praise the Lord is in and MaeNeil Lehrer is out in the latest battle for control of start up television station WTCE Channel 21 in ort Pierce Palmetto Broadcasting which holds the license for Channel 21 has informed WPBT Channel 2 Miami that the license will be transferred to Paul Crouch a te future officials said plans call for the filling in of about 205 acres of active wetlands In return PL said it will enhance restore and preserve about 406 acres of disturbed wetlands PL officials said there will be other hear ings on the proposal to actually build the additional plant PL is in the process of obtaining Public Service Commission approval to construct four 385 megawatt units on 1300 acres of its chief executive officer of the Com munity Television oundation of South lorida owner of WPBT The apparent exit of Channel 2 comes on the heels of Palmetto financial crunch and subsequent failure to get Channel 21 on the air Palmetto had high hopes of of fering more than a dozen locally produced programs aimed specifi cally at Treasure Coast viewers but Channel 2 officials discussed State off icial jailed for delinquent support SANORD la A division director of the lorida Depart ment of Professional Regulation has been sent to jail for 120 days for non payment of $13000 in child support Amcfika Geuka who left San 1 ford earlier this year to take the DPR job in Tallahassee was sen tenced Wednesday by a Seminole County hearing officer Officials said Geuka 50 spent Wednesday night in jail but was expected to be freed pending a re hearing and payment of part of what he owes for the support of his two daughters 6 Court files show Geuka has been cited numerous times over disputed child support since his 1987 divorce from his wife Shani 42 who tlives in Rochester NYand has custody of the two children Malaika 16 ana Le yura 11 i Compiled from News staff and 'wire reports 11300 acres in Indiantown The proposal calls for two of the units to be fired by na tural gas with the conversion capability to coal gasification plants The remaining two would be coal gasification plants' PL spokesman Ray Golden said about 1000 people would be employed during construction phase scheduled for 1993 95 About 200 permanent employees the same Local tax foe faces lien for unpaid taxes ORLANDO A founder of an organization that has waged suc cessful campaigns against local tax referendums has been slapped with a $13746 lien for unpaid federal taxes Doug Guetzloe an Orlando po litician who runs an advertising and consulting business said Wednesday that most of the feder al bill had been paid He blamed the bureaucracy of our for the lien that he said was He declined to elaborate Guetzloe who has been raising money to run for the state Senate was one of the founders of the Central lorida anti tax group Ax the Tax which has campaigned against bond issues and other tax measures in this area luggage those of white man ORT PIERCE St Lucie County officials hope to find out why state planners rejected their blueprint for regulating growth when the two groups meet in Tallahassee on April 9 The Department of Community Affairs sent com missioners a nine page notice March 21 explaining why the comprehensive plan did not meet state guidelines But county officials say they need to sit down with the planners to determine what they 1 need to do to bring the plan into compliance nine pages written in said commission Chairman Dale Trefelner He said he needs the report translated into terms Trefelner said state planning director Paul Brad shaw has told him the state would like to resolve its differences with the county within weeks But any changes to the plan would have to be presented for public hearing delaying formal state acceptance will take another series of public hearings even if we can agree conceptually with Trefelner said State planners say their objections are centered 'primarily on the issue of urban sprawl The county has designated more than twice the amount of land needed for urban areas than the state thinks is neces i sary to accommodate St population by the year 2015 the report says The DCA also criticized the limits on housing in agricultural areas saying St plan i allowed too much development in areas that should stay agricultural The: plan also does not include a provision assuring that suitable land will be available 1 for utilities needed to support: development the DCA said i County officials are hopeful they will resolve their differences with the state but do not expect to leave the April 9 meeting with firm solutions bottom line is to make sure (state planners) understand everything we put jp our plan and that 4 we understand what they put in their said Community Development Director Terry Verta Trefelner hopes the county can add amendments to its plan to comply with state guidelines rather than delete any section of the plan i 'TO we can resolve this on an agency level without the commission compromising its philosophy 'if we can do it with some additional provisions will State rejects request to lower US 1 speed PORT ST LUCIE The state Department of Transportation has turned down a request by the city to reduce the speed limit in the city on US I from 50 mph to 45 Members of the City Council proposed in January that the speed limit be reduced to cut down on the number of accidents Council members said the limit is 45 mph in Martin County 50 mph in the city and 40 mph in St Lucie County In a letter to the city dated March 26 William A Lewis dis trict traffic operations engineer for the lorida DOT said that lower ing the speed limit to 45 mph would the variance in ve hicular traffic speeds through driv er disrespect of an unrealistic speed limit within this location" Lewis added that because the area is growing rapidly the DOT will continue to monitor the situa tion Growth plan to be focus corded a eb "I discussion between him Practices Act and other improprieties he self and Chief Deputy Robert Crowder was aware of going on in the depart 't 1 nnu iivnwu a tayvuuvviuw aiunvu ui uiliil uaoai oalU i i ORTPIERCE A St Lucie County left sock' Officials said ASells had been in thenrocess nffilina sheriffs deputy accused of illegally re After arraignment before Circuit complaint with the air Labor Practices cording a conversation between himself Judge Charles Smith on Thursday his at Board at the time of his arrest Barrar and a superior says he made the tape to torney Robert Barrar of Miami said said investigate unfair labor practices in the Sells simnlv was doing his iob mere fact that he was invectiJat 1 tw fl 1 1 1 1 i VU11 il niiu OVL11V CtllLllllUllUI JI IJIVllJj 1 ill niU" department because he was denied over Sells although charged with a ing other law enforcement officials or ing to try he said I time pay felony crime was doing nothing more perhaps even his superior make it County representatives set to make the trip to Tai David Sells of White City was arrested than what a good officer should do He Barrar said? What he was lahassee include Trefelner Verta County Attorney eb 15 and charged with intercepting was investigating in an attempt to gather TOTO Dan McIntyre and County Administrator Jim Chis oral communications after he secretly re possible violations of the air 1 Please see BELLS holm TO ji TO'TO 7 INDIANTOWN The human skeletal remains found stuffed in a suitcase on the side of State Road 710 on Wednesday showed a bullet wound to the spine Martin County sheriffs detectives said Thurs day The bones belonged to a white man between the age of 25 and 40 5 feet 9 inches tall with dark brown or black hair investigators said The identity remains un known Officials from the district Medi cal Office are still ana lyzing the bones to determine the cause of death The brown vinyl suitcase was lying in brush about 50 feet from the east side of SR 710 about four miles south of the Indian town Bridge A road worker found the suitcase at 1:45 pm Wednesday Some bones were missing from the skeletal remains officials learned Thursday They believe the suitcase and the bones had been there for several months Martin County investigators are working with of ficials in Palm Beach County to see whether the bones are related to the partial remains of a body found in a suitcase last year in Palm Beach County In that case Palm Beach County investigators concluded the partial remains belonged to a white manThe suitcase containing those remains was found in a wooded area west of Palm Beach Gar dens 5 STOCKS 4 BUSINESS 8 WEATHER HI Photographer JIM URICK lii touch with nature Doug Bomeisler of the lorida Oceanographic Society ex? 4 plains how seaside plants survive in spite of poor soil con stant wind and salt spray The society is organizing new nature tours of local beaches A 'I 'TO TO TO a to 1 TO I Photographer DAVID LANE Can do Robert Stoudemeir hauls a load of aluminum cans down Johnson Avenue on his way to a Stuart recycling plant He said he regularly sells the scrap metal for a little spending money Photographer JIM URICK lii touch with nature Doug Bomeisler of the lorida Oceanographic Society ex? 4 plains how seaside plants survive in spite of poor soil con stant wind and salt spray The society is organizing new nature tours of local beaches.